Author: Zidack, Heather

If Scindapsus is Wrong, I Don’t Want to Be Right 

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By Dr. Matthew Lisy, UConn Adjunct Faculty

Hanging silver satin pothos plant with trailing, heart-shaped green leaves marbled with light gray, suspended from a plastic hook against a plain background.
Scindapsus pictus ‘Silver Satin,’ Photo by M. Lisy.

It really is not sinful to like Scindapsus.  In fact, it can be very enjoyable to add some to your plant collection.  These are a lesser-known houseplant, but are rapidly becoming very popular.  They are very similar to the vining Philodendrons, and are most often confused with Pothos (Epipremnum).  All of these aforementioned plants belong to the Araceae family.  The Scindapsus come from Southeast Asia, Philodendrons from Central/South America, and Pothos from the Tropical Pacific. Although they come from different parts of the world, they all live in rainforest habitats, and therefore will do well when grown together.  The thing that most stands out about the Scindapsus species are the unique colors.  They are generally a gray or green color.  Now that base color has, to more or less degree, some silver colors overlaid, except for some that don’t have any additional color at all.   

 The nicest part of Scindapsus is that they have very similar care to their look-a-like cousins.  They generally like to have the top inch or two of soil dry out between waterings.  The soil should be that used for aroids.  If using a commercial houseplant soil, add some extra perlite and/or orchid bark to lighten it up a bit.  The growth habit could be up a moss pole, or in a hanging basket.  I prefer the hanging basket on these as I really like the look of the long vines hanging over the edge of the pot.   

 They are fairly easy to propagate.  Take a cutting between the nodes – the place where the leaves grow out from.  Trim this and put it in soil.  Keep this in a moist and humid environment.  Before long, there will be new growth tips emerging from the node.  At that point, start adding some fertilizer to really kick things into gear.  These plants adapt well to growing in our typical home environment, but they do not like it super dry.  They tend to grow larger leaves in more humid environments, so think about putting one in the bathroom near the shower.    

 There are some fabulous new varieties of these plants, but because they are not as common yet therefore somewhat tricky to find.  It seems there are new varieties coming to market more frequently now.  Many of them are variations on the amount of silver in the leaves, or the pattern the silver coloration makes.  There are two main species regularly offered so far in the trade.  Scindapsus pictus, which has more of a round leaf, and Scindapsus treubii, which has more of an elongated, narrow leaf.  There are more species, and I am sure we will see the “house friendly” ones coming to market in the future.   

Close-up of a large, heart-shaped satin pothos leaf with a deep green center and silvery mottled patterns across the textured surface.

Scindapsus pictus 'Mount Salak,' Photo by M. Lisy

Close-up of a single silvery-green leaf with a soft, matte texture and visible dark veining running from the center to the edges.

Scindapsus pictus 'Platinum' Photo by M. Lisy

Close-up of a heart-shaped satin leaf with green coloring and irregular pale silver mottling across the surface.

Scindapsus pictus 'Silvery Ann,' Photo by M. Lisy

Close-up of a heart-shaped satin leaf with a silvery-green surface and dark green mottled patterns, showing a soft, velvety texture and central vein.

Scindapsus pictus 'Silver Satin,' Photo by M. Lisy

Close-up of a smooth, heart-shaped Scindapsus treubii ‘Moonlight’ leaf with a silvery-gray sheen and a darker green midrib running down the center.

Scindapsus treubii ‘Moonlight’ Photo by M. Lisy.

S. treubii  has a beautiful form called ‘Moonlight.’  It is a nice silver leaf with a green stripe down the middle.  This contrast produces a truly is a gorgeous plant when it gets larger.  There is a new variety called ‘Dark Form,’ which has almost black leaves.  I can’t wait to get this one!  All of the other varieties I will talk about are of the S. pictus species.  The first is ‘Silvery Ann.’  It is a green leaf with silver specs, squares, or blotches, but not too many.  It really makes a nice looking, unique plant.  ‘Silver Satin’ has an intense, broad silver coloration on top of a green leaf.  The variety “Mount Salak’ has much less intense silver, with some leaves having almost a light green color instead.  Its mottled color looks great over the green leaf as well.  My all-time new favorite is ‘Platinum.’  I found this one unlabeled in a big box store recently.  What a beautiful color!  Although on its own it is tempting to think the plant boring, but place it into a collection of green house plants and this one really shines!  Why not add some Scindapsus to your plant collection?       

The UConn Home Garden Education Office supports UConn Extension’s mission by providing answers you can trust with research-based information and resources. For gardening questions, contact us toll-free at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu, or reach out to your local UConn Extension Center at  extension.uconn.edu/locations.    

This article was published in the Hartford Courant June 21, 2026

Weed Them and Reap!

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By Dawn Pettinelli, UConn Home & Garden Education Office

Low-growing plant with reddish stems and small, thick oval green leaves spreading across dry soil and mulch, resembling a common garden weed like purslane.
Purslane. Photo by Dawn Pettinelli

By now the vegetables and flower beds should be pretty well planted and plants starting to establish themselves. Despite many of our best efforts, a new crop of weeds is also attempting to get established. These garden pests compete for light, water and nutrients. They also may harbor or attract insects that prey on our plants. If left to their own devices, they can crowd out our desirable specimens reducing the air flow and leading to conditions more conducive to disease.

Weeds are generally sorted into 4 categories: perennial, biennial, winter annuals and summer annuals. There’s a good chance that you removed any winter annuals as you prepared your planting areas. These plants typically germinate in the fall, overwinter, bloom in early spring and set seed. They include weeds such as annual bluegrass, chickweed and shepherd’s purse.

Perennial weeds include dandelions, burdock, thistle and plantains while Queen Anne’s lace and garlic mustard are some biennial ones. Usually, the summer annual weeds are most prevalent in recently planted vegetable and flower beds. Some examples are lambsquarters, galinsoga, purslane, crabgrass and ragweed.

You have probably heard the expression ‘A year’s worth of seeding is worth 7 years weeding’ or something along that line. Weed seeds can last a long time in the soil with purslane and dandelion seeds remaining viable up to 20 years and pigweed up to 40 years. So even letting a few weed plants go to seed will have you pulling up their progeny for quite some time.

What’s a gardener to do? The key to weed control is to stay ahead of them. Take them out when they are small and shallow rooted. For areas that are pretty much bare soil, like around vegetable plants, a small handheld hoe or cobra head weeder works great on patches of newly germinated weeds that are too tiny to pull by hand. For larger gardens, maybe a taller blade or stirrup hoe would be a good tool to have on hand.

I will admit to spending a lot of time on my hands and knees weeding. While this may be not practical for everyone, it gives you a chance to get up close and personal with both the weeds as well as your garden plants so you can see, for example, if any squash vine borers are attacking your squash or pumpkins or if your radishes are ready to be harvested or if that row of bean seeds has yet to germinate.

Mulch can be a gardener’s best friend. The key is to match the mulch to the garden. For vegetable gardens, straw mulches, shredded leaves or untreated grass clippings work well as they degrade over the season adding organic matter to the soil and feeding the bacterial microbes that are most active and essential in agricultural type soils. While many people use plastic, weed fabric or cardboard to keep weeds down, these have been shown to have negative effects on soil health. The benefits may outweigh the costs for commercial growers but for the home gardener, healthy soils mean healthy plants. Plus carboard, especially corrugated pieces often contains contaminants.

For perennial flower beds, I like the look of cocoa shell (if you don’t have dogs that would eat them) or buckwheat hull mulches. They set off your perennial foliage and flowering plants at a better scale than larger bark mulches, nugget mulches or woodchips do. The problem with these being they are not always easy to find or cheap. For trees and shrubs, coarser wood or bark mulches would be appropriate. The bottom line for mulches, is that regardless of which one you chose, it will help to keep weeds down.

In certain situations, the use of an organically certified (OMRI) herbicide might be helpful. There are a number of products on the market that contain essential oils, like clove or citrus, sodium or ammonium derivatives or even acetic acid (vinegar). I find them handy for high populations of just germinating weed seeds before planting or in pathways between rows. The tiny weeds are killed quickly especially on a sunny day.

Two things to consider when purchasing these products are that they typically do not kill the roots of larger established weeds. The top will generally die back but the roots are still alive and will resprout. The other thing is these organic weedkillers are non-selective meaning they can kill any plant they are sprayed on.

However, you choose to remove them, persistence and regular scouting will keep weeds to a minimum. Because the seeds can be in the soil, be transported when purchasing compost or plants, can blow in from the neighbor’s garden or even be moved by animals and people, weeds will always find a way into your gardens and it’s your job to keep them out.

Have a question about plants? The UConn Home Garden Education Office supports UConn Extension’s mission by providing answers you can trust with research-based information and resources. For gardening questions, contact us toll-free at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu, or reach out to your local UConn Extension Center at extension.uconn.edu/locations.

 

This article was published in the Hartford Courant June 13, 2026

Start Scouting Now for this Common CT Garden Pest

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By Heather Zidack, UConn Home Garden Education Office 

Close-up of a split green squash stem revealing orange plant tissue and a pale, grub-like larva inside, with soil visible in the background.Provide your feedback on BizChat
SVB larvae inside of a zucchini stem. Photo by H. Zidack

The Squash Vine Borer (SVB) is a red-orange and black winged insect. They emerge in early to mid-summer and lay their eggs at the base of squash stems. When those eggs hatch, larvae emerge and bore their way into the plant stem, continuing to eat your squash plants from the inside out until they are ready to pupate. Gardeners may not even notice their presence until they see squash plants wilting in the summer heat. Upon even closer inspection, a yellow, sawdust like appearance and entry hole at the base of the stem is often found. Once this is observed, it is often too late. While early June may feel too early to start scouting for these guys, it’s the perfect time to start planning defensive strategies to help protect your garden.  

The first thing you can do, especially if you have a history with these insects, is select resistant cultivars. Knowing which types of squash are common targets can help you determine whether you will want to keep a closer eye on them this season, or maybe plant something different, altogether.  

Cucurbita pepo is highly susceptible to Squash Vine Borer. This species includes Zucchini and summer squash. They have thin, hollow stems, which make it easy for these critters to get into. Pumpkins are also in this category. However, pumpkins are more likely to vine out and lay roots along the stems touching the soil surface. This helps the plant to withstand damage a bit better than its other counterparts.  

Cucurbita maxima, which includes winter squash like giant pumpkins, Kabocha and Blue Hubbard varieties, is also susceptible to the SVB. While it is less preferred than C. pepo, it can still be targeted. 

Cucurbita moschata is the most resistant plant species. C. moschata includes the butternut, honeynut and crookneck squashes. Their stems are thicker and more succulent, making them least favorable for the SVB to lay eggs on. Therefore, while not impossible, they stand a good chance against this garden pest.  These insects are also rarely found in cucumbers and melons.  

It is important to rotate your planting sites each year. These insects overwinter as pupae in the soil and emerge as adults in June-July. Planting in the same place each season is like placing a gift on their front doorstep. Moving your planting site and adding a protective row cover as soon as you plant can improve your odds at keeping the SVB away from your plants altogether. Leave the row cover until both male and female flowers begin to emerge. After that it is important to remove the row covers so pollinators can access the flowers.  

For gardeners unable to rotate their gardens, preventative measures can still be taken. Do not use row covers as they can trap the pest in with your plants. Some recommend placing aluminum foil around the first couple inches of stem at the soil line to prevent insects from laying eggs and boring through stem tissue. Treating the base of the plants with a preventative pesticide may also be effective.  

Chemical management is often tricky with these pests, and home gardeners may not feel it is worth the effort. Importantly, chemical management is no longer effective once the larvae have entered the stems, since they are then protected by the plants. In addition, these products can impact the pollinators visiting your cucurbits, so it’s important to carefully consider the full impact of chemical management. Always read the label in full and follow all instructions as prescribed.   

Start scouting for the adults early. In mid to late June, check the base of stems for eggs and early boring damage. You may even see the adult insects flying around. Symptoms, like wilting, often begin in late June and become more common in July. 

If you have a strong stomach and sense of adventure, you can carefully slice into the stem to try to find the larvae and extract it. Vining squash species may recover if the pest is removed and portions of vine are then buried in the soil, allowing new roots to take over and support the vine.   

Alternatively, removing affected plants entirely and disposing of them in the trash may help to break the life cycle and remove pests from your garden for future seasons.  

Since these insects typically only have one generation per year, your hard work does have a finish line. Paying extra attention and working to manage the SVB in early summer will allow your squash to grow healthy for the rest of the season. A second crop of summer squash can be planted in July, once adults are no longer out and laying eggs. This second crop should be unaffected by the SVB and produce healthy squash for your family to enjoy! 

The UConn Home Garden Education Office supports UConn Extension’s mission by providing answers you can trust with research-based information and resources. For gardening questions, contact us toll-free at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu, or reach out to your local UConn Extension Center at  extension.uconn.edu/locations.   

This article was published in the Hartford Courant June 7, 2026

A Cold Spring, Garden Design and other June News

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Rows of potted flowering plants and leafy green foliage arranged in a garden center, with colorful blooms in yellow, orange, red, and purple. Bold text reading “JUNE 2026” appears over the image.

"It is the month of June,
The month of leaves and roses,
When pleasant sights salute the eyes,
And pleasant scents the noses..."

—  Nathaniel P. Willis  

We Have Officially Moved to our New Location!

Last month, The UConn Home Garden Education Office & our partners at the Plant Diagnostic Lab & Soil Nutrient Analysis Lab successfully completed our move to our new location. 

Our phone numbers and email contacts have stayed the same, however our new address is: 

George Leigh Minor Plant and Soil Health Center
27A Manter Road, Unit 4115
Storrs, CT, 06269-4115

Thank you to our clients and stakeholders for your patience and understanding during our move.

Brick building exterior with a sign reading “UConn George Leigh Minor Plant and Soil Health Center,” featuring a ramp, stairs, metal railings, and utility cabinets in front of a wooden slat fence.

It's Been Cold - How Will It Affect My Garden?

This spring has been on the cooler side, and gardeners are feeling the stress. We've been getting a lot of inquiries about what, when, and how to cover plants during these cold snaps and wondering how it will affect what's already been planted. Here are the facts: 

  •  Soil temperatures are warm and slower to shift compared to air temperatures. Warm soil will help keep plants warm during these cold snaps, especially when you are able to build a small, cloth tent around your tender plants when cold nights are in the forecast.
  • Mulch can also help stabilize the temperature in the garden, protecting against short term temperature extremes.
  • Many plants in the garden, if properly transitioned before being planted earlier this month, are likely to have hardened off. A few cold nights may cause stress, but should not kill the plants. 
  • Cold temperatures can cause stunting or delayed growth, especially in warm season crops like tomatoes, basil, peppers and eggplant. 
  • Physical signs of cold damage can include browning or purpling foliage, wilting or deformation or flower/leaf drop 

What Can I Do?

  • Plants will recover from cold damage without much intervention. If able, water plants thoroughly before temperature drops, as moist soil retains more heat than dry soil. After the event, continue normal watering as needed to prevent drought stress, but avoid fertilizing until plants resume active growth.
  • Injured plant tissue does not heal in the sense that damage will be reversed over time. Look for healthy, unblemished new growth as a sign of the plant's recovery. 
  • Delay pruning until the danger of additional temperature dips have passed and new growth appears. At that point, remove clearly dead or damaged tissue.
  • Be patient! At times, damage may take time to appear. If growth delays have occurred, there is still plenty of growing season left for your plants to recover and produce.

Garden Design Tips

Are you establishing a new garden bed at home? Use these tips to help you create a purposeful and balanced garden design. 

  • Avoid planting in straight rows. Utilize curves and natural lines to create a design that the eye can follow smoothly. Stagger plants in the landscape to make plantings look intentional, but not too structured.
  • Plant in groups of odd numbers. This helps to create a more natural look. Even pairs often gives the impression of too much uniformity
  • Plan for each season. In perennial gardens, especially, leave space for plants that flower in other seasons for a long display of color.
  • When planting within the same season, it is important to select flower colors that blend well together. However, if one perennial flowers in summer, and another flowers in fall, it is much less likely that they will overlap and contrast one another. 
  • Keep mature size in mind. It can be very tempting to plant masses of plants that are fresh out of the pot. But even those one gallon perennials may get pretty big after a couple of seasons. Whenever you are planting trees, shrubs and perennials, it is important to consider what their final, mature size will be so that you can leave enough room. Consider putting annuals in between during years your plants are establishing to better fill the space. 

Basic Garden Design

 Interesting Insects: Four Lined Plant Bug

Bright green and black four-lined plant bug resting on a green leaf, with long black antennae and an orange head visible against surrounding foliage.
Photo by Pamm Cooper, UConn Home Garden Education Office

Egg hatch can be as early as late April in Connecticut. Nymphs develop and feed for about a month, reach adult stage and mate Eggs are laid on the host plants where they overwinter. There is thankfully only one generation a year.  Feeding injury from nymphs and adults causes black or brown sunken spots to form on the foliage host plants. These areas may be mistaken for leaf spot diseases. There are over 250 host plants including mints, herbs, dandelions, thistles and other plants. Cut down host plants and remove material in the fall as eggs may have been inserted into them.

Four Lined Plant Bug

Invasive Plants to Scout for in June

A leafy green shrub with clusters of small white flowers and yellow centers growing in a sunlit garden bed, surrounded by grass and other plants.
Photo by Lauren Kurtz, UConn Home Garden Education Office

Look for flowering invasives now and remove them before they set seeds.

Depending on site conditions and local timing, invasives flowering in June in Connecticut include Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), burning bush (Euonymus alatus), and dame's rocket (Hesperis matronalis).

Removing invasives before they set seed will prevent them from spreading more seeds into the environment. The management strategy to use varies by habitat and species. Visit the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group website for more specific information. 

 

CT Invasive Plant Working Group

Native Plant Highlight: Northern Catalpa

Large deciduous tree with bright green leaves standing in an open grassy yard under a clear blue sky, with houses and other trees showing early fall color in the background.
Photo by Pamm Cooper, UConn Home Garden Education Office

This native tree is known for its heart-shaped leaves, bean- like fruits and large clusters of showy white flowers with yellow and purple spots inside. Flowers are visited during the day  by hummingbirds, bees, and moths and by night by many diverse species of moths, especially sphinx moths. The large trees have angular branching that makes for winter interest.

Learn More About Northern Catalpa

The CT Native Plant Availability List: Updated and even MORE user-friendly!

This native plant guide was created to assist municipalities, conservation organizations, homeowners, landscape architects, designers, and contractors with locating native plants for habitat restoration and wildlife enhancement.

The Connecticut Native Plant Availability List, by UConn Extension and CT DEEP Wildlife Division, identifies nurseries and garden centers that grow/sell native trees, shrubs, and perennials. Along with several nurseries that are new to the list, we have also added the ability for users to view the Availability List sorted by Nursery!

CT Native Perennial, Tree & Shrub Availability List

Word from the WiSE

Women in Soil Ecology, UConn Student Chapter

Native Plant-Fungal Associations

This month, UConn’s Women in Soil Ecology bring you a word on native plant associations with fungi in Connecticut (CT). These associations occur across several types of mycorrhizal fungi, each interacting with plants in unique ways. Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with the roots of most land plants. Overall, these fungi can enhance nutrient uptake, improve water absorption, aid in pathogen and disease suppression, stress response, and improve soil function for plants. 

The lady slipper orchid (Cypripedium species) is an example of a highly specialized symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal soil fungi. The fungus invades the orchid seeds and provides vital carbohydrates and nutrients required for germination and seedling development, continuing to aid the mature plant in return for water and soil minerals. Another example is the ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora), which is a plant that is found in deeply shaded CT forests. This plant steals nutrients from Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi connected to surrounding trees. Ericoid mycorrhizal fungi form sheaths around plant roots and create a network of hyphae between root cells without penetrating the cells, called Hartig net. Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) is another native plant that benefits from mycorrhizal associations, specifically with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi penetrate root cells and create specialized structures called arbuscules, which facilitates the exchange between the fungus and the plant.

These hidden underground partnerships play a vital role in maintaining healthy forests, resilient ecosystems, and productive soils throughout Connecticut. 

By Nora Doonan, Soil Science PhD Student, UConn PSLA

Weather Outlook

A seasoned gardener always keeps their eye to the sky at any time of year! Maps and the 30 day outlook from NOAA will help you stay prepared for any and all of your gardening chores! (Click image to see larger map.)

Monthly Temperature Outlook Map of United States
Monthly Precipitation Outlook Map of United States

We Need Your Input!

The UConn Home and Garden Education Center is asking for your input to help guide future programs and services. Please take a few minutes to complete our needs assessment survey and share what topics, resources, and support would be most helpful to you.

Your feedback will help shape upcoming educational offerings and strengthen our ability to serve Connecticut gardeners.

Thank you for your feedback!

If you have any questions about this survey, please email us at ladybug@uconn.edu

Take the Survey!

Upcoming Events and Things to Do

            June Gardening Tips

                    • Keep on top of weeds during the early summer when they are small and easy to pull. If you keep your garden plants well-watered and fertilized, they will quickly fill in bare spaces and give weeds fewer places to grow.
                    • Sow seeds of fast-growing annuals like marigolds, zinnias, and cosmos directly in the garden
                    • Lightly cultivate soil after a heavy rain to avoid compaction. A layer of mulch reduces the soil crusting and compaction caused by raindrops.
                    • You can move houseplants outside to the deck or patio and enjoy them outdoors for the summer. It is best to gradually introduce them to more direct sunlight to prevent the leaves from being burned.
                    • There is still time to sow seeds of beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, and summer squash.
                    • Harvest early season fruits such as strawberries when they are at their peak.
                    • Do not use a pre-emergent weed control if you are trying to germinate seeds in the same area.
                    • Heavy rains encourage slug problems. Check for slugs during rainy periods and hand pick the pests.
                    • June bugs, can be annoying as they bounce on your window screens attracted by your house lights. The larvae do eat plant roots and the adult beetles forage on trees and shrubs although they do not seem to cause the excessive damage associated with Oriental beetles or Japanese beetles.
                    • Mosquitoes breed in standing water. To discourage them, change the water in bird baths and outdoor pet dishes every few days.
                    • Mow lawns often enough to remove no more than one-third the total height per mowing. There is no need to remove clippings unless excessive or diseased.

                    We've Moved to Our New Location!

                    New Location: 
                    George Leigh Minor Plant and Soil Health Center
                    University of Connecticut
                    Roy E. Jones Building Annex
                    27 Manter Road, Storrs, CT, 06269
                    (In front of UConn Dairy Bar)
                    Map of the Jones Annex across from the dairy bar

                    UConn Home Garden Education Office

                    Horticultural support and education for home garden issues related to plant health, garden pests, general plant care, and more.

                    UConn Plant Diagnostic Laboratory

                    Diagnosis of plant health and pest issues for commercial growers and the public.

                    UConn Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory

                    Soil chemistry testing including pH, nutrients, salinity, lime and fertilizer recommendations, and many others.

                    UConn Turf Diagnostic Lab

                    Turf diagnostics for golf courses, athletic fields, or other commercial turfgrass sites

                    What Stays the Same

                    We will continue to provide the professional and research-based support you’re used to, just in a convenient, central location. Our science-based testing protocols and result-driven recommendations reinforce our commitment to serving growers, landscapers, and the public with their plant and soil health issues.

                    What Gets Better

                    Combining current programs all under one roof provides an opportunity for more collaboration, outreach, and educational opportunities for our stakeholders.

                    • One easy-to-find location for soil, plant, and turf sample submissions
                    • Future expansion of diagnostic services available for plant and soil health analysis
                    • Collaboration between programs and increased opportunities for public outreach events
                    Watch for More Information Soon
                    s.uconn.edu/plant-soil

                    This Month’s Newsletter Contributors: 
                    Pamm Cooper, Lauren Kurtz, Emily Leahy, Zaira O'Leary, Heather Zidack

                    Discussing Gardening Resources on CRIS Radio

                    Posted on by

                    CRIS Radio: Focal Point 6/1/2026

                    Heather Zidack from the UConn Home & Garden Education Center talks to host, Stephen Thal, about the cool spring we've had and the number of gardening resources out there for people to explore!

                    Transcript

                    00:00:00 Stephen Thal 

                    Hi, welcome to another segment on Focal Point. This is Steven Thal and we've been hosting many programs lately and we're hoping that you're enjoying them. 

                    Some of them have been updates on other programs like today is going to be the gardening program of course. 

                    00:00:19 Stephen Thal 

                    Every year it's different because a lot is based on the weather and some of the new fertilizers they've developed and some of the new resources. 

                    00:00:29 Stephen Thal 

                    For example, you may not be aware of some apps that are available that may help you with your gardening. 

                    00:00:36 Stephen Thal 

                    So without further introductions, we're going to ask Heather Zidack from the UConn Plant and Science Center in Storrs, Connecticut to help us put all these facts together. 

                    00:00:48 Stephen Thal 

                    And we'd like to thank her for coming on because they're in the process of moving. So that's adding a little more stress, but she always enjoys our programs. 

                    Heather, what's up? 

                    00:01:02 Heather Zidack 

                    Hey, Steven. Thanks for having me today. 

                    00:01:04 Heather Zidack 

                    Like you said, we're in the middle of that move, but it's pretty exciting. 

                    So my office, the UConn Home Garden Education Office in the Plant Science Department has moved to a new place on the Storrs campus. We are directly across from the Dairy Bar. If you're familiar with the UConn Dairy Bar and you ever get to make a trip out here, we are right across the parking lot from them. 

                    00:01:29 Heather Zidack 

                    And it's my office, which offers the home gardening advice as well as our soil lab and our plant diagnostic lab. 

                    00:01:36 Heather Zidack 

                    So it's really cool to have all of us in the same hallway so that we can work a little bit better to get more plant and gardening information out to the public. 

                    So it's an exciting time, but I'm happy to be here today to go through some of these plant resources with you as well. 

                    00:01:53 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay, so how do you want to start? Is the weather the culprit in all of this or? 

                    00:01:59 Heather Zidack 

                    Yeah, it's been a very cold, very cool spring. And so we're seeing a lot of stuff is kind of slow to wake up this year. There are plants that are not leafing out as well as we're used to. 

                    00:02:17 Heather Zidack 

                    We've been getting pictures from clients asking us, Is it still alive? What do I do with it? And our biggest thing right now is telling everybody to just wait a couple more weeks. 

                    00:02:26 Heather Zidack 

                    We're hoping that the weather is going to warm up a little bit, become a little more consistent so that we can start really getting out there into the garden and so there are plants that are going to start looking like we're used to. 

                    00:02:39 Heather Zidack 

                    Different parts of the state are also experiencing very different things. 

                    So I had a client talk to me about this the other day where their trees are fully leafed out and everything looks great. But as they were driving through the state, they noticed some places where it looks like it's not as fully flushed out yet. 

                    00:02:55 Heather Zidack 

                    So a lot of it has to do with the cool. But we also had a drought last fall or at least dry conditions that also contributed to some of it. 

                    00:03:03 Heather Zidack 

                    So our biggest thing is just telling people to wait right now and watch things grow. We're hoping that things will be lush and green really soon. 

                    00:03:13 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay. So I should mention, perhaps might be early, but people should be aware that there may be resources in their own area that could help them with getting ready for their spring and summer gardening experiences. 

                    00:03:32 Heather Zidack 

                    Yeah, absolutely. 

                    00:03:34 Heather Zidack 

                    So a couple resources that are available through UConn. There is our office here, as I mentioned, the Home Garden Education Office, and we answer questions via e-mail, telephone, and walk-in visits. If you have plants that are looking, you know, a little unhealthy or you have some garden insects that's eating your tomatoes, for example, and need help identifying it, we can certainly help with that through those three venues. 

                    00:04:03 Heather Zidack 

                    There's also regional extension offices, and every county in the state has one. They are staffed by the Master Gardener Program, which is a volunteer-based program. 

                    Our Master Gardeners do one semester course, 60 hours of volunteer time, and they are very knowledgeable. So they're throughout the state. The Master Gardener coordinators are available to help with some of these things as well. 

                    00:04:30 Heather Zidack 

                    If you do have concerns with plant diseases, we have the plant diagnostic lab here in Storrs where samples can be sent in at any time. And our lab with their brand new facility, they're very excited to be looking at setting up some new tests this year as well to expand their services. 

                    00:04:48 Heather Zidack 

                    And finally, the soil lab is also here in Storrs. We're all in the same building now.  So they help with like soil nutrition and stuff like that. 

                    00:04:55 Heather Zidack 

                    So there's a lot of local places that you can get really good information. 

                    The extension program is pretty wide across Connecticut, and we're here to help gardeners make the right decisions and identify any issues that are coming up in their garden. 

                    00:05:10 Stephen Thal 

                    Now, if they have certain bugs or something, shouldn't they save little containers so they can catch these little varmints and send them off to you? 

                    00:05:20 Heather Zidack 

                    We recommend, yes. If there are any pests in the garden, we can take a look at them. 

                    We recommend that you put them into a little container and put some rubbing alcohol into the container to kill the insect before we take a look at it. But we definitely can. 

                    00:05:35 Heather Zidack 

                    Our specialty is in the garden specifically. So if it's in the home or insects that are affecting your pets or things like that, we don't have that expertise, but we can help with anything that is in the garden, yes. 

                    00:05:51 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay, so we're ready to go. So what do we need to prepare for a good garden this year? 

                    00:05:57 Heather Zidack 

                    So one of the things I wanted to talk about is how everyone gets their information when they're getting ready to start the garden. 

                    There's a lot of information out there right now, and we have access to so many different resources that it's really important as gardeners to kind of be a little bit, you know, scrutinize your information a little bit, make sure that it's the right source, make sure it's accurate, and things like that. 

                    00:06:24 Heather Zidack 

                    There's a couple of different things that are becoming more and more popular as sources for gardening information that I wanted to talk with you about today. We can go through them and talk about things that you should look out for, things that they're good for. 

                    00:06:43 Heather Zidack 

                    The first one I want to bring up - It's been around for a long time, but finding your garden information on the Internet is really, really a good source. 

                    There's a lot of good information out there, but it's really important to be cautious of what you're reading. So if you're especially on social media, you can see a lot of misinformation. You can see a lot of trends and opinions on places like that. 

                    00:07:10 Heather Zidack 

                    If you're looking for really accurate gardening information, you want to look at extension websites for extension programs like UConn Extension or any .edu or .gov site. Every state has their own extension program. So those are really good resources that we partner with for research and things like that so that the information is shared and verified across these different programs. 

                    00:07:38 Heather Zidack 

                    You want to learn the credentials of who's presenting the information to you. Are they like a horticulturalist or are they looking for just clicks to get your engagement on the internet, right? So are you talking to a, you know, a professor or faculty? You know, someone from the USDA, someone from extension, things like that. 

                    These people are professionals who are educated in the field, whereas sometimes there's information coming from people who don't necessarily have the background or the research to back up the claims. 

                    00:08:11 Heather Zidack 

                    So really important to check your sources, look for those EDUs, those .govs, those extension pages, look at who's giving you the information and then go ahead and verify, find another source on the internet that has that information. 

                    So maybe you can find it from more than one source and it is accurate, but just be a little bit cautious with what you're looking at to make sure that it's what you are actually looking for and giving you the right information for your area. 

                    00:08:40 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay, so now what happens if you don't have a computer? Where can you get the information? 

                    00:08:46 Heather Zidack 

                    So a lot of times people can go to libraries to get a lot of that information as well. There are some really good books out there. 

                    It's a really good thing to bring up that we don't want to forget that gardening books still have a lot of good information. A lot of the times, although we are doing a lot of research and learning a lot of new things, some of the tried and true methods are still going to be the same. 

                    00:09:11 Heather Zidack 

                    There's still a lot of factual information in some older texts that we still do today. For example, we still prune trees the same way that we have for many, many years. We still plant our seeds in the same way that we have for many, many years. So going to some of those texts can be a really helpful option as well. 

                    00:09:33 Heather Zidack 

                    And libraries will offer you that access to the Internet, access to those those texts. 

                    00:09:39 Heather Zidack 

                    The other thing, you can always call us if you have any questions. There's plenty of resources out there for people to get the right information they need. 

                    00:09:48 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay. What is your phone number? 

                    00:09:50 Heather Zidack 

                    Our phone number is going to be 860-486-6271. Again, that's 860-486-6271 for the UConn Home Garden Education Office. 

                    00:10:06 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay, is there anything that's an accessible format that can help people do this? Are they still in the process of putting it together? 

                    00:10:17 Heather Zidack 

                    They're still in the process of putting a lot of it together. A lot of UConn's materials, especially in our website, have been updated to be ADA compliant with screen readers and materials like that. So most UConn web pages will have that accessibility available to them. 

                    Also calling or you can come in anytime we can, you know, print off material for you as well. 

                    00:10:43 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay, great. Okay, so now where do we go? 

                    00:10:47 Heather Zidack 

                    So a couple more resources that we have. 

                    One of the things that I did want to mention is the idea of AI, because this is becoming a huge thing. You're hearing about it everywhere. And there is a lot of AI-generated gardening info out there. 

                    00:11:03 Heather Zidack 

                    What AI will do to find that information very similar to an advanced Google search, right They will look through whatever information is available. 

                    So they'll look at commercial stuff, they'll look at personal stuff, they'll look at scientific data, they'll ball it all together and give you an answer. So sometimes it doesn't know what you're exactly looking for. 

                    It's a good starting point, but you need a little bit more to guide it. 

                    00:11:27 Heather Zidack 

                    So if you are going to use AI, even like AI Gemini, Google searches, things like that. Always tell it what information you're looking for and where you're trying to find it from. 

                    So for an example, I'm looking for how to take care of my lilies from extension sources only. That way it tells it to look through extension EDUs to get all of the information. 

                    Tell it I'm looking for information on native plants from my local extension. It'll tell you native plants in the area. 

                    00:12:05 Heather Zidack 

                    So if you can guide AI in the right direction, it can be a really useful tool. But again, you need to verify that information just like you were looking on the internet. 

                    00:12:15 Heather Zidack 

                    Something else that has kind of come up is the idea of AI generated plants. 

                    We've seen this happen a few times in our daily questions and answers with the public, but sometimes there's pictures out there now of these AI-generated plants that look beautiful and they don't exist. It can lead to heartbreak when you're trying to shop. 

                    00:12:39 Heather Zidack 

                    Any signs that it could be artificial would include if there's any missing or extra plant parts, if the flowers are kind of mismatched, if the colors are super brilliant or there's not a lot of uniformity. 

                    00:12:51 Heather Zidack 

                    In general, if it's too good to be true, it might be, so you want to take a look to see if you can find more information about it somewhere else. It's really important when you're shopping for your plants. 

                    00:13:03 Heather Zidack 

                    There is a Connecticut native and sustainable landscaping guide that exists that you can look up online. And that guide tells you a lot of native plants in Connecticut that are going to be helpful for you to plant. 

                    00:13:20 Heather Zidack 

                    There are resources at your local garden centers that can help you find native plants or even exotic ornamental plants, but what fits your garden and your space best. So keep that in mind when using AI. 

                    00:13:37 Heather Zidack 

                    The other thing that I wanted to mention, and we talked about this a little bit before I jumped on, was plant apps. Now you've had a little experience with those, right? 

                    00:13:48 Heather Zidack 

                    Those can be really good for starting points, especially with plant ID. They're starting to get a little bit smarter. They are being AI infused or however you want to call it. And using these plants can usually get you right in the right direction. 

                    00:14:06 Heather Zidack 

                    They often, you'll take a picture and it'll give you a list of what the plant could be. And you can narrow it down from there based on your location, based on other identified structures that maybe you can't see in the image. 

                    00:14:19 Heather Zidack 

                    For example, if a stem is like a little bit fuzzy instead of just, you know, sleek and time of year. So those can be really important tangible identifying factors. Other things like smell or overall size, texture, things like that can really help you determine if your app is giving you the right information and help you calibrate it because apps often can miss context clues that pictures might not provide. 

                    00:14:47 Heather Zidack 

                    So, for example, if you take a picture of a plant and there's no size reference on it, the app may determine that it's bigger or smaller than what it really is. There is a plant out there called giant hogweed, which there's a lot of anxiety about. And it can get up to like six to eight feet tall. It flowers later in the fall or later in the summer, sorry.  

                    And a plant app could pick it up. But there are a handful of lookalikes that bloom at different times of year. They bloom at different sizes. And they are just not the same. 

                    And then a photo may not give you that information. 

                    00:15:32 Heather Zidack 

                    So with plant apps, you always want to use them as a starting app or a starting point and work from there. 

                    So it'll give you a list of things that it could be and then you want to verify that it's blooming at the right time of year, it's the right size, it's in the right location to make sure that it is what you're actually being told. 

                    00:15:53 Heather Zidack 

                    They unfortunately are not nearly as developed for plant health diagnostics. So they can There are ones that claim to give you an idea of what's wrong with the plant or what it needs, if it needs nutrition, if it needs water, things like that. 

                    Be really cautious with these. There's just too much nuance at this point. 

                    00:16:13 Heather Zidack 

                    So just like when you get sick, not every symptom can be seen and further assessment is needed, especially with plant health. And there's a lot of lookalikes out there. 

                    00:16:23 Heather Zidack 

                    So leaf spots can be caused from bacteria, fungi, environmental conditions, all sorts of things that you need to narrow down with additional information. 

                    So those are better given to a plant pathologist or a plant diagnostic lab, whereas using the apps for identification is really the best use of them right now, keeping in mind that you do those few things to narrow it down. 

                    00:16:49 Heather Zidack 

                    The other really good thing the apps are kind of making their way towards is there are some that can help you with your landscaping. 

                    So with those, you can take a picture of your landscape and they can insert little plants to make it so that you can see what it could look like. That's another really good use of plant apps just to get that information. 

                    So once you get the information you need, you can start building your garden or managing your garden in a better way. 

                    00:17:24 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay. We're interviewing Heather from the UConn Plant and Science Center, but she's trying to give us a lot of good resource information as well as information for planning. 

                    It's not just throw a few plants in and you're off and running, I think. You have to understand the habitat of your own environment you're working in. 

                    00:17:50 Stephen Thal 

                    And she's describing some of these now in order to help. And of course, as we go on throughout the year, different things will come up depending upon the weather changes and depending upon the soil changes too. Correct. 

                    00:18:09 Heather Zidack 

                    Yes, so that's a huge thing that we're starting to see and we see first thing in the spring is that temperatures are really important and plants are very sensitive to temperatures both in the air and in the soil, like you mentioned. 

                    That can be an indicator of when we start putting plants out into the garden. 

                    00:18:31 Heather Zidack 

                    When plants are, we see like the soil temperature rise, that's slower to rise than the air temperature. So in early spring, when we start seeing soil temperatures around 50 degrees or so is when we start getting excited and doing things in the garden. 

                    That's usually when the forsythias bloom. That's a good indicator. 

                    And at that point we can start planting like our cold crops, our brassicas, our cool season herbs, root vegetables, things like that. They like the soil temperature at like 50, 60 degrees. 

                    So a lot of gardens by now already have those planted and they're doing pretty well. 

                    00:19:10 Heather Zidack 

                    Whereas you have, once we get 50 to 60 degree air temperatures at night, you start being able to bring out more of your warmer season stuff, so your annuals, your hanging baskets, your vegetables that are like peppers and tomatoes, the warm season stuff. 

                    All of that can start going out when we start seeing nighttime air temperatures at between 50 and 60 degrees. 

                    00:19:37 Heather Zidack 

                    The one thing that I tend to caution people about is that once we're at that temperature, it's It's not quite over yet, right? We all know New England spring, there's going to be a random frost somewhere in the equation. 

                    So you have to be able to cover your plants if they're planted. If we're getting a frost, a lot of plants are susceptible to damage when it's too, too cold. 

                    00:20:01 Heather Zidack 

                    So you can cover things with like You know, if you're in a pinch, use a bed sheet or a towel. You can use, you know, just breathable materials. 

                    You never want to use tarps or plastic. 

                    And if you do have the opportunity, you want to use some stakes to kind of tent it up so that there's some airflow and some warm air there keeping the plants safe. 

                    So that's a really good caution. 

                    00:20:27 Heather Zidack 

                    If you're out and you're shopping for garden stuff now, you're looking at perennials and shrubs, most of them should be able to go outside the day you purchase them, especially if you're in a garden center where they're storing all of their plants outside. 

                    Odds are that they've been hardened off and ready for the season to come. 

                    00:20:44 Heather Zidack 

                    If you're buying something that is in a greenhouse, it may not be ready and it may need to be transitioned. Best thing to do is to ask your garden center professional for clarification. 

                    Is this okay to go outside? Has it been growing in a greenhouse all this time? 

                    Those kinds of things will help you determine whether you can put it outside yet or not. 

                    00:21:04 Heather Zidack 

                    Your houseplants definitely may benefit from doing field trips in and outside for a couple of weeks before you get them fully outside. 

                    00:21:13 Heather Zidack 

                    One of the things that's really important is if they got full sun in your house, you don't want to put them out in the direct sunlight right away. 

                    Your window panes tend to filter a lot of light, especially the newer window panes have the UV blocking technology and stuff and they're not getting a full spectrum of light in the same way. 

                    So you want to put your house plants in a place that has bright indirect light first and give them a couple of weeks to transition before you put them right out in the full sun. 

                    Plants can actually get sunburned just like we can. So you want to make sure. 

                    00:21:49 Heather Zidack 

                    The other thing too, you know, looking at your hanging baskets and things like that, they may also benefit from those little field trips in and outside. They're really easy to move if you've got a frost coming. So that's really good to keep in mind. 

                    00:22:06 Heather Zidack 

                    So that's some shopping tips right now of like what can go outside and what can maybe hang back for a little while longer. 

                    00:22:15 Stephen Thal 

                    That's great. A lot of good information. 

                    And of course, plants and gardening, that's a huge field. Even if you're going to be doing smaller things inside. 

                    00:22:28 Stephen Thal 

                    Do they ever do herbs as houseplants or they have to be outside? 

                    00:22:35 Heather Zidack 

                    Herbs are great for indoors as well as outdoors. They don't get too big. They don't necessarily require as much sun as some plants. 

                    00:22:48 Heather Zidack 

                    In general, when we're looking at plants, the more showy their flowers, the more light they tend to need. 

                    Now there's exceptions to every rule, but a lot of plants, especially our herbs, our vegetables, the more that they produce fruit and flower, the more sunlight they need. 

                    00:23:07 Heather Zidack 

                    The great thing with things like herbs like basil and parsley, they do produce flowers, but that's not ever what we're looking for from them. 

                    So by keeping them on a windowsill, they will get enough sunlight to produce the leaves. That's what we're looking for for culinary purposes. And so those can be a really good thing. 

                    00:23:26 Heather Zidack 

                    They can also be great if you're just getting into gardening. They seed really quickly, they don't take up a lot of space, and it's a really good chance to learn on something that's kind of easy. 

                    00:23:39 Stephen Thal 

                    That's good. Any other interesting things we need to look at for this year? 

                    00:23:45 Heather Zidack 

                    Yeah. Well, for this spring, looking ahead, couple of cautions that I have for people is to avoid pruning anything that blooms in the spring just yet. 

                    We do have phone calls occasionally at this time of year where people are asking if they can prune their lilacs, their hydrangeas, their azaleas, rhododendrons, things like that. 

                    And right now we recommend that you wait. 

                    00:24:13 Heather Zidack 

                    If you prune too early on a lot of these plants, you could lose their flowers for the season. They actually do set their buds in the fall. So those flower buds are already there and if you cut them back, you could be removing flowers. 

                    So even those hydrangea sticks look really ugly, give them a little more time. They could have flower buds on them and you wouldn't want to miss them this year. 

                    00:24:38 Heather Zidack 

                    Another thing is that it's a great time to divide and transplant your fall and summer blooming perennials. 

                    Leave your spring blooming stuff because it's in the middle of having its show for the season, but you can move some of those other things still in May. 

                    00:24:57 Heather Zidack 

                    Another tip that I give a lot of people is as you're planting, especially vegetable gardens, if you have issues with insects and pests, put netting as you're planting to help. It takes another thing off the list. You don't have to go back and do it later. 

                    00:25:14 Heather Zidack 

                    If you do your netting, when you do your planting, it'll help keep those pests away for longer. but depending on what you're planting, you may need to remove those so that pollinators can get in. So always make sure that that's in line and then 

                    00:25:30 Heather Zidack 

                    The biggest reminder is to remember to water because as we've seen with different springs, sometimes we get trained if we have a really rainy spring to not get in the habit of watering. 

                    So even if you don't have to water because there's rain, it's really good to check the soil and make sure that you do or do not need to water. 

                    00:25:51 Heather Zidack 

                    So what you can do to do that is you wanna dig up a little bit, take a little handful of soil, squeeze it in your hand. 

                    If you open your hand and that soil holds shape, then it's probably good on water for a little while longer. 

                    If you open your hand and it turns to dust or falls apart, is really crumbly, that may need water to supplement. 

                    And if you squeeze your hand and you have water running out of your hand, you're definitely overwatered and you need to wait until your next watering. 

                    00:26:20 Heather Zidack 

                    This can be effective for your house plants as well as your plants in the ground because you can kind of get a gauge of what the soil feels like to help you decide if you need water. 

                    00:26:31 Stephen Thal 

                    Boy, a lot of information coming up, especially when people have big gardens they have to manage. What kind of protective gear should people be wearing as they're gardening? Many people forget that's part of the whole process. 

                    00:26:45 Heather Zidack 

                    Yeah, it's really important to make sure that you're protecting yourself when you're outside. 

                    One of the big things that I recommend is make sure you're wearing long pants and long sleeves, just like a lighter material if you can. By doing that, you're going to keep anything from brushing against your skin that might cause an irritation. 

                    00:27:05 Heather Zidack 

                    So some people are very sensitive to different plants and it may be that they need a little bit more protection. 

                    00:27:13 Heather Zidack 

                    So especially if you're handling a plant that you don't know what it is, long pants, long sleeves, gloves, and closed-toed shoes are a must. 

                    So those big thickets that you're trying to weed out for the season, make sure that you're fully covered and that your skin is covered because you don't know what's in there necessarily. 

                    And if you've ever gotten poison ivy, you know that you don't want to get that if you're in a dense kind of thicket area. 

                    00:27:40 Heather Zidack 

                    Other important thing, it's really important to wear a hat when you're out in the sun. 

                    Sunscreen as well to make sure that you are protected from the UV as well as sunglasses can be really important. 

                    00:27:53 Heather Zidack 

                    We've seen people though will garden in flip flops and shorts and they can do that too. 

                    But if you are working in, like I said, especially in an area of your property where you don't know what's growing there, the more covered you can be, the better. 

                    00:28:09 Stephen Thal 

                    And also to stay hydrated. 

                    00:28:11 Heather Zidack 

                    Yes, super important, especially when we get into those hot days. 

                    When I worked at the garden center, I used to tell people to water the plants and water yourself. 

                    00:28:23 Stephen Thal 

                    Why don't you repeat the numbers one more time? People can call for help. Now, is there a charge for this? 

                    00:28:30 Heather Zidack 

                    No, this is a free service. So emails and phone calls to our office are free. 

                    00:28:37 Heather Zidack 

                    Our plant diagnostic lab and soil lab have their own payment structures and things, which you'd have to contact them for more information. 

                    But you can always call us first and we can point you in the right direction if you have any questions. 

                    00:28:51 Heather Zidack 

                    So it's just one number to write down for now, and that would be 860-486-6271. Again, that's 860-486-6271. 

                    00:29:05 Stephen Thal 

                    Okay, well, we want to wish you success in your move as well as enjoying a new place that makes you give you a breath of fresh air. 

                    00:29:16 Stephen Thal 

                    Thank your entire staff for helping with the move as well as others, and thank you for coming on and sharing a few moments of helping us to prepare and plan for this coming spring year, and we hope to get you back in, I guess, the fall. 

                    00:29:35 Heather Zidack 

                    Sure thing. Thanks for having me. 

                    00:29:37 Stephen Thal 

                    Yep. Take good care. 

                    00:29:38 Stephen Thal 

                    This is Steven Thalwith another segment on Focal Point. Thank you for allowing us into your homes. 

                    00:29:44 Stephen Thal 

                    We want to thank Heather and her staff for all they do to get this information together and collect it so that we all can benefit from many aspects of their situation. 

                    00:29:57 Stephen Thal 

                    Now, phone numbers have been given and we hope you're able to follow up and learn like all of us do. 

                    00:30:05 Stephen Thal 

                    In closing, we want to remind everybody to please wear a hat and sunglasses to protect yourself. 

                    As Heather said, in the garden and everything, you got to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts and do the work mostly in the morning, right? It's the coolest. 

                    00:30:23 Stephen Thal 

                    We like to also remind you about emergency planning, especially in your home. or when you're volunteer working, learn about what the emergency plans are and get everybody involved in your family and also practice them. That's the key thing. 

                    If you need additional resources, contact your local fire and/or police department and they can guide you as to where you can get the best help. 

                    00:30:52 Stephen Thal 

                    Again, have a safe summer and be safe, especially against the sun and other things in the garden that may be of hazard. 

                    Thank you all for listening and have a great great summer. 

                     

                    Wet and Wild: the Complex Lives of Cedar Rust Fungi

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                    By Emily Leahy and Dr. Nick Goltz, UConn Home Garden Education Office 

                    Orange, gelatinous cedar apple rust gall attached to a green cedar or juniper branch, with scaly bark visible in the background.
                    The telial horns observed on this Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) are beginning to dry up, but their gelatinous form and bold orange color are unmistakable.

                    We all know that old saying, “April showers bring May fungi!” (No? Just me?). All joking aside, you may have noticed that the recent wet spring weather lead many fungi to break dormancy, release spores, and wind up in new places. While growers and gardeners often find themselves preparing for the season by promoting airflow between plants, increasing soil drainage, and applying preventive fungicides when really needed, it’s hard to deny the spectacle of spring fungi and the beauty they bring to our spring gardens; and few are as spectacular as cedar rusts (Again, only me?)! 

                    Cedar rusts are flashy diseases caused by multiple species of the fungi in the genus Gymnosporangium. In the case of cedar apple rust, a disease we see all the time here in Connecticut, the causal agent is the fungus Gymnosporangium juniper-virginianae. Gymnosporangium is a group of heteroecious fungi, meaning that they require two hosts to complete their life cycles. Species within the Juniperus genus are primary hosts of cedar rusts with plants such as apple, crabapple, hawthorn, or quince usually serving as a secondary host, though close relatives such as pear or chokeberry may occasionally be seen with cedar rust.  

                    Spores – small reproductive structures produced by fungi – are released from fungal structures to infect other hosts. Cedar rusts, attention seekers that they are, utilize multiple types of spores to get to their host plants of choice. Beginning with the secondary hosts in late summer, spores called aeciospores are produced and distributed by wind and rain, traveling to inoculate nearby juniper trees. Wet, mild weather in early fall creates the perfect conditions for these aeciospores to germinate, eventually resulting in the formation of large galls on the primary host.  

                    Juniper galls are irregularly shaped structures on the plant and range in color from gray to dark red. Circular indentations are present on the gall’s surface, through which bizarre looking telial horns protrude in the spring the year after the host is first inoculated with the disease. These structures are first colored dark brown and have a dry appearance but later become gelatinous and bright orange as they mature and expand for a brief time during moist spring conditions. The surfaces of telial horns are coated in teliospores which later germinate to form the next important player in the cedar apple rust disease cycle, basidiospores. After releasing spores, the telial horns will dry up and fall off. The basidiospores are then distributed by wind and rain to inoculate secondary hosts such as apples or crabapples. Immature leaves with wet surfaces are the most susceptible targets for infection.  

                    The next stage of the disease cycle kicks off with yellow-orange lesions that appear on the upper surfaces of leaves. A halo of red tissue may surround the edges of these spots, giving a dramatic bullseye appearance. Tiny, raised, fungal structures known as pycnia develop within the leaf lesions and on fruit surfaces. Pycnia produce pycniospores (notice a theme here?), which leads to the development of aecia during mid-summer. Yellow or brown lesions appear on the underside of leaves, from which the tubular aecia and of course, their aeciospore-covered surface, protrudes. During late summer under dry environmental conditions, aeciospores are released and travel to nearby juniper hosts where the disease cycle begins again.  

                    You might be thinking, “enough with the spore-talk! What should I do about cedar rusts if I see signs of them?” Rest easy - although cedar rust fungi are complex and dramatic, they typically don’t cause lasting harm, and there are plenty of management strategies available to mitigate their damage. Pruning can be used to promote airflow and eliminate galls from junipers before telial horns have an opportunity to develop, and appropriate fungicides may be applied to secondary hosts as a preventative measure. And for those thinking of purchasing a new tree, know that many apple and crabapple cultivars are available at the nursery with various levels of resistance to cedar rust.  

                    Have a question about plants? The UConn Home Garden Education Office supports UConn Extension’s mission by providing answers you can trust with research-based information and resources. For gardening questions, contact us toll-free at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu, or reach out to your local UConn Extension Center at extension.uconn.edu/locations. 

                    This article was published in the Hartford Courant May 30, 2026

                    Chaos Gardening

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                    By. Dr. Lauren Kurtz, UConn Home Garden Education Office 

                    Sunlit meadow filled with tall green grasses and scattered wildflowers, including small pink, yellow, and white blooms, with dense shrubs and trees in the background.
                    Photo by Lauren Kurtz, UConn Home Garden Education Office

                    Chaos gardening is a growing social media trend that encourages gardeners to relinquish control, scatter assorted seeds, step back, and see what happens. Instead of carefully spacing plants and planning layouts, chaos gardeners toss seeds and let nature decide what grows where. The results can vary widely, ranging from a surprising assortment of plants to a patch of disappointment. 

                    Unlike traditional gardening, this approach emphasizes spontaneity over structure. For many, the appeal lies in its simplicity. Chaos gardening is easy to start, requires minimal knowledge, and often relies on leftover or inexpensive seed packets. The low-stakes, experimental nature makes it especially attractive to busy people or those new to gardening. 

                    Still, the trend raises valid questions. Without site preparation or ongoing care, how well can seeds establish? And does “letting go” invite weeds into the garden under the guise of wildscaping? 

                    In practice, chaos gardening often produces mixed results. While the concept is appealingly simple, success rates can be low, and plantings may struggle to persist long term. Still, gardeners interested in the trend can improve their chances of success by following a few simple suggestions. 

                    Avoid using this approach in large or prominent spaces. Start small, either in a container or a less visible area of the yard. To maintain a sense of experimentation, while increasing success, consider focusing on a single species at a time or scattering spring bulbs through an existing lawn. Tossing out a packet of “wildflower” seeds may sound charming, but it will not produce an instant, picture-perfect meadow. More often, it results in a steadfast patch of mugwort.  

                    Even with a relaxed approach, a bit of planning goes a long way. Key factors such as sunlight and soil conditions still matter. The principle of “right plant, right place” applies regardless of gardening style. Identifying site conditions, selecting appropriate species, and preparing the planting bed can significantly improve outcomes. 

                    Gardeners should also approach seed mixes labeled “wildflower,” “pollinator-friendly,” or “native” with some caution. While not inherently problematic, these mixes can contain species that are poorly suited to local conditions. A quick review of the species on the list can help inform decisions about whether the plants are suited to the region or growing conditions. 

                    Learning how to recognize seedlings, including common weeds and invasive plants, is another important step. Early identification allows gardeners to remove undesirable species before they establish. Observing which plants succeed can also guide future efforts, gradually transforming a disorderly patch into a more reliable and productive space. 

                    Patience is essential. Many perennials grown from seed take more than one season to flower. Including a mix of annuals and perennials can help maintain visual interest while longer-lived plants establish. As with any gardening method, some trial and error is expected. 

                    Chaos gardening may never replace traditional approaches, but it offers an accessible entry point for beginners and a creative outlet for experienced growers. With a balance of spontaneity and informed decision-making, even an unstructured planting can become a living experiment. 

                    The UConn Home Garden Education Office supports UConn Extension’s mission by providing answers you can trust with research-based information and resources. For gardening questions, contact us toll-free at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu, or reach out to your local UConn Extension Center at  extension.uconn.edu/locations.  

                    This article was published in the Hartford Courant May 24, 2026

                    What to Know Before You Buy Topsoil

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                    By Dr. Avishesh Neupane, UConn Soil Analysis Lab

                    The word topsoil suggests rich, dark earth that will fix most of what ails a yard. Maybe the lawn never recovered after construction, a new raised bed needs filling, or a bare patch by the driveway still looks more like gravel than garden. Buying a load of topsoil seems like a simple answer to all three. 

                    But "topsoil" is not a guarantee of quality. Depending on the source, it may be dense, low in organic matter, full of stones, or simply a poor match for the job you have in mind. That means homeowners should buy it with a clear idea of what it can and cannot do. 

                    The first question is not what to buy, but what problem you are trying to solve. If the real issue is low pH, low fertility, or some other imbalance, another load of soil may not help much. A soil test is an inexpensive way to check pH and nutrient levels before you start adding products. 

                    If you are filling a new raised bed, topsoil alone is usually not the best answer. A blend of topsoil and finished compost works better than straight compost or straight mineral soil, because the two materials do different jobs. Topsoil provides mineral content, structure, and weight. Compost adds organic matter, holds moisture, and improves tilth. Most unamended topsoil is low in organic matter, which is why a topsoil-compost blend is usually more useful for gardens and landscapes. 

                    There is no state-run topsoil grading or certification system in Connecticut, so buyers have to ask a few questions on their own. Where did the soil come from? Has it been screened? Is it meant for lawn repair, general grading, or a vegetable garden? Is compost already mixed in, and if so, how much? These answers matter because soil products are not interchangeable: material sold for grading can be fine for filling low spots but a poor choice for a vegetable bed. 

                    It is also worth thinking about what might come along for the ride. Poorly sourced soil can carry contaminants that are not obvious to the eye, including residues from past land use. Ask the supplier about the soil's origin, and if there is reason for concern, have it tested for lead or pesticide residues before planting. If the product includes compost, ask whether it comes from a reputable testing program, such as the U.S. Composting Council's Seal of Testing Assurance, which requires routine testing for heavy metals and pathogens. There is a biological concern as well. Invasive jumping worms and their cocoons can hitch a ride in soil, compost, mulch, and potted plants, so buying from reputable sources and using heat-treated compost or mulch when possible can help reduce that risk. 

                    Texture is another simple check. If the material feels sticky and heavy when wet, it may seal up and drain poorly. If it feels very light, peaty, or woody, it may settle quickly after a season or two. Good garden soil, or a good topsoil-compost blend, should crumble easily, drain reasonably well, and still hold moisture. It should smell earthy, not sour or strongly ammonia-like. 

                    Cost deserves a clear-eyed look as well. Bulk soil is usually cheaper than bagged soil and creates less plastic waste, but the cheapest load may not be the best buy if it leaves you with hard, low-organic-matter material that won't support plant growth well. 

                    There is one more caution, mainly for gardeners who refresh beds every year. Building organic matter in a tired soil is a good idea, but more compost and manure are not always better over the long run. Repeated heavy additions, especially of manure-based compost, can push phosphorus levels well above what plants can use. That is a problem for water quality if the soil erodes, and it can throw off the balance of other nutrients. A periodic soil test is the best way to know whether a bed actually needs more material. 

                    For most homeowners, the best results come from matching the material to the job. Test first if you can. Use topsoil for structure and volume, compost for organic matter, and each where it makes sense. For a raised bed, start with a soil-compost blend. To repair a lawn after construction, plan to build organic matter over time with compost, mulch, and returning grass clippings or shredded leaves to the soil. When buying from a bulk supplier, ask questions before the truck shows up. 

                    Topsoil can be a useful tool, but it is still only one ingredient. Better soil is built, not delivered in a single truckload. 

                    The UConn Home Garden Education Office supports UConn Extension’s mission by providing answers you can trust with research-based information and resources. For gardening questions, contact us toll-free at (877) 486-6271, visit our website at homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu, or reach out to your local UConn Extension Center at extension.uconn.edu/locations.       

                    This article was published in the Hartford Courant May 17, 2026

                    These are damaging plants to avoid in CT gardens. They can kill native plant species and take over.

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                    These are damaging plants to avoid in CT gardens. They can kill native plant species and take over.

                    The Hartford Courant – Dr. Lauren Kurtz discusses how native plants attract birds and pollinators, while invasive species harm ecosystems and what residents can do in their own gardens.