Plant

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variety of flowers growing in a yard

Flowers & Ornamental

Everyone can enjoy the natural beauty of flowers and ornamental plants with some simple recommendations.

Red and gold mums arranged in a planter with small pumpkins.

Bring New Life to Worn-Out Summer Containers: Ideas to Fall in Love With

With just a bit of imagination and a little time, your worn-out summer containers can gain new life with a variety of cool-season flowers and plants that come in brilliant fall colors!

Orange beetle with black markings on an orange flower.

Soldier Beetles Visiting Flowers

Flowers in many gardens are currently being visited by soldier beetles. While these orange beetles have a strong preference for flowering plants, they are predators and pollinators and don’t pose a threat to your garden.

Green and brown grasshopper with two yellow lines that originate on the head and meet on the abdomen.

Grasshoppers in Gardens

Due to large populations and dry conditions, grasshoppers are moving into gardens and feeding on whatever they can find. In a normal year, grasshoppers can be a nuisance in a garden, but during an outbreak year, they can present a real threat to gardens, shrubs and small trees.

Young woman photographing leaf-scorched hostas in a garden.

Garden and Yard Problems Solved: How to Submit Photos and Samples to Our Experts

Garden and lawn issues can sometimes be diagnosed by simply looking at a photo. Photos give our Extension experts a place to start, and providing them with the best possible photo can help the process.

Group of local foods education center staff inside high tunnel.

SDSU to Host Home and Market Garden Field Day

August 24, 2021

The Home and Market Garden Field Day will be held from to 5 to 7 p.m. CDT at the center, located at 1600 Medary Ave. in Brookings.

sprawling leafy ground cover in a shady garden

Perennial Ground Covers for Shady Gardens

Shady gardens can be filled with plants of various shapes and sizes reaching heights of several feet with eye-catching foliage or blooms. However, ground covers, which are usually twelve inches tall or shorter, are an important component of the shade garden.

Perennial ground cover with pink and white flowers.

Perennial Ground Covers for Sunny Gardens

Do you have any large areas of bare soil in the garden, or perhaps a location that is difficult to mow? Consider planting perennial ground covers to fill in extra space in your sunny location!

a patch of green, weedy flowers with white petals and a yellow center

Invasive Garden Plants: Is That a Weed?

While we generally consider invasive plants like crabgrass, dandelions, and purslane as weeds, just about any plant can be considered a weed when it's in the wrong location.

Brown snailcase bagworm cases on the white underside of a jar lid.

Snailcase Bagworms in South Dakota

A unique insect that has been observed in South Dakota is the snailcase bagworm. Snailcase bagworms are wingless moths that spend their entire life in spiral-shaped “snail” cases, which they build around themselves using a combination of silk, soil particles and fecal matter.