I have a prized Canaan fir (Abies balsamea var phanerolepis) in my backyard.  It's prized because I'm a native West Virginian and so is the tree.  My wife knows that if we ever move, the tree is coming with us!  The common name of this balsam fir variety is based on its first discovery in the once isolated, high-mountain Canaan Valley in northeastern WV.  Jim Brown (another native West Virginian and Professor Emeritus, OSU School of Environment and Natural Resources) spent much of his long career sorting out the five natural seed sources (provenances) of this tree.  The...

Hickory petiole galls produced by Phylloxera subelliptica (family Phylloxeridae) are appearing on hickory in southwest Ohio.  The single-chambered, ball-like galls range in size from 1/4 - 1/2" in diameter and arise from leaf petioles as well as along leaf midveins.  They may occur singly or in clusters to hang grape-like from their namesake host.  The galls range in color from solid greenish-white to bi-color forms involving splashes of reddish-pink.  Fully mature galls split open at to release the phylloxeran adults through a longitudinal slit.  Spent galls either dry out to...

Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) plants that are infected with the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. tagetis (PST) develop "bleached tips."  The bacterium produces a chemical called tagetitoxin that is a RNA polymerase III inhibitor that blocks the production of chloroplasts.  Symptoms could be mistaken for exposure to a member of the photosynthesis inhibiting class of herbicide such as the triazines (e.g. atrazine) and nitriles (e.g. bromoxynil).  Of course, the herbicides would tend to affect the entire plant whereas PST only affects the upper portions of...

Tuliptrees (a.k.a tulip poplar, yellow poplar) are in full, glorious bloom in southern Ohio!  Don't miss these showy, fiery, tulip-like blooms peeking out from the dark green foliage on this wonderful native tree.  

Ohio's Big Trees Program lists a Tuliptree in Richland county at 228" circumference, 136' height and 71' spread.

Enquiring eyes throughout Ohio are noticing sparse foliation on sycamores (American planetree) and to a lesser extent London planetree hybrids this Spring. Not to worry, the culprit is almost assuredly sycamore anthracnose disease.  This fungal disease occurs every year, but is enhanced when there are cool, wet conditions during leaf emergence, conditions which were common throughout Ohio this year. If history is to be any guide, these planetrees will recover well, putting out new leaves which will make us forget how they look now by late June.

As the 'twitterpated' season ends and young wildlife are being born, it's important to realize that young are often left alone by their parents for their own safety. We naturally want to protect and care for a seemingly abandoned baby animal, but many wildlife infants are born much more advanced than human infants. This means wildlife babies are capable of being left alone.  Eastern cottontail rabbit kits mature very quickly, leaving the nest after 3 weeks as small versions of their parents.  A small baby rabbit with erect ears and open eyes does not need assistance.  Neither does a young...

Have you visited the Ohio State University's Growing Degree Day (GDD) website this spring?  If you haven't, you are in for a treat!  The website has a new look, is very easy to navigate, and has an added feature that everyone will be using. 

Once on the home-page, you have an option of inputting any Ohio zipcode.  The date will always be the current date, although you can manipulate and use past dates in your search.  Once the zipcode has been added, website users click on "show me the calendar" and are taken to a short sequence of what is occuring with plant blooms (first bloom or...

We have a website that you will want to be sure is included in your list of favorites!  Dr. Mary Gardiner is an Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist in the Department of Entomology and doing some amazing work in Ohio.  Dr. Gardiner received her PhD from Michigan State University in 2008 and established the Agricultural Landscape Ecology Laboratory (ALE Lab) in 2009.  The ALE Lab is interested in understanding how the design and management of an urban greenspace or agroecosystem influences food web structure and function. 

Some of the ALE website highlights...

The familiar "bzzzzzzz...thud!" sound made by May/June Beetles as they fly around porch lights at night and bounce off walls, doors, windows, startled homeowners, etc., is now being heard in southwest Ohio.  There are five species of beetles in the genus Phyllophaga in Ohio that share the general common name of May or June Beetles.  The 1/2 - 1" long adults are slightly oblong, and reddish-brown to black in color.  Their obnoxious evening behavior often causes them to be dismissed as nuisance pests.  In most cases, this is true.  Although adults of most of these species feed at...

The pace of Eastern Tent Caterpillar (ETC) (Malacosoma americanum) development varies widely in southwest Ohio.  However, some caterpillars have reached their final instar stage and are abandoning their highly visible silk nests located in branch forks to go on a crawl-about in search of pupation sites.  Their abandoned nests will remain evident throughout much of the early summer as they gradually disintegrate.