Jasmine Hughes

Most North Carolina gardeners looking to help pollinators reach for the usual suspects: coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, or a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 15

Few shrubs stop traffic in a North Carolina yard quite like a panicle hydrangea loaded with cone-shaped blooms…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 15

Spotting a box turtle tucked into your garden bed once is a surprise. Seeing one there again and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 15

Finding a fresh dirt mound in your garden bed is one of those summer surprises that can stop…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 15

Step outside on a warm North Carolina night in late summer and you might feel like the trees…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 14

Spotting large bees circling your porch on a hot North Carolina afternoon can feel alarming, especially when you…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 14

Spotting a large, fast-moving spider bolting across your patio or disappearing under the mulch can stop you cold,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 14

English ivy looked like a smart fence solution until it started crawling into the woods, up the trees,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 14

Spotting a fox in your yard once is a surprise, but seeing one again and again starts to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 14

Spotting a stink bug crawling across your living room wall can be unsettling, especially when one turns into…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 14

A story has been circulating among gardeners that a North Carolina native shrub can actually block mosquitoes along…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 13

Every fall, North Carolina yards go through a quiet shift when many summer fruits disappear and birds start…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 13

Spotting a hawk gliding in slow circles above your backyard is one of those sights that stops you…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 13

Every spring, the same story plays out along the shaded edge where your lawn meets the trees: the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 13

Spotting a fox trotting through your yard on a summer morning can stop you in your tracks. Most…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 13

Around late August, many North Carolina homeowners start noticing brown, shield-shaped bugs gathering on sunny walls, slipping under…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 13

Somewhere between the flashy ornamentals at the garden center and the towering oaks that take decades to mature,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 12

Tucked into the edges of southeastern forests, American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a native shrub that most North…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 12

If your North Carolina yard has turned into a nighttime concert hall this summer, you are not alone.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 12

Round holes appearing in your porch wood this summer can feel alarming, but they are telling you something…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 12

Suddenly spotting green anoles everywhere you look in your yard can feel like something shifted overnight. For North…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 12

If your backyard bumps up against woods or a brushy fence line, ticks are likely closer than you…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 12

Liriope has edged walkways in North Carolina yards for decades, but it does not actually feed local wildlife…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 11

Spotting a hawk gliding over your North Carolina yard is one of those moments that stops you mid-task.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 11

Most North Carolina homeowners walk right past American persimmon without giving it a second thought, and that is…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 11

Spotting a large bee hovering near your porch rail or finding a perfectly round hole in a beam…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 11

Something colorful and unfamiliar has been landing on fences, tree trunks, and garden plants across parts of North…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 11

Spotting a box turtle near your garden beds can feel like a sign from nature, and in a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 11

Yard fences, shrubs, and garden walls across North Carolina have been crawling with small green lizards this summer,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 10

By late summer, many North Carolina homeowners start noticing wasps everywhere, around the porch railing, hovering over the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 10

If you step outside on a warm summer evening in North Carolina and hear a wall of sound…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 10

Stepping onto your porch one July morning to find a dozen shield-shaped bugs clustered on the siding can…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 10

Crossvine is a fast-growing native vine that most North Carolina homeowners walk right past at the nursery, and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 10

Every North Carolina homeowner who has walked out to find hostas stripped bare or daylilies chewed to stubs…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 10

Late August has a way of draining the color out of most garden beds, leaving North Carolina homeowners…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 9

Spotting a fox trotting through your yard once is a treat. Seeing the same animal cross the same…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 9

Step outside on a warm July morning in the Piedmont or coastal plain, and you might count a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 9

If you have a wooded property line in North Carolina, you have probably wondered what you can plant…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 9

Most North Carolina gardens hit a wall in August, when the heat and humidity cause flower after flower…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 9

Spotting a large bee hovering near your porch railing and then disappearing into a hole in the wood…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 9

Spotting a cluster of fresh mounds in your garden bed can feel alarming, but the story behind them…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 8

Finding an eastern box turtle slowly making its way through your tomatoes or flower beds can stop you…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 8

Cracked tomatoes are one of the most frustrating sights in a late-summer garden, especially when you have been…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 8

Every August and September, North Carolina yards fill with a rising chorus of rasping, buzzing calls coming from…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 8

Fall broccoli is one of the most rewarding cool-season crops a North Carolina gardener can grow, but getting…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 8

Spotting a copperhead along the edge where your yard meets the woods can stop you in your tracks,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 8

Most North Carolina homeowners have seen a Bradford pear in full white bloom and thought it looked like…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 7

Walk the edge where your lawn meets the woods and you might brush past a thorny, low-growing shrub…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 7

Every fall, North Carolina homeowners start sneezing and immediately point a finger at the bright yellow wildflower blooming…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 7