by Jan Cashman 6/13/20 Everyone loves lilacs…and what’s not to love? Lilacs (genus Syringa) are beautiful to look at and wonderfully fragrant. They are hardy in our climate and grow well in our local soils that tend to be alkaline. Lilac bushes are long-lived; they make good hedges. If you choose carefully, you ca...

By Jan Cashman 7/20/20                                                 Pollination is one of nature’s most important functions; it is the way many plants reproduce. Pollinators assist plants with reproduction; they take pollen from one plant to another. If plants aren�...

There are many reasons why barberries are one of the most popular deciduous shrubs---they are deer resistant, they do well in full, hot sun, and have thorns that keep animals and foot traffic away. They are dense, respond well to pruning, and are hardy. Barberries are dwarf shrubs that are perfect for small plantin...

by Jan Cashman 10/13/19 The weather in a large part determines how our gardens and plants grow each year.   This year’s weather was unusual. If you remember, last winter was unusually cold and snowy.   At MSU there still was 16 inches of snow on the ground on March 31. And February and March were the coldest on r...

by Jan Cashman 9/19/19 Ever hear of “Haskaps”? I hadn’t but I found out they are shrubs with berries that are in the honeysuckle genus (Lonicera) also called Honeyberry, Yezberry or Blue Honeysuckle. Dr. Mac Burgess from the Montana State University Plant Sciences department is doing research on them along with ...

Entering the new year for many of us means making resolutions to do better by exercising more, losing weight, volunteering with a favorite charity, etc. We all have ideas of how we could be better gardeners. Why not make a gardening resolution? Here are 11 possibilities. You could adopt one or two of these for yourself...

by Jan Cashman Houseplants are back. After years of homes with dust-collecting artificial plants or no houseplants at all, we are seeing a resurgence of living plants decorating our homes. Houseplants give us the satisfaction of caring for something real and living. They purify the air in our homes by absorbing carbon...

From the 17th Century, Franciscan friars in Mexico have used poinsettias in Christmas celebrations. The star-shaped leaves symbolize the Star of Bethlehem and the red color the sacrificial blood of Jesus. Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are a member of the spurge family. They are indigenous to Mexico. The fi...

How our gardens grow in a given year is dependent on the weather. A quick recap of this year’s weather: We had above-average precipitation for the year, but precipitation in June, July, and August was below average. Ample early precipitation meant the ground had good water reserves. Temperatures in June, July, and Au...

By Jan Cashman The first fall that At Home was published, the year 2000, I wrote about how to prepare your yard for winter. The information still applies, so here is the article, revised, with added information on winterizing your perennial flowers: It’s fall. Freezing weather is here. It’s time to ‘put the gar...