June 8, 2019 - Issue #412

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Whether you're a seasoned green thumb, a seasonal hobbyist, or a newbie thinking about growing your own tomatoes, spring garden season is here. It's time to get planting. You don't even have to get your knees dirty! Garden boxes allow you to garden almost anywhere, on your own terms. With some simple materials and a little elbow grease, you can construct your own.

There are two forms of cucumber beetle -- one striped and the other sporting a dozen black spots. Cucumber beetles are pests of far more plants than their name indicates. In addition to cucumbers and their relatives (squashes, gourds, and melons), these beetles are known to feed on beans, peas, corn and blossoms of several wild and cultivated plants. The spotted cucumber beetle feeds on an even wider array of cultivated plants, adding potatoes, beets, tomatoes, eggplants, and cabbage to its menu. The larva of the spotted cucumber beetle is also known as the southern corn rootworm. In addition to corn roots, it infests peanuts, small grains and many wild grasses. You may find them feasting on your roses and dahlias, as well.

Corn's unique reproductive process has made it a plant breeder's dream. Ever since the theories of heredity put forth by such men as Gregor Mendel and Charles Darwin were recognized in the late 1800s, corn has been continually bred and recrossed to create new varieties.

Here are the basics to growing strawberries. Planning, preparation, planting, care, and harvesting.

Thymes are versatile, indeed - more than fifty varieties are judged useful for culinary or ornamental gardens! Its flavor heightens that of most any food.

Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) is often called redroot pigweed because of its pinkish red root. A warm-weather annual most common where summers are hot, pigweed seeds sprout in late spring or early summer.

Ants -- Although ants like pollen and nectar, they aren't good pollinators, so many flowers have sticky hairs or other mechanisms to keep them out.