Category: In the Garden

Why does this tomato appear scarred on one side but normal on the other? This tomato is scarred on the side facing the prevailing winds. It was found on the outside row, next to a dirt drive row and...

Conditions remain dry across the state, requiring lots of irrigation for fall crops. Strawberry planting is winding down as the last few plant shipments arrive. Insect and disease issues are...

In the fall of the year, it can be difficult to find color in shady areas of gardens in the coastal region of South Carolina. Dancing Ladies ginger (Globba winittii) grows in USDA planting zones 8...

Did you know that a ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is considered a living fossil? It’s the only surviving species of a group of trees that existed before dinosaurs roamed the earth. Genetically, it has...

What is on the head and back of this leaffooted bug? The oblong, white objects on this leaffooted bug (Leptoglossus oppositus) are eggs of a parasitoid fly (Trichopoda pennipes), which will hatch...

Fall weather has arrived, and strawberry planting is in full swing. Conditions have been dry across the state since Hurricane Helene. Diseases and insects are showing up in places as the fall...

Last October, while driving along Main Street in uptown Greenwood, SC, I spotted a large plant with tall golden flower spikes. It was so fantastic that I made a U-turn to check it out. The plant was...

Marigolds, in the genus Tagetes, are usually thought of as summer annuals. Lemmon’s marigold, Tagetes lemmonii, is a perennial species that blooms in the fall. It deserves a place in any mixed...

What are these brown pellets found on the base of a tomato plant? These brown pellets are sclerotia from the soil-borne fungus Athelia rolsii, commonly called Southern blight. The photograph was...

As cleanup from Hurricane Helene continues in the western parts of the state, crops are looking great elsewhere. Strawberry transplants are arriving on farms, and planting has begun in many places....

We recently created a “bug hotel” in the South Carolina Botanical Garden. This is a fun project you can do too! But why? The short answer is that insects and other arthropods are under intense...