There are basically three groups of mums. There are the pot mums also called florist mums, which includes pom pom mums and football mums. They have large blooms with leaves that are a pungent deep green color. This group is grown and prepared for sale by greenhouses and florists to be given as gifts and are not winter hardy.

The snapdragon does well in moist, fertile, well-drained soil. It needs full sun and good air circulation at the base of the plant. Small types can be spaced 6" apart; larger varieties should be staked 12" apart. Remove the faded flower spikes.

Hostas are extremely popular and hardy herbaceous perennials grown primarily for their beautiful foliage. There are up to 45 species of these plants, which originally came from Japan, China and Korea. They were first introduced to Europe in the late 1700s and then came to the United States in the middle 1800s.

Hostas are easy to grow and are adapted for shade-environments. Their leaves come in a wide range of shapes, colors, sizes, and textures and may be solid in color or variegated in different combinations of blue, green, white, and gold. The plants are low maintenance and are widely available in nurseries and garden centers. Many catalogs also offer a large selection of hostas, with more than 2,500 different cultivars on the market. For more information on hostas, see OSU Extension FactSheet HYG-1239-02, "Growing Hostas" http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1239.html

Highbush blueberries can be wonderful landscape plants. They have a multitude of attractive white flowers in the spring, wonderful foliage in many shapes and shades of green, showy and nutritious fruits in various hues of blue with many flavors - tasty fruit for humans and wildlife alike, brilliant scarlet foliage in the fall, and many interesting growth habits that can provide winter interest.

There are many cultivars of this native North American plant, which vary greatly in fruiting time, growth habit, berry color, and taste. Highbush blueberries grow 6-12' tall and require full sun to optimize growth and production. Like other Ericaceous plants, blueberries require a high organic matter soil with a low pH (4.5-5.5). Highbush blueberry is self-fertile, but cross-pollination increases fruit set and results in larger, earlier berries with more seeds.

Highbush blueberries will not tolerate competition from other plants. It is essential that they be kept weed free and well mulched. It has been found that a mulch of 4-6" of fresh hardwood sawdust will work extremely well - this type of mulching is not recommended for almost any other plant. For further information on highbush blueberries refer to OSU Extension Bulletin 940, "Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide" http://ohioline.osu.edu/b940/index.html and USDA/NRCS Plant Fact Sheet, "Highbush Blueberry" http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_vaco.pdf

Common pokeweed is native to the eastern half of the US. This species appears to be widespread in Ohio and is continuing to invade reduced-tillage fields. Common pokeweed prefers low, rich, somewhat disturbed, gravelly soils, and can be found in pastures, roadsides, fencerows, open woods and wood borders. It is a large, bushy, herbaceous perennial that sometimes resembles a small tree, growing up to 10' in height. The plant is characterized by an enormous taproot, smooth succulent red-purple stems, large lance-shaped leaves and grape-like clusters of dark purple berries in the fall. It reproduces from seeds.

All parts of common pokeweed are toxic to humans, pets and livestock. Roots are the most poisonous, leaves and stems are intermediate in toxicity (toxicity increases with maturity), and berries are the least toxic. Since common pokeweed is not very palatable, most animals avoid eating it unless little else is available, or if it is in contaminated hay. Horses, sheep and cattle have been poisoned by eating fresh leaves or green fodder, and pigs have been poisoned by eating the roots. Children are most frequently poisoned by eating raw berries. Infants are especially sensitive and have died from eating only a few raw berries. Although boiled young shoots have been eaten as greens and berries cooked in pie, ingestion of any part of the plant cannot be recommended. Adults have been poisoned, sometimes fatally, by eating improperly prepared leaves and shoots, especially if part of the root is harvested with the shoot, and by mistaking the root for an edible tuber. Research with humans has also shown that common pokeweed can cause mutations (possibly leading to cancer) and birth defects. Since the juice of pokeweed can be absorbed through the skin, contact of plant parts with bare skin should be avoided. For more information on this plant, refer to "Ohio Perennial & Biennial Weed Guide" http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=270 .