As we continue traveling south to Washington DC, we were moseying along some backroads in Virginia and suddenly the camera crew began yelling “stop the van… pull over”.  We piled out to run over trying to position ourselves to take photos of a HUGE Albizia julibrissin, commonly known as Mimosa or Persian Silk tree.

 

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On July 22, 2017, Joe Boggs wrote a BYGL Alert on the "flaming" of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) by the locust leafminer beetle (Odontota dorsalis) in certain areas of Ohio.  These "flamed" trees are easily observed along highways from southeast to northeast Ohio. Interestingly, Curtis Young and Amy Stone in Northwest Ohio seldom see any evidence of locust leafminer beetle.  They have to travel east to at least Mansfield, Ohio before seeing the activities of this leafminer and it isn't because of a lack of black locust trees. 

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In a previous Tree of the Week, I featured sassafras, but noted that I did not have an image of their very cool-looking fruits, though I once did have said image. I figured that I had electronically misplaced or that it was from all the way back in the Kodachrome Slide Era (somewhere between the Dirt Age and the Middle-Age Anthropocene).  So…

 

Voila. I have seen bright carmine red fruits, and here you can see both the early speckled green phase and cool grape-Kool Aid purple. Sassafras, a lovely native tree.

 

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It is not too late to attend the 2017 Green Industry Summer Session at Owens Community College in NW Ohio.  The annual event is held the first Wednesday of August.  This year the event is held August 2nd.  Registration begins at 11:00 am with a boxed lunch, with the first session starting at 11:45 am.  The event concludes at 4:15 pm with opportunities to earn ISA, ODA and OCVN credits. 

Joe Boggs wrote a great article “Guignardia Leaf Blotch Running Rampant” the other day, which caused me to reflect on another Guignardia fungus often ignored, but very important.  The other Guignardia, Guignardia bidwellii, is one responsible for causing the disease Black Rot of Grape.

Here are a few upcoming programs to get on your calendars. Registration information to come on websites soon.  All are at Secrest Arboretum at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster, except for the Bent Science salons at the Bent Ladder Cider and Winery outside Doylestown, Ohio, and the Why Trees Matter program, at the College of Wooster.  

The harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica) (a.k.a. calico bug, fire bug or harlequin cabbage bug) is a black stink bug with either yellow-orange or red markings on both its back and stomach. Additionally, there are some white markings around the edge of its abdomen.  As with all true stink bugs, it belongs to the family Pentatomidae.

 

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Sunflower Helianthus annuus ‘Birds & Bees’

 

While at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, there was a sunflower in their vegetable garden that caught my attention. ‘Birds & Bees’ is a 6 – 8’ tall sunflower that has golden-yellow petals and chocolate discs.

 

While flowering, sunflowers offer a pollen and nectar source for foraging honey bees, native bees and many other garden pollinators. At maturity, these black seeded sunflowers of ‘Birds & Bees’ provide oil-rich kernels. The shells...

When a plant has “weed” as part of its name, it could cause a little bit of confusion. As a gardener, would you feel as you could really brag and be proud of a plant in the landscape that is called a weed? Well of course the answer is yes, especially if it is Joe pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum).  Brag away!  

 

While Joe pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum) can be observed growing along roadsides, some 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...

I came across a large die-off of crayfish last week in Gilmore Ponds, a Butler County MetroPark in southwest Ohio. While investigating, I learned that the crayfish is the (Louisiana) Red Swamp Crayfish; a species that is non-native to Ohio. However, this crayfish is well known to anyone who has enjoyed crawfish etouffee.