Oak wilt is a very serious and often deadly disease of oaks, specifically the oaks in the red or black oak group. The actual pathogen (Bretziella fagacearum) that causes the disease has been known to be in Ohio for many decades. Some years, it is worse than others. Oak wilt is not like the emerald ash borer that spreads rapidly, almost like a tidal wave moving in one direction. Oak wilt builds in a way that it can radiate out to other like trees, but advances at a slower pace, but even then, can cause tree death in a single season, and often in a matter of weeks

USDA expands CFAP program to include nursery crops, cut flowers, and additional specialty crops! The CFAP program helps offset price declines and additional marketing costs because of the coronavirus pandemic - and now includes assistance for nursery crops, cut flowers, and additional specialty crops.

I've received several reports over the past few weeks from landscape managers and arborists of small holes in tree trunks that are oozing sap or exuding cylindrical strands of white sawdust. These delicate, odd-looking structures are the calling card of ambrosia beetles and are sometimes called "frass toothpicks." The oozing holes are the work of bark beetles.

Ohio Online Commercial Recertification is now open!

Damage by non-native Mimosa Webworms (Homadaula anisocentra, family Galacticidae) was a topic of discussion during this week's BYGLive! Zoom Inservice. Despite their common name, mimosa webworms are most often found in Ohio on honeylocusts (Gleditsia triacanthos).

Passion flower (Passiflora incarnata) is an annual vine that climbs by axillary tendrils. It warmer climates it can become somewhat woody and be perennial-like in its habit, typically dying back to the ground each winter. In Ohio, it will die-back to the ground in the fall, but will need to be replaced with a new plant in the spring. It is native to the Southeastern U.S. and is easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade.

I have recently come to enjoy the cornelian cherry dogwood (Cornus mas). It was its early spring blooming yellow flowers that drew me to this plant, but I have to say, the fruit and the bark are added features that keep me coming back for more. I am lucky enough to have a hedge row of this plant near my office, so not a day goes by that I don't get to enjoy these plants. I wanted to share some photos of its fruit, both in the canopy and some that have fallen off. The squirrels are having a great time gorging themselves on the ripening fruit, at least here at the Toledo Botanical Garden. 

When you can take pictures of a brand new sprayer before any chemicals have been used, you can get really close with no danger. All the following spray pictures were just water.

This time of the year, there is a flurry of gardening activity, especially in those gardens producing fruits and vegetables. The warm season crops continue to produce, while gardeners begin planning for the fall garden, or the quick to mature warm season crops or the traditional cool season crops.

Tuned in for this Friday's Escape to the Forest - The Great Lakes Early Detection Network: Helping Land Managers Track Invasive Species.