When we first think about invasive plants, we often conjure images of plants that are not pretty. I often think of the brambles that Maleficent casts around the castle in Sleeping Beauty. Sharp thorns, jagged edges, overall, a barren landscape. Invasive plants are not new. We know that some thistles, leafy spurge, and palmer amaranth…
Tag: Evans
All That Glitters
Trendy or not painting plants is a surefire way to kill them. Plants have pores (stomatal pore) that are located mostly on the surface of leaves. These pores are how plants gain access to carbon dioxide to carry out the process of photosynthesis. They are tiny and typically not visible with the use of a…
American Robin
Nothing says spring like the American robin. Most years my mom and I will call each other when we see our first robin. There is something uplifting about seeing them. Maybe because they singal the end of winter and the promise of spring. American robins can be found throughout most of North America from the…
Green Tomatoes
It is hard to believe that summer has come to an end. I almost sound like a broken record saying that this year was challenging. Nebraska was hit with historic weather that impacted every corner of the state. Portions of the Omaha area was hit with hail late May that made us replant our vegetable…
Double Trouble
Visit any of your favorite garden centers and you will see new introductions of old familiar favorites. For instance the purple coneflower is no longer purple. It comes a range of colors from red, yellow, orange, green, and white. You will even find cultivars where the traditional cone has been modified into flower petals often…
Going Soft
After cleaning up the damage to my plants from the hail storm on May 28th I didn’t cut back the damaged flower spikes to my German iris. Not sure why I didn’t. Probably because the flower stalks had injury but they didn’t seem to need immediate care. However, making that deceisoin I probably did more…
Dwarf Witch Alder
Choosing a shrub can be difficult. It is best to choose a plant that will be allowed to grow and will not need routine pruning. Most shrubs are picked for their color, shape, size, or another attribute. However, they are often put in the wrong place. Shrubs should be allowed to grow with out having…
A, F, St, V, N – Huh?
Hello Friends – It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to get something posted on our blog. Over the weekend I was wondering what I could possible write about and it hit me, I could blog about the apple of love AKA the tomato. Most of us are getting our favorite seed catalogs in the…
Winter Water
The weather the past few days in the Omaha Metro area has been fantastic! If you had a chance to get out this past weekend I am sure you saw people taking full advantage of the weather. Many of us went for a walk or took down Christmas decorations on the house. But how many…