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Lesser Known Perennials Extend Spring Color Show

Tulips, daffodils, and crocus are stars of spring in Midwestern flower gardens. But there’s an array of supporting players that can add variety to your spring bulb show. Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) brings a splash of yellow, buttercup-type blooms on dwarf, 3-6-inch plants. Winter aconite is appropriately named for its early arrival, often pushing its blossoms through a cover of snow in February, though sometimes as early as January and as late as March. Plants […]
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Pin Oak Looking Yellow?

Pin oak trees can be a beautiful asset to the landscape. Their pyramidal form, pendulous lower branches and reddish or bronze fall color are striking. Unfortunately, most pin oaks planted in the Midwest are plagued by a yellowing of the leaves known as chlorosis. Other landscape plants are also susceptible to chlorosis, including rhododendrons, river birch, holly and sweet gum. Chlorosis gets its name from the lack of chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for healthy plants’ […]
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Harvest Winter Squash This Summer

This summer’s heat wave is bringing the vegetable garden to maturity a bit earlier than usual in some areas. So many of our typical fall-harvested items may be ready sooner than you’re expecting.   Winter squash is so named because it is harvested in the mature stage, when flavor is rich and the rind is tough, making it suitable for winter storage. Summer squash is harvested in the immature stage, when the rind is still […]
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It’s a ‘Berry’ Good Time To Clean Up the Strawberry Patch

The strawberry harvest may be over, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to forget the plants. Post-harvest care is an important part of keeping your patch healthy and productive. With yearly renovation, strawberry plants can remain productive for 10 years or longer.   Ideally, you should renovate the strawberry bed immediately following the last harvest. The work can still be done now, though it would be best to finish up before the end of July. […]
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Ornamental Grasses Add Beauty and Texture

Although many gardeners think of grass as that plant that has to mowed every week, there are many species of grass that rival any garden flower for beauty and grace. Many ornamental grasses have attractive form, foliage, flowers and color-or even all of the above. Grasses can be used as ground covers (that do not have to be mowed), specimen plants, hedges, perennial borders, naturalized plantings and even rock garden plants. Perennial grasses that are […]
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Cold Weather Affects Vegetable Plants

It has been quite a year for Indiana gardeners already, and it has only just begun! We’ve had just about the whole range of possible weather from drought to flood and late frost to blazing heat. Recent cold weather has frustrated many vegetable gardeners. Plants such as tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers and melons must be successfully pollinated in order to produce their fruit. Extreme temperatures, below 55 F or above 90 F, will dramatically […]
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Trees and Utility Lines: A Battle to Avoid

The conflict between trees and utility lines is fresh on my mind, having just experienced the power company removing a significant number of limbs from two lovely old pine trees in the right-of-way behind my property. And I’m in good company with many homeowners who have experienced either the loss of a tree or a significant portion of a tree due to the need to keep the limbs from taking out power to the neighborhood. […]
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2001 the Year of the Centaurea

Each year the National Garden Bureau selects a flower to promote, and this year Centaurea is in the spotlight. Centaurea actually includes a number of species that gardeners are more familiar with by their common names–bachelor’s button, cornflower and mountain bluet. Some are annual flowers and some are perennial, but all are great additions to the gardener’s palette. Centaurea also make excellent cut flowers for both fresh and dried arrangements. Bachelor’s button, Centaurea cyanus, is […]
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Unique New Garden Vegetables for 2001

There’s no better time of year to browse the new gardening catalogs than during these winter doldrums. A quick glance at the first few pages of most catalogs will clue you in as to what’s new for this gardening season. With all the talk about “nutraceuticals” (foods that promote good health or even prevent disease), there are some new cultivars that offer enhanced nutritional value. Carrot ‘Nutri-Red,’ a red carrot high in lycopene (an anti-oxidant), […]
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Forced Branches Bring Spring Indoors

Winter days may be gloomy and dull, but you can give your home a touch of spring by forcing landscape branches to bloom indoors. Spring-flowering trees and shrubs set their flower buds the previous fall. Once the buds have been exposed to cold for several months (usually by mid-January), a branch can be cut and forced to bloom indoors. The easiest branches to force include forsythia, pussy willow, honeysuckle, crabapple, redbud, magnolia and flowering dogwood. […]
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Page last modified: March 1, 2017

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