Jasmine Hughes

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

Growing more than one vegetable type in the same bed is a trick many North Carolina gardeners swear…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 21

Every fall, North Carolina gardeners watch the calendar with one eye and their tomato vines with the other,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 21

Dry fall weather sneaks up on container gardeners across North Carolina, leaving pots parched faster than expected. A…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 21

Cilantro might be the most overlooked herb for a North Carolina fall garden, yet it is one of…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 20

Mailbox beds are easy to overlook, but a well-chosen planting can turn that strip of roadside dirt into…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 20

Coneflowers are supposed to be tough, cheerful, and nearly impossible to kill in a North Carolina yard. Yet…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 20

Most North Carolina gardeners spend October pulling spent plants and putting tools away, but one quiet task often…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 20

Every fall, North Carolina homeowners start noticing more wasp activity around their eaves, and many wonder if something…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 20

Knockout roses are the workhorses of North Carolina yards, blooming from spring through fall with almost no fuss.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 20

If your shady fence line has been host to struggling boxwoods, you might be wondering whether there is…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 19

Tucked into the edges of North Carolina woodlands, sourwood is a native tree that earns its place twice…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 19

A native shrub called American beautyberry has been getting attention from North Carolina homeowners who want a natural…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 19

Small holes appearing near garden beds this fall have some North Carolina homeowners wondering whether chipmunks are to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 19

Every fall, North Carolina homeowners start noticing a lot more yellowjackets buzzing around picnic tables, garbage cans, and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 19

Purple coneflowers are one of the easiest perennials to grow in North Carolina, and many gardeners want more…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 19

Ornamental alliums are one of those plants that look effortless in a neighbor’s yard but frustrating in your…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 18

Walk past your shrubs before you grab the pruning shears this fall, and you might spot something that…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 18

Spotted lanternfly egg masses can show up on fence posts, firewood, and dozens of other outdoor surfaces, not…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 18

A fast-spreading invasive insect called the spotted lanternfly has found a foothold in North Carolina, and one invasive…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 18

A video or social post claiming that a single opossum eats thousands of ticks every week sounds like…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 18

Something is chewing through your North Carolina garden beds, and the damage gets worse every fall. Small tunnels,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 18

Eastern box turtles are a familiar sight in North Carolina yards, and most people who spot one want…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 17

Eastern Screech-Owls are small, year-round North Carolina residents that hunt at night and nest inside tree cavities. Putting…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 17

On a mild October afternoon in North Carolina, a copperhead might be the last thing on your mind…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 17

Hearing a coyote howl outside your window on a fall night can stop you cold, especially when it…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 17

That bare slope in your yard, the one that washes out every time it rains, can turn into…

By Jasmine Hughes · Sep 17