(For Release On Or After 01/30/09) Few shrubs or trees are best purchased and planted while they are in bloom. One notable shrub, however, is currently in glorious bloom. And right now is an excellent time to plant it into your landscape. I am, of course, referring to the camellia – Camellia japonica.

(For Release On Or After 01/23/09) The presence of birds is almost universally welcome among gardeners. Their contribution of movement, color, sounds and pest control are unique and desirable.

(For Release On Or After 01/16/09) The name “asparagus fern” is a strange jumble of terms. These plants are neither ferns nor edible vegetables. Asparagus ferns are versatile, reliable and easy to grow and are useful in a variety of gardening situations.

(For Release On Or After 01/09/09) Many gardeners consider snails and slugs to be the most disgusting pests in the garden. I could live with their looks if they just didn’t cause so much damage.

(For Release On Or After 01/02/09) All-America Selections is a nonprofit organization that tests newly developed cultivated varieties of seed-grown bedding plants and vegetables in garden plots all across the United States.

(For Release On Or After 12/12/08) Now is an excellent time to evaluate your landscape for any pruning that needs to be done, since many plants can be pruned now through February.

(For Release On Or After 12/26/08) I recently received a copy of a book called The Garden in Winter. Imagining what I would see inside, I opened the book and the pictures were just what I had expected. The pages were filled with snowy scenes.

(For Release On Or After 12/19/08) Among my favorite dishes for breakfast is a stack of hot, buttered pancakes drowning in maple syrup. Although we can’t grow the sugar maples that produce that delicious syrup here in Louisiana, a wonderful selection of maples can be used as shade trees and ornamentals in our landscapes

(For Release On Or After 12/5/08) Of the many kinds of plants we use to decorate our homes for the holidays, the holiday cactuses possess a special beauty. And yes, despite the fact that these plants don’t possess spines, they are true cactuses.

(For Release On Or After 11/28/08I wish more gardeners understood that fall is a primary planting season in Louisiana. For years horticulturists have tried to get the word out that November through February is the ideal time to plant hardy trees and shrubs in the landscape. Planting in late November and early December is especially good since trees and shrubs planted now benefit in several ways.)

(For Release On Or After 11/21/08) Fall is an outstanding time to plant many of the hardy culinary herbs, and one of the most popular is parsley.

(For Release On Or After 11/14/08) Now is the perfect time to plant cool-season bedding plants that will brighten our landscapes over the next five or six months. Gardeners often overlook the fact that some cool-season bedding plants are wonderfully fragrant.

(For Release On Or After 11/07/08) So you’ve finally decided to get that hobby greenhouse you always wanted. Even though winter weather in Louisiana is relatively mild, gardeners still may find that a greenhouse offers a variety of advantages.

(For Release On Or After 10/31/08) Few flowering bulbs can surpass the stately beauty of the amaryllis. Typically blooming in April, this popular bulb is a star performer in the spring garden.

(For Release On Or After 10/24/08) The seasons are changing, and we are entering a transitional period in the flower garden when warm-season bedding plants begin to fade and cool-season bedding plants are planted to provide fall, winter and spring color.

(For Release On Or After 10/17/08) As the days shorten and temperatures gradually become cooler, it is apparent summer is finally ending. Lawn care definitely begins to change during this time of year.

(For Release On Or After 10/10/08)In my previous column I discussed weed control in the landscape. I focused primarily on preventive and corrective methods of controlling weeds without using herbicides.

(For Release On Or After 10/03/08) There are lots of reasons why we shouldn’t let weeds grow in our landscapes.

(For Release On Or After 09/26/08) Birds can contribute wonderful things to the enjoyment of a landscape, such as movement, color, sounds and even pest control. The presence of birds is almost universally welcome among gardeners. Gardeners can even go so far as to design and plant landscapes that are particularly attractive to birds.

(For Release On Or After 09/19/08) When it comes to home landscaping, many gardeners remain confused about how to create what they want. The important thing to remember is that developing an attractive, properly functioning landscape is best done using a process.

(For Release On Or After 09/12/08) Roadsides and meadows come alive with colors of native wildflowers in September, October and November. Gardeners – who sometimes struggle to create beautiful displays of flowers in their landscapes – often marvel at the way nature seems to achieve such beauty without effort.

(For Release On Or After 09/05/08) September is one of our most active months for tropical storms and hurricanes. Trees are particularly vulnerable to the effects of high winds and sustain various types of damage as a result.

(For Release On Or After 08/29/08) Plants under heat stress are weakened, and we generally see an increase in disease and insect problems at the end of the summer. Keep your eye out for pests.

(For Release On Or After 08/22/08) You must be careful with several things you may do in your yard or garden to avoid damaging your plants. Here are a few things to be aware of.

(For Release On Or After 08/15/08) Growing plants outdoors in containers is popular for a variety of reasons. In-ground beds are not always available where you would like to grow plants.

(For Release On Or After 08/08/08) There is something particularly satisfying about putting quality, nutritious food on the table as a direct result of your gardening efforts. August is a transitional time in the vegetable garden.

(For Release On Or After 08/01/08) Months of hot, humid weather make summers in Louisiana a challenge to many of the plants in our gardens. As other plants languish in the heat, a wonderful group of plants called gingers thrive and delight us with bold foliage and attractive flowers.

(For Release On Or After 07/25/08) Wherever you go in America, gardeners will tell you about the terrible pest problems they have to deal with. Still, it seems like we have more than our share of insects, diseases and weeds in Louisiana.

(For Release On Or After 07/18/08) Many vegetables planted in spring are finishing or already have reached the end of their productive season. Once the harvest is finished, they should be removed from the garden.

(For Release On Or After 07/11/08) Deadheading is an important but often neglected gardening technique. It refers to pruning off old, faded flowers from a plant as it blooms.

(For Release On Or After 07/04/08) Few sights are more thrilling in the garden than rapidly moving hummingbirds darting among the flowers.

(For release on or after 06/27/08) Many popular herbs languish in the heat of summer, and some down right pitch a fit. Herbs that do not like our hot, wet summers include thyme, chives, sage, parsley, cilantro, French tarragon, lavender, feverfew and chamomile.

(For release on or after 06/20/08) Summer heat stresses many plants in our landscapes. Like other plants, most roses are not especially happy during the extreme heat of mid- to late summer.

(For release on or after 06/13/08) Growing a pineapple plant and getting it to produce a pineapple for you is a fun gardening project. Now is a great time to begin, and as you will see, it’s really not all that difficult.

(For release on or after 06/08/08) Dry weather and high temperatures often make it necessary to water landscapes occasionally during the summer. Even established trees, shrubs, flowers vegetable gardens and lawns may need irrigation during especially long drought periods.

(For Release On Or After 05/30/08) You’ve got to think that a vegetable with a name like yardlong bean would be incredibly productive – and you would be right.

(For Release On Or After 05/23/08) My introduction to the angel’s trumpet came when I moved to New Orleans. Wandering around a friend’s garden at dusk, I caught a whiff of an amazing fragrance hanging in the air.

(For Release On Or After 05/16/08) The orchid family contains more species than any other family of flowering plants. No other group of plants can provide more beauty, color and diversity.

(For Release On Or After 05/09/08) Nearly any plant may be grown in a container outdoors as long as you provide the cultural requirements the plant needs.

(For Release On Or After 05/02/08) As time goes by, more and more plants have become available with chartreuse, yellow-green or golden foliage. For some gardeners it takes a little getting used to.

(For Release On Or After 04/25/08) Nature never created a houseplant. The plants we call houseplants are native to various, generally tropical, areas of the world, and in all cases their natural habitat is outdoors.

(For Release On Or After 04/11/08) Interest in growing herbs has been rising over the years as Louisiana gardeners increasingly have planted herbs in herb gardens or containers or in beds among existing plants.

(For Release On Or After 04/18/08) When you think about adding color to your landscape, flowering bedding plants are usually the first thing that comes to mind. Many plants with colorful foliage, however, can serve the same purpose.

(For Release On Or After 04/04/08) It’s amazing how many times I’ve gotten questions about growing grass in shady areas. This is a common issue because shade trees in a landscape grow larger over time.

(For Release On Or After 03/21/08) I am often asked about low-maintenance landscaping. After a brief conversation, however, I often get the feeling that what the person actually is looking for is a no-maintenance landscape. Unfortunately, if you are going to have a landscape with trees, a lawn, shrubs and flowers, maintenance is going to be involved.

(For Release On Or After 03/28/08) The cucumber family, properly known as the cucurbitaceae (cu-cur-bit-A-cee-ee), provides a wide variety of vegetables popular for the spring, summer and fall home vegetable garden.

(For Release On Or After 03/14/08) Almost every landscape has shady areas, and ferns are a great group of plants that are just perfect for shady spots.

(For Release On Or After 03/07/08) Gardening is no different from any other human endeavor. Whether you want to repair your own car or cook a fancy meal, there is information you must understand and techniques you have to learn and do properly.

(For Release On Or After 02/22/08) Color is very important to us. We use it everywhere in our surroundings, including in our landscapes and on our bodies.

(For Release On Or After 02/15/08) Most trees are just beginning to enter a growth phase – or they will within a few weeks. Fertilizing this month provides them with nutrients just when they can use them most effectively.

(For Release On Or After 02/08/08) Homeowners often are dismayed to find trees that existed on their lots when their houses were build start declining in health or dying a few years after construction. But this tragedy can be avoided if existing trees are properly protected during construction around them.

(For Release On Or After 02/01/2008) At some point, many gardeners discover there is a much greater selection of annual flowers and vegetables available in seed catalogs than can be found at local nurseries. To grow those wonderful plants, however, you must be able to grow your own transplants from seed.

(For Release On Or After 12/28/2007) The basic techniques of gardening today are not that much different than those our great grandparents used. Still, technology and the age of communication are definitely changing the way we live, work and garden. Gardeners will, with greater ease and frequency than ever before, exchange ideas and be exposed to new concepts about how and why we garden. How will the new trends affect the plants we use and how we design with them and care for them?

(For Release On Or After 11/23/07) Many plants seem to save up all summer for the spectacular display of flowers, fruit and foliage showing up in our gardens now. If you want to punch up the color level in your garden from October through December, here are some trees, shrubs and perennials you might consider including in your landscape.

(For Release On Or After 11/16/07) Botany lessons are often helpful for gardeners to understand some of the underlying reasons why plants behave the way they do and why we do things a certain way. When growing a plant that is expected to produce fruit, knowing something about the reproductive workings of the plant is in the gardener’s best interest to prevent disappointment.

(For Release On Or After 11/09/07) Fresh, ripe strawberries are a favorite with just about everybody, and now is a great time to plant them into your garden. Strawberries are best planted from late October through November for production next spring. They are easy enough that growing a crop is a fun project for kids at home or in school.

(For Release On Or After 11/2/07) Gardening is a well-documented and beneficial form of exercise. It contributes to a healthy lifestyle.

(For Release On Or After 10/05/07) Fall is a prime planting season in Louisiana. Cool-season flowering bedding plants and cool-season vegetables are planted from now through February, and November through February is the best time to plant hardy shrubs, ground covers and perennials in the landscape. How well you prepare the soil before planting has an enormous effect on the health and growth of your plants.

(For Release On Or After 10/26/07) October is a transitional month in Louisiana flower gardens. Many warm-season annuals have finished or are finishing, and gardeners’ thoughts begin to turn to cool-season bedding plants for fall, winter and spring color.

(For Release On Or After 10/19/07) We’ve become accustomed to running out and buying flats or pots of blooming bedding plants to create “instant flower gardens.” This last-minute approach, however, will simply not work when using spring-flowering bulbs in the landscape. If you want beautiful beds of daffodils, tulips or Dutch irises next spring, you should think about planting them now.

(For Release On Or After 10/12/07) Cooler mornings in October make it a joy to get out and work in the home vegetable garden. A number of delicious and nutritious vegetables will thrive in the coming cool season. Indeed, some of our favorite vegetables can only be grown in Louisiana October through April.

(For Release On Or After 04/08/05) The more thought you put into your planting decisions, the more satisfactory the results are likely to be.

(For Relsease On Or After 04/01/05) This message is for tomato lovers. It’s time to plant! More specifically, if you want to grow fresh, flavorful, vine-ripened tomatoes in your garden, you need to get them planted by the middle of April. Early planting ensures more production and higher-quality tomatoes.

(For Release On Or After 04/22/05) There’s much more to the cucumber family than cucumbers. Members of the family that can be planted now include summer squash, winter squash, mirlitons, pumpkins, gourds, cucuzzis, watermelons, cantaloupes, cushaws, luffa gourds and, of course, cucumbers.

(For Release On Or After 04/29/05) Mulching makes gardening easier, and I think more gardeners should take advantage of this important labor-saving technique.