Beneficial Insects – GRO Big Red

Butterflies and Moths

Summer is really here, not quite by calendar, but definitely the temperatures, and bugs. As an Entomologist, I love when insects become active, but I know not everyone feels the same about bugs. I do not like mosquitoes and other annoying bugs that bother me outside and I especially dislike those that do damage to…

Spring Garden Preparations

Spring is officially in full force, which means all of our planning and excitement is coming to fruition out in the vegetable garden. With any luck, you’ve had your greens and cabbages and peas in the ground for a little while now and are already eating your own homegrown food. As we enter May, though,…

Black Swallowtails – Caterpillars in the Herb Garden

If you have a flourishing herb garden, you’re bound to get pollinators and pests alike! Learn about the black swallowtail butterfly and why it needs a little bit (or a lot) of tolerance when it comes to sharing your dill, parsley, and fennel.

Old But New

Plant breeders have given us some spectacular wonders for our gardens over the years. We now have beebalm and phlox that are more resistant to powdery mildew. Coneflowers now come in bright bolder colors with sturdier stems. We even have different Joe-Pye-Weeds that are shorter, more compact and even some like Eupatorium altissimum ‘Prairie Jewel’…

White-lined Sphinx Moth

The white-lined sphinx moth is a large and beautiful daytime flying moth commonly spotted nectaring on flowers in Nebraska.

Don’t Wig Out Over Earwigs

The earwig is a curious pest. It is considered a wonderful mother, a creepy crawler, a natural enemy, and a pest of fruits.

Kind Cleanup for the Critters

in order to promote pollinators and other beneficial organisms, a perennial garden that is left too tidy over the winter will lower the potential for retaining and benefitting bees, wasps and other insects.

Straw Foxglove

Unlike foxglove that are biennial, straw foxglove (Digitalis lutea) is a true perennial. The light yellow bell-shaped downward-facing flowers are smaller than their biennial relatives, but what is lost in flower size, straw foxglove makes up for in reliability and ease of growth. Straw foxglove does best in average garden soil in a site…

Woodland Phlox

Woodland phlox, Phlox divaricata, also known as wild sweet William, is a shade-loving perennial that produces lavender blue five-petalled flowers in spring. It has a wonderfully long bloom season. In my garden, it has been sending out flowers for a solid month now. Woodland phlox does best under trees in soils rich in humus….

Gardening Projects

What really sets Nebraska Extension Master Gardeners apart from garden clubs is their dedication to learning Best Management Practices, the cornerstone of what the land grant university has to offer, whether it is an invasive insect, a tough weed to manage, or a proven plant variety to try. This dedication to learning shows in the…