Jasmine Hughes

Most North Carolina gardeners think of witchhazel as a winter plant, but the native kind can open its…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 21

Bradford pears look pretty for about two weeks each spring, then they smell bad, split in storms, and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 20

Every yard seems to have one spot that makes gardeners sigh: a sunny, dry bank where the soil…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 20

Drive through almost any mountain neighborhood near Asheville or Boone and you will see the same few trees…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 20

You step onto the porch and spot a small lizard on the railing, then another on the fence.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 20

Butterfly bush earns its name every summer when adult butterflies crowd its purple spikes. But a garden that…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 20

A shrub chewed down to lace can make any gardener want to do something fast. Many people hear…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 20

A fox trotting across the lawn at dusk can make any homeowner stop and stare. When it shows…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 19

Black-eyed Susans get all the love, but in sticky North Carolina clay they often flop, rot, or fade…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 19

A tree can stand quietly for decades and then become the center of a tense talk over the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 19

Late September in North Carolina is when a handful of sneaky invaders finish blooming and start loading up…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 19

One minute your feeder is busy with chickadees and titmice, and the next the yard goes silent. A…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 19

A shadow waddles across the patio again, and you wonder why this animal keeps stopping by. Opossums are…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 19

A hydrangea that grows lush green leaves but never shows a single flower can leave any gardener scratching…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 18

A steep, sunny bank can feel like the hardest spot in a North Carolina yard to keep green.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 18

A big bird lands on your fence post, scans the grass, and then shows up again a few…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 18

The shady strip beside the house is often the spot nobody wants to plant or walk through. A…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 18

Pine straw looks tidy for a few weeks, then it thins out, blows around, and the weeds push…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 18

Crape myrtles put on a long show across North Carolina, but the flowers do fade. Some gardeners snip…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 18

Plain wooden and chain-link fences can look stark by midsummer. Maypop, a native North Carolina vine with wild-looking…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 13

You step onto the porch with your coffee and spot a gray, papery nest tucked under the ceiling.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 13

Some plants show up for one summer and quietly vanish, leaving you to buy them all over again…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 12

Pine straw looks tidy for a few months, then it thins out, blows away, and lets weeds sneak…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 12

A strip of raised, crumbly soil snaking across your grass can make a tidy yard look like a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 12

You walk out one morning and find a fresh raised ridge snaking across the lawn. It looks like…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 12

Walk under a fig tree in October and you may spot leaves with rusty brown freckles scattered across…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 12

Hydrangeas get plenty of attention in North Carolina gardens, but they are not the only shrub that blooms…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 12

North Carolina red clay can feel like gardening in a brick, so it makes sense to search online…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Swallowtails and other butterflies need nectar, and the shrub you plant decides what is on the menu. Butterfly…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Late fall can leave a North Carolina yard looking tired, with summer flowers faded and few blooms left.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Every fall, North Carolina yards fill up with free mulch that many people send to the curb. Shredded…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Rosemary looks tough, but a pot changes the game when winter rolls in. The thin walls of a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

A fast black snake zips along your mulch bed, and your heart skips. Then it shows up again…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 11

Aphids clustered under your fall kale and collards can make any gardener hunt for a quick fix. A…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

Mowing a steep front yard slope in July heat is no fun, and it can be risky too.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

Knock Out roses look tough, and they are, but the weeks before winter still matter. A few simple…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

If you have ever watched deer mow your hostas down to bare stems overnight, you know the frustration…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

That shaggy, curling bark on your river birch can look like something has gone wrong. Many North Carolina…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

Collards are one of the toughest leafy greens you can grow in a North Carolina yard. When the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 10

You flip on the basement light and something with long legs and a humped back springs across the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

Bare mud and stubborn weeds love to move into the gaps between stepping stones. A low native plant…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

Garlic goes into the ground when most of the garden is winding down, and that is part of…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

Something small and brown keeps darting through the mulch by your back steps, and it moves too fast…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

A fence line needs a screen that looks good in July and still does its job in January.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 9

Raking leaves and stacking firewood feel like simple fall chores. Yet a snake that wants to stay out…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Fall raking puts your tools right where small, secretive animals sometimes shelter. The spotted salamander is a native…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Bearded irises are tough plants, but they have one big weakness in North Carolina gardens. Our wet winters…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Many North Carolina fences wear a green blanket of English ivy, and it looks harmless enough. But that…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8

Once the last muscadine drops from the arbor, it is tempting to think the vine can take care…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 8