Our continual wet weather over much of Ohio this season has been a two-edged sword. On one hand, we haven't had to drag hoses to water our landscapes. On the other hand, a number of fungal plant pathogens that require wet conditions to infect and produce their associated diseases are running rampant. Such is obviously the case for Guignardia aesculi; the fungus responsible for Guignardia Leaf Blotch of Aesculus.

I checked out the jumbled, zigzagging  branches of my Japanese kerria (Kerria japonica) planting the other day, and to my surprise a few random blooms of bright yellow had emerged. Kerria puts its best bloom show forward in late April in northeast Ohio, just after the forsythia fades. But, July, who knew?

This past week I was in the Beehive State, Utah, first speaking at a conference and then for a bit of vacation. My wife and I visited both the red rock and desert areas in southern Utah and then in the north, the more verdant areas of the Uinta and Wasatch mountain ranges. Utah, which became the 45th state in 1896, was named the Beehive State for the hard-working, industrious inhabitants.

Jim Chatfield called me from the road this morning to report seeing "flamed" black locusts along a highway in northeast Ohio. The captivating reddish-brown leaf coloration caused by the native Locust Leafminer Beetle is often a familiar sight to travelers motoring on Ohio's interstate highways. Indeed, when beetle populations are high during "outbreak years," black locust trees are able to be identified at highway speeds because of their blow-torched appearance.

What are those hordes of yellow aphids sucking juices from common milkweed "reserved" for monarch butterfly caterpillars? They are Oleander Aphids and their appearance on milkweeds reminds us that nature makes no food reservations. This non-native aphid may be found sucking juices from over 50 hosts belonging to 16 plant families.

David Gressley (Director of Horticulture, Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum) sent me a video yesterday morning of a chorus line of Beech Blight Aphids (Grylloprociphilus imbricator) shaking their woolly derrieres in a synchronous samba. Frankly, I believe no other insect upstages this aphid in entertainment value.

The improbable looking but appropriately named Willow Pinecone Galls are now large enough to be very noticeable on their namesake host. As the common name suggests, the galls closely resemble pine cones with closed seed scales. They are produced on willow by a gall-midge but cause little damage to the overall health of their namesake host.

Two general defoliators are producing damage in southwest Ohio: yellownecked caterpillars and walnut caterpillars. Both of these caterpillars feed in groups, or "colonies," of 10-30 individuals throughout their development which is why their defoliation is often focused on a single branch or a group of adjoining branches. However, it's also why multiple colonies can quickly defoliate small trees.

Dogbane is the representative species for the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, which includes milkweeds and other plants that ooze milky sap ladened with poisonous alkaloids. Indeed, Apocynum translates to "poisonous to dogs," or "dog killer." Sap from the plant is reported to have been used against ravenous feral dogs.

For 2017, a new program is available at the Ohio State University Cultivar Trial garden that offers a 360˙ panorama tour for anyone who uses a computer, cell phone, tablet or  a VR headset.