Tree of the Week: Dawnredwood

  I once wrote a poem of the seasons of dawnredwood, Metasequoia glyptostroboides.  Let us deconstruct, starting with the name of this majestic tree, for as the Chinese philosopher Krishtalka noted: “The beginning of wisdom is calling things by their right name.”

  The Latin binomial itself is telling: “meta-sequoia” means “like-sequoia”, and dawnredwoods are related, in the Cupressaceae family, to the true redwoods, Sequoia and Sequoiadendron. The “glyptostrob-oides” refers to another sister genus in the Cupressaceae, Glyptostrobus....

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Authors
Jim Chatfield

Weed of the Week: Stinging Nettle

  At Johnson Woods Nature Preserve near Orrville in Wayne County, there are many wonderful plants including towering oaks and beeches and sourgums.  There are birds including barred owls that are a hoot to hear in matched pairs from across the preserve.  This past weekend the fungi were having a real coming out party following recent rains.  Squirrels, including black squirrels, were clucking away. And stinging nettles were fruiting; something I had never noticed before.  

 

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Authors
Jim Chatfield

Umbrellaland

  The Umbrella Magnolia Grove (Magnolia tripetala) at OSU’s Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, for almost a century was a revered place: a protected place from non-lightning rainstorms, a place for rituals of many a kind, a wow place for children, a favorite of now-retired Secrest curator, Ken Cochran.
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Jim Chatfield

Pythium and Phytophthora Pummel Pumpkins in NE Ohio

In the past few weeks, I have received multiple questions from farmers growing pumpkins, asking what is going on with the pumpkins!  When pressed about what they were seeing, the response is always a “come out and see for yourself” and so I usually do!  For me, plant problem diagnostics are ALWAYS more accurate and effective when done hands-on, using my own senses and asking those pertinent or impertinent questions to get at the answers!  In these cases of the great pumpkin patch puzzle, they would pick perfectly healthy looking pumpkins, wash the dirt off of rinds and put them into bins...

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Authors
Erik Draper

Ratty Redbuds

Although the growing season is winding down, Extension offices in Ohio are continuing to receive questions regarding redbud leaves turning brown after being folded over or "glued" together.  The culprit is the Redbud Leaffolder (Fascista cercerisella; order Lepidoptera; family Gelechiidae).
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Authors
Joe Boggs