What Is It? Wednesday – Mantidfly
This may look a lot like a paper wasp, but it is actually a mantidfly. If you look carefully, you’ll notice the front pair of legs is different from the two back pairs. The front legs look like...
Category: In the Garden
Give Your Bearded Irises Some Space – Divide Them
Let’s talk about division. Not the division you learned in math class. The kind that involves separating or splitting herbaceous perennials to make more plants. Perennials, such as bearded...
You Can Help the Monarch Butterflies
In July 2022, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) drew attention to North America’s migrating monarchs by adding them to their ICUN Red List of Threatened Species. In the...
Pineapple Lilies
Pineapple lilies (Eucomis species) are one of my favorite summer flowering bulbs. These attractive perennial bulbs originate from South Africa, and the long, strap-like green or burgundy foliage...
SC Fruit and Vegetable Field Report- August 1, 2022
Midlands Region Justin Ballew reports, “It has gotten dry again in the Midlands. Scattered areas received some good rain over the weekend, but others missed it and remain badly in need. Over the...
This Month in Your Garden- August 2022
Coastal Region – Christopher Burtt This is the warmest part of the Summer. Watch for disease and insect issues and pay attention to water. Just because it is hot, do be careful not to...
What Is That Fuzzy Red and Black Ant?
Did you just see a fuzzy red and black ant scurrying across your yard, driveway, or pine straw? Then you just saw a velvet ant – they’re closely related to ants but are actually wasps. There are...
Saving Seeds from Dahlias
Did you know dahlias can be grown from seed? Many gardeners are only familiar with growing dahlias from tubers. Still, growing dahlias from seed is how new varieties are first created. Then they are...
K.I.S.S. Shrubs – The Lazy Gardener’s Shrubs
While native grasses and forbs are my favorite lazy gardener plants, native shrubs rank as must-haves for an easy and attractive landscape. All native or introduced shrubs are generally carefree...
SC Fruit and Vegetable Field Report – July 25, 2022
Coastal Region Rob Last reports, “In a wide range of crops insect and disease pressure is high, with gummy stem blight across all cucurbit crops and downy mildew is also very active. Fruit rots,...
What’s Happening with Hemp?
What controls are in place at Clemson University (CU) to ensure compliance with state and federal hemp farming regulations? Clemson University’s Regulatory & Public Service Program works closely...
SC Fruit and Vegetable Field Report- July 18, 2022
Congratulations to Sidi Limehouse of Rosebank Farms for winning the SC Big Melon Contest at the Edisto REC Field Day this past Thursday. Sidi weighed in a 124-pound melon. This was the inaugural SC...