New Findings on Rose Rosette Virus by USDA Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville,Maryland

Four-Lined Plant Bugs (Poecilocapsus lineatus, family Hemiptera) are one of the quickest hitting spring pests found in Ohio. Hordes of hungry bugs descend seemingly out of nowhere to cause extensive leaf damage, then they just fade away leaving behind their foliar wreckage.

Phone calls and e-mail messages to Extension offices from landowners concerned about the health of maples should soon be on the rise. That's because maples in much of Ohio, as well as Indiana and Kentucky, are producing loads of winged seeds (samaras).

Floweringquince is in bloom and the brilliant orange-red to red colors can stop you in your tracks!

Each Tuesday, members of the Extension Nursery Landscape and Turf (ENLT) have a virtual meeting to discuss what they are seeing in their own area and talk about those "stumpers" that they have come across in the horticulture world and get feed back from others in the group. 

The imperial fritillary or crown imperial (Fritillary imperialis) is blooming in gardens in northwest Ohio now. The plant comes in various shades of yellows, oranges and reds. The pendulous flowers are about 2" long and are found clustered at the terminal end of stout and leafless stem that towers above the leaves below. Above the flowers are a sheaf of smaller leaves that form a tuft of green as shown in the photo below.

From my perspective, one of the most rewarding things about plant problem diagnostics is not just about achieving a successful diagnosis; it's what we learn from the instructive twists and turns along the way. Arthur Ashe captured it nicely, "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome."

The multi-state bulletin, Insecticide Options for Protecting Ash Trees from Emerald Ash Borer, has recently been updated and the Third Edition is available on the emeraldashborer.info website as a PDF. 

Has anyone every asked you, "what's your GDD?" While many of you may have responded "yes," or may have even thought, "I ask others all the time"; I know there are some that probably yelled out their current GDD when simply reading the title of this alert. If you are still wondering what the heck is GDD - keep on reading, you won't be disappointed and will hopefully click on the link below to find out your GDD to date. 

  

GDD stands for growing degree days. GDD are a measurement of the growth and development of plants and insects during the...

Boxwoods with yellow to brown leaves are common this spring in a number of locations in Ohio. Some of the leaf browning is due to winter injury; some was caused by salt damage. However, a close examination may also reveal the telltale blister-like leaf symptoms caused by the boxwood leafminer.