Rosie Lerner

rosie@purdue.edu

716 articles by this author

Posts List

Rain Gardens Go with the Flow

Rain gardens are areas of the landscape designed to catch rainwater long enough to allow it to percolate slowly back into the groundwater rather than run off the soil. Rain gardens help recharge groundwater, improve the water quality of streams and rivers, reduce flooding, and provide cover for wildlife and butterflies. Rain gardens can be just shallow depressions of a few inches or elaborately constructed sites, depending on available space and needs of the site. […]
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Saving Seeds From the Garden

Collecting seeds from garden plants to plant next year may seem like a good way to save money, but you may be in for a surprise. Some seeds can be saved from year to year with good results, particularly the old-fashioned cultivars. But modern hybrid cultivars rarely breed true from collected seed. To get that disease-resistant tomato or frilly double petunia, two or more plants with desirable characteristics were crossbred. The seed from these hybrid […]
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Question and Answer

Q. I had to harvest quite a few tomatoes that weren’t quite ripe yet to avoid the frost. What can I do with these now? A. Tomatoes will continue to ripen off the vine if they have reached the critical stage of development called mature green. If the tomatoes have not hit that stage yet, they will remain green once removed from the plant. Mature green tomatoes are about normal size and have a whitish-green […]
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Coping With Storm-Damaged Trees

Homeowners assessing tree damage caused by recent storms will want to make a few important decisions soon. Small trees with minor damage can probably be taken care of by the homeowner but large mature trees likely will need the help of a professional tree service. It can be hard to decide whether trees with severe damage should be completely removed. Homeowners often are reluctant to cut down a tree, either because of sentimental attachment or […]
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Harvesting Grapes

One of the toughest things about growing your own grapes is beating the birds to the harvest! So understandably, gardeners can get in a big hurry to cut those beautiful clusters from the vine. But don’t be too hasty in cutting the fruits just to one-up the birds. Make sure your grapes are ripe before you harvest. Although color change is important in determining when to harvest grapes, it should not be the only consideration. […]
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Harvesting Grapes

One of the toughest things about growing your own grapes is beating the birds to the harvest! So understandably, gardeners can get in a big hurry to cut those beautiful clusters from the vine. But don’t be too hasty in cutting the fruits just to one-up the birds. Make sure your grapes are ripe before you harvest. Although color change is important in determining when to harvest grapes, it should not be the only consideration. […]
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Question and Answer

Q. I have grown impatiens on the north side of my home in containers for a number of years. Until the last 4 or 5 years they have been great, lush and beautiful. Now for the last few years they have black dots appearing on the leaves and blossoms with the dots eventually turning yellow. The plants are stunted and just seem to be hanging on, never really becoming bountiful and lush as in years past. I have changed […]
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Stressed Plants May Look Like Early Fall

Many of our landscape plants are under stress this summer from one or more factors, including excessive heat and humidity, insect feeding, disease infection, and depending on location and timing, drought and/or excessive rains, wind and hail. Some trees are already losing leaves, and leaves may be turning color before they drop. Early defoliation is common when plants are under stress, and this season has been quite challenging for many trees, both old and young. […]
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Weeding Is Good Exercise

No matter if the weather is cool or hot or wet or dry, gardeners must do battle with weeds. Despite having a number of weapons to fight this battle, this year the weeds have won the war at my place. Between torrential rains, heat waves and ravenous mosquitoes, I must confess to nearly giving up. But I have renewed my efforts by putting myself on a weeding exercise schedule. That’s right, weeding is good exercise! […]
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Question and Answer

Q. I lost every one of my rhubarb plants late last summer and fall. The plants started dying at one end of the row and just worked on down the row to the opposite end. Someone told me it was due to grubs; another told me that it was moles eating the grubs. Since this is a plant I intend to eat, whatever I use needs to be food safe. A. It is unlikely that […]
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