University of MN Extension-Anoka County Master Gardeners

06/25/2026

Asiatic lilies kick off lily season with bold color and easy care. Give them 6+ hours of sun, good drainage, and watch for those pesky red lily beetles. Toxic to pets, tasty to rabbits and deer. Divide baby bulbs after flowering every few years to make more! For more information on Asiatic Lily visit: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/lilium-asiatic-hybrids/ For more information on red lily beetles and how to control them visit: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/lily-leaf-beetle/

06/24/2026

Tune in TODAY!

Catch our very own Anoka County Master Gardener, Anna Disco, on QCTV’s Live and Local show between approximately 2:40–2:50 PM!

Anna will share an overview of what Anoka County Master Gardeners do, highlight upcoming events, and demonstrate one of our Plant & Insect Diagnostic Clinics.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about how Master Gardeners serve our community and how you can connect with us at future events. 🌱🐞

Link: https://qctv.org/qctv-plus/

© 2026 QCTV. All Rights Reserved. No part of any program may be used without the express written permission of QCTV. For copyright inquiries and permission, please Contact Us.

06/21/2026

06/20/2026

Pollinator Week is June 22-28

Through the month of June, pollinators are front and center for gardeners and naturalists around the world.
Specifically, June 22-28 is being celebrated as Pollinator Week 2026-Pollinator Bioblitz.
Pollinator Week is a community science project hosted by the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign's Pollinator Communications Taskforce. Volunteers across the U.S., Canada and Mexico are asked to collect data on the distribution of pollinators during pollinator week using the iNaturalist app.
NAPPC is especially interested in learning about and documenting floral resources that support pollinators. Participants are asked to identify pollinator and floral resources captured in images when possible. In collaboration with iNaturalist, NAPPC will help confirm and add identifications.
iNaturalist app users who are signed up would have their observations auto-populate on the app during Pollinator Week. Key pollinator data collected includes bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, hover flies, hummingbirds and bats.
iNaturalist, a non-profit organization, is an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature.
For more information, visit Pollinator Week 2026- Pollinator Bioblitz · iNaturalist

06/17/2026

Clematis vines reward you with spectacular color, as long as their faces stay sunny and their roots stay cool. Shade their base with mulch or a companion plant like iris. Keep the soil evenly moist and fertilize them a few times during the season for unforgettable blooms! For further reading please see: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/growing-clematis-home-garden

06/12/2026

Visit a free diagnostic clinic

Are your cuke leaves wilting? Wonder about a new insect or w**d in your garden?
Bring plant, insect and w**d samples to the Anoka County Master Gardener Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinics and let Master Gardeners help you find answers.
The free weekly drop-in clinic is open to all Anoka County residents. Residents may bring up to three bagged samples, along with photos, per visit.
Master Gardeners have helped residents by identifying numerous diseases in the past, ranging from lilac fungal disease to plants impacted by aster leafhoppers. They’ve also educated residents about how cultural practices may impact plants, for example, by mulching too high around trees or planting perennials where rain falls off the house roofline.
To make the most of your diagnostic clinic visit, come prepared to answer questions about your plant’s growing conditions such as:
-Plant location and care—sun/shade, watering practices, soil, fertilizer amount and type, etc.
-When did symptoms appear? Have you done anything to alleviate them?
-Any new pests or changes in cultural practices?
-How widespread is the problem? Animal/bird impact?
Also, bring 8-10 inches of both healthy and damaged plant material with leaves, flowers and/or fruits, preferably in a plastic bag.
Photos of the plant and garden/lawn area are helpful. Take a photo 10-15 feet away for a full garden/lawn view and a close-up of the whole plant.
Specific to insects, place them in a sealed container. Do not squash them. You can freeze them to preserve your specimen.
Specific to turf, bring both healthy and affected samples the size of a small shoe box and include the roots.
The plant and insect diagnostic clinic is held in the lower level of the Bunker Hills Activities Center, 550 Bunker Lake Blvd NW, Andover. It is open 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays for the 2026 growing season, beginning June 17 and running through August 19. There is no clinic on July 1.
For more information: https://anokacountymastergardeners.org

06/10/2026

Herbaceous peonies bloom mid-spring, showing off their beauty and fragrance for a brief amount of time. They love full sun, neutral to alkaline soil, and shallow planting for best results. For more information on peonies see: https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/peony/

06/05/2026

Eastern or forest?
ID that tent caterpillar

Recent social media posts in Minnesota have gardeners wondering which tent caterpillar they are seeing in their yards.
There’s the eastern tent caterpillar (Malacosoma americanum), which is native and generally does not affect tree health.
And there’s the forest tent caterpillar (Malacosoma disstria), also native yet potentially destructive, particularly to foliage on stressed trees and vegetation.
The two caterpillars look similar from a distance but there is one difference in markings easily seen—the coloring on their backs. The eastern tent caterpillar has a solid yellow stripe on its back; the forest tent caterpillar has a line of light-colored keyhole shapes.
You can find eastern tent caterpillars on apple, chokecherry, crab apple, plum and cherry trees in May and June. Larvae make a noticeable web or ‘tent’ in the fork of the branches. They feed on tree leaves during the day and stay in their tents at night and during rainy weather.
Forest tent caterpillars primarily feed on aspen, birch, basswood, oak and other deciduous trees but they do not make tents. Rather, they create silken mats on tree trunks and branches where they cluster to rest.
To protect your trees from eastern tent caterpillars, wait until they go back to their tents at the end of the day or when it rains. Pull off the webbing along with the caterpillars. Bury or bag them to properly dispose of them.
To get rid of forest tent caterpillars, brush or knock them off with a broom or hard spray of water. Don’t crush them because they may cause a stain if they smear.
To learn more about the eastern tent, view:
https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/eastern-tent-caterpillars

To learn more about the forest tent, view:
https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/backyard/treecare/forest_health/ftc/ftc-fact-sheet.pdf

https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/forest-tent-caterpillars