by Colette Mancke, Tennessee Master Gardener. What is basil downy mildew? Basil downy mildew is a devastating disease that affects the leaves, branches and stems of many types of basil (ie.,plants in the genus Ocimum) commonly used for cooking. Green-leafed varieties of sweet basil are particularly susceptible to the disease, while purple-leafed varieties of basil, Thai basil, lemon basil and… Read more »
by Alan Bruhin, Director Sevier County TN Extension. For those looking for CEU’s or just some additional training in interesting topics, here is a link to a series of webinars being offered by eXtension.org. Each month a new topic video is posted for you to view. Currently there have been three topics posted that are available for you to view…. Read more »
By Roger Simpson Knowing how to propagate plants from cuttings is one of the most useful skills anyone interested in plants can have. With it, a gardener gains the ability to grow plants without any cost except time and effort. The advantages of propagating with cuttings are many: Cuttings are cheap and convenient Large plants are much quicker to get… Read more »
Casey Berg I love all the flowers and plants on my porch but one of the most fascinating and beautiful blooms I have ever seen comes at night on a Night Blooming Cereus. I try my best to share with friends this phenomenon but they usually think I am crazy when I call at midnight and ask them to come… Read more »
Two new web-only publications are available on the UT Extension publications site: W 804-A Getting the Most Out of Your Home Vegetable Garden Soil Test Report W 804-B Getting the Most Out of Your Raised Bed or Potting Mix Test Report For more information about these publications, contact Natalie Bumgarner in the Dept. of Plant Sciences.
by Pat Butler With limited relatively flat ground, we managed to create the labyrinth with just enough width for walking and added a stump for sitting. We began it 3 years ago, collecting moss from our yard and from friends with wooded and wild areas. One Bradford Pear did not survive the gentle grass removal and we have replaced it… Read more »
Pam and Larry Barron loved the very old, large cherry tree in their back yard. The piece of barbed wire fence through the middle of it gave the tree extra character. But one night after dark, the tree dropped a very large limb into their yard, barely missing their neighbor’s fence. That was when they first realized the tree was… Read more »
Knowing how to propagate plants from cuttings is one of the most useful skills anyone interested in plants can have. With it, a gardener gains the ability to grow plants without any cost except time and effort. The advantages of taking cuttings are many; it is cheap and convenient, large plants are much quicker to get from cuttings than from… Read more »
by Colette Mancke Have you ever wondered if that weed you are looking at is a clover plant? At first it appears like clover with 3 leaves but it spreads all over and has yellow flowers. It is called Black Medic (Medicago lupulina). It often colonizes dry infertile spots or areas of soil compaction where little else will grow. At first… Read more »
If you are wondering about how to go about recovering and restoring the devastation to plants and animals alike after the devastation of the Great Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg caused by the recent fires, the Tennessee Invasive Plant Council & Tennessee Native Plant Society have teamed up to create a brochure that will help. The fire destroyed many of the native plants that provide shelter and food for… Read more »