Recent Posts
-
A few weeks ago I was hanging out in my backyard with some friends when we noticed strange egg-like structures sticking out of the ground. “Are these snake eggs?” we wondered, hoping they weren’t. Upon further examination, we realized they were actually a type of fungus! Initially, I was hesitant as I’d never encountered a…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
It’s that time of the year when the extension office starts receiving calls about fall armyworms in lawns. They can be identified by their dark head with a white inverted “Y” between their eyes. They get their name from their movement across a lawn in large numbers, like an army, usually in the early morning or late…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
The Stone Mountain Community Garden is a Master Gardener site located in the VFW Park in Stone Mountain. It is a collaborative effort between the City of Stone Mountain and DeKalb County Cooperative Extension. The garden was founded in 2009 and has been at the VFW park since 2011. The garden consists of over 50…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
The other day I was sitting on my front porch, admiring my little garden. I have the classic summer crops, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, herbs, and peppers as well as a variety of different native and pollinator flowers. My zinnias and cosmos have really taken off recently and I love the color they add to the…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
If you’ve been out in your garden or lawn recently you may have seen what looks like a wad of spit in your lawn on a plant. This is actually the result of the aptly named twolined spittlebug. Spittlebugs are both turf and ornamental plant pests. The “spittle mass” you may have seen is the…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
On a gorgeous April morning, I visited Master Gardener site leader, Janet Hanser at the Demonstration Garden at Brook Run Park in Dunwoody. I wanted to speak with her about a unique project she’s been leading. She has been using the straw bale gardening method for 10 years in the back third of the small,…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
Azaleas are a very popular shrub choice in Georgia but I think that our native species are underappreciated and underused. I personally was not aware of the many native options we have until a few years ago when I worked with specifically native plants. I was really surprised by how vibrant and unique they are…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
You’ve doubtlessly seen white blooms lighting up the landscape everywhere this spring. These early white flowers are a beautiful sight but they are more insidious than they seem. You may recognize this tree as the much-hated Bradford Pear. It was originally brought to the US after the European pear crop in the Western part of…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
There are so many beautiful blooms right now that are finally brightening up the landscape after a gray winter. One of these blooms that I love to see is paperbush! It is so unique and provides gorgeous winter interest to the garden. I visited the Atlanta Botanical Garden last weekend and saw it featured throughout…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
We’ve started to have some pretty warm days recently, and it’s got me thinking a lot about what will be going into my garden this year. One plant I would encourage you to try is a sunchoke. It will definitely be in my garden this spring. Sunchoke, also known as a Jerusalem artichoke, or by…
Posted in: Uncategorized