Jasmine Hughes

Spotting a box turtle slowly making its way through your garden bed is one of those moments that…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 30

Finding a large, hairy spider crouched near your porch light can stop you cold, especially when you have…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 30

A weedy, fast-growing tree that most North Carolina homeowners mistake for a native is quietly making their yards…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 30

Spotting a fox trotting through your yard at dusk can stop you in your tracks – and your…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 30

Spotting a domed turtle making its way through your vegetable beds or flower borders is one of those…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 30

Boxwood hedges are neat and evergreen, but they never put on a fall color show, and they do…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 29

Finding a toad settled under your garden bed or tucked beside a flowerpot is one of those small…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 29

Walk across a North Carolina yard on a June morning and you might spot a gray bird hopping…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 29

Tucked into forest edges across North Carolina, blackgum quietly does something most yard trees never manage: it drops…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 29

American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a North Carolina native shrub that earns its place along a wooded edge…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 29

Fire ants have spread into portions or all of 81 North Carolina counties, and if you have ever…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 29

Most North Carolina yards go quiet in winter, with bare branches and empty feeders replacing the busy activity…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 28

Two fruit-bearing North Carolina natives deserve a closer look from anyone who wants edible harvests and real wildlife…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 28

Spotting a big, buzzing bee hovering around your porch railing can send most homeowners straight for the nearest…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 28

Finding a box turtle slowly crossing your garden beds is one of those moments that makes you stop…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 28

Some plants look pretty in the garden but turn into bullies once they escape into the wild. Across…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 28

One morning you notice the usual flicker of green on the fence post is gone, and a week…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 28

Lemongrass has a way of earning permanent real estate near a North Carolina patio once a gardener tries…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 27

Crape myrtle shows up in almost every North Carolina front yard, but it fades fast once the flowers…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 27

Most nursery shelves pass right over St. Andrew’s cross, a compact native shrub that quietly flowers through much…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 27

Butterfly weed is one of those plants that earns its place in a North Carolina yard quickly, drawing…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 27

Owls have lived in North Carolina’s woodlands, fields, and suburban neighborhoods long before anyone thought to build them…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 27

Spotting a fox slipping through your backyard as the sun goes down can feel alarming, but for most…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 27

Spotting a stink bug on your curtain can send your mind racing toward worst-case scenarios, but the reality…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 26

That hawk riding the air above your backyard is doing something worth paying attention to, even if its…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 26

Most North Carolina gardeners know coneflowers and black-eyed Susans, but there is one native plant that quietly earns…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 26

Your wooded property line is one of the first places you should think about when it comes to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 26

Every spring, a lot of North Carolina homeowners haul home bag after bag of mulch, only to watch…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 26

Sunny, dry slopes in North Carolina can defeat almost every plant a homeowner tries. The soil is shallow,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 26

American beautyberry is one of those shrubs that most North Carolina gardeners stroll right past at the nursery,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Lantana is one of the toughest flowering plants you can grow in a North Carolina yard, pushing out…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Most North Carolina gardeners have watched a promising perennial slowly give up during a July heat wave, leaving…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Two North Carolina native plants have been circulating online under a claim that one tree feeds wildlife all…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Crape myrtles show up in almost every North Carolina yard, but they came here from Asia and do…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Ticks are a real concern for anyone who spends time kneeling in a backyard vegetable garden in North…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 25

Ticks are a real part of summer life in North Carolina, and most people assume they just wander…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Walk into most garden centers in North Carolina and you’ll see the same rows of imported shrubs over…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Spotting a fire ant mound in your garden bed can make your stomach drop, but that mound is…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Blueberries grow across North Carolina, but getting a reliable harvest from your backyard takes more than dropping a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Dragging a hose across a hot patio to water a row of potted plants gets old fast, especially…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

If you want bees buzzing, butterflies landing, and hummingbirds hovering in your yard from June through September, one…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 24

Eastern Bluebirds are one of the most recognizable birds in North Carolina, with their brilliant blue backs and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Warm summer nights in North Carolina used to sparkle with fireflies, but a lot of yards have gone…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Liriope shows up along half the walkways in North Carolina, but it is not from here, and in…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Pull back the leaves on a July tomato plant and you might spot it before you even pick…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

A striking insect has been turning up in North Carolina yards, and the first reaction many people have…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

North Carolina summers bring fireflies, garden tomatoes, and unfortunately, clouds of mosquitoes that can make an evening outside…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 23

Spotting a hawk once in your yard is a treat, but when the same bird keeps showing up…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 22

Two fruit trees have grown wild across North Carolina for centuries, feeding wildlife and quietly ripening each fall,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Jul 22