My friend Nick Reiter calls me up and says a plant-loving friend, Karen Jeric, has a plant that I MUST see and experience.  Okay, I thought, I’m always ready for a plant discovery experience and besides, I can write a BYGL Alert about it!   We arrange a way to social distance and pick up my “plant experience”.  I sneak a peek at the plant wrapped up and as I do, I get SMACKED right between the eyes… in my olfactory! 

 

...

The emergence of the "horns" that give horned oak galls their common name is a short-lived event. I've commonly observed fully extended horns, but seeing them in the process of breaking through the gall surface is a rare treat and it's happening right now in southwest Ohio.

Yellowroot, Xanthorhiza simplicissima, is a member of the Ranunculaceae that few people in Ohio are familiar with. When I began working at Secrest Arboretum in 2010 I learned Xanthorhiza from Ken Cochran as a plant that could be grown in dry shade beneath white pines. After the 2010 tornado we moved clumps of the plant to new areas to help cover open areas. At the time I wasn’t impressed with it, except for the...

The Buckeye Yard and Garden Line (BYGL) writers are sad to report the passing of Dr. Walter Timothy "Tim" Rhodus, Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. His extraordinary vision and expertise with applying every form of new educational outreach technology changed the way we do the BYGL.

Just a quick reminder that it is horticulture day for bracket play with OSU Extension's Agriculture and Natural Resources virtual training. The sessions are FREE and open to all. Each session will be recorded and the link to the video will be made live after the session at:  https://agnr.osu.edu/events/agriculture-and-natural-resources-madness/full-bracket

Calico scale (Eulecanium cerasorum) females spend the winter as small, crusty, flattened late instar nymphs (crawlers) stuck on plant stems. They look nothing like their mature form and may be overlooked or misidentified. They first make their true identity known when they start pumping out impressive quantities of honeydew.

As I was out walking and checking our phenology sequence here in Northeast Ohio, I couldn’t avoid noting massive patches of green scattered across the forest floor.  The more closely I looked, the more I noticed it was EVERYWHERE in the woods.  Well, I couldn’t let an opportunity for some plant investigation go untouched, so I tramped off the beaten path… proclaiming social distancing rights!  I was astounded to discover that as far as the eye could see, it was Allium tricoccum (AT) or more commonly called “ramps” by foraging aficionados....

Often we take notice of invasive plants when they are most obvious - they are in bloom, have put on their yearly growth and are standing tall or maybe wide in some cases, and really can't be missed. But today, I wanted to share an early view of an invasive perennial, Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). That review includes last year's left-overs, hollow stems standling leafless. No new growth will be initiated from these above stems and soon will be masked or hidden by this year's new growth. 

Last month, a BYGL Alert was written as an intro or refresher to growing degree days followed by a second alert, Growing Degree Days (GDD) – Part 2, (March 16, 2020), https://bygl.osu.edu/index.php/node/1455 . And ealier this week, Joe Boggs authored a BYGL Alert, Observations on Phenology (April 13, 2020), https://bygl.osu.edu/node/1504 highlighting the sequence of plant bloom, insect activity and optimal timing for pest management.