Dealing with weeds does not need to be labor intensive, expensive, nor fraught with mind-bending chemical application.

The Dodge County Master Gardeners announce their 2020 Board.

Soon we will be celebrating Independence Day. The symbolic colors of our flag speak to our better angels: red for hardiness and valor, white for purity and innocence, blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice. A patriotic plant trio, cardinal flower, American mountain mint, and great blue lobelia, has grown in North American moist meadows, along rivers, and at woodland edges for millennia.

Who can resist blossoms that are the yellow-orange hues of the rising sun? Not many of us, which accounts for the popularity of rudbeckias in gardens of all sizes and all attitudes from formal to free-wheeling.

A good garden is full of color and blooms. A great garden incorporates different textures, fine, medium, and bold, weaving throughout the space. One plant that gives some variety of texture is the soft, attractive Lamb’s Ear.

With the Dodge County Master Gardener Help Line starting its season, the Help Line will begin to receive inquiries about “bumps” on the leaves of maple and oak trees. Many people assume the trees have a disease and want to know what is necessary to control the problem and restore the tree to good health. Surprisingly enough, these noticeable bumps are not a disease, but are insect related and are called galls.

The Dodge County Master Gardener Association and Extension Dodge County announce the opening of the “Ask a Master Gardener Helpline”. The Master Gardeners are not able to offer the walk-in option of the Helpline at this time, but will be taking emails and answering calls from home!