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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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. […]

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. […]