Often, one of the typical options offered when attempting to control an identified pest, is to simply do nothing!  In this year of extremely hot, dry conditions in NE Ohio, deciding to not do anything about a pest, turned into a disaster.  The pest involved was the two-spotted spider mite, which was happily feeding on tomatoes growing in a high tunnel.

 

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  As my wife and I walked through the Virginia woods in Shenandoah National Park last week I realized once again, that I knew less than I thought about a familiar genus – Rubus, a member of the Rosaceae family of related genera. My favorite is Rubus occidentalis,

Many people think Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum)is nothing more than a roadside weed and have never taken in to consideration its outstanding ornamental characteristics.  It is a large plant which needs space, but when planted in mass it can provide exceptional flowering and provide height when needed in the landscape.

Every year in NE Ohio at the Drapescape, my wife and I anticipate being able to sit out on our deck and gaze upon the stars in the middle of the day.  How is this possible you ask?  Easily answered.  Because we are both enjoying the emergence of our favorite oriental hybrid lily, which is in bloom right now, called Lilium orientalis ‘Stargazer’ or commonly known as the Stargazer lily.

 

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While on our BYGL Conference Call earlier today, I received the monthly Emerald Ash Borer email update which includes a map that includes the latest changes of EAB detections in North America.  A shout out to Douglas Bopp, GIS Support Northeast Area with USDA APHIS PPQ who regularly sends this information out to communicate the latest information. 

 

Changes and/or additions included in this map since the July 1, 2016 map are as follows: The addition of initial county detections in: Vanderburgh County, IN; Harrison, Van Buren and Washington Counties,...

As I was driving through a local neighborhood this morning, I stopped at a stop sign and as I started to pull through the intersection, I saw massive, pink blooms that had me hyperventilating!  The sun was just at the right angle that the Hibiscus moscheutos (a.k.a. Hardy Hibiscus, Rose or Swamp Mallow), just popped out of a drab seeming lifeless, dry landscape!  I couldn’t resist that vibrant splash of color so I had to drive around the block, park, walk nonchalantly along the sidewalk and then casually slip into the yard to get a picture, without getting bitten by a dog!

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While finally getting around to mulching my perennial beds this weekend, I noticed more spider mite damage on one of my species of Hosta. I am not sure which cultivar it is as it's one that was handed down from generation to generation. i love it because it has beautiful fragrant flowers, but this weekend the foliage was looking a little rough and spotted.

A tree's leaves may be ever so good,

So may its bark, so may its wood;

 

  I picture right now my colleague Joe Boggs trying to relax on this Sunday afternoon as I add this bygl-alert, casually opening the post, and as he reads through it, realizes that I am baiting him to elaborate upon this short teaser. He is the lead author and chief champion of the newly updated “Soil Testing for Ohio Lawns, Landscapes, Fruit Crops, and Vegetable Gardens” Fact Sheet that is now available online from OSU Extension at:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/...

  Last Friday, outside our bank in Orrville, Ohio, I espied a crabapple tree with a carpet of brown leaves underneath the tree. On first glance, I imagined this to be due to leaf scorch and then leaf drop due to recent dry weather. After all, we are almost eight inches below normal over the past three months in many northeast Ohio areas. Made sense. I was simply following Question #4 of the 20 Questions of Plant Diagnostics: What Do You See That Looks Abnormal?