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Cultivated varieties of dwarf morning glory, including Blue Daze and Blue My Mind, tolerate heat well and produce small blue flowers for a long time.
One of my favorite things about these plants is that they tend to be reliably perennial in Louisiana, returning year after year.
It seems appropriate to start a discussion of Washington Parish natives with the longleaf pine.
It’s important to start spraying for Virginia buttonweed during the spring, since this is when the weed is more tender and susceptible to herbicides.
I could go on for days learning and writing about plants native to Washington Parish.
The beauty provided by annual flowers like cosmos is undeniable. Furthermore, cosmos, like their zinnia relatives, often reseed themselves.
Cupheas have tubular flowers and support pollinators including butterflies, bees, and – for the red- and orange-flowered ones, at least – hummingbirds.
You can modify a site, but in a lot of cases, it’s more practical to just work with the conditions you have.
Regardless of whether you seed, sod, plug, or sprig, there are certain things to do before and after planting turfgrass.
First, consider whether turfgrass is the best choice for your site.
Not everyone has a yard where they can grow plants, and we who have in-ground gardens can also enjoy the cheer brought by containerized plants.
While evergreen azaleas are better known, all azaleas native to Louisiana are deciduous.
One of the plants that we often see flowering along the edge of the woods in late winter is Carolina jessamine, a native vine.
Correctly identifying the problem, choosing an appropriate product, and following label directions are important when using pesticides of any kind.
Many people find St. Augustinegrass to be attractive, and it’s one of the best turfgrasses for shady areas.
Centipedegrass is one of the most popular turfgrasses in this area. It requires a smaller amount of fertilizer and less frequent mowing than some other grasses.
It’s helpful to know what poison ivy looks like.
Ornamental plants that bloom in late winter and early spring generally bloom on shoots that grew in a previous season. These should be pruned after flowering.
I’ve recently observed a variety of wildflowers blooming in my yard and neighborhood. You might have seen some of these, too.
Cotton is the most economically important crop that the cotton jassid damages, but it also affects other plants that are valuable to us.
For woody plants and palms, waiting is advised.
Few questions come up as frequently as those about lichens.
Mulching is one of the best tools in the toolbox for managing weeds in landscape beds.
A Louisiana Master Gardener training course is scheduled for Wednesdays (9:00 AM until noon), from August 12 through November 19, 2026, in Tangipahoa Parish.
If you’re going to use an herbicide, it’s important to do it while weeds are small.
Using organic practices offers certain benefits, including conserving or improving soil quality and reducing the use of some types of pesticides.
Crop rotation, cover cropping, and plant and animal-derived materials are used for managing soil fertility when growing organically.
This article addresses organic weed, insect, and disease management.
Each year, we face situations in which some of our plants could be injured by cold weather.
Roughly 99% of insects are not “pests.”
This article series addresses some pesticides allowed in organic production, under certain condition.
Fall is one of the best times to plant most types of trees and shrubs in Louisiana.
Giant plume ginger and pink velvet banana have a tropical appearance, are cold hardy throughout Louisiana, and provide pink color in the garden.
Birds need food, water, and shelter. Gardens can provide all of these.
Muscadines aren’t the only grapes that we see growing in the wild.
Raised beds are helpful where drainage is poor and can be useful even where it isn't, but they're not always without problems.
This article addresses excessive drainage, low nutrients, and herbicide residues.
Join the LSU AgCenter for a series of five classes designed to help you cultivate a thriving garden and healthy lawn.
If a person is paid a fee for doing landscape work beyond general yard work, Louisiana generally requires a license.
A relatively way to kill many types of unwanted woody vines, shrubs, and trees is to make a “cut stump” treatment with a triclopyr-containing herbicide.
There are a variety of ways that trees can be damaged during construction.
We can take steps in the landscape to reduce the chances of termite infestations.
Bermudagrass tolerates foot traffic and drought but does not grow well in shade.
Zoysiagrass is more drought- and wear-tolerant than centipedegrass and St. Augustinegrass and more shade-tolerant than bermudagrass.
Most vegetables that we grow are annuals in our climate, but there are some exceptions.
Late winter and early spring, as the aboveground parts of plants start growing again, are good times to fertilize perennial plants in landscape beds.
A Louisiana Master Gardener training course is scheduled for Washington Parish on Tuesdays, from August 12 through November 18, 2025.
Good bed preparation is important, especially when planting trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials that we want to live for many years.
Here are some gift ideas for gardeners.
Tawny crazy ant colonies grow to contain very large numbers of ants with multiple queens, and people often find piles of dead ants
Composting is a way to take yard, garden, and kitchen “waste” and turn it into something useful.
If you want long-term control of fire ants but also need to get rid of them quickly in one or more spots, you can take a two-step approach.
Sooty mold grows where insects have secreted a sugary substance called honeydew.
Besides the amount of rainfall that we get and the intensity of rainstorms, a number of other factors affect how much erosion occurs on a site.
Leaves and roots of plants play major roles in reducing erosion.
The LSU AgCenter has a lot of resources that address a variety of topics.
Several types of insects make highly noticeable webs in trees.
While tropical milkweed is most readily available in garden centers, a number of milkweed species are native to Louisiana.
Easter lilies are perennials in the landscape in most parts of Louisiana.
Annuals can quickly provide a splash of color – due to their flowers, foliage, or both – in the landscape.
It's recommended that the warm-season turfgrasses commonly grown in Louisiana be fertilized between April and August.
Kirilow’s or Chinese indigo is sometimes cultivated under tree canopies in Louisiana. There are also wild or false indigos that are grown as ornamental plants.
Alternatives to the more invasive wisterias include American wisteria and evergreen wisteria.
Late January to mid-February is the primary time of year to prune everblooming roses in Louisiana.
LSU AgCenter will offer a rose pruning demonstration at the Franklinton Branch Library
Chinese privet is, unfortunately, a common plant in the southeastern US.
Despite having ornamental qualities, tung oil trees are not the best choice for all locations.
Several yucca species and at least one agave are considered native to Louisiana.
Dwarf palmetto, saw palmetto, and several species of prickly pear cacti round out the discussion of prickly plants native to Louisiana.
Distyliums are evergreen, tolerate Louisiana's climate, and can be used as hedge or foundation plants.
While they’re sometimes thrown out after their fall flower display, garden mums are perennials and can be planted in the landscape.
Viburnums, as a group, have long been a bit nebulous to me.
Some of the plants most closely associated with the holidays are daylength sensitive. Exposure to long periods of darkness is a key to getting them to bloom.
Drift roses are groundcover roses. Like Knock Out roses, they bloom over a long period, but they remain smaller than Knock Out roses do.
As of August 24, the US Drought Monitor showed all areas of Tangipahoa and Washington Parishes in severe drought.
The LSU AgCenter is offering five classes covering a variety of garden- and landscape-related topics in Washington Parish.
Bamboos are grasses. There are many species. We generally divide them into running and clumping types.
If you have a stand of bamboo that you want to get rid of, you have a couple of options.
May or June beetles feed on many species of plants.
Of the six springs I’ve been working in Extension in Louisiana, I’ve received more questions about lawn problems this year than any other.
