Upstate Gardeners' Journal

08/20/2026

08/20/2026

🍁 Advertise in the Sept-Oct UGJ! - https://mailchi.mp/31fcb8cc2aa1/advertise-9952509

08/04/2026

Do you like root beer? Thank sassafras! In the original recipe—the ‘root’ of root beer—came from sassafras bark combined with wintergreen, molasses, and water.

Sassafras is more than just a sweet treat!
👍 Indigenous groups have used sassafras leaves for medicine and sassafras oil for cooking.
☀️ Sassafras is found in well-drained, acidic soils, and prefers full sun exposure.
🦖 The native tree is easily identified by its variable leaves, which can be a simple leaf shape, mitten shaped, or three lobed like a T-rex footprint.
🥣 Sassafras also has a distinctive smell, which some say is like the breakfast cereal, Fruit Loops️™.
🕵️ Live on Long Island or in New York City? Keep an eye out for laurel wilt, a fungal disease that kills sassafras and other members of the laurel family.



📷: Ansel Oommen, Bugwood.org

Check out the link in the comments to learn more about sassafras and how to identify and report laurel wilt.

07/26/2026

What is blooming in your gardens?

Photos: Cornell Botanic Gardens, Visitor Center Gardens & Bioswale plantings

07/26/2026

Got a dry sunny spot? This one would probably love it there! And it too can be a host plant for monarchs. 🦋

It's getting to be monarch time in WNY, meaning there's no better time to highlight one of their host plants, which just happens to be one of our most brilliant native forbs. Lean more about butterfly w**d on our blog — mastersons.net/blog/butterfly-w**d.

Happy planting! 🦋