Horticulture and gardening : article
KANSAS CITY, Mo.– In this video news story, learn about MU Extension’s “Food From the Farm” program.
FREDERICKSBURG, Mo. – When problems arise with the ex-governor’s vineyard, he calls University of Missouri Extension viticulturist Dean Volenberg.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Some gardeners take a hands-off approach to leaves. But leaves left on lawns can pack down into a tight mat, preventing sunlight from reaching the grass, says University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein. Leaves also trap and hold moisture, which increases the…
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Gardeners looking for hap-pea-ness can look no further than the pea. The National Garden Bureau has declared 2025 the Year of the Pea.
ST. PETERS, Mo. – From flood-ravaged fields to productive gardens, University of Missouri Extension Master Gardeners in St. Charles County show how volunteers help communities flourish.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The mouth of a termite might be small, but an infestation can take a big bite out of a home if left undetected.
FERGUSON, Mo. – Many dabble in the art of gardening, but Ron Brown takes its meaning to a new level.
One of his masterpieces is the accessible garden he has designed for participants in United Cerebral Palsy Heartland’s day programs.
Discover how improper fertilizing and watering can worsen lawn diseases like brown patch and large patch, and learn effective prevention strategies.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite suspending all face-to-face programming due to COVID-19, University of Missouri Extension recognizes the continued need to provide university research and knowledge to help farmers and consumers alike.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – If you have the sniffles or a bad infection, a visit to your doctor can usually put things right. Plants can get sick too and the University of Missouri Plant Diagnostic Clinic is where you can turn for help.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – While you’re familiar with onions, garlic, leeks and shallots, which are all members of the genus Allium, there’s a whole group in that genus that are known for their looks rather than their taste. They’re called ornamental onions or alliums.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Among indoor flowering plants, few match amaryllis in grandeur, says University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.
Insects are a sustainable, nutritious food source gaining attention. Learn about their benefits, the role they could play in the future of food, and more.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Ashes produced by wood-burning fireplaces or stoves are an excellent example of the idiom “don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater,” says University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.
Readers can pose questions or get more information by calling 417-874-2963 and talking to one of the trained volunteers staffing the Master Gardener Hotline at the University of Missouri Extension Center in Greene County located inside the Botanical Center, 2400 S. Scenic Ave., Springfield, MO…
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Nothing sings spring more than asparagus.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Nothing says spring like fresh asparagus.
The flowering perennial is an interesting and low-calorie, high-nutrient spring vegetable, says University of Missouri Extension nutrition specialist Susan Mills-Gray.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – One-third of Missouri’s 43 native amphibians have deteriorating populations, but you can help out by taking some steps to make your backyard more attractive to amphibians, said a University of Missouri Extension horticulturist.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – There is scientific evidence suggesting that eating something spicy on a hot summer day will make you feel cooler, says University of Missouri horticulturist David Trinklein.
COLUMBIA, Mo.– The long, harsh winter coupled with last fall’
Few vegetables elicit less excitement from the average gardener than beets. Once relegated to pickling or making borscht, beet is enjoying greater respect due to its reported health benefits.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — An ideal soil is half solid and half pore space by volume, and that pore space should be equal parts air and water. Gardening practices greatly influence pore space in cultivated soils.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Billions of cicadas will buzz this spring as two broods emerge at the same time. These broods last emerged together in 1803 and won’t appear together again for 221 years.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Few flowers symbolize the arrival of spring more than peonies. Their huge, lavish blooms and distinctive floral scent make them one of America’s most treasured perennials, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Every year Americans buy millions of poinsettias. But what do you do with all those plants after the holidays? Many people just throw them away, but there’s always those who wonder if they can be re-bloomed for next year.
COLUMBIA, Mo.– Some perennials can suffer from too much of a good thing.As it grows year after year, the perennial’s growth clump, or crown, gets so big the plant begins to compete with itself for light, water and nutrients. Eventually this self-competition will mean fewer and less-showy flowers.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Getting plants to grow and thrive indoors can be a challenge. Indoor light is often too low and of poor quality. A light garden can correct that.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Celebrate the beauty of butterflies at the eighth annual Butterfly Festival at the University of Missouri Jefferson Farm and Garden in Columbia.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Most flowering annuals in gardens around the U.S. have stood the test of time, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein. For example, geraniums were planted in Europe in the 17th century and have been an American favorite for more than 200 years.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Right after daffodils, tulips and hyacinths have spent their last flowers, many homeowners mow the plants down. That’s a bad idea if you want them to keep flowering year after year.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Not all topsoil is created equal.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – It is estimated that more than 700 plant species growing in North America can have harmful effects on humans, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The summer they were married, Dan and Earlene Britton received a cutting from a Christmas cactus belonging to Earlene’s grandmother Naomi Ingrum. Thirty-six years later, the Brittons and the cactus continue to do well in spite of coast-to-coast moves and climate changes.
KIRKSVILLE, Mo.
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ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – You can look high and low, but you likely won’t find a climbing vine that compares to the clematis, known as the “Queen of the Vines,” says Gwen Funk, University of Missouri Extension field specialist in horticulture.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
CARROLLTON, Mo. – Some things just go together like biscuits and gravy or peanut butter and jelly.
Likewise, plants have companions that produce best when planted side by side, says Kathi Mecham, a University of Missouri Extension horticulture specialist in Carroll County.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. - Many gardening difficulties are rooted in substandard soil. The good news is that whether your garden has a nutrient, moisture or aeration problem, you can improve the soil with compost, said a University of Missouri Extension horticulture specialist.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – If you have a gardener on your holiday gift list, consider user-friendly tools that suit their ability and age.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Salt does more than melt the ice on your sidewalks and driveways.It can harm your lawn and shrubs, says University of Missouri Extension turf management specialist Brad Fresenburg.Too much salt can leave dead strips along sidewalks and driveways. It can kill shrubs and flowers.
COLUMBIA, Mo.– If you’re yearning to grow flowers or vegetabl
COLUMBIA, Mo.
JACKSON, Mo. – Both gardeners and their plants need extra care when it’s hot outside, says University of Missouri Extension horticulturist Donna Aufdenberg.She reminds gardeners to take care of themselves first so they can tend to gardens and flowerbeds.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
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A Spanish-language gardening webinar led to increased resources for Spanish-speaking communities, expanding agricultural and environmental education globally.
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – By population, the United States is the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Counting both bilingual and native speakers of Spanish, the U.S. has more people who can speak Spanish than Spain itself.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The cyclamen is Cupid’s flowering love child.
For centuries, people have associated cyclamens with matters of the heart, making it a perfect Valentine’s Day choice, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Increasingly, gardeners are interested in finding out how to grow vegetables without using synthetic fertilizers.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — When buying plants you sometimes need to read between the lines. When the label says the plant “fills in quickly,” that may be a code word for “invasive.”
COLUMBIA, Mo. – One of the joys of spring is the emergence and flowering of bulbs such as daffodils, tulips and hyacinths, says University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – April’s cold start in Missouri reminds gardeners that planting date is a matter of risk versus reward, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.
COLUMBIA, Mo. –Landscape plants have flourished over an ideal spring. Azaleas and hydrangeas have never looked better, but many of the lush leaves that developed during the mild weather will scorch, turn brown or even fall off when the summer heat returns, said a University of Missouri Extension…
COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Extension horticulturists ask the public not to plant unsolicited seeds received in the mail.
MU Extension horticulturist Kelly McGowan says she has had recent reports from Springfield-area residents who have been mailed seeds they did not order.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The phrase “waste not, want not” goes back to a time when the essentials of life were difficult to obtain, but it continues to be good advice today, says University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.
KIRKSVILLE, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo.– Don’t add fertilizer to your garden unless you
COLUMBIA, Mo.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – University of Missouri Extension field horticulture specialist Tamra Reall answers questions that are “bugging” youngsters.
Mama mosquitoes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Snow days and winter holidays give parents and child care workers openings to teach kids about the wonders of nature.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Your Christmas tree may have extra gifts on it instead of under it.
“Some trees come with a bonus gift from nature – praying mantises,” says Tamra Reall, University of Missouri Extension specialist in horticulture.
The leaves have dropped, branches are bare, and the garden blooms are gone, but trees and flowering plants still bring us cheer during the winter holidays.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – No other vegetable is as closely associated with a month of the year as is garden pea, and few things match the gastronomic appeal of fresh peas from the garden.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Once available to U.S.
GALLATIN, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – In celebration of National Farmers Market Week, Aug. 4-10, University of Missouri Extension has resources to help improve your local food systems awareness and polish your farmers market presence.
Learn about local food systems
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Food and hope for the hungry are growing in the heart of downtown Kansas City.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the first Extension Master Gardener program at Washington State University.
HARRISONVILLE, Mo. – Two years ago, Marcy Weber had lost custody of her children and was homeless, unemployed and in trouble with the law because of a drinking and drug problem that began at age 10.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Fall is time for the changing of the guard in flower beds and containers. As some summer flowers shout their last hurrah, others gradually fade into the background.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — August and early September offer a reprieve from the scorching heat of summer and an opportunity to put vegetables on the dinner table well into fall.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo.–Curbside leaf and brush removal dates will be here before we know it. If you dread filling sacks with fallen leaves, a University of Missouri Extension horticulturist suggests a less agonizing and more rewarding alternative.
HILLSBORO, Mo. – University of Missouri Extension offers a one-day workshop for those thinking about selling produce and other goods at farmers markets.
The Feb. 3 workshop covers food safety, sampling, funding, customer service and opportunities for discussion with other vendors, said MU…
ST. PETERS, Mo. – You can still safely shop and eat local during COVID-19, says a University of Missouri Extension horticulturist.
Earlier this year, the FDA issued a final rule related to the preharvest agricultural water requirements for covered produce stipulated in the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule.
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Fermented or "sour" mulch from large batches hit with too much rain can damage the leaves and stems of annuals, perennials and small woody plants, said a University of Missouri Extension horticulturist.
Controlling moles is challenging; effective methods include traps, baits, and repellents to mitigate lawn damage.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The flickering of fireflies signals the beginning of warm summer nights. Although these common beetles evoke a sense of wonder for many people, they are simply performing a luminescent courtship ritual that has evolved over countless years, says University of Missouri Extension…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The first series of University of Missouri Extension Master Pollinator Steward classes begins mid-May in Jefferson City.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Missouri has the first state chapter of Heroes to Hives, a program that supports veterans who want to learn beekeeping.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Fall is the perfect time to share the love of flower power with neighbors, friends and family, says David Trinklein, University of Missouri Extension horticulturist.
STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. – Few things thaw feelings of winter’s cold more than spring flowering bulbs, says University of Missouri Extension field horticulturist Katie Kammler.
Spring bulbs are Nature’s way of rewarding gardeners for their work in fall, providing early color and blooms before most…
STARK CITY, Mo. – In the dead of Missouri winter, members of a southwestern Missouri family pluck lemons, oranges and grapefruits from trees in their greenhouse.
Veterans develop new skills in beekeeping and business to aid their transition to civilian life, while supporting agriculture and pollination efforts.
WILDWOOD, Mo. – For Jodi Smedley, being a Master Gardener is about much more than gardening. Through her work with the Wildwood YMCA, Smedley has realized the impact gardening can have on everyday life and the community as a whole.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
COLUMBIA, Mo.– Those unsightly round, brown growths seen on oaks this time of year won’t harm the tree, says a University of Missouri Extension fruit specialist.
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – More than 20 years ago, 8-year-old Casey Jefferson Coy enrolled in the Garden ’n Grow program in Kirksville at the University of Missouri Extension Center in Adair County. Little did she know that the summer-long program would lead her to decades of employment and enjoyment.
COLUMBIA, Mo.
A community garden in Noel, Missouri, brings together diverse groups, promoting cultural exchange, shared meals, and stronger connections across differences.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – If a little is good, a lot must be better.