What begins as minor feeding injury on the leaves of basswood (Tilia spp.), can quickly become an attention grabber, especially if you are unfamiliar with the insect and the injury caused. The leaves appear to be torched and stand out among other trees in the area. The damage is obvious even as you are traveling on highways - at the recommended speeds of course. 

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Smokebush or smoketree (Cotinus) is puffing away right now, providing the almost ethereal inflorescences that give it its name  and alternates such as cloud bush, mist tree, wig tree, and Jupiter’s beard.  

I saw my first lighting beetles (Family Lampyridae) flashing in my backyard in southwest Ohio a little over a week ago. There were just a few; nothing to get too excited about. However, numbers have risen over the past few days to provide an impressive nighttime flashing display and I've gotten a few reports that the same is occurring in the central part of the state.

Japanese Beetles (Popillia japonica) are on the wing in southern and central Ohio with some localized heavy populations. Adding to the potential grub-party, I've been capturing a few Southern Masked Chafers (Cyclocephala lurida) around my porch lights at night in the southwest part of the state. Northern Masked Chafers (C. borealis) appear to be lagging behind.

I came across an old friend in a southwest Ohio county park over the weekend: the wart like, irregularly shaped galls, known as "bladdergalls," adorning the upper leaf surfaces of a red maple. The galls are produced under the gene-manipulating direction of the Maple Bladdergall Mite, Vasates quadripedes (family Eriophyidae). The mite also produces bladdergalls on silver maple.

The characteristic leaf damage produced by Lace Bugs (order Hemiptera; family Tingidae) is becoming evident in southwest Ohio. Lace bugs are tiny insects with the adults measuring no more than 3/16" long. They are so-named because of the lace-like pattern of veins and membranes in their wings. The nymphs are even tinier and appear to be covered in small spikes.

I love plants and proudly claim the titles of plant nerd, tree-hugger, plant geek and any others like this.  Plants of all kind - perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs, vegetables, native plants, etc. intrigue and delight.  How can you not like them!  One of my garden plants that looks particularly good right now is Calamagrostis  x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster' or Karl Foerster feather reed grass.  This grass is stellar and it's no wonder it's used quite a bit in both commercial landscapes and home gardens.  'Karl Foerster' was named the Perennial Plant of the Year by the...

Rust on serviceberry? Yes. Has the whole world gone mad? No. It just reveals itself to each of us in manageable gulps.  We talk frequently of three “cedar rusts” on BYGL: cedar apple rust, cedar hawthorn rust, cedar quince rust, all caused by separate species in the fungal genus Gymnosporangium (bygl.osu.edu/node/781).  In fact, it is not as simple as this – there are over 40 species of the Gymnosporangium fungus. 

 

  Not only that, but there are over 480 species in 11 genera of the rose family (Rosaceae) that are affected by Gymnosporangium ...

I visited a landscape in southwest Ohio yesterday with a lily magnolia that was heavily infested with Magnolia Scale (Neolecanium cornuparvum). This is one of the largest "soft scales" in Ohio with mature females measuring as much as 1/2" in diameter. This native scale has a strong affinity for non-native magnolias and associated hybrids.

So-called marginal leaf fold galls are appearing on black locust and oaks belonging to the "red oak group" in southwest Ohio. The galls appear as rolled or folded leaf margins. They are produced by two different gall midges (family Cecidomyiidae).