The highlight of the gardening season for master gardener volunteers in west-central Nebraska was our garden tour. This all-day event,...

Did you know that June is Iced Tea Month? June 10 is National Iced Tea Day. Let’s celebrate by learning a trivial factoid about tea:...

Origanum, the botanical name of the oregano family, contains 45 species and six sub-species of perennials and sub-shrubs. They are native...

Looking for a low-maintenance, problem-free, long-lived shrub? Look no farther than the viburnum. Know as “cranberry bush” in Europe,...

As my first Mother’s Day in this area approached, I was amazed by the fabulous bouquets families were bringing to cheer up hospitalized...

We may call them French or African but marigolds are native to Mexico. The Spanish who came to the Americas took them home where they...

I have often promoted the use of heirloom roses in the landscape. They are easy to grow, rewarding the gardener with vigorous, long-lived...

Milkweed is a North American native plant that is a food source for hundreds of small creatures but critical for monarch butterflies....

Every gardener has an irresistible favorite flower. Mine is the lily. I buy lilies from catalogs and on impulse in garden centers. With a...

Until 1856 when Sir Henry Perkins accidentally discovered a mauve-colored coal tar product, all dyes were from natural sources. Most (but...

Herbs are plants valued for their usefulness. Cooking with herbs certainly comes to mind, but they are also used for fragrance,...

The famous garden designer Gertrude Jekyll grew containers of flowers to fill in dull spots in perennial borders. As a longtime perennial...

Growing garden-fresh veggies gets more popular every year. It allows us to experience truly vine-ripe tomatoes and other fruits harvested...

Container gardening has much to recommend it. It allows those of us with few sunny sites to make the most of what we do have. It brings...

I confess that I’ve always loved peas. When I was a young child, frozen peas were sold as rectangular bricks that were a tad bigger than...

In Nebraska, we gave into “old house fever” and bought a gaslight-era place that needed a little TLC. There I indulged myself creating a...

About 30 years ago I began collecting heirloom roses. Inspired by the large arbor we had built over our patio, I succumbed to the Wayside...

At the end of the Carboniferous Period, radical changes occurred on the planet. Approximately 335 million years ago, the continents...

Vascular plants, those with specialized tissue for the circulation of water and nutrients, evolved more than 400 million years ago. Early...

Our backyard is dominated by a grove of trees. When we first moved to this place there was a grassy area between the house and the grove....

Is there anything more welcome on a cold winter day than a bowl of chili? Red or white, vegetarian or with meat, it warms from the inside...

In the early days of the new year, gardeners everywhere dream of new projects. You might be thinking about growing your own...

Early last spring a fellow master gardener and I volunteered to tidy up two pollinator gardens that the Tennessee Aquarium had helped...

Last month I read an illustrated article about holiday foods around the world. It is always interesting to learn about special treats in...

Pomegranates, Punica granatum, are only briefly available in stores here. They are in season between September and February with the main...

At this time of year I love to peruse cooking magazines in pursuit of fresh takes on holiday side dishes or a new twist for everyday...

The holiday season is officially in full swing. Many folks may celebrate by popping a cork or two. Cork grows on trees. The cork layer...

Would Turkey Day seem complete without cranberry sauce? Whether we love it or loathe it, most of us will not be without this uniquely...

Few topics have sparked more discussion among my old garden club buddies than the age-old conundrum: What is the difference between sweet...

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely...

The olive harvest is in full swing. It began in late September as the dark green fruit matured to a light green. All olives will...

Many years ago I read a magazine article about a woman who tore out her two-year-old professionally-planned landscape because she had to...

Does any flower trigger more impulse buying than the tulip? I confess to perusing every colorful catalog that lands in my mailbox. When I...

No topic leads to enthusiastic discussion at a rose club meeting more than dealing with deer. Both members and visiting speakers share...

Tomorrow is the last day of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. The festival began in 1810 as a celebration of the crown prince’s marriage...

Grafting, or joining parts of two plants so that they grow as one, is a commonly employed technique in the nursery industry. It is a...

Each year as we pass through the fabled dog days, I notice the changing angle of the sun in my garden even before the shortening days...

Much of the time when bad things happen in the garden I just accept that we can do nothing about the weather. It is what it is and it is...

One of the most striking shade-loving plants is mahonia. This family of evergreen shrubs is native to the woodlands of Asia and North and...

Horticultural gardens in Europe began as apothecary gardens. Universities established them on their grounds so that medical students...

Though we are a nation of coffee drinkers, during the dog days of August iced tea is popular everywhere. In this area “sweet tea” is the...

Tea is the quintessential Chinese product. For millennia only the Chinese knew how to grow Camillia sinensis and how to process the...

One of the loveliest summer blooming landscape plants is the hydrangea. The genus contains at least 80 species of deciduous and evergreen...

It’s that time of year again: The dreaded “dog days” of summer when it is so hot and humid that gardeners have to rise early to scurry...

After an herbicide incident killed a mature shrub in the midst of a hedge row, we decided it was time for a fresh start for the front...

Summer is upon us and area gardeners might enjoy a break from weeding. Let’s explore some opportunities for quick getaways, day trips...

If there is one vegetable that thrives throughout a long, hot summer, it has got to be okra. In theory, it should do well wherever corn...

Ah, the dog days of summer when the gardener can relax and reap the harvest of spring’s hard, hopeful efforts. Alas, while the sun tea...

Gardeners should wash clothing worn while spraying pesticides in a separate wash load. Run an empty washer load after washing that...

Pest control has been the topic of the month. There are many ways for gardeners to achieve acceptable levels of pest populations. Pests...