One of the things I enjoy most in my wildlife-friendly yard is watching the fireflies. What kid hasn’t run around their back yard at dusk chasing fireflies? When I was a kid, I remember summer evenings at my grandparents’ house. My grandparents, my parents, sometimes my favorite aunt and uncle, all sat on the front … Read more
HOSTAS AND SLUGS / A GARDENERS’ NIGHTMARE Gardeners love their hosta plants but hate all the predators that love to feast on these beauties. With this specific blog, I am referring to slugs and not deer. Slugs love to live under hosta plants mainly because hostas grow in our shady gardens, which tend to stay … Read more
SUMMER IS THE MOST STRESSFUL SEASON OF THE YEAR FOR LAWNS Are you happy with the way your lawn looks right now? I am concentrating this blog on lawn care to our cool-season fescue lawns, which most of us have rather than the warm season grasses such as Bermuda and Zoysia. The month of July … Read more
Zucchini—is anything more quintessentially summer? But here are some tidbits you might not know: Zucchini Tidbits The ancestors of zucchini, like all squash, are native to the Americas. They were brought to Europe in the 1600s, but the Italians are credited with actually breeding them. The word comes from the Italian word for squash—“zucca”. They … Read more
HERE IS A SHORTLIST OF GARDENING CHORES THAT NEED TO BE DONE IN JULY Before I get started I like to do a re-cap for June. Early in June, we remained warm and dry. Then in mid-June, some of us got A LOT of rain that we needed badly. This heavy rainfall put us over … Read more
In July of 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proclaimed July National Blueberry Month. So here are a few interesting tidbits about these delicious berries. Blueberries belong to the family Ericales. This makes them related to cranberries, Brazil nuts, persimmons, camellias, azaleas, and rhododendron! The silvery/whitish film found on blueberries is called a “bloom.” This is … Read more
IF YOU HAD ISSUES WITH JAPANESE BEETLES LAST YEAR, MORE THAN LIKELY, YOU WILL AGAIN THIS YEAR The best defense in fighting Japanese Beetles is knowledge. The best strategy in eliminating, or at least reducing the damage done by Japanese Beetles, is through learning the life cycle and applying control measures at the appropriate times. … Read more
You know keeping your vegetable garden watered in the heat is important. What you might not know, however, is heat can cause an array of problems you may not be aware of. Powdery Mildew Powdery mildew loves hot humid weather and can be a big problem—particularly this time of year when our young vegetable plants … Read more
JUNE IS PERENNIAL GARDENING MONTH You may be asking yourself, “What are Stepables and what does this have to do with June being Perennial Gardening Month?” The quick answer is that Stepables are a series of hardy perennials that tolerate foot traffic. To give you a little background information, the Stepables series was started over … Read more
This past Sunday, June 20 was the Summer Solstice—the first official day of astronomical summer. South of the equator, it is the first official day of winter. On the other hand, meteorologists consider summer as beginning the first day of June and ending the last day of August. Origin of the Term Solstice Solstice comes … Read more
