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Signs of Pecan Shuck Decline Disease If your pecan tree has shuck decline or dieback you’ll see the impact on the shucks of the nuts. They start to turn black at the end and, eventually, the entire shucks may blacken. The shucks will open as normal, but early and there will either be no nuts inside or the nuts will be of lower quality. Sometimes, the entire fruit falls off the tree, but in some cases they remain on the branch....

Plant Frost Info Understanding the frost dates in your gardening region is critical to maximizing your garden potential. However, there are always frosts that sneak up and catch you off guard, no matter how prepared you think you are. Paying attention to weather forecasts in the fall and spring is essential to the health of your garden. Even a light frost can cause extreme damage to young spring plants or bring the colorful display of late summer tender plants to a screeching halt....

How to Grow Verbena When you are ready to learn how to grow verbena, you’ll want to locate this tough specimen where it gets eight to ten hours of sun each day. The verbena flower is not particular about soil, except that it must be well-draining. Poor soil is acceptable for verbena growing conditions. Perennial varieties of the verbena flower are often lost when planted in soil that becomes soggy following heavy winter snow or spring rain....

About Growing Cilantro Cilantro is the culinary term for the leaves of this plant. Did you know coriander comes from the same plant? Coriander is the spice made from the dried seeds. To enjoy one or both of these tasty seasonings, you can easily grow cilantro in an herb or container garden. Cilantro prefers full sun but will tolerate some shade. The soil should drain well. Provide regular water, especially as it gets hot to delay bolting....

Plane Tree Cutting Propagation Rooting plane tree cuttings is simple, as long as growers follow a few basic guidelines. First and foremost, gardeners will need to locate a tree from which they will obtain cuttings. Ideally, the tree should be healthy and should not show any sign of disease or stress. Since cuttings will be taken while the tree is dormant, it is important to identify the tree before the leaves have been dropped....

What is Rue Plant? While little known, growing rue herb in the garden can be helpful to a gardener in a number of ways. Its strong smell is a repellent to many creatures, including dogs, cats and Japanese beetles. Because of this, it makes an excellent companion plant. It has semi-woody growth, which means that it can be pruned into hedges. It attracts some types of butterflies, and, last but not least, makes a lovely cut flower....

About Siberian Iris Deadheading Siberian iris plants naturalize, forming clumps or colonies of 2 to 3 foot (61-91 cm.) tall plants in zones 3 through 9. Blooms form from spring to early summer on strong, erect stems above stiff, sword-like foliage. They bloom along with other spring perennials such as allium, peony, bearded iris, and foxglove. One of the notable characteristics is that their stems and foliage remain green and erect after the blooms fade....

About Silk Tassel Shrubs Native to the Pacific Coast, silk tassel is also known as coast tassel bush, coast silk tassel, or wavy leaf silk tassel. ‘James Roof’ is a popular variety grown in gardens. Easy-to-grow silk tassel reaches mature heights of 20 to 30 feet (6-9 m.). In its natural environment, silk tassel can grow for as long as 150 years. Silk tassel shrubs are dioecious, which means the plants produce male and female, catkin-like flowers (silk tassels) on separate plants....

Spigelia Indian Pink Information Indian pink is a clump-forming perennial that reaches mature heights of 12 to 18 inches (31-46 cm.). The emerald-green foliage provides delightful contrast to the vivid red flowers, which appear in late spring and early summer. The flared, tube-shaped flowers, highly attractive to hummingbirds, are made even more interesting by the bright yellow insides that form a star when the bloom is open. Growing Requirements for Indian Pink Wildflowers Spigelia Indian pink is a good choice for partial shade and doesn’t do well in full sunlight....

What is a Sweet Pea Bush? Unrelated to sweet pea garden flowers (Lathyrus odoratus), the sweet pea shrub (Polygalaspp.) gets its name from its similar-looking flowers. Sweet pea shrubs attract bees, butterflies, and birds, making them an excellent choice for wildlife gardens. It grows 2 to 3 feet (0.5 to 1 m.) tall and thrives in sun or shade. Native to South Africa and sensitive to frost, it survives winters only in U....

About Potato Spotted Wilt Spotted wilt on potato plants is often mistaken for early blight, another common ailment amongst the Solanaceous plant family. The upper leaves are affected first. The disease spreads through infected seed, insects and weed hosts, especially those in the nightshade family. Tomato spotted wilt virus, or TPWV, was first described around 1919 in Australia. It is now in almost every region of the world, with the exception of very cold climates....

Blueberry Stem Blight Info More commonly referred to as ‘blueberry dieback’, stem blight on a blueberry is caused by the fungus Botryosphaeria dothidea. The fungus overwinters in infected stems and infection occurs through wounds caused by pruning, mechanical injury, or other stem disease sites. Early symptoms of stem blight on a blueberry are chlorosis or yellowing, and reddening or drying of foliage on one or more branches of the plant. Inside infected stems, the structure becomes a brown to tan shade, often on only one side....

When to Plant Zone 5 Vegetable Gardens USDA zone 5 is divided into zone 5a and zone 5b and each will vary somewhat regarding planting dates (often by a couple of weeks). Generally, planting is dictated by the first frost free date and the last frost free date, which in the case of USDA zone 5, is May 30 and October 1, respectively. The earliest vegetables for zone 5, those that should be planted in March through April, are:...

Velvet Bean Information What is a velvet bean? Velvet bean plants (Mucuna pruriens) are tropical legumes that are native to southern China and eastern India. The plants have spread throughout much of Asia and are often cultivated around the world, especially in Australia and the southern United States. Velvet bean plants are not frost hardy, but they have a short lifespan and even in hot climates they are almost always grown as annuals....

What is a Weeping Pussy Willow? If you are looking for a new addition to your garden that will create early spring interest in the landscape, look no further. Start growing weeping pussy willows (Salix caprea ‘Pendula’). According to weeping pussy willow information, it’s a small willow with pendulous branches. Every year in late winter or early spring, those branches overflow with pussy willows, those fuzzy gray catkins soft to the touch as kittens....

Greenfly Information Now that we’ve sorted out the difference between greenflies and aphids, (there really is no difference), let’s consider a few aphids and greenfly facts. In some areas of the world, greenflies, or aphids, are known as plant lice, which is an appropriate name for the tiny bugs that gather en masse on leaf joints or the underside of leaves. The eggs usually hatch in early spring and immediately get busy sucking the sap from tender, new growth....

About Poet’s Daffodil Bulbs Poet’s daffodil plants (Narcissus poeticus) are native to Central Europe, but they have gained popularity with gardeners around the globe. The hardy plants thrive in nearly every corner of the United States, with the exception of extremely hot climates. Once planted, poet’s daffodil bulbs will provide beauty for many spring seasons to come. Each bloom, one to a stem, is centered with greenish yellow cups (coronas) marked with distinctive, mahogany-red rims....

Boxelder Tree Information What is a boxelder tree? It’s an easy-to-grow, very adaptable maple. The wood of boxelder maple trees is soft and has no commercial value. Boxelder maple tree facts tell us that this maple usually grows on river banks or near water in the wild. These trees help to shelter wildlife and stabilize stream banks. However, in urban areas, they are considered a type of weed. Some boxelder maple trees are male and some are female....

What is Curved Leaf Yucca? Curved leaf yucca (Yucca recurvifolia, also known as Yucca gloriosa var. recurvifolia) is popular in ornamental gardens, and it has the advantage of having leaf tips that are less sharp than in other yucca species. Yuccas are related to agaves and, like them, are native to the Americas. This species is native to the southeastern United States. However, it can grow across the U.S. in zones 7 to 11, from Arizona to the Pacific Northwest, and also in similar climates worldwide....

What Does Well-Drained Soil Mean? Simply put, well-drained soil is soil that allows water to drain at a moderate rate and without water pooling and puddling. These soils do not drain too quickly or too slowly. When soil drains too quickly, the plants do not have enough time to absorb the water and can die. Likewise, when the soil does not drain quickly enough and plants are left in pooling water, their oxygen intake from the soil is reduced and the plants can die....