Growing herbs upside down has certain benefits and a few drawbacks, but can be useful in small garden spaces. Upside down herbs are readily accessible and grow just as well as tomatoes when hung vertically. You can easily make your own hanging herb garden with just a few simple household items. Benefits of a Hanging Herb Garden Herbs that grow upside down are great space savers for gardeners who don’t have a convenient garden plot....

About the Kansas USDA Zones for Growing Plants It’s important to view the USDA plant hardiness zones map for information about plant hardiness. This not only provides hardiness growing zones for all states but will also tell you the garden zones for USDA in Kansas. The above map is for the Kansas USDA zones and can be used to determine the most ideal plants for your area. By looking at the Kansas zone map above and locating the approximate area in which you live, you will be able to find your hardiness planting zone....

Uses for Aronia Berries Aronia (Aronia melanocarpa), or black chokeberry, is a deciduous shrub that blooms with creamy flowers in the late spring to become small, pea sized, purple-black berries. It should be noted that black chokeberries are a different plant from the similarly named chokecherry of the Prunus genus. Aronia harvest time is in autumn coinciding with a change in the shrub’s foliage to its blazing fall hues. The berries are sometimes overlooked, as the shrub is often included in the landscape for its blossoms and foliage color, not its berries....

What is Velvetleaf? This pesky plant is a member of the mallow family, which also includes desirable plants such as hibiscus, hollyhock, and cotton. An upright annual weed that can reach heights of 7 feet (2 m.), velvetleaf is named for the huge, heart-shaped leaves, which are covered with fine, velvety hair. The thick stems are also covered with hair. Clusters of small, five-petaled flowers appear in late summer. Controlling Velvetleaf Plants Velvetleaf weed control is a long-term project because one plant creates thousands of seeds, which remain viable in the soil for an incredible 50 to 60 years....

How to Get Rid of Voles Vole control starts with a clean garden. Voles will make themselves at home in heavy underbrush and weedy areas. Making sure that any overgrown areas in the garden are cut back not only discourages voles from taking up residence in your garden, it also makes sure that any voles that you do have are more vulnerable to predators such as snakes, owls, hawks, coyotes, and cats....

What are Billbugs? You can distinguish billbugs from other lawn pests because their larvae have no legs. These cream-colored, c-shaped grubs are the phase of the life cycle that damages the lawn. You won’t see the grubs unless you dig around the roots and look for them. The adults emerge from the lawn thatch and leaf litter where they spent the winter when temperatures rise about 65 degrees F. (18 C....

What are Citrus Bud Mites? Citrus bud mites are tiny, cigar-shaped pests, typically creamy white or translucent in color. Like most mites, citrus bud mites have four legs near the mouth. They usually hide in safe places, such as under bud scales, where they overwinter. Uncontrolled citrus bud mite damage may include deformed stems, leaves, flowers, and buds, and leaf, flower, or bud galls. The pests often feed inside the buds, resulting in malformed, stunted fruit....

Figwort Plant Information Figwort herb plants are related to the mullein plant from the family Scrophulariaceae, and some of their growing patterns and appearances are reminiscent of one another. Growing in similar fashion to mint, figworts reach heights of around 3 feet (1 m.), with tops that bloom in summer. Some plants, in the right situations, can grow to heights of around 10 feet (3 m.). Flowers are inconspicuous yet unique, with round shapes and red-yellow colors....

What Causes Papaya Stem Rot? Stem rot on papaya trees is a syndrome rather than a specific disease, and it has been known to be caused by a number of different pathogens. These include Phytophthora palmivora, Fusarium solani, and multiple species of Pythium. These are all fungi that infect the tree and induce symptoms. Papaya Stem Rot Symptoms Stem rot, no matter the cause, tends to affect young trees the most, particularly when they have recently been transplanted....

How to Recognize Stem Pitting on Plum The symptoms of plum stem pitting may not be noticeable at first. The disease takes a while to take hold and causes puny trees. It most likely lives in the ground and needs a vector to transmit the virus to the tree. Once there, it travels in the vascular system and causes cellular changes. Plums with stem pitting show signs of root problems but they may be confused with such things as mouse girdling, nutrient deficiency, root rot, herbicide damage, or mechanical injury....

What Causes Seed Germination? The process of germination is when a seed comes out of dormancy, the time during which its metabolic activity is very slow. Germination begins with imbibition, a big word for taking in water. This is the major trigger to start the period of waking up from dormancy. As the seed takes in water, it gets bigger and produces enzymes. The enzymes are proteins that ramp up metabolic activity in the seed....

What Causes Spinach Leaf Spots? Leaf spots on spinach are likely the result of a fungal disease or a pest, such as a leaf miner or a flea beetle. The spinach leaf miner (Pegomya hyoscyami) larvae tunnel into leaves creating mines, hence the name. These mines are at first long and narrow but eventually become an irregular blotched area. The larvae look like a whitish maggot and are shaped like a carrot....

What is Tomato Mosaic Virus? Tomato mosaic virus is a serious and extremely contagious disease. It is also hard to identify, with symptoms varying wildly depending upon the variety and age of the infected plant, the strain of the virus, and environmental conditions. To make matters worse, it is very hard to distinguish from the closely related tobacco mosaic virus. Tomato mosaic virus symptoms can be found at any stage of growth and all parts of the plant may be infected....

What Do Dioecious and Monoecious Mean? These are some high-level botany terms. They actually have simple meanings, but if you start throwing these words around at your next garden club meeting, you’ll leave everyone assuming you have a Ph.D. in botany. A monoecious plant is one that has male and female flowers on the same plant, or that has flowers on every plant that contain both male and female reproductive components....

Cleveland Select Pear Info What is a Cleveland Select pear? Pyrus calleryana “Cleveland Select” is a variety of Callery pear. Cleveland Select is known for its extremely showy white flowers that bloom in early spring. It also has a narrow columnar form and strong branches, setting it apart from many other varieties of pear and making it ideal as a flowering specimen tree. In the autumn, its leaves turn attractive shades of orange to red and purple....

What is Kangaroo Foot Fern? Kangaroo paw ferns have a variety of leaf forms but their length contributes to the common name. Kangaroos belong to the animal family Macropus, a reference to their big feet, and the fern that bears their name is characterized by up to 6 inch long (15 cm.) varietal leaves. Kangaroo paw fern info states the plant is an evergreen most suited to indoor growing, unless you live in a very warm region....

What is Apple Russeting? Apple fruit russet is the brown scarring that sometimes appears on the skin of the fruit. It is a symptom rather than a disease, which means it can have several different causes. One of the most common causes of apple russet is genetic tendency. Some varieties are so prone to it that they actually get their name from it, like Egremont Russet, Merton Russet, and Roxbury Russet....

What is Bark Lice? Many people raise an eyebrow when they think of a lice infestation. Bark lice is not the same as parasitic lice found on humans and animals. Bark lice are minute brown insects that have a soft body and are similar in appearance to aphids. They are not really lice at all and have probably acquired that name only because they are so tiny and hard to see....

Cactus potting soil can enhance drainage, increase evaporation and provide the dry conditions that cacti favor. What is cactus mix? This medium promotes optimum health for your cactus and mimics the natural gritty, arid and low nutrient soils they grow in naturally. You can purchase the mixture or learn how to make cactus soil yourself. Cactus Growing Conditions The cacti families are succulents which store moisture in their pads, stems and trunks to use during dry and drought periods....

What is Citrus Exocortis? Citrus exocortis, also known as scalybutt disease, was discovered in 1948 and was recognized mainly as a bark shelling disease. It kills bark and causes it to dry out, crack, and then lift off the tree in thin strips. This is known as shelling. It mostly occurs on citrus trees with trifoliate rootstock, although it may affect other types. The causes of citrus exocortis are viroids, pathogens that are even smaller and simpler than viruses....