Sylvia Dekker 
Tomato hornworms might look interesting with that curved horn, but you might feel more frustrated than intrigued when you notice they are munching all the leaves off your tomato plant. This guide covers everything you need to know about these large caterpillars, including several effective ways to control infestations.
Are you wondering how to grow mock orange, a shrub loaded with the sweetest white flowers you’ve ever smelled? Philadelphus plants make a beautiful, fragrant addition to any garden, and they are easy to propagate and maintain. Discover how to grow and care for mock orange shrubs in this guide. Read more now.
Panicle hydrangeas are native to cool regions of Japan and China. These heat- and cold-tolerant shrubs produce huge, showy clusters of blooms that are white at first, blushing into pink or red as the season progresses. Learn how to grow and care for Hydrangea paniculata in your landscape with this guide. Read more now.
Spider plants are popular houseplants grown for their attractive green or variegated foliage. But do they ever bloom? Yes! In the right conditions, spider plants will produce small white blooms on the ends of the long stolons, where the spiderettes appear. Learn more about these flowers in our guide. Read more now.
Jade plants are a popular, easy-care houseplants. While pest infestations are not common, these succulent beauties are attacked by insects occasionally. Read more now to learn about the common pests that may attack jade, the damage they can do, and how you can effectively deal with these unwanted creatures.
All it takes is snapping off one of those jewel-like leaves to turn one jade plant into an endless supply of green-leafed beauties. Read our guide now to learn everything you need to know to successfully and easily propagate Crassula ovata via stem or leaf cuttings, while avoiding potential problems with rot!
Anthuriums make a gorgeous, colorful, glossy addition to the home, so perfect they can look fake. Easy-care and relatively pest free, that doesn’t mean hungry insects never pay a visit. Learn all about the types of pests that might try to ruin your perfect anthuriums and how to deal with them in this guide. Read more now.
Greenhouses are great places to grow plants, whether they need extra heat and humidity or to keep them growing during the winter. Insects love the warm, humid, food-rich environment too, and they can do some real damage. Learn all about common greenhouse pests and how to deal with them in this guide. Read more now.
Japanese maples are attractive trees, with their richly colored, delicately feathered leaves – and bugs agree. There are a variety of pests that like to snack on the vibrant foliage and suck the sap. Learn everything you need to know about common Japanese maple pests and how to deal with them in this guide. Read more now.
Succulents are a very popular category of plants, featuring a variety of shapes and colors, and seeming to thrive on neglect. Mites like them too, and if you let them, they’ll suck on your collection with gusto. Learn everything you need to know about succulent mites and how to deal with them in this guide. Read more now.
Garlic bulbils are small aerial cloves produced on the scapes. They’re free of soil diseases and each bloom can produce up to 100 of these tiny future garlic plants. Read more now to learn everything you need to know to collect, store, and plant garlic bulbils, and harvest and replant the resulting roundels.
Sporting sharp spines, and coming in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, cacti are also easy to propagate. There are a variety of ways you can do this, whether via cuttings, offsets, seeds, or division. To learn everything you need to know to propagate these pointy plants, visit Gardeners Path for all the details.
Cosmos are a favorite for flower beds, pollinators, and cut arrangements, so wanting more of them in the garden is a no-brainer. Why not collect the seeds from your own plants so you can expand your patch of airy color next year? Read more to learn everything you need to know to easily harvest and save cosmos seeds.
Tall, colorful, and unique, foxgloves are hard to ignore in the garden. Maybe you’re wondering how you can extend your row and share their beauty. Why not collect the seeds from your own plants? Read more now to learn everything about harvesting and storing the tiny seeds produced by your favorite foxgloves.
Both beautiful in the garden and yummy in the kitchen, edible flowers are a treat for the eyes and mouth. If you grow them, you might as well harvest and use them! How exactly? In this guide, we cover all the details on how and when you can harvest them, plus some intel on storing these pretty palate pleasers. Read more.
Dahlias, with their luscious summer color, are blooms gardeners look forward to. It’s crushing if pests get to them before you can enjoy them. Sadly, quite a variety of pests like to snack on dahlias. Check out this guide to learn all you need to know about these common pests and how to deal with them. Read more now.
Black-eyed Susans are cheerful flowers, loved equally by pollinators and humans. If you want more of them, or want to share the sunshine they bring to a yard with friends, why not collect the seeds from your own plants? To learn everything you need to know to harvest and save Rudbeckia seed, check out our guide. Read more.
Apple maggots are the larvae of small flies that lay their eggs in orchard fruits, especially apples, quickly turning the ripening fruits inedible. To catch these pests before they ruin your pie dreams, learn everything you need to know about apple maggots – including a variety of control options – in this guide.
Carrot weevils are small snout-nosed beetles that lay eggs in the plant, and the larvae chew down into the root. The result: young plants may wilt and die, and any roots you do harvest may be cracked and full of black tunnels. This guide has everything you need to know about these pests, including control options.
Carrot rust flies are sneaky pests that dig into a crop undetected underground until the plants wilt, or worse – you pull the roots, hoping to have a bountiful harvest, and discover the damage. Learn everything you need to know about these tiny flies and munching maggots, including methods for prevention and control.
Calendula is often recommended as a companion or beneficial plant to add to the garden. But isn’t it attractive to pests? How does that make sense? Learn which bugs, both good and bad, are attracted to calendula, what the research says, and how this flower can be a useful and pretty vegetable garden addition in this guide.
There is nothing more disappointing than finding your long-awaited, carefully cultivated carrot roots chewed, distorted, or stunted thanks to a variety of pest insects and other creepy crawlies. Check out this guide to read up on everything you need to know about the most common carrot pests and how to deal with them.
Herbs make powerful companion plants, and not just in your vegetable patch. With strong aromas and tastes, their pest-repelling, beneficial insect-attracting, and other benefits can extend to fellow herbs as well. Learn which ones do well planted near each other, and which don’t enjoy each other’s company.
Are you confused by the tags on cane berry plants at the nursery, like raspberries and blackberries? You’re not alone. “Primocane-bearing” and “floricane-fruiting” are handier terms for making purchase and management decisions when you know what they mean. All is explained, including why it matters, in this guide.
Watermelon is a sweet, refreshing summer snack that everyone seems to love, but these fruits don’t continue to ripen once they’re removed from the vine. You may be wondering how to tell if the melon you babied all season long is ready to pick. Learn how to decide if it’s time to harvest watermelon in this guide.
Fruit flies love fruits, no surprise there. One species targets rotting produce indoors, and another ruins perfectly healthy fruit in the garden by laying eggs inside the sweet flesh. This guide covers everything you need to know about these tiny, brown, red-eyed flies and strategies you can use to control them. Read more.
Snapdragons are colorful, popular, and look great in the garden and vase. If you want to grow more, why not collect the tiny, dark seeds produced by your own plants or from your friend’s garden, and store them for next season? Learn everything you need to know to harvest and save seeds from your flowers in this guide.
Pea weevils aren’t common home garden pests, but they pose enough of a threat to keep an eye out. The larvae burrow into the seeds on the sly and emerge in storage. We’ll cover everything you need to know about these insects, including effective strategies useful for preventing and controlling infestations. Read more.
Sporting vibrant blooms that open like a dragon’s mouth when pinched, snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) are a fun, fragrant garden addition. This sun- and cool-weather-loving plant is a popular cut flower too. Learn everything you need to know to propagate snapdragons from seed in this guide. Read more now.
Have you noticed little dark-colored flies hanging around your plants? If you’ve had trouble identifying which of the common nuisance insects they are, you may have noticed fungus gnats and shore flies are difficult to tell apart. From how they fly to how the larvae look, here’s how you can distinguish between the two.
With their dragon-head-shaped blooms, snapdragons are popular fragrant flowers that are perfect for cut arrangements. Though easy to propagate from seed, this can be time consuming. Check out our guide to learn how to speed up the propagation process by rooting cuttings taken from your existing plants. Read more now.
The beefsteak tomato is a large mutant fruit that caught the eye of early Mesoamericans and has been beloved ever since. Growing the big brother of America’s favorite vegetable isn’t unlike cultivating other tomatoes, but there are a few things you should know. Learn how to care for this hefty tomato in this guide.
Trap crops are plants that are more attractive to pest insects than your crops are, luring the bad bugs away from your vegetables, fruits, and flowers, and preventing damage. Once on these decoys, the pests are easy to find and kill, meaning less insecticides are needed. Read more about trap cropping in this guide.
Are your spider plants plagued with fungus gnats? You’re not alone. The tiny black flying adults may be simply a nuisance, but their maggots can turn into root-chewing menaces if populations get out of control. Our simple tips will help you safely and effectively reduce larvae and adult numbers in your home.
Houseplants and fungus gnats go hand in hand, but one of them is not welcome in your home. Though usually just a nuisance insect, the larvae can turn from feeding on organic matter to chewing on plant roots. This guide covers everything you need to know about these tiny flies and strategies you can use to control them.
There are various ways to keep bees, but can beekeeping be done naturally and sustainably? Common Sense Natural Beekeeping says it’s possible, if hive management decisions are made through the lens of the bee. Our comprehensive review of this book will help you decide whether it’s for you! Read more now.
Hardly a garden vegetable is safe from the hungry moth larvae known as beet armyworms. They chew leaves, burrow into crowns, and can kill seedlings. This guide covers everything you need to know about Spodoptera exigua, including their life cycle, preferred food, and a variety of strategies you can use to control them.
Woolly aphids are plant-sucking insects that cover themselves with a fluffy, waxy coating, making them look like little cotton balls. They feed on shrubs and trees, and are mainly a cosmetic concern. This guide covers everything you need to know about these pests, including the strategies you can use to control them.
White grubs, also known as grub worms, are beetle larvae that feed on plant roots. They are especially problematic for our lush green lawns, and they can be hard to control. This guide will help you learn all you need to know about these pests, including identification, monitoring, and the available control methods.
During population outbreaks, gypsy moth caterpillars, with their colorful spots and skin-irritating fuzz, chew on and can defoliate trees and shrubs. Our guide covers all you need to know about these pests, including their biology, natural enemies, and the strategies you can use to prevent infestation and control them.
Sure, you can buy a tree form hydrangea plant at a nursery, but this is often a pricey option. Why not create your own? All you need is a little patience, since it can take a few years to get results, plus some know-how, which we’ll provide in this guide, and a pair of pruning shears to clip your plant into shape.
Lace bugs, with their intricately designed wings, feed on trees, shrubs, and grasses, and are mainly a cosmetic concern. But when it comes to ornamentals, their damage can be ugly. This guide covers everything you’ll need to know about these strange looking pests, including the strategies you can use to control them.
Root weevils are snout beetle larvae that feed on a host of common garden plant roots, especially ornamentals. The long-nosed adults also snack on plant leaves, causing cosmetic damage. This guide will help you to learn all you need to know about these pests and the strategies you can use to control them. Read more.
Adult whiteflies and their nymphs are tiny plant-sucking insects that cause speckles, yellowing, and leaf drop. They are notorious pests of vegetables and some ornamentals, and can vector serious viral diseases. Learn all you need to know about these insects and the variety of control options available to you now.
Root maggots are small fly larvae that tunnel into the roots of a variety of common garden plants, such as cabbage and onions, causing wilting, chlorosis, and root rot, and ruining harvests. Learn all you need to know about the species you might find, the crops they attack, and the control options available to you now.
Hyssop is a fragrant culinary and medicinal herb with blue, purple, pink, or white flowers that attract a variety of pollinators. It’s a relative of mint that doesn’t spread aggressively, and is ideal for growing in rock gardens, borders, or containers. Learn how to grow and use hyssop in this guide. Read more now.
Leaf miners are tiny larvae that burrow between leaf layers, leaving behind silvery tunnels filled with dark frass – especially unattractive and unappetizing on ornamentals and leafy greens. Learn everything you need to know about these miniscule immature insects and the variety of control options available to you.
Queen Anne’s lace, also known as bird’s nest, is the ancestor of delicious carrots. A common wildflower that adds texture and frilly white color to both gardens and cut flower bouquets, it attracts pollinators and beneficial insects as well. Learn how to grow this easy-care biennial in our guide. Read more now.
Even though most wasps are harmless and beneficial, the few aggressive, social species out there give the group a bad name. When they decide to build a nest near your home or garden, you may decide to eliminate them. Learn all you need to know about how to identify problem species and the control options available now.
Spider mites are common unwelcome pests that suck on foliage, leaving light-colored spots and covering plants with ugly webbing. Luckily, there are a lot of mites and insects that love to snack on them. Learn all you need to know about these arachnids, how to identify them, and the control options available to you now.
Mealybugs are notorious pests of indoor flora, including your precious houseplants. They suck the sugary juices from the leaves and stems, excrete honeydew and can even vector diseases. Learn all you need to know about these insects, their biology, identification, and available control options in this guide. Read more now.
Thrips are miniscule, common, unwelcome garden pests that leave scars on flowers and fruits, distort leaves, and vector pathogens, including a couple serious plant viruses. Learn all you need to know about these tiny, cigar-shaped insects, how to monitor for them, and the variety of control options available to you.
English daisies are carpet-forming perennials commonly found growing in lawns. These moisture-loving flowers are easy to cultivate and with a variety of cultivars to choose from, add texture and color to beds, borders, and containers. Learn how to plant and grow classic English daisies in this guide. Read more now.
Candle anemone, aka long-fruited thimbleweed, is a perennial wildflower that blooms in bright shades of green and white. Anemone cylindrica is easy to grow and care for, and the pretty flowers attract a variety of pollinators to the garden. Learn how to plant and grow candle anemones in this guide. Read more now.
Shasta daisy is a popular plant that adds a pop of fresh, bright summer color. This sturdy beauty is an easy and versatile perennial to have in your garden, whether you use it in a border or as a cut flower. Learn all about how to grow, propagate, and care for this robust plant in our guide. Read more now.
Butterfly bush is a brightly colored, low maintenance shrub that lives up to its name by attracting a variety of pollinators to the garden. But did you know there are numerous cultivars available in a variety of colors and sizes to suit your backyard? Learn about 17 of the best Buddleia cultivars and choose your favorites.
Have you seen these scary looking nocturnal crawlers? While earwigs can sometimes be beneficial visitors, they do like to snack on many common garden plants, and can become significant pests. In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to monitor for and effectively deal with problem pincher bugs. Read more now.
English bluebell is a spring bulb with bright green foliage and vibrant blue bell-shaped flowers. It goes by many names, including harebell and fairy flower, and produces beautiful lush carpets in woodlands and other shady areas of the garden. Learn how to plant and grow this perennial in our guide. Read more now.
Hearing thousands of chorusing periodical cicadas is an event you do not want to miss. Before they emerge though, put some thought into how you will protect your young trees, because they can do some damage. Learn all you need to know about these bugs and how to control them to prevent garden damage. Read more now.
There is nothing more disappointing than finding caterpillars chewing the seedlings to bits, aphids sucking on the stems, or larvae wriggling in the flower heads of the sunflowers you planted. Read more now to learn everything you need to know about common Helianthus insect pests and how to deal with them.
Are you eager to expand your blueberry patch? You could go to a nursery and buy potted plants, but why not try propagating your own? You can do this by taking cuttings, collecting and sowing seeds, via layering, or transplanting suckers Learn how to propagate your own blueberry plants using these methods. Read more now.
Forget-me-not is an eye-catching beauty that’s been a garden favorite for centuries, and its blue flowers have become a symbol of remembrance for many. It’s an easy-care, cute plant to add to your garden or a container on your patio, and you can learn all about how to grow and care for this popular plant in our guide.
Wood hyacinth, aka Spanish bluebell, is a spring bulb that sports bright green foliage and blue, pink, or white bell-shaped blooms. This hardy plant is easy to grow in drifts under trees, in containers, and in garden beds and borders. Learn how to plant and grow this robust, showy perennial in this guide. Read more now.
You don’t need lots of space, or a garden even, to grow and enjoy your own homegrown blueberries. You can grow these bushes in containers and keep them on your patio or balcony where they provide ornamental interest as well as delicious fruit. Learn how to grow your own blueberries in pots in this guide. Read more now.
Native to North America, the Virginia bluebell is an early spring blooming plant that sports flowers in shades of purple, pink, and blue. Plus, this cool weather, moisture, and shade-loving plant is easy to grow. Read more now to learn all about propagating and caring for this perennial, ephemeral beauty.
You’ve waited all season, your blueberry plants are finally bursting with ripening berries, and your mouth is already watering. Don’t turn your back for too long, because birds love those ripe, sweet blueberries too. Read more now to learn all the different ways you can protect your blueberries from birds.
To learn how to grow and care for a cultivar of peppermint that smells suspiciously of thin chocolate mints, read our guide. Easy to grow and propagate, chocolate mint is a fragrant plant that can add extra layers of flavor to drinks like tea and mojitos, sweet desserts, and even salads and savory dishes.
Wondering how to care for baby’s breath, a hardy plant that produces clouds of delicate flowers? Not only is it popular with florists as a beautiful bouquet filler, but this airy plant will look great in your garden too! Learn how to grow, sow, and care for Gypsophila now on Gardener’s Path. Read more.
You may think of dandelions as invasive weeds, but did you know that the greens, flowers, and roots are edible? Delicious and nutritious, leaves can be added to salads, flowers made into a tea, and the roots can be used as a coffee substitute. Learn how to cultivate and harvest dandelions in this guide. Read more now.
Prairie onion is an ornamental native perennial with pretty, pink-toned, star-shaped flowers, and edible leaves and bulbs. Suitable for a variety of landscaping uses, including rock gardens, Allium stellatum is drought-tolerant, and thrives in a variety of soil types. Learn how to grow prairie onion in this guide.
Butterfly bush (Buddleia) is a colorful, low-maintenance perennial that attracts butterflies and other pollinators. Ideal for cottage gardens, beds, and borders, the cheerful, vibrant blooms grace the garden all summer long. Learn how to plant, grow, and care for butterfly bush in this guide. Read more now.