Plant Profile: Luscious® Citrus Blend™ Lantana

Do you spend the winter months thinking and planning next year’s garden? Are you looking for plant suggestions? Here’s one worthy of your consideration.   Lantana, this stellar garden performer, is one tough cookie. Extremely drought tolerant, easy care and no pests or disease problems, makes Luscious® Citrus Blend™ Lantana a must in the garden. Lantana are easy to maintain. Their

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Poinsettia care

Poinsettia is perhaps the most common plant gift of the Christmas season. It is colorful, traditional and looks like it should be tough to withstand any conditions in the home. Many recipients assume that it will last for months in the home environment. Cared-for properly and the poinsettia will give weeks of color and pleasure to its owner. But, it

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Fall is ideal season for planting

Plant Trees and Shrubs Now Fall is an excellent time to plant new trees and shrubs in the landscape. There are several advantages to fall planting, so take advantage of this season to get a jump on the numerous spring landscape chores. Fall weather with the cooler temperatures and warm soil conditions make plant establishment close to ideal. Even though

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Weed Profile

Bindweed: a noxious weed   Like most gardeners I have a strong dislike for weeds. They create more work and rob our plants of much needed nutrients and water. But like many things in life not all weeds are created equally. By that I mean some weeds tend to be more of a pain in the backside than others. Some

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dealing with waterlogged soils

Extended wet periods can cause problems with our area soils. Soils in this part of the country, for the most part, tend to have high clay content. Clay is poorly drained and aerated, and holds high levels of water, which can be detrimental to many plants.   Identifying water-damaged plants Waterlogged soils exclude oxygen from the roots thus causing decline

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PICK SOME PEPPERS

Peppers, a highlight in any garden are one of the easiest plants to grow. Bringing a rainbow of colors, a plethora of shapes and different degrees of heat to your table, peppers are an attractive addition to any garden or container. It’s easy to value these plants for looks and flavor alone, but the pepper is a nutritional powerhouse as

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FLOWER FLIES

Their Babies Eat Your Aphids Photos and Text by Tom Schroeder When I say the word “Fly”, you probably do not imagine brightly colored, harmless Flower Flies feeding on flowers in your garden. Their larvae spend the night voraciously eating aphids on your garden plants while you sleep. By modifying a few gardening practices, you can encourage this natural pest

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Homemade Hummingbird Nectar

Making your own nectar couldn’t be easier.  In a few easy steps, you can bring these nectar-loving birds to your feeder. Materials: 1/4 cup of refined white sugar 1 cup boiling water bowl spoon Important: Don’t use honey; it can promote dangerous fungal growth. Organic, natural and raw sugars contain levels of iron that could be harmful. Plain white table

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Million Pollinator Garden Challenge

A campaign to register a million public and private gardens and landscapes to support pollinators. The Million Pollinator Garden Challenge (MPGC) is a nationwide call to action to preserve and create gardens and landscapes that help revive the health of bees, butterflies, birds, bats and other pollinators across America. We will move millions of individuals, kids and families outdoors and

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Pruning Shrubs in Spring

By Dennis Patton, Johnson County Extension horticulture agent Spring explodes with color, making this season one of the best times of the year here in Kansas City. Bright, colorful blooms fill our senses and remind us of the renewal that spring brings. Unfortunately, this colorful display does not last long. The end of a shrub’s flowering cycle triggers the time

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