The emerald ash borer is a relatively small but destructive beetle that arrived from its native Asia. This metallic, green beetle has killed millions of ash trees throughout the Midwest, Eastern United States and Canada and is present here in the Chicagoland area.  Here are some signs to look for of an Emerald Ash Borer infestation:

So many choices and so little time and space.  That’s often the challenge that gardeners face, especially when it comes to selecting the best tomato varieties for containers and gardens.  Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Selecting the Right Tomato for You':

Review the list of monthly tasks to help you grow and maintain your gardens indoors and out.  Following the tips that apply to your landscape will help increase your success while making gardening easier, less stressful and fun. Click on the links for more detailed information through audio, video, and written tips written by gardening expert, Melinda Myers.   

Certain plants never seem to disappoint a gardener’s intense craving for voluptuous and sweetly, scented blooms in May and June. Everyone has their favorites, but peonies and iris are the ones that get me through our long, Midwest winters.

Add a little color and fragrance to your early spring garden with cool season annuals.  These plants can tolerate the cool air and soil of our growing region.  And many keep blooming even after an unexpected spring snow shower.  Just wait for the snow to recede and temperatures to warm. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Planting Cool Season Annuals':

Review the list of monthly tasks to help you grow and maintain your gardens indoors and out.  Following the tips that apply to your landscape will help increase your success while making gardening easier, less stressful and fun. Click on the links for more detailed information through audio, video, and written tips written by gardening expert, Melinda Myers.   

After many months of winter’s subtle palette, the first trip in spring to the garden center can be exciting AND bewildering. With so many colors, varieties and new containers—all vying for attention—it helps to arrive armed with a loose plan. Since inspiration can come from anywhere—a special painting, photograph or fabric—just about anything can become the starting point for new color combinations for your spring containers.

Get a jump start on the growing season and start getting some color back in your green thumb.  Early to mid-March is the perfect time to start broccoli, early cabbage, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, and head lettuce from seeds indoors. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Starting Cool Season Vegetables Indoors':

Review the list of monthly tasks to help you grow and maintain your gardens indoors and out.  Following the tips that apply to your landscape will help increase your success while making gardening easier, less stressful and fun. Click on the links for more detailed information through audio, video, and written tips written by gardening expert, Melinda Myers.   

The new color trends for 2013 surface at Fashion Week in New York early on and then spread to other areas to offer us choices for colors in cars, home furnishings and even for our outdoor garden rooms. As spring arrives on March 20th, we can look forward to fresh colors that inspire and add an air of sophistication to our gardens and container designs.

Review the list of monthly tasks to help you grow and maintain your gardens indoors and out.  Following the tips that apply to your landscape will help increase your success while making gardening easier, less stressful and fun. Click on the links for more detailed information through audio, video, and written tips written by gardening expert, Melinda Myers.   

 

Improve your home’s air quality and get a winter fix for your green thumb by starting or expanding your indoor garden.  Just adding a houseplant or two can lift your spirits and help chase away the winter blues.  Add even more and you will improve the air quality throughout your home.  NASA research found that houseplants remove indoor pollutants that can cause headaches and other sick building symptoms. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Houseplant Care':

Roses are red, violets are blue... and Valentine’s Day is the sweetest holiday of them all. This special day on February 14th, gives us all permission to show that special ‘someone’ that he or she is loved. Anything from handwritten notes, chocolate kisses, long-stemmed, red roses or a sparkling, engagement ring can create the most magical day. Everyone deserves a little love on Valentine’s Day—not only sweethearts.

Does your house feel naked after that tired, Christmas tree has been removed and declared as ‘mulch’? As January is the designated month for sweeping out the old and bringing in the new, how about replacing the old  with a living, indoor plant?

Boost your mood and beautify your décor with a terrarium.  For some of us, this is a blast from the past with an updated flair.  For others it may be a great way to improve your indoor gardening success. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Creating and Caring for a Terrarium':

Review the list of monthly tasks to help you grow and maintain your gardens indoors and out.  Following the tips that apply to your landscape will help increase your success while making gardening easier, less stressful and fun. Click on the links for more detailed information through audio, video, and written tips written by gardening expert, Melinda Myers.   

The holiday season has arrived!  That means you will likely be giving or receiving a poinsettia.  With these gifts often comes the question; "How do I keep my poinsettia alive?".  The answer is simple "Proper Care".  And that starts the minute you leave Pasquesi’s. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Caring for your Poinsettia':

Just as soon as the roasted turkey is sliced to make sandwiches, the winter holiday festivities begin in earnest. Start the season off right with lavishly adorned, fresh-cut greens in containers and top it off with an elegant Frasier Fir tree that becomes the focus for entertaining and family gatherings. Choosing your own decorations for outdoors and indoors allows you and your family to create a unique, winter wonderland—whether it arrives with luxurious metallic gold and silver or with a Yuletide palette from nature.

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

• Check that all garden supplies, such as hoses, chemicals, seed and sprinklers, have been stored.  Seeds should be refrigerated and most chemicals should not be allowed to drop below freezing.  Clean and repair all tools.  Make sure all outside water has been drained and turned off before it freezes.

Purchasing a quality Christmas tree is the first step in keeping your tree looking good throughout the season.  Purchase a fresh tree with pliable needles that are firmly attached.  Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Christmas Tree Care':

In November, as the gardening season winds down, our focus turns to life inside the home. But, before Thanksgiving, when we welcome family and friends to our front doorways with Indian corn, pumpkins and other symbols of the harvest, don’t forget to take time to care for your winter garden.

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

• Continue to provide birds with fresh water and food.

 

Converting fall leaves, landscape trimmings, and other plant debris to compost is easier than you think.  Just put it in a pile and let it rot.  It really is as simple as that.  And if you add a little time and effort, you’ll get quicker results.  Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Composting':

As a child, my Halloween memories were fueled by the anticipation of our family’s annual ritual of picking out the perfect pumpkin. My father would take us five kids to the local ‘pumpkin patch’—a vacant lot that was transformed overnight with pumpkins and cornstalks.

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

• Continue to plant spring flowering bulbs, trees and shrubs, until the ground has  frozen.

 

Now is the time to add color to your spring garden.  Spring flowering bulbs like crocus, tulips and daffodils welcome another growing season with color and fragrance.  Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Fall Planting for Spring Beauty - Bulbs':

As the blazing summer of 2012 rolls into September, it’s time to freshen up those heat-ravaged containers. First, consider yourself lucky if any of the plants in your containers have survived after 100-degree temperatures became a daily affair. With the unflagging hope of a gardener, this upcoming autumn will cool us down and we can once again enjoy being outside in our gardens. 

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

• Now is the time to plant potted perennials, trees and shrubs for root growth throughout the fall and to get a headstart on next years garden.  

Whether its color, easy care or year round interest your garden needs – hydrangeas are the answer.  Mix them with perennials to extend the color, increase texture and add year round interest to the garden. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Increase Your Garden's Appeal with Hydrangeas':

Late summer-blooming hydrangea shrubs have arrived with their fresh and extravagant blooms. These woody-stemmed hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) mature into large plants that thrive and prosper in full sun an part sun. When planting, make sure to allow extra space for these larger shrubs to mature.

 

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

• Keep plants well watered during times of excessive heat or drought.

 

Summer is a great time to plan and plant a perennial garden.  The rush of spring planting is over and you've had time to evaluate your garden through several seasons.  Plus you can take advantage of the great prices on perennials for your garden. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Planting a Successful Perennial Garden':

The growth cycle of ornamental grasses can act as a visual indicator for the passage of time. Spring brings neat, green tufts, followed by the exuberant foliage in the summer months. If you include a variety of grasses into your garden design now, you’ll enjoy a spectacular show in autumn with changing, foliage colors and feathered plumes.

Add color, motion, and fun to your landscape with the help of birds and butterflies.  Include a few of their favorite plants, water, and shelter and they will come.  And don’t worry if space is an issue.  Even a container or two can bring in these beauties. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Invite Birds and Butterflies into Your Garden':

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

• Prune annuals and perennials to promote bushier growth and more blooms.

When you plant a single variety of plants in multiples, it can bring focus and drama to your garden landscape. The eye perceives more color and texture when waves of the same plant provide a continuous bridge from one part of the garden to the next. It’s also an easy way to plant and to fill in a large area—and easier to maintain than the same spot filled with individual specimens that require different care and have different bloom times. When planting in multiples, plant odd numbers of plants (3, 5, 7 etc.) together or amass larger numbers in drifts or waves.

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

•    Remove wilted blooms from annuals, perennials and roses to encourage more blooming.

Nothing beats fresh-from-the-garden flavor and what better way to get your family to eat vegetables than to grow your own.  Those new to gardening may want to focus on a few family favorites, while experienced gardeners may want to expand their options.  Salsa is a favorite of many and can be used for dipping chips, seasoning baked potatoes, omelets, meat and more. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Grow Your Own Salsa':

 

May is a glorious month! It was named for the Greek goddess Maia who is associated with the Roman goddess of fertility. This makes a lot of sense to us gardeners who long for fertile soil and healthy plants that grow with wild abandon. For most of us who have been waiting to plant spring containers, now is the time to fill our cars with plants and determination. 

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

•    Begin planting trees, shrubs and perennials now.  Plant annuals after the danger of frost is gone.

Add a bit of color, beauty and edibility to your front steps, patio or deck.  Create a container filled with cool weather annual flowers, vegetables, and perennials. Here’s gardening expert, Melinda Myers how-to recipe, 'Spring Garden Container':

Wait no longer! You owe it to yourself to plant up a new spring container or two... or more, this month. There are no guarantees that we won’t see frost or freezing temperatures again. But, at least, those days are numbered. 

We love to share our gardening experience and help keep you informed about timely gardening tasks.  Here's a few things to do in the garden this month:

• Deadhead spring bulbs once they have finished flowering to redirect energy to the bulb, leave the leaves.

Winter gardening means offering protection to trees and shrubs outside, while enjoying and caring for indoor plants too. Forcing bulbs inside adds color and beauty!

The fall garden is busy! The gardener must harvest vegetables, plant bulbs, care for the lawn and mulch all overwintering plants to protect them, as the cold sets in.

Just as the gardening season is winding down and cooler temperatures have set in, there are still some tasks in the yard, to prepare it for the winter to come. Caring for your lawn in the fall is one of these important jobs that must be done to maintain the health of the grass over the many months that it sits under the snow.

The summer garden is all about maintenance. Keep the garden cool by watering wisely in the morning and by mulching all plants. Remove all weeds as they appear.

There is much to be done in the spring garden! It's time to replenish soil, plant seeds, pull away winter mulch and to prune trees and shrubs. Time to revive plants!