As we transition from the joys of Autumn to the winter holidays, open your senses and enjoy the contributions of plants to the beauty of the holiday season.

Are you like me? You know your beautiful, reliable perennials need to be divided but you aren't sure how to do that? You are even a little nervous that you might kill them in the process? Our plant experts are here to rescue you! Read up on the best way to divide your plants and then check out the timetable guidelines for when different plants need to be divided.

We are currently experiencing unusually hot weather for this early in the summer. Your garden plants may need some extra TLC during this hot dry period. Check out this link for great tips on how to keep your plants happy! ​ https://mrplantgeek.com/2018/07/13/gardening-in-hot-weather-tips/

Wondering what to do in your garden this month? Here are some tips.

For gardeners, it's our happy time here in the Chicago area. We are past the danger of frost and so it's safe to start planting your flowers, plants, and vegetables!! Check out this great link and slideshow from Midwest Living magazine. https://www.midwestliving.com/garden/midwest-calendar/may-garden-calendar/?slide=b2b6f04f-3e96-4eff-bcdf-b61d4e3c8202#b2b6f04f-3e96-4eff-bcdf-b61d4e3c8202

Happy May, the traditional start of planting season for we gardeners! Anxious to get out and start nurturing your perennials and planting annuals? The traditional safe time to plant here in DuPage County is May 15th and the forecast looks good from a no-frost standpoint. Morton Arboretum suggests the following garden tasks for May.

Check out this video from the University of Illinois Extension Service on the best ways to clean up your planting beds and get them ready for this year's growing season.

A good garden starts with a good soil—and there's no better example than a vegetable garden. Now that you've got a little time to spend on your vegetable garden, here are some tips to make sure you succeed. Site selection. The first major decision is where to put the vegetable garden. Choose a sunny spot. Most vegetables do best in full sun, over 8 hours of direct sunlight per day. If you don’t have this much sun, consider sticking with crops that are more likely to tolerate some shade, such as herbs, and greens, like lettuce and spinach. Avoid low-lying areas. Plant roots need oxygen, and vegetables are particularly sensitive to being submerged. Avoid putting a vegetable garden in a spot where the water accumulates after a rainstorm. Consider convenience. If you have many spots to choose from, consider a location that is easy for you to get to, and one with easy access to irrigation water. Choose your garden format.Raised-bed gardens use elevated frames that define a small, manageable space for the garden. While they involve more up-front labor and expense, they work well when the existing soil is not suitable for gardening. In-ground gardens work well when the soil is suitable for a garden, are less expensive to get started, and are easily moved to another location if needed. Test the soil. Vegetable crops grow best in soils with a pH of 6.5-6.8. Our native NH soils are usually much more acidic than this (4.5-4.8), and lime or wood ash are added to raise and maintain a high pH, as well as to supply calcium and magnesium. Lime works slowly, so should be applied in the fall if possible. Wood ash acts more quickly, and can be applied in the spring before planting. If the garden site is still grass, you can apply the lime or wood ash on top of the grass. If your garden site is already tilled and prepared, incorporating or mixing the lime or wood ash into the top 4-6 inches of soil will help it work sooner. Prepare the ground for planting. Most new vegetable gardens start out as lawns or a combination of perennial weeds that need to be removed. Two easy and effective ways to kill perennial weeds in a garden setting are tillage and mulching, or a combination of these. Regardless of the method you use, perennial grasses are most easily killed in the very early spring before they begin to grow, or immediately after they have been mowed very short. Ideally, it is best to start this process the summer before you want to plant the garden, because it takes time to kill the grass and weeds. Tillage. It is possible to physically kill perennial weeds by hand or using various pieces of equipment. A spade or shovel can be used to prepare a small garden plot by hand using the double-digging. Making a plan and planting the garden. Once the garden soil has been prepared and is ready for planting, it’s time to make a plan for fertilization, weed control during the season, and irrigation. Weed control. If the perennial weeds were not completely killed prior to planting, they will try to re-grow and compete with the crops in your new vegetable garden. The first growing season is the most critical time to get these perennial weeds under control. They can be managed by repeated hoeing or cultivation (either by hand or with equipment), or by using mulches. Irrigation. As a general rule, most vegetable crops grow best if they receive about an inch of rainfall per week through the growing season.

It’s #SustainabilitySunday. Today we’re leaning into one of the benefits of using native plants in your yard and garden. When you use native plants in your yard, you are helping pollinators like monarchs, bees and hummingbirds thrive! Native plants and pollinators have evolved together and complement each other in our climate. Most flowering plants need pollinators to produce fertile seeds, and some pollinators are even dependent on specific plants to survive. For example, milkweeds serve as the host plant for monarch butterflies; monarchs exclusively lay their eggs on the leaves of milkweeds. Interested in using native plants in your home, school or community garden? The Crestview Garden Club will have many native plants popular with pollinators in our Annual Plant Sale on May 14th at The Depot in Elmhurst. Watch this page for more details! Click here to read more about native plants that do well in Illinois. https://web.extension.illinois.edu/wildf.../nativeplants.cfm