(For Release On Or After 11/23/07) Many plants seem to save up all summer for the spectacular display of flowers, fruit and foliage showing up in our gardens now. If you want to punch up the color level in your garden from October through December, here are some trees, shrubs and perennials you might consider including in your landscape.

(For Release On Or After 11/16/07) Botany lessons are often helpful for gardeners to understand some of the underlying reasons why plants behave the way they do and why we do things a certain way. When growing a plant that is expected to produce fruit, knowing something about the reproductive workings of the plant is in the gardener’s best interest to prevent disappointment.

(For Release On Or After 11/09/07) Fresh, ripe strawberries are a favorite with just about everybody, and now is a great time to plant them into your garden. Strawberries are best planted from late October through November for production next spring. They are easy enough that growing a crop is a fun project for kids at home or in school.

(For Release On Or After 11/2/07) Gardening is a well-documented and beneficial form of exercise. It contributes to a healthy lifestyle.

(For Release On Or After 10/05/07) Fall is a prime planting season in Louisiana. Cool-season flowering bedding plants and cool-season vegetables are planted from now through February, and November through February is the best time to plant hardy shrubs, ground covers and perennials in the landscape. How well you prepare the soil before planting has an enormous effect on the health and growth of your plants.

(For Release On Or After 10/26/07) October is a transitional month in Louisiana flower gardens. Many warm-season annuals have finished or are finishing, and gardeners’ thoughts begin to turn to cool-season bedding plants for fall, winter and spring color.

(For Release On Or After 10/19/07) We’ve become accustomed to running out and buying flats or pots of blooming bedding plants to create “instant flower gardens.” This last-minute approach, however, will simply not work when using spring-flowering bulbs in the landscape. If you want beautiful beds of daffodils, tulips or Dutch irises next spring, you should think about planting them now.

(For Release On Or After 10/12/07) Cooler mornings in October make it a joy to get out and work in the home vegetable garden. A number of delicious and nutritious vegetables will thrive in the coming cool season. Indeed, some of our favorite vegetables can only be grown in Louisiana October through April.

(For Release On Or After 09/28/07) As we move toward October, it is not too early to make plans for houseplants that spent the summer outdoors. You will need to bring them back inside when it starts to get cold, and there are a variety of jobs you can look at doing now.

(For Release On Or After 09/21/07) Bromeliads are a beautiful group of tropical plants. With their many shapes and colors and their ease of culture, once you have one bromeliad you are likely to want more.