Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is a lovely native woodland tree which is used more and more in landscaping. It is typically a medium-sized tree up to 30-50 feet in height but the national champion in Kentucky exceeds 100 feet. Leaves are variable, some entire, some mitten-liked and two-lobed, some three-lobed. Fall color can range from attractive yellows to yellow-orange, especially effective as a grove of sassafras trees.

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John Muir wrote: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” This is certainly true of so much of what we see as horticulturists and plant lovers, from insects that induce plants to turn genes on and off and thus produce galls, to the cedar apple rust fungus that traverses its two-year life cycle in obligatory cycling between junipers and rosaceous plants.

Despite the name 'bluebird house', eastern bluebirds are not the only species that call those little wooden boxes home. Bluebird houses (hereafter called bluebird nest boxes) are also used by tree swallows, chickadees, house wrens, and house sparrows. All of the aforementioned species are cavity nesters, meaning they build their nests in cavities, whether naturally occurring (in trees) or man-made (in nest boxes).

  Christmas In July: Some hawthorns these past two weeks are sporting little orange sherbet-colored aecial spore masses of the cedar quince rust fungus (Gymnosporangium clavipes), pushing out from the haws. I am receiving many calls about this and, Frits Rizor, the Executive Director of the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association, even sent me a text and image the other day – we are all plant pathologists!

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A homeowner called the Extension office after noticing bees or yellow jackets were repeatedly visiting a small koi pond in the yard.  What was going on?  Well, insects, like all of us, need water too!  

Many insects receive water from nectar or via their prey, but honeybees, bumblebees, wasps, and many other insects visit dewy leaves, mud puddles, bird baths, pools, pet water bowls, or even decorative koi ponds to refuel their H2O needs, especially in hot, dry weather.  Bees can use water to regulate humidity in the hive and for evaporative cooling. Butterflies are often seen...

While out looking at an oak tree earlier today in Lucas County, the property owner asked if I wanted to see his vegetable gardens - YES gardens!  Corn, tomatoes, green beans, zucchini, potatoes and more! 

 

The potatoes where being hit pretty hard by the feeding of the Colorado potato beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) - both the adult and the larvae were present.  

 

The homeowner had been hand picking but losing the battle so I joined in for a bit.  There were many more eating to their hearts content in his several rows as he continued to "take...

  I was walking down the street in Warrenton, Virginia, it was such a fine sight to see,,,Well, not so much for a linden street tree. It was in fact a fine blue-sky day, but backlit against that sky, the leaves of this linden displayed serious leaf scorch along the outer portions of what should have been deep green leaves. The tree itself was not thriving, annual growth was poor, and the leaves looked as parched as the 95 degree southern day. The culprit? The trunk had a completely flat trunk where it entered the soil. This is suggestive of a stem-girdling root that is restricting...

 

While people vary in their sensitivity to poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), repeat exposure to the oily resin called urushiol that is found in all parts of the plant, can sometimes increase a person's sensitivity over time.  

 

Poison ivy is a very prolific plant and can be found almost anywhere.  It is common to see this plant along roadsides, along fence lines, in the woods, at forest edges, and even in the landscape.  A reason for this wide distribution is that fruit is eaten by wildlife like birds and deer.  It is documented that over 60 species of...

  The title of this bygl-alert is actually a bit disingenuous, since Dave Shetlar, Joe Boggs, and Curtis Young, entomologists all, are better equipped on the ins and outs of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis, the common bagworm, compared to me, a plant pathologist. The Latin binomial itself makes me a bit crazy, which I guess makes sense, since the family (group of related genera) for the common bagworm is – Psychidae. The actual ins and outs in this case actually refers to what my wife and I saw at a central Pennsylvania rest area this weekend.  There were numerous...

Porcelain-berry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata) is a deciduous, woody, perennial vine native to Northeast Asia. The leaves are alternate, simple 2 ½ to 5" long and wide with a heart-shaped base and 3 to 5 palmate lobes.  The inconspicuous flowers are green-white and appear in June through August.  The colorful grape-like fruits mature from September to October changing from pale lilac, to green to a bright blue.  

Porcelain-berry grows and spreads quickly in partial to full sunlight.  This vigorous invader grows well in moist soils and can often be found along ponds, stream banks and...