Summer Gardening Stories

Recent torrential rains have brought about flooded conditions in many gardens and landscapes. As floodwaters recede and folks get about the business of putting homes and lives back together, questions arise as to the safety of produce from flooded gardens, as well as potential damage to landscape plants. If you have produce ready to harvest, the issue of food safety is best handled with caution. Clearly, if floodwater is contaminated with raw sewage, it is […]

Although garlic is thought to have originated in Asia, it has become an integral ingredient in most every county’s cuisine. Garlic is usually grown for the flavorful bulbs that grow underground, but the green tops are used much like green onions in some countries. The flowers of the garlic plant are sterile and so do not produce seed. New plants are grown from the individual sections of the bulb known as “cloves.” Garlic for planting […]

If battling the weather, weeds, and Japanese beetles in your own garden is growing weary, why not plan a visit to a botanic garden or arboretum? Indiana has a number of public gardens where you can expand your palette of gardening ideas. Botanic gardens and arboreta are essentially living museums with plants as the exhibits. Public gardens are great sources of information about plants that can be grown in your area. Many public gardens have […]

This summer has been a challenging one for many Indiana vegetable gardeners. It started with a prolonged cold, wet spring, was followed by a couple of weeks of intense heat and drought, and then followed by torrential rains!   Gardens that have been in a prolonged saturated condition may present some surprising symptoms, ranging from wilting, yellowing or drooping foliage to blossom-end rot.   When soil is saturated for an extended period, roots are deprived […]

Many Indiana gardeners are experiencing a new phenomenon in their potato patch. At least, it’s new to them. Potato plants appear to be producing little green fruit, about the size of a large cherry tomato. These round, green berries are actually the fruits of the potato plant. It’s not surprising that they look like tomatoes, since both plants are in the nightshade family. Most gardeners never see this fruit form on potatoes in Indiana. Cool […]

Gardeners, mark Saturday, July 19, on your calendar for Purdue University Garden Day! This annual open-house event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Purdue University Horticulture Building and Gardens on the West Lafayette campus. The festivities will include guided tours of the ornamental gardens, a gardening information booth and gardening lectures presented by Purdue experts. Morning tours of the Horticulture Greenhouses also will be available. This year’s ornamental garden features […]

Depending on your plants’ perspective, our relatively cool, rainy weather can be a good or a bad thing. Cool-season plants, such as peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes and pansies, should be jumping for joy! It’s been nearly perfect weather for plants that get stressed out in hot, dry weather. These plants produce their best growth and, in the case of the veggie crops, best flavor during such cool weather. And, of course, if you happen to […]

Much to the dismay of homeowners, landscape trees sometimes grow roots on top of the surface of the lawn or possibly even buckle sidewalks and driveways. These surface roots can be quite a nuisance to lawn mowers and running feet. There are several reasons why the roots come to the surface. Some tree species seem to be more prone to surface roots than others, most notably silver maple, poplar and willow. But almost any large, […]