Jasmine Hughes

You flip on the porch light after dark and there it is again, a toad sitting right by…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

Those brown, spiky seed heads on your coneflowers are not leftovers. They hold seeds you can gather and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

That glossy vinca on your hillside looks tidy, but it creeps into woods, smothers wildflowers, and does a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

Carolina Chickadees are small, curious birds that stay in North Carolina all year. When cold weather arrives, finding…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 29

Every spring, those long purple flower clusters on wisteria vines make homeowners want to fill their own arbors…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Many North Carolina gardeners plant butterfly bush expecting a pollinator paradise, but the picture is more complicated than…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Spot a small green lizard clinging to your potted fern or perched on a container plant near the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Spotting a bright green anole doing push-ups on a sunny fence rail is one of those small garden…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Fall cleanup in North Carolina means one thing for backyard composters: a mountain of leaves and yard waste…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Late September is not the obvious time to start seeds, but one cool-season vegetable still has a real…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 28

Camellia shrubs are a backyard favorite across North Carolina, prized for their glossy leaves and stunning fall and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Fall color in North Carolina is shaping up to be anything but uniform this year. An August 2026…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Collards are one of North Carolina’s most beloved vegetables, but getting them to taste tender and mild instead…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Garlic planted into soggy fall soil can face a real problem in North Carolina, where heavy autumn rains…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Carolina Wrens are tough little birds, but a hard winter cold snap can push even year-round residents to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Plenty of North Carolina gardeners add lime and fertilizer every season out of habit, crossing their fingers and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 27

Fall is a quiet but important season for camellias in North Carolina. While the plants look settled and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Japanese beetles tore through North Carolina yards this past summer, skeletonizing rose leaves, chewing up fruit trees, and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Most North Carolina homeowners look at their holly shrubs in fall and wonder if there is something they…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Fig trees are one of the most rewarding plants a North Carolina homeowner can grow, but they have…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Fall is the best time to do something useful with bare garden beds, and North Carolina gardeners have…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

North Carolina’s fall foliage season is one of the most anticipated times of year for mountain travelers and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 26

Aphids are one of the most frustrating problems a North Carolina lettuce grower can face, showing up fast…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25

Yellowjackets can turn a relaxing afternoon in the yard into a painful surprise, especially when a colony is…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25

A brighter spring yard starts months before the flowers appear. In North Carolina, fall is the best time…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25

Blue flowers can do more than cool down a hot North Carolina garden. The right picks give hummingbirds…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25

Noticing chewed hostas or stripped shrubs in your North Carolina yard as summer fades into fall can feel…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25

By late August, plenty of North Carolina gardens start to look tired, but some perennials are just getting…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 25

Your flowering dogwood may already be carrying next spring’s flowers right now, tucked into tiny buds along its…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 24

A thorny ornamental shrub called Japanese barberry has quietly spread into yards and wild edges across North Carolina’s…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 24

Butterfly bush is one of those shrubs that looks spectacular in summer and then raises a genuine question…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 24

Fireflies need more than dark summer nights. They also need cool, slightly damp places with leaves, stems, and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 24

Every fall, North Carolina homeowners spend more time stacking firewood, clearing garden beds, and poking around retaining walls…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 24

Many North Carolina homeowners plant wax myrtle along their property lines hoping for a thick, fast green wall,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 24

Every August and September, North Carolina yards fill with a loud, buzzing chorus that seems to come from…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 23

Crape myrtle seed pods are one of those fall details that homeowners either ignore or obsess over, and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 23

Fuchsia is one of the most eye-catching plants you can hang on a porch or tuck into a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 23

Daffodils are one of the most reliable spring flowers a North Carolina gardener can grow, but plenty of…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 23

If your crape myrtle leaves are coated in black and the branches feel sticky to the touch, you…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 23

Spotting what looks like a tiny hummingbird hovering over your flowers at dusk is one of those moments…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 23

Mosquitoes are a real problem in North Carolina yards, and the idea of planting one native shrub to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 22

Sweet potato growers in North Carolina sometimes stare at their vines all season, waiting for a clear signal…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 22

When cold weather settles over North Carolina, food gets scarce for chickadees, goldfinches, and juncos. The good news…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 22

Rock mulch might look tidy, but it soaks up summer heat and cooks the soil right next to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 22

Azaleas are gorgeous in spring, but plant them where the afternoon sun pounds down and they scorch by…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 22

That glossy shrub lining your North Carolina foundation might look tidy, but if it is a fruiting nandina,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 22

Fig trees in North Carolina can grow into a tangled thicket fast, especially after a mild winter, and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 21

Every spring, neighborhoods across North Carolina light up with clouds of white blossoms from Bradford pear trees, but…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 21

Most bed-edge plants in North Carolina look great in a nursery pot and fall apart by August, flattened…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 21