One way to beat the winter blahs is to start gearing up for the gardening season or to start getting some ideas for improving the landscape around your home. University of Illinois Extension has three new gardening websites to help you make the most of your investment.

A new website designed especially for Southern Illinois residents is SI Gardening, http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort. This site contains printable fact sheets on all kinds of topics—from landscaping with bulbs to lawn care to growing pecans. The site also contains information for commercial fruit and vegetable growers, as well as fact sheets on common insect problems in and around the home. You'll find a link to The Green Thumb newsletter, and you can check out area gardening events in the News and Tips section. You can even subscribe to the weekly garden column that appears in the Southern Illinoisan newspaper. If you don't have internet access, your local U of I Extension office can print the fact sheets for you.

Another website recently released is called Successful Container Gardens, http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/containergardening. As its name implies, the site is dedicated to container gardening. Topics include choosing a container, selecting soil mixes, choosing and combining plants, fertilizing, watering, and grooming basics. It also includes special containers including water gardens, hanging baskets, and topiaries as well as creating whimsical containers. A section on "Blueprints for Building Containers" shows plans for creating specific containers.

Finally, check out the online Illinois Vegetable Garden Guide at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/vegguide. This user-friendly website includes sections on 10 steps to a successful garden, tips on growing specific vegetables, and garden problems and their control. There's even a section on exhibiting vegetables that you can use in helping 4-H youth with their county fair exhibits.

If you are longing for the first signs of spring, there is a way to enjoy some flowers now. How? By forcing tree and shrub branches into bloom.

Early spring-flowering trees and shrubs form their flower buds in the fall before the plants go dormant. A cold period of at least of eight weeks of temperatures below 40 degrees is needed for the buds to set and open properly. You can usually cut branches any time after January 15. The later in the winter you cut the branches, the shorter the forcing time becomes.

Most spring-flowering shrubs such as spirea, pussy willow, forsythia, and honeysuckle are fairly easy to force, and you could try them now. Lilacs, rhododendron, and flowering almond should not be cut until March.

Flowering trees like crabapple and dogwood can be more difficult to coax into bloom, but they are worth the effort.

Select healthy young branches with numerous flower buds. Flower buds are usually larger and plumper than foliar buds. Choose branches from crowded areas of the plant, since these should be pruned out anyway. Branches that are at least 6 to 8 inches long work well. Prune back to an outward bud, or all the way back to a branch. Don't leave a stub.

Branches benefit from a complete overnight soaking in lukewarm water. A bathtub works well. The cut end should be re-cut, shredded, or mashed for better water uptake. After soaking, place in a vase with 3 inches of clean water. Normally, these flower buds open in the spring when temperatures are around 55 to 60 degrees, so don't place them in an overly-warm location. A cool area that does not receive full sun is ideal.

Frequently check the water level, replacing with clean water as needed. When the buds begin to open, move to a sunny area and enjoy!

Have you ever watered a plant only to see the water run through the soil and out the bottom of the pot?

It's true that most potted plants need to dry out between watering. In fact, gardening experts say that houseplants are killed by over-watering more than anything else.

But, sometimes the soil gets so dry it separates from the sides of the pot. Then when you water the plant, the water flows down the sides of the pot and out the bottom so quickly that the plant's roots cannot absorb it. It's as if the plant never even got a watering at all.

This is a common problem for Boston ferns and other plants in light soils. There are a couple of ways to remedy the situation.

You can set the plant in a shallow dish of water long enough to moisten the rootball to its center. Then, return the plant to the pot. Repotting should eliminate this problem, but re-potting should be done only when necessary.

If the pot is porous, such as clay, re-wet the pot by setting it in a tub of cool water. Better yet, set the pot in the shower, plug the drain, and let the shower run until cool water is halfway up the pot. Let the plant set in the water for an hour or so, then pull the plug and let the water drain out. Not only will the pot and plant be thoroughly watered but the shower will help reduce any mites that are on the plant. The mites will be washed off and sent down the drain.

If the soil seems to continually shrink from the sides of the pot, the plant may be excessively root bound and require repotting to a larger container.

Clematis (Clematis spp.) is a delicate and difficult flowering vine to grow, and it requires a different pruning approach than other climbing vines.

Clematis species are divided into two basic flowering groups: spring/summer blooming and fall blooming. Many spring-blooming cultivars will also bloom lightly in the fall. These include such large-flowered types as 'Nelly Moser,' 'Barbara Jackman,' and many new cultivars commonly found in chain-store garden centers.

The fall-blooming species is a better arbor and trellis plant because of its rapid growth. Gardeners in Illinois are most familiar with 'Sweet Autumn Clematis' in this class.

When pruning clematis, we need to know where flowers originate from, either from previous season's wood or that of the current year. For types flowering in the spring/summer, the flowers will originate from large buds set the previous year. Thus, heavy winter or early spring pruning should be avoided or flowers will be removed. For the fall flowering types, hard pruning in the spring will not affect flowers that form later on new growth. But, depending on the degree of hard pruning, time to flowering can be delayed. So, a portion of the vines should not be cut back too harshly. When this vigorous type outgrows its support in late summer, it should not be topped or flowers will be lost.

A simple pruning approach for clematis is to remove dead stems, seed heads, and weaker vines; thin congested growth; or keep a vine in bounds to its trellis. Prune immediately after the plant has bloomed.

More specific pruning can increase clematis flower size and quality. The spring/summer blooming types can be lightly pruned in the early spring just before growth begins. Because some cultivars are not reliably hardy beyond USDA Zone 6, the first step will be to trim back any winter-killed stems. To check the extent of winter damage, scratch the vine to look for bright green tissue below, and squeeze buds to determine if they are alive. Winter damage usually occurs toward the ends of the vine.

Remove any dead growth to a pair of healthy buds. Thin excess live growth by selectively trimming the vine mass, removing only the more spindly canes. Remember, over-pruning of live vines will reduce flower number, but limited thinning can improve flower size on existing canes. Vigor of the vine and the degree of winter kill, if any, are primary determining factors in how much the vine should be thinned.

Depending on the cultivar, a late flush of bloom can also occur in the fall. After the main early bloom, trim back spent bloom stems and bring the vine into control on the support trellis by heading vines back and thinning if the vine mass is still thick. Lightly fertilize and water to encourage new growth.

For fall-blooming clematis, the previous season's growth can be cut back hard in varying degrees in the early spring. For larger plants, leave various lengths of cane to put flowers in different positions later in the year. Blooms may occur earlier on longer, less severely trimmed canes.

Following spring pruning, vines should be left alone and allowed to grow. By mid-July, they will have developed a large mass of vines, and they can over-grow, with one vine on top of the other. If desired, this mass of vine can be thinned to reduce volume, but tip-growth should not be uniformly headed back or all flowers will be lost for the season.

When thinning, prune vines like you would spring/summer clematis, reducing the mass through selective trimming to main and lateral branches. Thinning the vines in July will improve flower number and size when they bloom later in the fall. Summer thinning also exposes the dark green of underlying foliage.

For both types of clematis, adequate fertilization and site preparation are important. Choose a well-drained site or make a slight mound to enhance drainage. Clematis responds to neutral soil pH (7.0), so add lime to the planting site to reduce soil acidity. Bone meal or another form of phosphorus should also be worked into the planting area. Early in the spring, a cup of general purpose fertilizer (10-10-10) should be evenly scattered over the soil in a 2-foot radius around the plant and lightly worked in. Set plants slightly deeper in the soil than they were in the pot to encourage more stem growth. Avoid setting plants higher than their previous soil line.

Vines for Landscaping (publication #U5034) is an excellent bulletin that you can order through your U of I Extension office. You'll also find a free fact sheet, Pruning Climbing Vines on the SI Gardening website: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort

Is it okay to sell home-baked goods to the public? Can I give customers samples of my fresh apples? Can I transport and sell frozen meat at a farmers' market?

These questions will be covered at the Food Rules Workshop set for March 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at U of I Extension in Marion. The workshop will cover state regulations for selling products, including health department issues. You'll learn how to correctly market home-baked goods and farm products without the fear of fines.

Registration is $10 per person. For more details and to register online, visit www.thelandconnection.org/farmers/foodrules.cfm or call 847-570-0701.

The Small Fruit and Strawberry Schools are set for March 3–4 at the Mt. Vernon Holiday Inn.

Topics at the Small Fruits School on March 3 include high tunnel small fruit production, growing blueberries, insect, weed and disease management, and marketing the health benefits of small fruits.

The Strawberry School on March 4 features plasticulture and matted row production, organics and pesticide-free ideas, slugs and mites, weed control, marketing strawberries, and capitalizing on the local food movement.

You can check out the program agenda on the SI Gardening website, http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort — in News & Tips.

The Midwestern Herb and Garden Show is coming to the Times Square Mall in Mt. Vernon, February 13–15.

Roger Swain, former PBS Victory Garden host, will be the featured speaker. The show includes 19 learning sessions plus lots of gardening-related exhibits and vendors. Topics range from organic herbs, to median irises and orchids, to bonsai and vegetable gardening, to herbal treats from the kitchen.

The event is free, and the public is invited. For a complete schedule, visit the SI Gardening website, http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort and click on the News & Tips section. Or, call the Mt. Vernon Convention and Tourism Bureau, 1-800-252-5464.