Rosie Lerner

rosie@purdue.edu

716 articles by this author

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Deicing Salts Helpful For People But Not Landscape Plants

Deicing salts can save your neck this winter, but they can spell disaster for landscape plants. Whether the salt is sprayed on the plants from passing traffic near the road or is shoveled onto plants near the sidewalk, the salt can cause damage. Salts can adversely affect plants in several ways. Salts deposited on the surface of twigs, branches and evergreen leaves can cause excessive drying of foliage and roots. They can be taken up…Read more about Deicing Salts Helpful For People But Not Landscape Plants[Read More]

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Question and Answer

Q. For the last two years my Nandina has produced a lot of flowers that promised to berry, but the berries seem to drop off before fruition. It has berried beautifully in the past, and there has been no change in environment. A. Nandina is marginally hardy to southern Indiana, but it is considered to be an invasive, weedy species in the southeastern United States where it forms vigorous spreading colonies. Although commonly called heavenly…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]

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Tis The Season To Sage

Thanksgiving dinners filled with the fragrance of sage-dusted turkey and dressing may be an American tradition, so you may be surprised to find out that the sage plant (Salvia officinalis) is native to the Mediterranean. Today sage is primarily used as a culinary herb, but in older times it was a common medicinal plant. The origin of the salvia name from the Latin salvus, “to save,” and salvere, “to heal,” underscores its medicinal value. Sage…Read more about Tis The Season To Sage[Read More]

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Question and Answer

Q. We enjoy your articles and were wondering about Jack-in-the-pulpit seeds. Do they have to be stratified? Would you do an article about the different seeds and which ones need stratification and or softening and abrading? A. Seeds of many plants in our climate have an immature embryo that requires a period of moist-chilling (stratification) before they are able to germinate. Although the length of the chilling period varies with the plant species, most seeds…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]

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Water Now To Minimize Winter Injury

Dry summers are not that unusual in the Midwest. But this year gardeners really had to battle to maintain healthy plants when extremely high temperatures were accompanied by a lack of rain. And of particular concern this year is that the drought is lasting well into autumn, putting plants in poor condition to get through the winter when water will be unavailable due to frozen soil. Newly planted trees, shrubs and perennial flowers will be…Read more about Water Now To Minimize Winter Injury[Read More]

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Evergreen Needles Don’t Last Forever

Evergreens provide green color all year long but that doesn’t mean that the individual needles live forever. Evergreens shed their older needles to make room for new growth, but what makes them evergreen is that they retain some foliage all year long instead of shedding all of the leaves at once. Evergreen needles have varying life spans, depending on the species. Arborvitae and pine needles live for 2 years while spruce needles live 3-10 years….Read more about Evergreen Needles Don’t Last Forever[Read More]

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Evergreen Needles Don’t Last Forever

Evergreens provide green color all year long but that doesn’t mean that the individual needles live forever. Evergreens shed their older needles to make room for new growth, but what makes them evergreen is that they retain some foliage all year long instead of shedding all of the leaves at once. Evergreen needles have varying life spans, depending on the species. Arborvitae and pine needles live for 2 years while spruce needles live 3-10 years….Read more about Evergreen Needles Don’t Last Forever[Read More]

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Evergreen Needles Don’t Last Forever

Evergreens provide green color all year long but that doesn’t mean that the individual needles live forever. Evergreens shed their older needles to make room for new growth, but what makes them evergreen is that they retain some foliage all year long instead of shedding all of the leaves at once. Evergreen needles have varying life spans, depending on the species. Arborvitae and pine needles live for 2 years while spruce needles live 3-10 years….Read more about Evergreen Needles Don’t Last Forever[Read More]

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Question and Answer

Q. We have a raised bed that is about 7 inches deep. The soil is dark-colored and was excavated from the foot of a slope in a woods near a graveled road. I also added several bags of muck topsoil. I have tried to grow several vegetables, but the stems of all are very elongated. Radishes were about 18 inches tall with very small underground parts. Lettuce was about 12 inches tall with small leaves. Tomato…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]

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Consider Garden Mums for Fall Color

While many of summer’s perennials are winding down for autumn, you can refresh your garden’s color with garden mums. Colors ranges from many shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, bronze, pink and white. The flowers themselves come in many different forms, from spider types with long, narrow petals to cushion types that have wider, more compact flowers. Some mums are bred as outdoor garden plants, but many are bred as florist-potted plants, meant to be…Read more about Consider Garden Mums for Fall Color[Read More]

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