(For Release On Or After 06/03/05) Successfully creating colorful flowerbeds and container plantings for summer depends a lot on which plants you choose. Fortunately, a lot of attractive and colorful heat-tolerant plants are available to do the job.

(For Release On Or After 06/24/05) When people take summer vacations, they often make arrangements to have someone take care of everything from their pets to the newspaper. It’s also important to have someone look after the plants and home grounds during an extended absence.

(For Release On Or After 06/17/05) Fire ants inflict painful stings and create unsightly mounds in our landscapes, so most of us would be happier if there were no fire ants around. It’s interesting to note, however, that fire ants are excellent predators and help control such pests as fleas and ticks in lawns.

(For Release On Or After 06/10/05) Violent thunderstorms can occur across the state during the summer, and in South Louisiana high winds from hurricanes are a concern in summer and fall. Although trees add immeasurably to our home grounds, trees with problems can be a liability during storms or hurricanes.

(For Release On Or After 07/15/05) Whether we admit it or not, heat and humidity this time of year make gardening outside less enjoyable. Certainly I have to confess to retreating into the coolness of my air-conditioned home and spending less time in the garden now that mid-summer has arrived. But when I don’t spend as much time in my outside garden, I can turn to my collection of indoor plants to keep me happy.

(For Release On Or After 07/22/05) Plants that are native to tropical areas of the world are not bothered in the least by the hot days, muggy nights and frequent afternoon rain showers that we see during mid- to late summer in Louisiana. Indeed, that’s just the kind of weather they love.

(For Release On Or After 07/08/05) By the middle of summer, many adults are trying to think of ways to provide something for children to do until school begins again. Why not start a gardening project? You can introduce your youngsters to the joys of gardening and at the same time exercise their bodies and brains.

(For Release On Or After 07/29/05) No other group of plants can be used to create the effects that vines do in the landscape. But you need to keep in mind their growing habits and how you may train them when adding them to your landscape.

(For Release On Or After 07/01/05) If you want to boost the color in your landscape, nurseries still have a good selection of colorful bedding plants that will thrive in whatever heat the summer throws at them.

(For Release On Or After 08/19/05) Plants under heat stress are weakened, and we generally see an increase in disease and insect problems at the end of the summer. Keep an eye out this time of year for pests, and be sure to monitor population levels and damage carefully.

(For Release On Or After 08/26/05) It would be hard to find a more dazzling flowering tropical plant than the bougainvillea. The bougainvillea is a tropical shrubby vine, and its bright magenta, pink, white, gold or purple flowers positively glow.

(For Release On Or After 08/05/05) There’s something particularly satisfying about putting quality, nutritious food on the table as a direct result of your gardening efforts, and August is a transitional time in the vegetable garden. Although planting of cool-season vegetables will begin in earnest next month, some of the more heat-tolerant ones, such as the cole crops, can be planted now.

(For Release On Or After 08/12/05) Right about now is a good time to look over your landscape and evaluate how things are growing. Some of your plants may need your guiding hand.

(For Release On Or After 09/09/05) Birds can contribute wonderful, unique and desirable things to your landscape such as movement, color, sounds and pest control. Although certain birds can damage some fruits and vegetables, the presence of birds is almost universally welcomed by gardeners.

(For Release On Or After 09/23/05) The satisfaction of growing fresh vegetables is undeniable, but many gardeners do not have a suitable in-ground location to grow them. If your circumstances force you to do your gardening in containers, you should know that many cool-season vegetables can be grown successfully in containers

(For Release On Or After 09/16/05) Gardeners use the term "volunteer" for the seedling of a desirable plant that appears in the garden even though it wasn’t actually planted there. These plants can be the offspring of trees and shrubs but are most often the result of seeds dropped by annuals or perennials that were previously grown in the garden.

(For Release On Or After 09/30/05) Now is an excellent time to assess your landscape and make plans, since November through February is the prime time for planting hardy trees, shrubs and ground covers in Louisiana.

(For Release On Or After 09/02/05) If we’re lucky, we might have some cooler days this month, since cool fronts often begin to make their way this far south in September. After the long, hot summer, these last scorching days are especially hard to bear for gardeners and their landscapes.

(For Release On Or After 10/07/05) It seems that everywhere you look in October you see chrysanthemums blooming. Widely available and relatively inexpensive, they are almost indispensable for providing quick color to the fall landscape.

(For Release On Or After 10/28/05) In the South, the term "greens" refers to vegetables whose leaves are eaten when cooked until tender. During the cool fall season, mustard, turnips, collards and other greens flourish in the vegetable garden.

(For Release On Or After 10/21/05) As the weather cools down and nights get nippy over the next few weeks, gardeners need to decide what to do with their outdoor tropical plants that are in containers.

(For Release On Or After 10/14/05) Like most gardeners, I occasionally love to seize the moment and plant something on a whim. But for spring flowering bulbs, that approach simply isn’t practical.

(For Release On Or After 11/18/05) Few gardeners can resist the visual beauty and delightful sound that water brings to the landscape, and as a result aquatic gardens have become quite popular with Louisiana gardeners. Chilly weather and light freezes already have encouraged dormancy in some aquatic plants and the growing season for aquatic gardens is winding down, but those gardens still will need some of your attention in late fall and winter.

(For Release On Or After 11/25/05) There are few flowering bulbs that can surpass the stately beauty of the amaryllis. Typically blooming in April, this popular bulb is a star performer in the spring garden, but dormant bulbs are readily available now, and with proper care, they can become a long-lasting part of your landscape.

(For Release On Or After 11/11/05) The high winds of hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused the loss of many trees around the state. If you are considering replacing trees that were lost, you actually can begin planting right away.

(For Release On Or After 11/04/05) Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused extensive damage in South Louisiana, but their effects weren’t limited to that area. Throughout the state, high winds caused damage as the storms moved northward. Properly dealing with the resulting tree damage is important.

(For Release On Or After 12/16/05) Winter vegetable gardening is tremendously rewarding. The vegetables grown here during the winter are some of the most delicious and nutritious our home gardens can produce.

(For Release On Or After 12/09/05) This time of the year, when we have brought many of our container plants – particularly the tropicals – inside for the winter, we need to be on the lookout for pest problems.

(For Release On Or After 12/30/05) The next few weeks are an important time for planting certain spring-flowering bulbs. This includes tulips, hyacinths and other bulbs that have been previously stored in the refrigerator, as well as bulbs you intend to plant and grow in containers.

(For Release On Or After 12/23/05) I often write columns with timely information about what needs to be done in the garden, and I enjoy the memory of once meeting a gentleman who offered me a suggestion about something to write. His suggestion was to write about sitting back and enjoying your garden.

(For Release On Or After 12/02/05) One of the most delightful plants we use to decorate for the holidays is the holiday cactus. And yes, despite the fact that these plants don’t have spines, they are true cactuses.

(For Release On Or After 01/21/05) The camellia is a shrub that brightens our winter gardens with huge, beautiful flowers, and now is an excellent time to select blooming camellias and plant them into your landscape.

(For Release On Or After 02/11/05) Yellow leaves have been showing up on a wide variety of evergreen shrubs since last fall, and this has caused many Louisiana gardeners to be concerned. The good news is that although the condition may look alarming, in most cases yellowing leaves do not indicate a problem.

(For Release On Or After 01/07/05) A variety of beautiful flowers and delicious vegetables were named All-America Selections winners for 2005.

(For Release On Or After 01/14/05) At the beginning of a new year it’s tempting to look back on the previous year and think of ways to do things better in the coming year. A worthy goal for gardeners is to keep better records of their gardening activities.

(For Release On Or After 01/28/05) It would be hard to dispute that the most popular summer-flowering shrub is the rose. To keep them looking their best, now is the time many of them need to be pruned.

(For Release On Or After 02/25/05) Growing houseplants successfully starts with understanding their needs.

(Audio for 12/5/05) Despite the cold, there are a number of vegetables you can plant this time of the year. Just be sure to protect them from potential hard freezes.

(Audio for 12/5/05) Cutting down your own Christmas tree is a fun way to get a fresh, live tree. LSU AgCenter horticulturist Dan Gill talks about how to find tree farms around Louisiana.

(Distributed 11/30/05) Falling leaves are a sign of the season, but if you leave those leaves on your lawn, they can cause damage. Dan talks about ways to remove leaves from your lawn.

(Audio for 12/5/05) Poinsettias come in many different shapes and sizes. Proper care will assure a beautiful plant into the New Year.

(Audio 12/5/05) With our mild winters, there usually is something we can do in our gardens all year. When planting, pruning and routine chores slow down in the winter, there are other chores gardeners can do.

(Audio 12/5/05) If you haven't put in your cool-season bedding plants, now is the time. Just be sure not to put them out right before a hard freeze.