Houseplants, like outdoor garden plants, respond to the rapidly shortening days of fall. Begonias and Christmas cactus are houseplants that respond to shortening days by blooming: other houseplants, like some orchids, go into a fall dormant period, needing less water and fertilizer than when days are longer.

Current weather and smoke conditions are tough on people, plants, and pets. Woody plants grow slowly and drop leaves earlier in fall after prolonged smoke exposure. High temperatures cause tomato and pepper to abort their fruit. Time spent in the garden, usually enjoyable, becomes headache-inducing.

Tomatoes- the most popular of all home grown vegetables- are among the most challenging to successfully grow in the Klamath Basin. More than 80% of all home vegetable gardeners try tomatoes

Since presence of Bronze birch borer (BBB) was confirmed in Klamath Falls in summer 2017, the destructive beetle continues to impact trees in the Klamath Basin. Birches, shallowly rooted trees suited to locations with ample moisture, are ill suited to our area. Drought increases birch tree susceptibility to BBB, and speeds tree death. Wood boring beetles are most attracted to stressed trees.

Numerous recent inquiries to the Klamath Extension office have involved concerns with pine trees. Most often, some type of wood boring beetle is suspected. There are several potential beetle pests of pine in our region, including Mountain pine beetle, Western pine beetle, Pine engraver beetles, and, occasionally, the Red turpentine beetle.

Early in spring, before temperatures in the Klamath Basin warm to allow significant outdoor gardening, a prickly, yellow-flowered invader is infiltrating our lawns, pastures, and road edges. Soon after, calls to the Extension office begin: what is it? How can I get rid of it?

Early in May, an author of a weekly horticulture column in Klamath Falls was celebrating a birthday. Naturally, several friends shared plants as gifts, among them a stunning burning bush, Euonymus alatus. An excellent choice for the author’s South Suburban neighborhood where deer roam freely, sampling landscape offerings and holding up traffic at will, Burning bush is a shrub often included on lists of “deer resistant” plants.

Numerous circumstances can make a small garden space more appropriate than a larger one: rented spaces, no yard, physical limitations, the need to bring plants indoors for cool nights. Small- space gardening can be every bit as rewarding as gardening in a larger, in-ground bed.

Warmer weather brings emergence of all the insects that have overwintered in our gardens, yards, and homes. Insects can overwinter in a variety of ways, all dependent on the species and available resources: insects may spend the winter as eggs, pupae, or adults. Overwintering in the larval stage is less common.

Longtime partners Klamath County Extension and Klamath County Library have joined again to deliver two fun nights of vegetable gardening trivia to kick off the gardening season. With one night focused on cool season plants and another evening for warm season veggies, Gardening Trivia Nights are a great way to brush up on knowledge about the ideal soil, sun, and fertilizer combinations for vegetable production.

Root vegetables such as carrots, beets, and turnips are among the true vegetables- edible plant parts corresponding to vegetative, or growing parts of the plant. Botanically speaking, seeds and plant parts that contain seeds are considered fruits. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are fruits, containing seeds in a variety of arrangements. Beans and corn are actual seeds. True vegetables come from…

Among the most commonly grown garden foods, leafy greens are true vegetables: leaves, roots, and stems are associated with the vegetative, or growing, portion of the plant’s life cycle. The leafy greens spectrum includes tender baby lettuces eaten raw, as well as tough collards with thick, inedible midribs that need to be cooked at length for best results.

Events of the past year, combined with an already strengthening local foods movement, have fueled surging interest in small scale produce farming in Klamath and surrounding areas. Several outlets for local products report potential vendors asking questions about how to get started in farming. Similar situations are cropping up across Eastern OR: veggie gardeners considering making the jump from home gardener to produce farmer.

Neonicitinoids, or Neonics for short, are a group of pesticides commonly used worldwide. The group gained popularity in the 1990’s as substitutes for the organophosphate pesticides, which are highly toxic to mammals. At first, Neonics were celebrated for lower risk to people and pets, but mounting evidence demonstrates that Neonic use is problematic for bees, especially bumblebees, and other pollinators. This has led to restrictions on Neonic use in some countries.

Before fruit trees leaf out in spring, before the first signs of aphids, powdery mildew or obscure scale, home orchardists can undertake an important control step to minimize pesticide use later in the season. Application of dormant oil is highly recommended in the Klamath Basin for most fruit trees. Dormant oil, a preventative pesticide used both in organic and conventional production, is used against piercing-sucking insect pests, mites, and even some plant diseases.