Hello fellow readers, As I sit to write you, I remain wobbly from a bout of flu. Just as I feel I’m improving, there’s a setback. The fever returns or coughing fits, making it tough to breathe. It’s been humbling, yet minor compared to others dealing with a serious illness or devastat

Hello fellow readers, Just recently, there’s been two sightings of the dreaded Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) in New Jersey, a topic of great concern at the NJ Plants Trade Show held in Edison, NJ on January 31st, 2018. “It’s a very bad bug,” stressed Paul Kurtz, Entomologist of the NJ Stat

Hello fellow readers, I was chatting with Linda, my college roommate in southern California, who mentioned her friend Lore’s home is being swarmed by ladybugs. Many of us think of ladybugs as good luck which is said to have stemmed from farmers long ago, who prayed to the Virgin Mary

Sara from Oxford NJ asked how to prepare a plot in her backyard for organic vegetable gardening come spring. She suspects the previous owners used chemicals as when they moved in, the lawn "looked like a golf course." Kudos Sara. It's smart to consider the prior use of chemicals when

Hello fellow readers, It’s the time of year for tending to leaves and tidying our gardens for a long winter’s rest. The truth is, though, our gardens don’t rest. The fallen leaves and decaying plant material provide nourishment for next year’s growth by decompo

Hello fellow readers, This growing season provided a perfect environment for foliar disease. Earlier in the summer Hector from Morristown, NJ sent a photo of his Mom’s maple tree dotted with black spots. “All the leaves seem to have the cooties.” I sent the photo off to my favorite as

Hello fellow readers, A visit to Point State Park, an urban garden in downtown Pittsburgh, highlights a recent trip. The mist from a glorious 150-foot fountain that sits at the point where the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers combine provided soothing relief from the oppressive

Hello fellow readers, A walk in the meadow with my friend and go-to mystery solver of all things in nature is always a treat. While Dennis Briede’s day responsibility is Stewardship Manager for The Land Conservancy of New Jersey (http://tlc-nj.org/), his true passion is living among n

Hello fellow readers, Seeing the Forest through the Blue Trees by Konstantin Dimopoulos set the pace for the lecture series at the recent Woody Plant Conference held at The Scott Arboretum in Swarthmore, PA. Kon, born in Egypt to Greek parents, began his creation of brilliant blue tre

Hello fellow readers, The rainy, humid summer has set us up a perfect storm for slugs, always a top nuisance garden dilemma, bringing back one of my first column topics about ugly slug remedies. “What are the holes all over my hosta?” asked Dave from Hardwick, NJ. “H