By B. Rosie Lerner Battling the mighty mite Q: We have lived in our home in the country since 2004. I always hang several Boston Ferns off our deck which became beautiful and huge. I never had a problem until last year; something attacked them — maybe a very small black mite — and just… Continue reading.

Flummoxed by white oak slime Q: About 18 months ago, my 30-year-old oak tree started weeping a liquid about 15 feet up on one side. A couple of branches way above it appeared to die off. The rest of the tree seemed OK. Later the backside seemed to crack in several places and a liquid… Continue reading.

By B. Rosie Lerner Q: Twenty years ago, I planted six Norway spruce trees around the house. Now they are 45- to 50-feet tall and started to lose needles back in November 2020 by the hundreds. Could it be a disease or squirrels are chewing them off to make a nest? Do Norway spruce have… Continue reading.

Electric cooperative consumers have been asking B. Rosie Lerner questions about their gardening problems since 2006. And as the Purdue Extension consumer horticulture specialist, she’s answered as many as we had room for. Now that she’s retired from Purdue (but, we’re thankful not from answering your gardening questions), we had a few questions she’s answered… Continue reading.

Need a handy step-by-step and month-by-month checklist to help your garden grow? Indiana Connection and our gardening expert, B. Rosie Lerner, have created this comprehensive, monthly plan for you to follow. Lerner is a retired Purdue Extension consumer horticulturist and is a consumer of Tipmont REMC.  Download your month-by-month gardening to-do list HERE.

By B. Rosie Lerner Q: I have a lot of these plants  (pictured at right) growing in the field near my home. Can you identify this plant for me?  And is it poisonous? I have horses and am concerned that this could make them sick. A: This is a very common weed called pokeweed. It… Continue reading.

By B. Rosie Lerner Q: I am curious if you have an idea about a weed that grows in our yard every year. It spreads very rapidly, seems invasive and grows to a pretty high level as summer goes along. We have asked many people, and they are quite stumped. My wife does not like… Continue reading.

By B. Rosie Lerner In late July and early August, folks around the country began receiving mysterious unsolicited packages of seeds that appear to have shipped from China. While curious gardeners may be tempted to see how they turn out, it’s never a good idea to plant “mystery” seeds, especially if they’ve come unsolicited from… Continue reading.

By B. Rosie Lerner As recovered COVID-19 patients were being wheeled from some Indiana hospitals to family members waiting to take them home this spring, they were cheered by hospital workers and serenaded with the eternally cheerful Beatles tune, “Here Comes the Sun.” You needn’t have experienced “a long cold lonely winter” — or spring… Continue reading.

By B. Rosie Lerner Perhaps you’ve heard of the old saying: “Leaves of three, let it be?” That’s still excellent advice for those who are sensitive to the poison ivy plant. But navigating past poison ivy in a sea of green leafy plants along the fence rows or forest paths can be downright confusing. A… Continue reading.

What’s killing the oak trees? Q: In 22 years I’ve had more than a dozen oaks die because of a grub or larvae. Symptoms: First the leaves die and turn brown at the top of the tree. It slowly spreads down the tree until all the leaves are brown and have fallen off. Then the bark… Continue reading.

By B. Rosie Lerner  Though your aching back may not agree, heavy winter snows actually are good for your garden and landscape. Snow provides moisture as well as protection from cold and wind. Snow is an excellent insulator against low temperatures and excessive winds. The extent of protection depends on the depth of snow. In… Continue reading.