I have marveled this summer about the impact of modern petunias in hanging baskets, planters, and planting beds in communities in Ohio and elsewhere. When I talk to landscapers such as Gene Pouly in Orrville about these petunias, they agree that petunias are indeed a boon to these sites, but they almost always add that there can be so much more to urban plantings. So, here is one of Gene’s planters, with the range of additional plants he uses outside Smith Dairy in Orrville, Ohio.  

 

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  While walking about the other day I came upon a scene of serial sliming. A slime mold, probably a species of Mucilaga, was colonizing mulch under a maple tree. It was also colonizing a fallen maple leaf. It was also colonizing turfgrass plants next to the mulched area. This cohort of the colonized should tell us something: this slime mold is not very particular. It is not a parasite of this maple leaf or the turfgrass, but is just feeding on microbes in the decayed organic matter.  So no harm, no foul, relative to the need for controls. Just rake it or wash it off if it offends...

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 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...