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CAES News
Landscape Resolutions
The new year is a time for making new personal resolutions. Consider also making some resolutions to prevent problems in the garden throughout 2018. These gardening resolutions could even be easier to keep than personal resolutions like eating less and exercising more.
'Candy Corn' cuphea works well with other hummingbird plants, like firebush and 'Gold Star' esperanza. CAES News
'Candy Corn'
Many of you will hand out treats like candy corn this Halloween. I’d like to suggest some ‘Candy Corn’ for the garden that will add an incredible array of color and texture and will be beautiful in your landscape. While the ‘Candy Corn’ cuphea won’t satisfy your sweet tooth, it does offer a tasty treat for pollinators, like hummingbirds and butterflies.
'Bolvian Sunset' grows from 12 to 18 inches tall at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens in Savannah, Georgia. CAES News
'Bolivian Sunset'
Shady ground covers that bloom are sought-after in the gardening world, and ‘Bolivian Sunset’ is one of the most beautiful. Commonly called “hardy gloxinia,” it is cold hardy from zones 8 and higher, but everyone can enjoy it as a container plant on the deck and indoors, provided it has a shady or filtered-light location.
Trees provide energy conservation benefits and offset the urban heat island effect when planted in urban landscapes. CAES News
Energy Savers
Trees can be valuable tools for reducing energy costs. Planting strategically placed trees in your landscape can reduce your energy costs over time and improve your landscape. It is not difficult to make a plan that can lead to savings by planting trees. 
To make a drilled wood nest, drill a 3- to 5-inch hole in untreated wood without going all the way through the wood. Then, drill a variety of hole diameters, from one-quarter of an inch to three-eighths of an inch, all approximately three-quarters of an inch apart. Holes that are smaller in diameter should be 3 to 4 inches deep, and holes more than one-fourth of an inch in diameter should be 4 to 5 inches deep. CAES News
Honeyless Bees
Adding native bee nesting sites to your garden is one of the easiest ways to increase pollinator numbers. Native bees are more effective pollinators than honeybees for many reasons.
High winds uprooted a large oak tree on the University of Georgia campus in Griffin, Georgia. CAES News
Downed Trees
Several powerful storms blew through Georgia in recent weeks and provided tree removal services and insurance companies plenty of work to do. Examining storm-damaged trees can provide many insights into why trees "fail" during windstorms.
As part of UGA Extension's Pollinator Census Project, school and community gardeners planted "Snow Flurry" asters — a native ground cover — to attract pollinators. They will keep track of how many visitors the plants attract. CAES News
Pollinator Census
Georgia students and teachers at 50 school and community gardens across the state will launch the inaugural Pollinator Census Project this August. The data will shed light on pollinator populations in Georgia and how well the native ground cover — the ‘Snow Flurry’ aster — can support them.
There are two basic types of aerification, hollow and solid tine. With hollow tine a soil core is removed, while with solid tine aerification a hole is created and no core is removed. With both types, a void in the soil is created that allows air and water to more deeply penetrate the root zone. The aeration benefits are longer lasting with hollow tine (pictured) due to the removal of the core. CAES News
Room to Grow
Last year many lawns across the state didn’t receive enough rainfall for the grass to grow, photosynthesize and make carbohydrate reserves. Turfgrass that experienced this lack of rainfall will likely be slow to green up this spring. If rainfall totals return to normal this spring, lawns will recover, but they may do so at a slower rate because the production of reserves was compromised last fall. For example, a lawn that would typically be fully green and growing in mid-May might take until late May or June to green up. A two- to four-week delay in green-up of warm-season grasses may be common this spring.
Rosemary makes a terrific center or tall plant in mixed containers. The aromatic foliage does not go unnoticed. The green, fine-textured, needle-like leaves contrast with cool- or warm-season flowers like these violas. CAES News
Mother's Day Flowers
Every year, Americans spend about $2 billion on fresh flowers for Mother’s Day. While fresh flowers are gorgeous, they have a short shelf life. This year, why not skip the bouquet and make Mom a living collection of flowers and plants that may last for years?