We are all used to seeing cedar apple rust, cedar hawthorn rust and cedar quince rust fungi on their dual hosts of junipers and Rosaceous hosts such as apple, crabapple, the occasional quince, and perhaps serviceberry in Ohio. I was much surprised to see what I think are Callery pear trees speckled with bright orange-red rust symptoms in German Village in Columbus this past week, however.

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Fireblight on Callery pear is highlighted against the blue sky in Columbus’s German Village this past Thursday in the lead photo of this byglalert, with a different look in the second photo taken with a different sun angle, important to remember when seeing images and thinking “it doesn’t look quite like what I saw”. Fireblight symptoms of “shepherd’s crook” shoots and discolored leaves are common to see now, following infections which occurred weeks, even months earlier in cool, warm weather during bloom. 

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The other day I was chatting with Joe Boggs after a program at OSU-Mansfield and regaled the beautiful white firs (Abies concolor) on the campus there. I mentioned that I thought this species of fir was the best-suited for Ohio landscapes, channeling a long-held and repeated opinion that other firs, such as Fraser do not do as well here due to hot summers, preferring North Carolina mountain country and New Hampshire and northern Michigan climes.

For the first times in our lives (not!) Joe disagreed with me. He has considerable cred here, having worked on Christmas tree...

Oak leaf blister is a disease is caused by the fungus, Taphrina caerulescens.  The fungus overwinters in infected buds and twigs.  Leaf infections occur during moist periods in the spring as leaves emerge.  Early symptoms appear as raised, blister-like, light-green to yellowish-green spots on the upper leaf surface matched with deep depressions on the lower leaf surface.  Eventually, the leaf "blisters" become very apparent as they turn dark brown to brownish-black.  The blisters may be evenly distributed across the leaf and are distinct from the angular, vein-based symptoms...

I planted a multi-stemmed Canada red chokecherry (Prunus virginiana 'Shubert') years ago in my landscaping so I could admire the deep, purplish-red foliage; a signature display of this selection.  Of course, that was before anyone knew it’s a magnet for the fungus, Apiosporina morbosa; the plant pathogen that causes black knot.  The disease is characterized by thick, corky, elongated gall-growths on twigs and branches that become coal-black late in the growing season; thus the common name for the disease.  Black knot is now the signature display of many Canada red...

First generation fall webworms (Hyphantria cunea) are appearing in central and southern Ohio.  Fall webworm moths typically have two generations per year in Ohio and despite their common name, first generation nests usually appear in late spring.  Fall webworm caterpillars only feed on the leaves that are enveloped by their silk nest.  As caterpillars grow in size, they expand their nest by casting silk over more leaves to accommodate their expanding appetites.

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In my back yard there are two sourgums, also known as blackgum or tupelo, with the lovely Latin binomial of Nyssa sylvatica. I grew them from young plants sold to me by Kenny Cochran at Secrest Arboretum, and now they have grown to the age that they are producing not only their glossy green leaves but also -  flowers.  

As the Missouri Botanical Garden website indicates, flowers are: “Primarily dioecious (separate male and female trees), but each tree often has some perfect flowers. Small, greenish-white flowers appear in spring on long stalks (female flowers in sparse...

In previous BYGLs this spring, we have noted the occurrence of heavy sycamore anthracnose statewide, and also of ash, beech, and oak anthracnose in southwest Ohio. This report from northeast Ohio is of one of the maple anthracnose fungal diseases. I was called out to a landscape in Doylestown Ohio where the homeowners were very concerned that “all of the leaves are fallin’” from a beloved maple tree that towers over their deck. We are all familiar with this sky-is-falling observation which in most cases turns out to be a bit overstated due to worry.

At most, probably less than 1%...

It is often said that a picture tells a thousand words. In this case, perhaps a few less, but it does tell multiple and layered stories. First, as shown by this image, one of the plant ID characteristics of elm (Ulmus) leaves is the uneven base to the leaf blade as shown here. This was the main point for the attendees at a recent Name That Tree program of OSU Extension at the OSU Mansfield campus. Secondly, of all the gall, the elm cockscomb gall insect (Colopha ulmicola) induced the DNA of this elm leaf to produce a proud new home for the insect’s progeny. Thirdly...

Ron Wilson (Natorp's) shared an e-mail message with me this morning from a listener of his radio show about a strange insect that kept "trying to cover itself with dirt."  An ID didn't come to my mind … I claim because of a lack of coffee rather than an age-related issue.  Ron chided me by repeating the part about the insect trying to cover itself with dirt.  My last functional neuron fired and I realized the message was about one of our favorite insects:  antions (Myrmeleon immaculatus).

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