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.
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 […]
A sad thought occurred to me the other day while I was doing some holiday errands. I watched in horror as shoppers steered their carts full of holiday gift plants through gusty winds and miserably cold temperatures only to put these frigid plant victims into icy-cold automobiles. I wondered how many of these plants would even make it to their intended recipients? And how long would they last if they did make it that far? […]
The Perennial Plant Association (PPA) has selected Japanese painted fern, cultivar ‘Pictum,’ as the 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year. Though the plant is petite in size, Japanese painted fern provides outstanding texture and color in the shade garden. Japanese painted fern also can be grown in patio containers and hanging baskets. Known botanically as Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum,’ Japanese painted fern is native to Asia, but is hardy throughout Indiana and most of the Midwest. […]
If you’re looking for something new to add to next year’s garden, All-America Selections (AAS) has chosen five new flowers and three vegetables for 2004. These new cultivars have been judged superior in their class based on their performance in test gardens all over the country. Two new Celosia cultivars head this year’s list of winners. ‘Fresh Look Yellow’ is a low-maintenance, colorful addition to the bedding garden, sporting large, golden-yellow plumes that reach up […]
Composting is a great way to recycle the plant debris in your garden, including both crops and weeds. It’s easy to do–nature does it on its own all the time. But with proper management, you can help nature move along a little faster, if needed. Compost returns some nutrients back to the soil, but the main benefit is in the improved soil structure. Adding organic matter, such as compost, will increase soil aeration and […]
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. […]
While gardeners may still have several more weeks to enjoy what’s left of the growing season, it will soon be time to put our gardens to bed for winter. Flowers and vegetables whose foliage has begun to brown and shrivel should generally be removed before winter. Removing the spent foliage is an excellent way to reduce the chance for fungi and insect pests to over winter. Herbaceous perennials should be cut back to just above […]
If you saved last year’s poinsettia plant, and you want it to flower in time for the holidays, now is the time for action. Poinsettias need about 8 weeks of special handling to force them to re-bloom. Poinsettias are sensitive to photoperiod — the length of the day. Actually, it’s the number of hours of darkness that is most important. Poinsettias flower during short days, with long periods of darkness each night. In the home […]
Just when the colors of summer flowers are fading, late-blooming perennials are ready to take center stage. In addition to the usual fare of coneflowers, mums and ornamental grasses, many lesser-known characters are ready to perform. Agastache foeniculum, also known as Blue Giant Hyssop, packs 4-5 inch long dense spikes of bright blue flowers on 3 foot tall, upright plants. Butterflies and hummingbirds love this plant, as do bees. Japanese Anemone (Anemone x hybrida) offers […]
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 […]