As Oriental lilies are about halfway through their “bloombastic tour”, simply walking near them causes one to be stunned visually and in the olfactories too!  After drawing in the noticeable, spicy scent wafting all around and through the air nearby the plants, it gives the feeling that breathing the regular, old normal air seem stale!  That was just one of the differences between Asiatic and Oriental lilies, which I alluded to in an earlier BYGL article this year.

 

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Environmental history is often the key to properly diagnosing plant problems. Examples here include sycamore anthrancnose, hail damage, and Guignardia leaf blotch disease on buckeye.

This is the time of the year when Common Bagworms come into clear focus owing to their size and noticeable damage. Overwintered eggs hatched in southwest Ohio in early June (see "Be Alert to Bagworms!" posted on June 6). However, it's amazing how well these native moth caterpillars crawl below our radar until their burgeoning appetites finally gives them away.

Here is your link to the weekly video update (recorded on 07.26.2019) from the OSU Turfgrass Team. Updates are from Dr. David Gardner; Dr. Ed Nangle; Dr. Zane Raudenbush; and Joe Rimelspach this week.

Boxwood Blight was recently confirmed in a private landscape in Greater Cincinnati by The Ohio State University's C. Wayne Ellett Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic (PPDC). The disease causes a severe and usually rapid decline of susceptible boxwoods. Heavy defoliation and branch dieback can occur in a single season killing small plants.

This week I received two emails from clients about clusters of little insects all over their trees. After closely examining the pictures and sharing them with my Horticulture co-workers they confirmed that they were in fact Barklice.

This is the time of the year when the menagerie of insects that feed on members of the dogbane family, including common milkweed, seem to arrive en masse to the consternation of monarchists. Some well-meaning gardeners aim to reserve milkweeds exclusively for the pleasure of monarchs. What about other native insects that feed on milkweeds; let them eat cake?

Whenever I hear that the naturally occurring biological insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk) is not killing caterpillars, the first thing I try to find out is whether or not the "caterpillars" are actually caterpillars. Btk products (e.g. Dipel, Thuricide, etc.) only kill caterpillars, they do not kill sawfly larvae.

The common name of "Dogwood Sawfly" was officially assigned years ago when it was believed there was only one species, Macremphytus tarsatus. However, taxonomists later found there are actually three species of sawflies in the genus Macremphytus that feed on dogwood leaves in the eastern U.S. including Ohio: M. testaceus; M. semicornis; and M. tarsatus.

The caterpillar feeding frenzy has ended for the year and adult activity is being observed in NW Ohio. The male moths have taken flight in their zig-zag pattern in hopes of finding a mate. The female moths are white and a bit larger in size, and typically don't move far distances from the pupal casing that they emerged from. She gives off a pheromone to alert close by males of her location. After a visit from the male moth, she will begin laying eggs. The mass of eggs laid now, will remain in that stage until the following spring.