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Purdue Garden Day Has “Rooms” to Grow

Visitors will find rooms with a view at the Purdue University’s annual Garden Day, Saturday, July 10. This annual open-house event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Horticulture Building and Gardens on the West Lafayette campus.   The festivities include guided tours of the ornamental gardens, a gardening information booth, and gardening lectures presented by experts from Purdue and beyond. Morning tours of the Horticulture Greenhouses also will be offered. […]
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Clean Up Bulbs to Encourage Next Year’s Blooms

As the dazzling display of spring-flowering bulbs comes to a close, it’s time for a bit of spring cleaning. Now is the time to remove spent blossoms and prevent seed production from stealing needed carbohydrate reserves that can be better saved for next year’s bloom. Even though the foliage that remains is not very attractive and, in some cases, is downright unsightly, resist the urge to cut those green leaves off the plants. The health […]
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Sour Mulch “Burns” Tender Plants

Although the benefits of mulching garden plants are many, wood mulch that has been improperly stockpiled can lead to plant injury or even death. Young herbaceous plants are the most susceptible to such injury, which becomes obvious shortly after applying a hardwood bark mulch. Symptoms appear as if the plants have been burned with fertilizer or pesticides, or possibly, like severe water stress. All of the above could potentially be a problem, but, apparently, we […]
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Preventing Fruiting in Woody Plants

Although most gardeners aim to bring in a good fruit crop on their plants, there are a few situations where a barren plant is preferred. Some homeowners would love to find a way to keep certain landscape plants from dropping their fruits onto driveways and sidewalks. There are a few methods that can help reduce the amount of fruit production on both ornamental and fruit trees. Hand removal of faded blooms, or young fruits, works […]
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Lettuce – Cool Crop for Indiana Gardens

While it is too early to plant tomatoes, now is the perfect time to plant lettuce. The key to growing a successful crop is to plant and mature the lettuce in cool weather. Lettuce is an annual plant that will bolt (produce a flower stalk) and become bitter when temperatures stay above 70 F. Iceberg, or more correctly called crisp head type lettuce, used to predominate produce shelves at most grocery stores. Crisp head cultivars […]
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Spring Forward in the Garden

Although recent weather may have delayed some of your planting plans, it’s time to spring into action in the garden. Most gardeners will find there are still some chores to finish up from fall and winter. If you applied winter protective mulch to plants such as strawberries and newly planted perennials, be sure to pull that mulch back away from the plants as they emerge. But keep that mulch close by, just in case spring […]
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Pruning The Home Orchard

For many gardeners, pruning seems to be the most daunting chore in the home orchard. In an effort to avoid cutting off too much, many of us end up not cutting at all and end up with overgrown trees. Too little pruning can result in overcrowded, unhealthy branches that produce small fruit and/or few of them. On the other hand, severe pruning also can remove much of the crop potential. Not all fruit species grow […]
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New Garden Vegetables for 2004

The fresh crop of garden catalogs brings me hope for the coming spring gardening season. Once again, plant breeders are tempting us with new, better and unique looks to our old, familiar crops. Carrot ‘Romeo’ blends a petite ball shape with smooth skin that needs no peeling. Harvest for peak flavor when they reach about an inch or so in diameter, about 60 days from seed. (Renee’s Garden Seeds) Cucumber ‘Yellow Submarine’ bears large, 8-inch-long […]
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You Say Hedge-Apple, I Say Osage Orange!

No matter what you call it, there’s no question that the tree known botanically as Maclura pomifera is a unique curiosity. Depending on where you’re from, this tree has such names as hedge-apple, osage orange, bodark, bowwood and bois d’arc! Originally, this plant hailed from the southwestern United States, but was so widely planted throughout the Midwest as a hedgerow, that it is now considered to be “naturalized” throughout much of the eastern United States […]
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In Appreciation of Bark

The winter landscape may seem a bit bland at first glance. But if you look closely, you’ll find that quite a few plants have interesting bark that is actually easier to appreciate without the distraction of leaves and flowers. Bark often changes over time, so that a species that starts out with thin, smooth bark on twigs and young branches may become thick and flaky or change in color as the plant matures. Beautiful bark […]
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Page last modified: March 1, 2017

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