The following news stories are written by Rosie Lerner, Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist, and are distributed to news media around the state by Agricultural Communication Service, at Purdue University.
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 […]
pecies can get too much of a good thing. When foliage or fruit is exposed to excessive sunlight, plant tissue can get a bit of sunburn, generally referred to as sunscald. Sunscald is often exacerbated by high temperature and drought. Sunscald symptoms will appear as yellow or white lesions on foliage and/or fruits. The lesions eventually may turn brown and/or shrivel. Foliage that is commonly affected includes impatiens, hosta, rhododendron, garden beans, peas, peppers and […]
The early arrival of summer’s steamy weather is tough on garden plants and their gardeners. It is really difficult to stay motivated to keep up with garden chores when you’re already dripping with perspiration by 9 a.m.! Although the weeds, insects, diseases and critters don’t seem to have any trouble thriving in this weather, some vegetable crops have trouble producing when under stress. Tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and beans often drop their blossoms […]
Nothing tastes better than homegrown corn, but, because of its demand for space, sweet corn has traditionally belonged to the domain of large country gardens. Sweet corn plants usually produce only one ear per stalk, possibly two. And because a lot of corn pollen is needed to get a full ear, a large block of plants is usually required to ensure good yields. Poor pollination results in poorly filled ears. But, if you have a […]
Asparagus is one of the first vegetables to peer through the cool soil in spring, and what a welcome sight! The heavy snows this past winter provided excellent moisture and insulation for the plants, so the crop is off to a great start. Precisely how to harvest is the subject of some debate among asparagus gardeners. Some prefer to harvest only the very young spear tips. This ensures that only the tender portion of the […]
Asparagus is one of the first vegetables to peer through the cool soil in spring, and what a welcome sight! The heavy snows this past winter provided excellent moisture and insulation for the plants, so the crop is off to a great start. Precisely how to harvest is the subject of some debate among asparagus gardeners. Some prefer to harvest only the very young spear tips. This ensures that only the tender portion of the […]
Try to have a discussion about hydrangea among your gardening friends, and you’re likely to start a rather lively debate. What type to grow, when to prune, why doesn’t it flower and how can I change the flower color from pink to blue are among the most frequently asked hydrangea questions. There are many different species of hydrangea, not to mention cultivars of those species. So, these questions are a bit difficult to answer, unless […]
What better way to melt the snow than a cozy read through garden catalogs with all their promise of mouth-watering produce for the coming season! Here’s a look at just a few of the new vegetable seed offerings for 2010. Try a few alongside your old standby favorites so that you can compare performance in your garden. Basil ‘Amethyst Improved’ is a dark purple basil with large, thick, curled-down leaves similar to the classic variety […]
If someone asked me to design my idea of the “perfect” perennial, it would come pretty darned close to being this year’s selection for Perennial of the Year. Gorgeous purple-blue flowers, widely adaptable, native, well-behaved, relatively pest-free, and long-lived garden plant all describe Baptisia australis, which was named the Perennial Plant of 2010 by the Perennial Plant Association (PPA). Native to much of the Eastern United States, B. australis is a legume and can fix […]
The Perennial Plant Association (PPA) has announced that Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ its 2009 Perennial Plant of the Year. Also known as Japanese Forest Grass, this graceful, well-behaved grass provides color and texture nearly year round. Unlike most other ornamental grasses, Hakonechloa gives its best performance in partial shade, forming a dense, cascading clump about 1-2 feet tall and up to 3 feet in spread. Its compact, weeping habit is perfect for softening the edge of […]