Blog

Originally appeared at National Gardening Bureau. Wildflowers are one of Mother Nature’s loveliest gifts and a perfect addition to your Victory Garden 2.0. Their changing panorama of colors, shapes, sizes, and heights provides delight throughout the seasons. Wildflowers can be used anywhere. In the home landscape, they are ideal for creating colorful beds and borders, […]

Freshly planted and carefully tended, vegetable gardens can quickly become a magnet for trouble. Problems seem to spring up overnight. Weeds, for instance, can overtake a garden in days. Slugs munch on seedlings. Aphids suck the juices from any number of plants. And that white butterfly you see fluttering around? It’s a cabbage white butterfly […]

Interest in home gardening has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the Food Hero team at Oregon State University Extension Service is offering Oregonians a unique opportunity to grow vegetables and fruits at home. Food Hero, a social marketing campaign that empowers families to make food choices that are healthy, fun and tasty, is […]

When homeowners set out to prune grapes, kiwifruit and other berry crops, they often stand in front of the plant at a complete loss. Just getting started is intimidating. “Over my many years at OSU, pruning has been the single most common question and challenge for home gardeners,” said Bernadine Strik, professor and Oregon State […]

These white-blooming plants can brighten up landscapes — Part one of two Scroll to the bottom of the page for slideshow. Blooms come in all variations of color and hue, but there is a special place for white blooms in a garden or landscape. “White goes with everything,” said Justin Hancock, senior director of marketing at […]

With deeply lobed silver leaves and a 3-foot stature, the artichoke unfolds as much mystery in the garden as it does on the dinner table. The can be used to set off any color in a perennial border, as a striking specimen plant or as the flagship of a vegetable garden. But the reason most […]

Originally appeared at National Gardening Bureau. 1. I started bell pepper seeds indoors and they looked great. Hardened them off and transitioned outside. Still great, just zero growth in 3 weeks. Is that normal? Peppers thrive in warm weather and really struggle under cool, wet conditions. If the soil temperatures are too cool and/or too […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired millions of people to grow vegetables, but many don’t have room for traditional gardening. Don’t let lack of yard space keep you from gardening this spring and summer. Many vegetables grow well in containers on a patio, porch, balcony or windowsill. Small spaces make it hard to grow some of […]

For decades, Oregon State University Extension Service relied on face-to-face interactions to provide gardening education to Oregonians. That all changed with the COVID-19 crisis and Oregon’s actions to limit the spread of the virus. To satisfy a public that has become keenly interested in gardening, particularly edible gardening, OSU Extension Master Gardeners are answering questions […]

After we have had a few warm, dry spring days, gardeners usually begin thinking about planting tomatoes. We seem to be finally warming up and seeing more sun breaks than showers, so it’s time to get them in the ground. First, make a list of the varieties you want to grow this year and work […]