The delicate act of arranging fresh flowers is a joyful art. Each bloom and sprig of foliage receives special consideration when creating an arrangement as beautiful and unique as the recipient. Local florists are already hastily preparing arrangements for the upcoming Valentine’s Day rush. Aside from Mother’s Day, this is the most popular day for gifting fresh flowers. Completed arrangements sold in a vase are attractive and convenient, but sometimes over budget. Invest a little less money...

With an estimated 35 million Poinsettias sold annually, you may spot this colorful plant on many holiday tables every year. Native to Mexico, Poinsettias are large perennial shrubs growing over 12 feet tall. Introduced to the United States in the early 1800s, it has become one of the most popular blooming houseplants to celebrate the holidays.   Although red and green leaves are common for Poinsettias, there are over 100 varieties available. You can find them in a range of bloom colors,...

“How I hate to hear winter cursed. Winter is bad; summer is good. Cold, bad; warmth, good. January in Illinois, heaven forbid! January in Florida, paradise. Bah, I say, humbug! Winter is not to escape; it is to embrace… I go upstairs to warm my hands in front of the wood stove and gaze into the flames, pondering the sublime slowness of time as measured by the heavens.”  In Solstices and Equinoxes: A Farmer’s Meditations, the operator of Henry’s Farm, Henry Brockman, finds rest in an unpopular...

If picking the perfect holiday gift stresses you out, this year visit your local garden center for a natural gift that keeps on giving. Gardening and growing plants is an experiential gift that is both rewarding and fun. If you are gifting a plant this season, remember to keep your gift recipient in mind. Do they have pets or small children who will disturb the plants? Some plants may be toxic, too. How much space and sunlight do they have? Would they prefer to receive a plant to have for...

The smells of Thanksgiving dinner highlight a holiday centered around family, friends, and giving thanks. Heartwarming and tempting, the aromas of freshly baked dishes would not be the same without the addition of herbs like thyme, sage, rosemary, and parsley. This holiday season, consider herbs you could grow in your own garden or plant a container of herbs indoors for an uplifting scene of green and quick access to fresh flavor.  Herbs for the Holidays While both fresh and dried herbs are...

Imagine owning and running the business of your dreams, and not being in control of one of the most stressful aspects of a business: the cost of production. For many, this situation is not a fantasy, it is a reality. According to recent USDA data, farm sector production expenses for farmers both large and small are almost 18 percent higher on average compared with this time last year. In an environment of 40-year-high-inflation, farmers are experiencing increased risk in two of the five USDA-...

Imagine your last visit to a beloved family home, arriving as a freshly baked pumpkin pie was pulled from the oven. If you take a moment, I bet you can almost smell it.  Many people have this olfactory memory of the most well-known winter squash: the pie pumpkin. Others are also familiar with the smell or taste of pie pumpkin’s common cousins: spaghetti, acorn, and butternut squashes. All belong to the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, and thanks to amazing genetic potential, it houses...

Your garden's floral showcase may be ending but the flowers need not disappear. Extend the life of floral garden favorites by preserving them for indoor decor. The art of preserving flowers and plant materials has been practiced for hundreds of years; colonial Americans harvested and dried flowers to decorate their homes for the long winter season. In similar fashion to early American homes, dried flowers and foliage can be used to create wreaths, potpourri, vase arrangements, or other gifts....

Red, white, and blue will make a statement on flagpoles, porches, street corners—even truck beds—this holiday weekend. Join the celebration, plant a festive garden of patriotic color around your flagpole or a red, white and blue front door container to celebrate Independence Day. The addition of blue flowers to your red and white garden is tricky to accomplish, only around 10% of the flowering plants on earth produce blue flowers, but the addition is certain to make a patriotic statement. Blue...

Your ambition to start your summer vegetable garden is stunting your tomato and pepper plants. This Sunday, let Mom distract you from the gardening itch. She is worth the time and your warm-season plants will thank you for waiting.  I learned this lesson personally last year. I transplanted tomatoes and peppers on May 15, May 22 and May 31; then, I witnessed the May 31 planting surpass earlier plantings.  Later planted transplants benefit from higher average temperatures. The average last...

Time is ticking to find that perfect Valentine’s Day gift for your loved ones. Instead of the go-to fresh floral arrangement, give a gift that someone can enjoy for many months. Flowering houseplants are great alternatives to traditional bouquets of cut flowers. With a little care and maintenance, these plants can thrive in your house or office and rebloom multiple times. A bonus to gifting these indoor plants, they can be moved outdoors to your garden or patio container once warmer...

The Thanksgiving meal has been had (hopefully with a local turkey and/or local produce) and now it’s time to start thinking about putting up a tree for Christmas. Did you grow up with a fake plastic tree like some of my friends did? If so, that’s ok, but there is another way. Every year about this time of year as a kid, my two brothers and I would go out with my parents to the local Christmas tree farm we lived near to in Northern Illinois and do a whole lot of walking around with a handsaw in...

Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love in the form of flowers. This holiday excites floral designers because they know every festive flower can generate a positive emotional response. Floral designer and State Master Gardener Coordinator, Candice Hart, becomes ecstatic because she is creating an experience through artistic expression with nature’s bloom. And that experience is backed up by research.  Illinois Extension flower...

Anyone can make their holiday season a little more earth friendly with a new family tradition: recycling the tree! Put it on the curb. The easiest way to properly dispose of your tree, most waste collection programs allow residents to recycle holiday trees by placing them at the curb for pickup to be mulched. Be sure to remove all your decorations first! If this is not available where you live, contact your nearest recycling center. Holiday trees are biodegradable and if you...

Six Garden Gifts  Gardening is a mindful practice that can only be sourced outside in the fresh air, with your hands in the dirt, creating a pallet of flowers and fruits. This past year, many new gardeners tested their skills while experienced gardeners stretched theirs. This year, gift the must-have gardening tools of the trade.  Garden Gloves: Sometimes we don’t want our hands in the actual dirt. Gardeners need gloves that that are textured on one side and breathable on the other,...

Decorating with fresh greenery is a treat for most gardeners getting ready for the holiday festivities. Some buy greens from a local garden center, but did you know you can harvest branches from evergreen conifers to use in your holiday décor? Whether you are making wreaths, porch pots or swags, Illinois gardens boasts eastern red cedar, pines, spruces, holly, yew, boxwood and junipers that can be used. Cedars, pine, firs, boxwood and holly are the best option for using indoors while others...

This holiday season, buy Poinsettias from local growers, and keep them vibrant with a few “don’ts” from a previous Poinsettia greenhouse grower. Millions of Poinsettias are bought each year as decoration and gifts. What most consumers do not know is Poinsettias have to be grown with a lot of love and attention or they won’t make it to your holiday festivities. They require the absolute ideal environment to grow in, a task far more complex and tedious than other crops grown in the greenhouse....

Being thankful for our families has a new meaning this year, and the feast should be spectacular. Let’s add a sometimes-missing ingredient this year: the love that a local grower, baker, or cook puts into their product. My role in the Thanksgiving meal is to procure ingredients and I challenge myself to buy mostly fresh local ingredients for the big meal. Now approaching my fourth year, buying local has become a new Thanksgiving tradition. My sister, the cook, is always...