Enhance Your Garden with Edible Landscaping Shrubs  The integration of edible landscaping shrubs into Bloomington-Normal area gardens, sidewalk strips, fence lines, and elsewhere can add beauty, ecological function, and food security to our area. Four standout shrubs should...

Fall is the season of change. With shades of red, yellow, orange, bronze, brown, and purple scattered through the landscape, Central Illinois becomes a beautifully painted scene.   Deciduous trees, those that lose their leaves every fall, create a stunning fall display as they prepare...

Hostas are among some of the most cherished perennials of all time, creating a lush pallet of bright greens, muted greens, chartreuse greens, variegated greens and creams, and blue greens. This fall, some are displaying a vibrant yellow lighting up the landscape. They come in miniature versions to...

Sun-loving, season-long blooming, low maintenance, dependable and pollinator-friendly. Sound like a perfect perennial to add to your garden?   Calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta), selected as the Perennial Plant Association’s 2021...

Originally published by Kelly Allsup on May 7, 2021. If you didn’t know, we are cultivating invasive trees in backyards and urban settings. Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) and Amur corktree (Phellodendron amurense) are outcompeting surrounding plants...

For vibrant cut flowers this season, plant summer bulbs like dahlias, gladiolus, and lilies. These summer-blooming tropical bulbs are called ‘tender bulbs’ because they can be killed by our cold temperatures if left outdoors during the winter, or if they’re planted too early in the spring. They do...

Originally published by Kelly Allsup on April 30, 2021 Whether you have an area around your home that gets full sun or shade, is wet or dry, there is a native shrub option for you. Native shrubs are touted as easier to care for and provide ecosystem services like flowers for pollinators...

Do you see those beautiful white flowering trees lining the streets and backyards? These delicate white blossoms, made brighter by the months of winter endured, are actually an environmental hazard to the Illinois wilds. Callery Pear season is upon us. It’s actually ...

When creating a landscape, shrubs make up a large portion of the design. Shrubs are a great way to start building the blue print and creating a framework in you landscape design. Most landscapers plant them in groups and always account for mature size rather than trying to control size...

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...

As many perennial plants are getting ready to go dormant for the winter, it is time to start thinking about next spring’s floral display and plant spring-flowering bulbs. The best time to plant spring bulbs is late September through October to allow sufficient time for a good root system to develop...