(Distributed 10/30/15) Gulf Coast muhly – or pink muhly grass (known botanically as Muhlenbergia capillaris) – is one of the most stunning grasses in the fall landscape in Louisiana. This coastal native ornamental grass has received a considerable amount of attention the past few years.

(Distributed 10/30/15) HAMMOND, La. – The LSU AgCenter’s Louisiana Super Plants program is completing its sixth year of plant announcements. The objective of this program is to identify and promote exceptional plants that perform well in Louisiana landscapes.

(Distributed 10/28/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter and LSU College of Agriculture have named Michael Salassi head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness. Salassi has served on the faculty of the department for 21 years and is the J. Nelson Fairbanks Endowed Professor for Agricultural Economics.

(Distributed 10/27/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – With several success stories to tell, Louisiana is poised to become a major player in the bioproducts industry, speakers said during a bioenergy conference held by the LSU AgCenter.

(Distributed 10/26/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden will welcome children to decorate their own gingerbread houses during What’s Cooking at Burden on Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

(Distributed 10/23/15) Want to add color to your fall, winter and early spring garden? Plant some colorful Sorbet series violas.

(Distributed 10/23/15) HAMMOND, La. – Fall is here, and it is a great time to add new ornamental plants to your landscape.

(Distributed 10/22/15) GRAMMERCY, La. – Over 800 St. James Parish students attended the St. James Parish Ag Day on Oct. 15 to learn where their favorite foods come from and to get up close and personal with animals, said LSU AgCenter 4-H agent Tara Roussel.

(Distributed 10/21/15) AMITE, La. – Being good stewards of the land and producing a quality beef product is a goal of cattle producers.

(Distributed 10/22/15) WISNER, La. – Louisiana sweet potato producers have seen both ends of the spectrum in terms of the weather this year. An unusually wet spring delayed planting and has evolved into an exceptionally dry fall that has caused some growers to halt their harvest and wait for rain.

(Distributed 10/19/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter LaHouse Home and Landscape Resource Center will host a fall open house on Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

(Distributed 10/16/15) HAMMOND, La. –The landscape horticulture field day at the Hammond Research Station on Oct. 8 featured a diversity of activity and allowed the staff to show off some of the latest plants being grown.

(Distributed 10/16/15) Louisiana gardeners are always looking for attractive trees for the landscape. The sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) is an excellent native tree that is not nearly as well known as it should be. The variety chosen as a Louisiana Super Plant selection last fall is the evergreen type, Magnolia virginiana var. australis, which retains its leaves through winter.

(Distributed 10/16/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU graduate students in agriculture are expanding their knowledge and enhancing their collegiate experiences by participating in internships.

(Distributed 10/16/15) HAMMOND, La. – Since the debut of a landscape horticulture research and extension program at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station eight years ago, we have continued to expand the research gardens. One of the largest efforts each year is evaluating new annual warm-season bedding plants and perennial flowers in the sun garden and shade garden.

(Distributed 10/16/15) BATON ROUGE , La. – Casey Kenny considers cats her first love. The freshman in the LSU College of Agriculture wants to work with small animals, exotics and wildlife as a veterinarian, but she plans to work toward finding a cure for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus while in college.

(Distributed 10/15/15) SHREVEPORT, La. – The metropolitan area of Shreveport and Bossier City suffers from a problem becoming increasingly common in Louisiana – lack of significant access to nutritious food.

(Distributed 10/14/15) ST. GABRIEL, La. – Louisiana sugar producers may one day have a new market for their crops.

(Distributed 10/08/15) NEW ORLEANS, La.—Kabrel Johnson, a student at KIPP Central City Academy and a 4-H club member, was busy putting Newton’s Laws of Motion to the test.

(Distributed 10/12/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – A recently constructed boardwalk guiding visitors through a hardwood swamp called Black Swamp at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden will play a key role in a new wetlands education program.

Looking for some of the best of the multi-seasonal flowering azaleas? Look no further than the Encore azaleas – the “azalea that knows no season.”

(Distributed 10/09/15) ALEXANDRIA, La. – Graduation for 22 people who completed the LSU AgCenter Master Cattleman program was held Thursday (Oct. 8) during the Dean Lee Research Station Beef Cattle and Forage Field Day.

(Distributed 10/9/15) HAMMOND, La. – The LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station was one of the stops for the International Plant Propagators’ Society as they toured gardens from Louisiana to Florida on their four- state tour.

(Distributed 10/09/15) HINESTON, La. – For the past 26 years the 4-H Teen Leader Club in Rapides Parish has hatched eggs in an incubator for a display at the Rapides Parish Fair.

(Distributed 10/09/15) HAMMOND, La. – Fall is here, and the LSU AgCenter along with the Louisiana Nursery and Landscape Association and other groups encourage you to add new plants to your landscape at this time of year. There’s no better horticultural time than now.

(Distributed 10/08/15) SHREVEPORT, La. – AgMagic, the LSU AgCenter’s interactive exhibit about Louisiana agriculture, returns to the State Fair of Louisiana on Oct. 22 and will be open through Nov. 8. The hours for the free event are between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

(Distributed 10/08/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – More than 100 volunteers monitored people in the corn maze, managed the giant slingshot and hay mountain, served refreshments, oversaw the pumpkin-painting area and contributed much more as hundreds of families visited the opening day of the Corn Maze Festival at Burden on Oct. 3.

(Distributed 10/05/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – Students at LSU have a little over one month of the new academic year under their belts. And for seven international graduate students, it is the beginning of a long process – earning their doctorates, then returning home with hopes of sparking much-needed change in farming practices and policies.

(Distributed 10/02/15) The Chinese pistache (Pistachio chinensis) is a medium-sized ornamental shade tree known for spectacular orange, red and crimson fall foliage. Its fall color is great in Louisiana from early November through mid-December in most years.

(Distributed 10/02/15) HAMMOND, La – One of the great flowers that continues to be popular in our Louisiana landscapes is perennial verbena.

(Distributed 10/02/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – At the Red Stick Food Swap, cooks and crafters share their wares with fellow swappers. Items must be homemade or homegrown, and if it is a food item, prepared safely.

(Distributed 10/02/15) LAFAYETTE, La. – Consumers who want locally grown food have expanded the market for selling vegetables and other agricultural products to restaurants and groceries, LSU AgCenter experts advised small producers here Wednesday (Sept. 30).

(Distributed 10/01/15) BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter has been awarded a two-year, $1.25 million grant that will fund research and outreach projects aimed at reducing obesity and chronic diseases in three rural Louisiana parishes – Madison, St. Helena and Tensas.