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.

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.

Veggie Garden Cleanup in Late Fall

We’re nearing the end of the veggie harvesting season with the coldest of cold hardy plants possibly still hanging on. It’s time to move to the next phase in edible gardening – the cleanup and storage phase.

Cleaning up Your Diseased Garden

Let’s face it, by the end of the growing season, many plants aren’t looking too good. The heat, drought, bugs and diseases have turned them from assets into liabilities. If the spots and rots have been active with your shrubs, perennials and other garden plants, it’s time to act.

Remain Calm, It’s just a Cicada Killer Wasp!

Cicada killing wasps are back for the summer of 2020! They are big and fast, but they’re not going to hurt you. Learn how to live comfortably with them or discourage them from taking up residence in your landscape.

Mosquitoes: A Bad Summer Buzz

Mosquitoes are back and they’re not only annoying, but they can make you sick! Learn what you can do to reduce the number of mosquitoes in your landscape and prevent bites this summer.

What’s Up with All the Wasps?

Paper wasps and yellowjackets are build nests around our home and landscape. Find out how to protect your family and pets from stinging insects before small nests become large colonies.

Rose Diseases

Unfortunately, roses are not care-free plants, at least not in the Midwest.  They are susceptible hosts to several diseases, namely powdery mildew, rust, black spot and rose rosette.   Powdery mildew:  The name is apt for this disease, as the foliage of affected stems turns to a whitish cast as if dusted with flour.  Powdery…

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The brown marmorated stink bug is a nuisance as well as a destructive pest and, like its name implies, puts off a nasty odor when crushed. This nonnative invasive pest has been in Nebraska since 2012. The damage the BMSB causes is from its needle-like mouthpart that punctures, resulting in sunken bruised areas on fruits….

A New Can of Worms!

Nebraskans are talking about an invasive worm. They are commonly referred to as “Asian jumping worms”, “jumping worms”, “crazy worms”, or “snake worms”. I like to call them crazy worms because whether they jump or move in a serpentine motion, they certainly behave in an uncharacteristic way for a worm. The short story is that…