| Milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) were mostly overlooked wildflowers until the last few decades, when they have gained significant popularity because of their association with Monarch butterflies. Milkweeds are vital to the Monarch butterfly life cycle, and adding the flowers to landscapes and gardens supports butterflies and other pollinators. |  |
 Ready to get your hands in the dirt this gardening season? The first few warm days of late winter beckon many gardeners to begin landscape and garden tasks. Instead of engaging in planting or garden cleanup activities on these random fair weather days, use the time to look closer at the yard or garden and make solid plans for the season and future.  Early spring in the Midwest often brings fluctuating temperatures that challenge many species of plants and the gardeners who tend them. Warm days fool plants into breaking dormancy, but the new growth is damaged when temperatures drop again. Gardeners use everything from frost blankets to heated structures to protect plants, but plant selection is often overlooked as a method of minimizing weather-related damage to plants. Native species are adapted to typical weather fluctuations and in many situations are better options than nonnative species.
 Lilacs and irises are longstanding low-maintenance performers in the Kansas landscape that bloom in spring. Sometimes they fail to produce flowers, though, and the gardeners who tend them wonder why. Insect borer infestations are the most likely culprit for bloom failure in established plantings of lilacs and irises, but the insects are difficult to detect without prior knowledge of their existence. To keep lilacs and irises blooming and healthy, gardeners must be diligent in watching for signs of borer presence and removing infested material.
 Research shows that looking at flowers influences peoples' moods and makes them happier. An easy way to get more flowers in your life is to plant them in your landscape or in containers on a porch or patio where they can easily be viewed.
Annual flowers bloom all season but only live one year. Perennial flowers live many years but only bloom for a portion of the year. One way to get season-long color with perennials is to interplant a mix of species that bloom at different times. |