To start with, the calendar says it is still officially fall until December 21st  but it seems to me that winter has been here for several weeks now! The sudden mid-November intrusion of arctic air into our area may have been a bit early for some plants. We will have to wait until spring to see if any damage was done to buds and twigs not hardened off yet. I thought I would mention a couple of things that can …

Fall flowers are in full bloom in the wild places and in our gardens, the cicadas have ceased their droning in the trees while late nectaring bumble bees and butterflies are still active on fall favorites like asters, tall sedums and goldenrods. Not too far around the corner are much cooler temperatures and late fall garden clean up. After a frost there will be leaves to rake, grasses and perennials to cut back and downed limbs to pick up left …

By: Jon Morgenson, Assistant Horticulturist  Now through the end of October is the best time for a few turf improvement projects. Weed Control If dandelions and other broadleaf weeds like white clover or creeping Charlie are invading your cool season turf areas, now is the best time of year to control them. These weeds are more noticeable when they are flowering earlier in the season but controlling them then versus now is less effective. Perennial weeds like dandelions are moving …

Though many public areas, including Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and National Park Service and National Forest Service lands in Nebraska, have specific laws prohibiting the removal of artifacts from their lands, one may find an alternative place to “hunt” with private landowner permission. Then, if you’re lucky enough to discover an artifact, here is a quick guide to preparation of your finds. Preparation of Bone and Fossil Finds By Jon Morgenson Some fossils and bones or skulls may be found …

By Jon Morgenson As a kid I remember (like many of you) running around during the summer barefoot, which meant, you better keep an eye open, looking for patches of clover in lawns, identifiable by their white flowers amidst all the green. Because if you didn’t, you’d pay a price! Those same patches of clover were humming with bees at their business of gathering pollen, and it didn’t take too many ‘repeats’ of stepping on a bee barefoot, to learn …

By Jon Morgenson, Horticulturist I commonly encounter trees in our state parks that have had an offending low branch tipped back. I have no doubt that the reason for removing the branch tip was justified – I don’t enjoy being poked in the eye by a low branch any more than the next person. Remembering that point, I have a thought to pass along. Tipping is the removal of the terminal end of a branch, at some random point without …

Conifers are an important component in our Nebraska landscapes both natural and created. They are a major component of windbreaks and of landscape design for the purposes of screening unsightly views, the framing of desired views and general beautification. Wildlife, including birds and mammals, utilize conifers for food, nesting and shelter. A winter landscape scene in Nebraska featuring snow mantled conifers is a beautiful sight. Conifers are by simple definition, evergreen, cone bearing trees and shrubs with needle-like or scaly …