Extensioneers throughout Ohio have reported high lace bug populations this season.  It is speculated these small sucking insects may have benefited from hot, dry conditions that may be coming to an end; for now.  The most obvious lace bugs include:  basswood lace bug (Gargaphia tiliae), hawthorn lace bug (Corythucha cydoniae), oak lace bug (C. arcuata), and sycamore lace bug (C. incurvata).

 

These lace bug species live on the undersides of leaves where they use their piercing/sucking mouth parts to suck juices from their host plants.  As...

Extension is an educational resource like no other.  If you are a BYGL reader, you already are familiar with the horticulture related information that Ohioans, and beyond, have access to via the timely BYGL alerts,  the weekly BYGL summaries, and of course the BYGL website.  Sometimes there are topics that clearly overlap in our program areas and provide an opportunity for cross programmatic planning and promotion of the four Extension program areas:  Agriculture and Natural Resources (which includes horticulture); Community Development; 4-H Youth Development; and Family Consumer Sciences...

  This week let us do some sleuthing. I came upon this tree yesterday in Orrville, Ohio in the Smucker’s Fitness Walk path. The leaf told me something, but first, let us look at the tell-tale terminal buds: clustered. 

  This is typical of oaks, the genus Quercus.  

  And the leaves obviously suggest oak-hood, in this case with rounded lobes without a bristle tip, thus the…

  White oak group

  Oaks in the white oak group tend to hybridize freely, unlike with the black or red oak group (pin oaks, black oaks, scarlet...

{This post was written and images provided by Joe Cochran, curator of OSU’s Secrest Arboretum at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center at Wooster; end note from Jim Chatfield}

  Sophora davidii, David’s mountainlaurel or David’s pagoda tree, formerly known as  S. viciifolia, is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub from the Sichuan region of China. It was discovered by the Jesuit missionary, Jean Pierre Armand David (1826-1900). Among his many plant discoveries, Père David is also known for introducing to the West, the giant panda. It was in this same...

The vast majority of lepidopteron (moths and butterflies) caterpillars, even many with hairs, do not present a threat.  However, there are some with hairs that are modified for defense.  These are collectively called urticating hairs from the Latin urtica meaning "nettle."  Indeed, the hairs on stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), which are called trichomes; provide a good model for the venom injecting mechanism used by some of the more serious urticating hairs found on caterpillars.

 

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  The importance of beneficial insects and mites is often missed.  Until they are missed. We learned this years ago when “cover sprays” that included multiple pesticides in a “cocktail” were used repeatedly in hopes of controlling a range of pests, but had the unintended consequence of reducing or eliminating beneficial insect, mite, and spider species. 

Without these beneficials, we created monsters such as spider mite infestations on burningbush euonymus, that were much worse when cover sprays reduced beneficials.  We lost the “dull roar” effect of these beneficials that, while...

“Rose rosette is an epidemic, and North Texas is the epicenter,” said David Forehand of the Dallas Arboretum: “This is a game changer for roses, I’m sad to say.” This was in a July article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by Sara Bahari, reflecting the anguish felt by Texans regarding the demise of so many of their beloved rose gardens.

Wool carder bees in the genus Anthidium are a beneficial pollinator that may be less familiar to pollinator-promoters than honeybees or bumblebees, but they are well-worth knowing!

 

This little bee is full of determination.  Female wool carder bees collect wooly material to line their nests.  To do this, she uses her mandibles to scrape fuzzy trichomes from pubescent leaves, especially lambs ear.  This scraping motion is reminiscent of a time when wool would be combed or "carded" to straighten the fibers.  While she toils away collecting soft, fuzzy things for her...

No snake charmers here, just a native perennial that is worth a try in a garden as a tall statement piece for pollinators!

 

Rattlesnake Master is full of surprises.  It looks like it belongs in a desert, but it is actually a native prairie plant that grows well in the midwest.  While its basal foliage resembles that of a yucca (lily family), it is actually a member of the carrot family, Apiaceae.  It's flowers are a pollinator dream and its height adds something unique to the garden.  

 

The plant begins with prickly, stiff basal foliage.  The bluish-green...

Great Golden Digger Wasps (Sphex ichneumoneus) rival Cicada Killer Wasps (Sphecius speciosus) in size, soil excavating capacity, and heavy lifting.  In fact, research on the foraging capacity of the Golden Digger showed this wasp's heavy lifting capacity exceeded that of the Cicada Killer; it was significantly higher than 15 other hymenopteran heavy lifters.*  Yet, when most people think of big wasp bombers, they think of the Cicada Killer.  That's because Cicada Killers occur in larger numbers and their nesting habits often place them in conflict with people.  Golden...