Oystershell Scale Eggs Are Hatching!

The overwintered eggs of Oystershell Scale are hatching in Ohio with first instar nymphs (crawlers) afoot in the southwest and northwest parts of the state. This is a critical event because the mobile crawlers are susceptible to a number of control options that are not effective against other scale developmental stages.
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Authors
Joe Boggs
Beth Scheckelhoff

Words of Wisdom

There are many lessons of Nature to be learned from the words of others. Though Shakespeare intoned: "In Nature's infinite book of secrecy a little I can read", even that little may be most wondrous.
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Jim Chatfield

Woody of the Week - Ohio Buckeye

The Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra) is the state tree of Ohio. It is a native tree to the midwestern and plain states. The tree can reach 60 feet tall and 30 feet wide in an open area, but is about 1/2 that size when growing in an understory or shaded location. 

 

The Ohio buckeye prefers a moist but well drained site. It can adapt to drier sites, but will often exhibit some leaf scorch when conditions are too dry.  It is also susceptible to a leaf blotch and powdery mildew when conditions are right. 

 

The leaves are arranged opposite of each other...

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Amy Stone

Woody of the Week - Pawpaw

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is found throughout the buckeye state and most of the Eastern United States. It grows naturally as an understory tree or along woodland edges, and is often found in areas that are moist.

 

A single tree can sometimes become a "pawpaw-colony" through root sprouts from the parent plant. The mature height of this tree is 25 feet and the mature spread is 15 feet, when not crowded by other plants. The leaves are rather large giving the plant a tropical feel. 

 

While the plant is noted for its fruit, the flowers are beautiful but...

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Amy Stone

Ant Wars

I opened my garage door this morning to find a seething mass of Pavement Ants roiling around the expansion joint where the driveway meets the garage. This was not an "ant swarm" where large numbers of winged ants (alates) emerge to fly off and mate; it was a full-blown, no-holds-bared ant war
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Joe Boggs
Crabmania 2018 chatfield.1@osu.edu Mon, 05/14/2018 - 16:02
Crabapple bloom was at its best in Ohio this year. Prolonged in southern Ohio, but compressed but spectacular and late in central and northern Ohio. Check out a few highlights here.
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Authors
Jim Chatfield

Mosquito Alert

Residual pools of standing water left from above average rainfall throughout much of Ohio this spring certainly benefitted mosquitoes. Although our cooler than normal spring temperatures may have delayed the onset of "mosquito season" a bit, our current above average temperatures will put mosquito development into hyperdrive.
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Authors
Joe Boggs

Roses Knocked Back by Winter Cold

Several types of roses in Central and Southern (confirmed by Joe Boggs) were knocked back pretty good by cold winter weather.  While trimming my shrub and carpet-type roses in early April I noticed quite a bit of dead wood.  I had to really trim them back to a height of about six inches.  They are looking great right now as the new growth is vigorous.  I completely lost one climbing rose and another one was killed back to the crown.  The new growth on this one is coming from the root stock.

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Authors
Pam Bennett

Butterweed / Cressleaf Groundsel: Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

The dichotomous nature of Butterweed may test the tolerance of lovers of native wildflowers. On one hand, a sea of yellow flowers carpeting farm fields flanking Ohio's interstates in the spring provides welcome relief from highway monotony. On the other hand, upright 2 – 3' tall plants bolting seemingly out of nowhere in Ohio landscapes presents a weed management challenge.
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Authors
Joe Boggs