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Be observant
It’s been a different sort of winter. As gardeners, we need to pay close attention to what is happening in our landscapes as spring arrives.
- Watch for insects (see Marissa Schuh’s article).
- Feel your soil and water it if it's dry, followed by mulching (leaf mulch works great).
- Prune off winter dieback.
- And keep good records on how your plants are performing.
![Flower affected by Aster Yellows](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/Aster%20Yellows.jpg?h=d4b446f1&itok=Q7lI5LfE)
Have some of your plants lost color? Are they growing in bizarre shapes? Is the quality of your vegetables poor? You may have an outbreak of aster yellows.
Find climate-resilient, native trees and plants for the St. Louis Moraines and Tamarack Lowlands regions of Minnesota.
![Detail of a soil test report with "N-P-K" highlighted with a looking glass.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/soil-test-report.png?h=594a585c&itok=OoEZ2pHR)
This new, easy-to-follow video shows you how to interpret your soil test results report from top to bottom.
![Tomato plant with dropped and withered flowers.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/flower-abort.jpeg?h=7d3142a3&itok=jWKQHiXi)
Bushy cucumber plants with no fruit, tomatoes not ripening, and beans with no flowers? We answer questions about your poorly yielding vegetable garden.
![A five-petaled, pink pale swallow-wort flower next to slender milkweed seed pods.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/pale-swallow-wort.jpg?h=6d448122&itok=Uad1MV-j)
A member of the milkweed family, this plant is toxic to some insects, including monarch butterflies.
![Brown house entry with brown rain barrel, green shrubs, a wood planter and green and yellow perennial plants located under a window.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/leaf-mulch.jpg?h=9794053b&itok=vI5a3334)
Find out how to prioritize what to water, and how to reuse water safely to keep landscapes healthy during extreme drought conditions.
As we enter the middle of summer, you may have gaps in your vegetable garden for a few reasons. There’s still plenty of time to plant a wide variety of things.
![A field of purple loosestrife in bloom.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/purpleloosestrife_main.jpg?h=c01bc37a&itok=505HR3oJ)
Purple loosestrife can grow up to 7 feet tall and grows in masses that take over the landscape. It disrupts ecosystems, out-competing native plants and creating dense growths that block access to waterways.
![Rumbi Masawi water produce in the Giving Garden.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/Rumbi%20watering.jpg?h=4ac80bbf&itok=rVx_NBs8)
The St. Mark Giving Garden in Duluth grows produce, from tomatoes and sweet peppers to eggplants, garlic, herbs and pollinator plants on a rocky and hardscrabble piece of land.
![A greenleaf with many small holes caused by the copper color Japanese beetle feeding on it.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/Japanese-beetle-adult-feeding-jhahn.jpg?h=eac00c7a&itok=5q6tLVJs)
This year’s batch of adult Japanese beetles started to show up a few weeks ago. Populations will continue rising through July and taper off by mid-August.
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