Gardening Help Search

Temporary Closure

The Center for Home Gardening is currently closed to ensure visitor and staff well-being. Our Plant Doctors are still available through phone and e-mail to answer your gardening questions. Please note that response times may be delayed due to limited staffing.

Horticulture Answer Service
Hours: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Phone #: 314-577-5143

Plant Information
E-mail: plantinformation@mobot.org

Soil Testing & Pot Recycling Suspended for 2021

Due to the Center for Home Gardening being closed, we are not able to conduct free soil pH tests at this time. As an alternative, soil samples can be submitted to the University of Missouri Extension's Soil and Plant Testing Laboratory. 

Plastic Pot Recycling in the St. Louis region continues to remain suspended for 2021. Garden centers that have pot recycling collection trailers will NOT be accepting garden plastics. Please see the Plastic Pot Recycling: Update and Perspective blog entry for more information about the program's suspension. Additional questions about pot recycling can be submitted to the Green Resources Info Service at greenresources@mobot.org. 

September Seasonal Gardening Tips
  • Perennials, especially spring bloomers, can be divided now. 
     
  • Begin readying houseplants for winter indoors. Prune back rampant growth and protruding roots. Check for pests and treat if necessary. 
     
  • Cool-season lawns are best fertilized in fall. Make up to 3 applications between now and December. 
     
  • Begin fall seeding or sodding of cool-season grasses. Seedbeds should be raked, dethatched or core-aerified, fertilized and seeded. Keep newly planted lawn areas moist, but not wet. 
     
  • Sowing seeds of radish, lettuce, spinach, and other greens in a cold frame will prolong fall harvest. 
     
  • Harvest herbs now to freeze or dry for winter use. 
     
  • Pinch off any young tomatoes that are too small to ripen. This will channel energy into ripening the remaining full-size fruits. 
     
  • Pawpaws ripen in the woods now. 
     
  • Fall is a good time to add compost, manure or leaf mold to garden soils for increasing organic matter content. 

Learn More

Enjoy the fragrant blooms of the Ozark Witch Hazel flowering in shrub borders or wooded areas on warm sunny days.
Repot any root-bound house plants now before vigorous growth occurs. Choose a new container that is only 1 or 2 inches larger in diameter than the old pot.
Repot any root-bound house plants now before vigorous growth occurs. Choose a new container that is only 1 or 2 inches larger in diameter than the old pot.
Plants of Merit 2021

Plants of Merit are plants selected for their outstanding quality and dependable performance in the Midwest in the categories of annuals, bulbs, edibles, houseplants, perennials, shrubs, trees and vines. Click the link below to view the new Plants of Merit selections for 2021.

Plants of Merit 2021


elephant's ear
Caladium 'Burning Heart'

stonecrop
Sedum LEMON CORAL
Bloom Time Calendar

See when plants bloom at the Garden: