Your home outside the city limits.
Each year the National Garden Bureau designates one bulb or bulb-like plant to highlight and this year’s featured plant is Dahlia. The Dahlia genus was named by the Madrid Botanical Garden for Andreas Dahl, a Swedish botanist and student of Carl Linnaeus. Mexico and Guatemala is the original homeland of dahlia species used to develop today’s garden cultivars. Spanish explorers of Central... Continue Reading →
This year the National Garden Bureau features Snapdragon, Antirrhinum majus, as its annual flower of the year. Snapdragon is often thought of as an old-fashioned flower, evoking childhood memories of a grandparents’ garden. But snapdragons are an easy to grow, multi-purpose plant, which add great color, fragrance and pollinator habitat to any garden. If you haven’t used snapdragons in your... Continue Reading →
It’s a great time to notice attractive features of trees and shrubs in the landscape.
In January and February, gardeners are placing seed orders and making plans to start plants for this year’s flowers and crops. Starting plants from seed isn’t difficult, just make sure to purchase high quality seed. In the long run, spending a little more on seeds will ensure good germination and healthy, vigorous plants that perform... Continue Reading →
Diseases, insects, drought and age take a toll on windbreaks, resulting in the need for renovation or tree replacement. For example, the windbreak above is compromised by the loss of Scotch pine trees to pine wilt. Winter is a good time to assess your windbreak and order trees for spring planting. Most windbreaks, even those... Continue Reading →
National Wreaths Across America Day!
Let’s talk trivia thanks to some facts from the Nebraska Christmas Tree Growers Association webpage:
Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com
Q: For every real Christmas tree harvested, how many seedlings are planted in its place? A: 2 to 3
Q: How many acres are in production for growing Christmas trees in the U.S? A: About 1 million acres
Q: What is the average growing time for a tree to reach average retail height of 6 feet? A: 7 years
Q: What are the top selling Christmas trees? A: Balsam Fire, Douglas Fir, Fraser Fir, Noble Fir, Scotch Pine, Virginia Pin, White Pine
Q: How many Nebraska counties have Christmas tree growers? A: 15
I wish you and your family a very blessed Holiday season!
Justin Evertson, Nebraska Statewide Arboretum Although most conifer trees are considered to be evergreens, all of their needles eventually fall just like deciduous trees. What makes them evergreen is that their leaves/needles persist more than one year before falling. Since new needles are added every year, there is always an overlap between green needles... Continue Reading →
Water conservation is important in home and business landscapes. While leaving automatic irrigation systems turned off, and only turning them on when plants need water, is a much needed practice change in many residential and business landscapes, selecting drought tolerant plants is also important. This article focuses on drought tolerant shrubs for different functions. While... Continue Reading →
Deciding on an artificial versus real Christmas tree is a matter of personal preference. Growing up, we had an artificial tree mostly because my mom’s allergies were very sensitive to the smell of pines and our house was pretty small so having a small tree we knew would fit in our dining room was preferred.... Continue Reading →
Gardeners can prevent winter damage in their landscapes, but first they need to recognize which plants are at greatest risk. Plant damage during winter is often caused by frost heaving, desiccation or cold temperature injury to roots and crowns. Plants most at risk of winter injury include: late fall-planted trees, shrubs and perennials, broadleaf evergreens, and... Continue Reading →
Many tropical or sub-tropical plants are popular additions to Nebraska gardens. They provide great color with their showy flowers and leaves, and also interesting foliage. But since these plants cannot survive a Nebraska winter, even as dormant bulbs in the soil, it’s important to dig them in fall and store them properly so that you can replant them... Continue Reading →
