Jasmine Hughes

Stepping outside on a warm July morning and finding no butterflies where there were plenty last week can…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 27

Gardenias are one of those shrubs that reward a little attention before the heat arrives, and one practical…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 27

Most ornamental trees in a North Carolina yard give you one spectacular week and then blend into the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 27

American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) earns its place in many North Carolina yards with clusters of vivid purple berries…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 27

Most backyard blueberry growers in North Carolina pack away their picking buckets and forget about the bushes until…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 26

Spot a low-growing plant with three rounded leaves taking over a corner of your yard and you may…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 26

Fall broccoli in North Carolina is one of those crops that rewards the gardener who acts at the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 26

If you have a shady corner where grass just gives up, you are not alone. Lots of North…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 26

A recent lifestyle article made the rounds claiming that North Carolina gardeners have a habit of burying pine…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 26

That small, rust-colored bird bobbing in and out of your porch planter is not being random or reckless.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 26

August heat can push North Carolina blueberry bushes to the edge of their comfort zone, and many gardeners…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 25

Confederate jasmine fills North Carolina fences and trellises with fragrant white flowers every spring, but this evergreen vine…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 25

A fence gets the job done, but it does not feed a single bee or shade a single…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 25

Some of the best shrubs for a North Carolina yard are the ones you almost never see at…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 25

Most North Carolina homeowners have never heard of American beautyberry, but this native shrub quietly earns its keep…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 25

Plenty of North Carolina yards have a privet hedge running along the fence line, and plenty of homeowners…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 25

Summer sun can turn a nice patio into a hot, unusable spot by early afternoon. The trick most…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 24

Okra shows up in nearly every North Carolina summer garden, and most folks assume it’s all about frying…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 24

Something sticky and black on your tomato leaves or a strange vinegar smell under your maple tree may…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 24

Crispy brown edges creeping across your hydrangea leaves in August are one of the most common and confusing…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 24

Spotting a Virginia opossum shuffling through your backyard after dark can feel surprising, but for North Carolina homeowners…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 24

Gardenias in North Carolina can be stubborn about flowering, and late August is exactly when a small misstep…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 24

That steep bank in your yard is a headache waiting to happen. Every hard rain washes soil downhill,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 23

Leyland cypress used to be the go-to privacy plant in North Carolina yards, but too many folks watched…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 23

Picking the right mulch for your North Carolina yard is less about brand loyalty and more about reading…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 23

Lantana is one of the toughest, most colorful plants you can grow in a North Carolina summer, but…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 23

Fall beets grown in North Carolina can reward patient gardeners with roots that are more tender and better…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 23

A butterfly bush drooping in the August heat can send a gardener straight for the hose, but watering…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 23

Camellias are some of the most rewarding shrubs a North Carolina gardener can grow, putting on a flower…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 22

If you have a wooded edge in your North Carolina yard, you have probably wondered how to make…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 22

Few things are more discouraging than watching a plant that thrived all spring suddenly droop and die in…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 22

Lantana can put on one of the longest color shows in a North Carolina yard, but getting the…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 22

Coneflowers get all the attention, but they often fade just when North Carolina summers get brutal. The good…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 22

North Carolina gardens get a whole second season when the summer heat finally breaks, and fall is honestly…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 22

That sweet-smelling vine crawling up your fence might be doing more harm than good in your North Carolina…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 21

Hostas get all the attention in shady yards, but they melt in North Carolina’s sticky summers and get…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 21

Every evening, across neighborhoods from the Piedmont to the coastal plain, North Carolina homeowners are watching the same…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 21

Japanese beetles can turn a healthy rose bush or grapevine into a skeleton of stems in just a…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 21

Landscape fabric rips, clogs, and eventually lets weeds win anyway. The smarter move for a hot, sunny North…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 21

Nobody wants to spend every weekend trimming, staking, and babying the plants along their walkway or flower bed.…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 21

If you have spent any time cutting those stubborn shoots off your crape myrtle only to find them…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 20

Late summer heat can turn a once-green North Carolina lawn into a patchwork of brown and gray almost…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 20

Pulling weeds feels like a losing battle, but those plants showing up in the same spots year after…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 20

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds pass through North Carolina yards every spring and summer, and most homeowners never know what draws…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 20

Most North Carolina homeowners know the sound well: a warm evening chorus of crickets rising from the lawn,…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 20

Hydrangeas are one of the most beloved flowering shrubs in North Carolina yards, but a common pruning mistake…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 20

Fig trees in North Carolina can produce a generous late-season crop, but hot, dry August weather puts developing…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 19

Spotting a fox trotting across your yard can stop you in your tracks, especially when kids or pets…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 19

Pull back a clump of daylilies or shift a bag of mulch in a North Carolina yard and…

By Jasmine Hughes · Aug 19