What's That Bug on My Plants? Try BugGuide.Net!

The ecosystem of the average garden can contain hundreds of thousands of species of insects, bacteria, members of the fungus family and other critters that put some kind of mark all over your plants.

For identifying the insects, here is one helpful website, BugGuide.Net:  http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740.

A Bouquet Inspired by a Joan Mitchell Canvas

Joan Mitchell's 1976 painting 'Red Tree©
Estate of Joan Mitchell,
courtesy of the Joan Mitchell Foundation
and Cheim & Read Gallery, New York.

 Joan Mitchell's raw 1976  painting 'Red Tree' called

 for an unmannered mix of  murky crimson blooms from

amaranthus to dahlias. Joseph Fratesi Limited Edition Vases,

similar vases available at Atlas Industries, 845-391-8855.

                 Photo by Stephen Kent Johnson for WSJ,

Styling by Lindsey Taylor.

By Lindsey Taylor
WSJ, July 24, 2014

Few women painters earned a place in the distinctly macho American Abstract Expressionist school, but Joan Mitchell (1925-1992) was one of them. More impressive, she sealed that reputation largely while living in the un-American environs of France, where she spent the last three decades of her life.

Beginning in her student days, Mitchell—who is known for her emotional brushwork, rich palette and rebellious spirit—began creating paintings inspired by her fascination with the form of trees. When casting about for an artwork on which to base July's arrangement, I was moved by a show of Mitchell's abstracted tree canvases at New York's Cheim & Read gallery, which runs through Aug. 29. Drifting among her works was like walking through a haunting, majestic forest. With its slashes of deep red, splotches of black and pale lavender drips, "Red Tree" (1976) particularly spurred thoughts of potential arrangements.

To help convey the strength of this work, I started with a pair of glazed black ceramic vessels which emulated Mitchell's forms—one lanky and tall, the other a bulbous swell—by industrial designer Joseph Fratesi of Atlas Industries (who is my husband). For the flowers, I went for deep clarets, the darkest reds I could find, in plumelike amaranthus, pompom-ish sanguisorbia, almost black dahlias and scabiosa. To echo the lavender notes, I mixed in a few sprigs of scabiosa in the palest purple.

While arranging the flowers, I abandoned any rules about massing, and tried to channel Mitchell's approach, with elements rising and dipping randomly as if left there by a swiftly moving brush. That said, I was careful to consider the negative spaces, to capture the more open parts of the canvas. Such arrangements are freeing. Mitchell was using the painting to convey feelings; in shutting off your sense of how things should be done "properly," you can have a little taste of that pleasure.

Container Gardening Ideas for Maximum Color

Looking for container garden ideas to finish out the summer or for planning next year's pots? Consider some of the lovely pots in this slideshow by Southern Living:
http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/gardens/creative-container-gardens.

Dining Alfresco Puts the Garden in Front of Guests

 
Weekends are made for dining alfresco and enjoying your garden!
Here are some ways a few celebrities have designed their outdoor entertaining spaces:
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/celebrity-homes/2014/celebrity-outdoor-entertaining-spaces

Where are all of the Butterflies?

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Growing Small Farms
Originally written by Debbie Roos, Chatham Co. Extension Agent 


Today I saw my first tiger swallowtail butterfly of the year,
 much later than normal. Photo by Debbie Roos. 

Today I saw my first eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly of the year in my pollinator garden in Pittsboro, and it’s mid-July! Last week I saw my first black swallowtail. Earlier in the spring I had a handful of black swallowtail and monarch caterpillars in the garden, and I saw one lonely adult monarch on April 26 this year. I  have seen dozens of others,  like hairstreaks and American ladies, but way fewer than in a normal year. Monarch butterflies receive alot of attention in the national media as their numbers have decreased drastically in the past few years. What about our other butterflies?

 

Last summer we seemed to have an abundance of butterflies, at least the eastern tiger swallowtails, and I wrote about it in a September 2013 blog post.

 

Alot of folks have asked me why they aren’t seeing many butterflies this year. I can’t answer that but I can share what one of North Carolina’s top butterfly experts thinks.

 

Where are all the butterflies? I posed this question to Dr. Harry LeGrand, zoologist with the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program and one of North Carolina’s top butterfly experts. LeGrand is the author of Butterflies of North Carolina, a comprehensive on-line butterfly atlas. 

 

Dr. LeGrand compiles season summaries of butterfly sightings for the Carolina Butterfly Society’s The Chrysalis newsletter. You can view his summaries from 2012-2014 below.

First of all, we are not imagining things, there IS a dearth of butterflies this year. In fact, Dr. LeGrand says that “2014 is – by far – the poorest year for butterflies that I have witnessed since I started butterflying in 1991. Even finding a swallowtail, yes even a Tiger Swallowtail, has been a chore, as has just about everything else.”

Dr. LeGrand notes that both winters of 2012-13 and 2013-14 were rather cold, and the first was much colder than normal. The latter was more normal; however, both had quite a few severe ice and snow events, and note that cold weather continued well into March, with both years getting off to very delayed starts of 10-14 days. See his data summaries below.
 

Gray hairstreak on a bluestar in mid May.
Photo by Debbie Roos.

Other observations from Dr. LeGrand:
 
Since North Carolina has not been in drought status for nearly all of these two years, drought cannot be a factor in the low butterfly numbers. And, of course, “habitat loss” isn’t significant on a large scale, so that doesn’t explain the sharp drop in numbers. Why is the eastern half of NC so depauperate, as compared with the western half of the state?  Usually, in a given part of a year, a group of species is “low” – maybe American Lady and Red Admiral, or the anglewings, or the grass skippers, or hairstreaks. But this year, EVERYTHING is below normal in the eastern half of NC.  My personal belief – severe cold AND wetness, in combination, in winter and especially into March, has done in various life stages – allowing for more fungi, or predators, on larvae, etc., or possibly washing away pupae, etc.

 

I guess it remains to be seen how much the butterfly population rebounds this year. Here’s hoping we see an uptick in the numbers and diversity of butterflies for the remainder of 2014!

Bamboo Vexes Kent Street Durham Resident

Kent Street resident June Forsyth wants city officials to pull
up the  "rampant invasive, dangerous" bamboo that's growing
in the public right of way on her street.
City Manager Tom Bonfield promised Thursday to look into the matter.
 Photo by The Herald-Sun, Ray Gronberg.

By Ray Gronberg
The Herald-Sun, Jun. 08, 2014

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When city officials made it illegal to let the grass in your yard grow to more than a foot high, they probably weren’t thinking of bamboo.

But a Kent Street resident unhappy with a former neighbor’s exotic gardening choice says they need to start.

“I would like the city to follow its own code … to get rid of nuisance vegetation,” resident June Forsyth told the City Council last Thursday.

Forsyth, an officer in the Durham Council of Garden Clubs, is unhappy because her former neighbor put in a stand of bamboo, a plant that to put it mildly isn’t exactly native to this area.

Bamboo is also, botanically speaking, a grass, albeit one quite different from the fescue and Bermuda variants that typically feature in Durham lawns.

It’s easily capable of growing to 50 feet or more in height, and when it comes to growth, can relegate even a fast-growing weed like kudzu to the slower half of a tortoise-and-hare analogy.

Forsyth said her former neighbor ignored her requests to keep the plantings more than 10 feet away from the property line.

An investment company that acquired the property last year has been more cooperative, twice dispatching workers to knock down the stand. But the first time around, they didn’t pull the bamboo out by its roots.

Being a grass, the leftovers did what grass does, and naturally enough paid no heed to the existence of a property line.

Forsyth said she and her family in their yard have had to “cut back over 400 shoots, which grow 6 or 7 inches, apparently, overnight.”

The bamboo has also made it onto city property on the side of Kent Street, making it a problem for the city’s Public Works and General Services departments. But Forsyth said her complaints to city foresters and other administrators haven’t born fruit.

Some are of the view that “even though the ordinance says grass over 12 inches in height, that did not include bamboo,” Forsyth said.

The ordinance, which targets trash and undergrowth, prohibits “a place of dense growth of weeds, grass, vines, or briars over 12 inches in height, and within either 100 feet of an abutting public street or 50 feet of a house or other residential, commercial or industrial building.”

When officials learn of a violation, they should see to it the plants involved are “cleared and cut to not more than 6 inches in height,” it adds.

City Manager Tom Bonfield promised Forsyth and the City Council he will look into the matter. “I’m just hearing about it for the first time,” he said.

http://www.heraldsun.com/news/localnews/x101017228/Bamboo-vexes-Kent-Street-resident

Temperamental Tomatoes: Tips for Diagnosing Common Problems

Blossom End Rot.

Juicy red heirlooms and other savory tomatoes varieties are heart's desire of vegetable gardeners, but problems can happen with too much or too little nurturing. Here are common issues with Solanum lycopersicum.

NON-DISEASE PROBLEMS OF TOMATOES

Blossom End Rot

Caused by calcium deficiency in the fruit, resulting from: 1. Lack of soil calcium. 2. Water deficiency, which prevents plant from taking up sufficient calcium. 3. Internal plant water deficit during sudden hot periods. 4. Nutrient imbalances, which reduce calcium movement into fruit.
Control of Blossom End Rot:
• Apply lime and fertilizer at planting time according to soil test report.
• Use mulch to maintain even soil moisture.
• Water plants with 1-1/2 to 2" per week (minus rainfall).
• Plant resistant varieties if you've had problems before (e.g. Homestead or Walker).
• Wait: Problem often levels off/corrects itself after several fruit clusters have set fruit.
• Apply foliar calcium. Calcium Chloride, which is sold commercially by several names such as "Tomato Saver" or "Blossom End Rot Prevented." Spray 2-4 Tbsp/gal at blossom stage/tiny fruit stage and once per week for next 3 weeks. Applying lime to the current crop will not help. Lime is too slow acting to help. (Also susceptible to Blossom End Rot: Eggplant, Watermelon, and Peppers).

Tall, spindly plants
Overdoing nitrogen? Insufficient sun? They prefer 8 hours of sun.

Poor Production
If seeds were planted while temperatures were too cool, the main stem will harden and result in poor production. Tomatoes require a soil temperature of 70° F.

Care When Using Chemicals

Tomatoes are very sensitive to some chemicals, especially 2,4-D.

Blossom Drop
Some varieties will set fruit only within a rather narrow range of night temperatures. Many varieties require night temperatures above 55° F for fruit set, and night temperatures above 75° F inhibit fruit set, causing blossom drop.

All Vines and No Fruit
Caused by excessive nitrogen and/or lack of fruit set. When the blossoms drop, the plant continues in the vegetative state. When weather conditions improve, the plant is likely to set fruit. Avoid excess fertilizer. 

Improving Fruit Set
Pollen is shed most abundantly on bright sunny days between 10 am and 4 pm. In the middle of the day, tap and shake the plant gently or hand pollinate with a small paintbrush.

Fruit cracking
Radial cracking usually occurs when the plant undergoes extremely rapid growth, as when rainy periods and high temperatures follow a long dry period.

Hard white blotchy tissue in tomato
A physiological disorder that is not clearly understood. There is no satisfactory control; some species are less affected than others, but no varieties are immune. Ok to use fruit with small to moderate amounts of blotchiness.

Leaf Rolling
This is usually not a disease problem. The greater the ratio of fruit to leaf area, the more leaves will roll. Pruning off leaves and shoots will intensify rolling, as will moisture shortage. Some varieties are more prone to rolling than others.

Yellowing Leaves

Nitrogen deficiency, or one of the diseases mentioned below.

DISEASE PROBLEMS ON TOMATOES

Leaf-spot pathogens
There are several fungal pathogens causing diseases on the leaves of tomatoes (Septoria leaf spot, Early Blight, Late Blight, etc.). In the early stages of these diseases, a few small (1/16") brown-tan necrotic spots will be seen on the leaves. As the disease progresses, the spots will increase in size and number, and the surrounding tissue will often begin to yellow. Finally the affected leaves will begin to drop off. All of these diseases are favored by hot moist weather and poor air circulation.  

Control of leaf-spot pathogens:
• Staking: provides improved air circulation.
• Sanitation: All diseased and fallen leaves should be removed from the garden during the growth season; remove entire plant at end of season and dispose of them away from garden.
• Fungicides: Will not remove existing lesions but will prevent new lesions from forming and spreading the disease. Fungicides should be applied according to label directions (approximately every 10-14 days) after the first lesions are seen, which is usually in May or June.

 

Wilt-diseased plants should be destroyed.

Wilt Diseases
All are soil-borne diseases and all are fatal. Once infected, there is no effective chemical treatment. The soil should not be used for tomatoes for several years. Plant resistant varieties in a different area next year. Some of the wilts have a rapid onset and death of the plant, while others have a gradual onset and decline. Diseased plants should be removed and destroyed.

Nematodes

To diagnose: Pull up a dead/affected plant and inspect the roots for galls that look like a string of beads. Control: Plant resistant varieties and rotate.

Phytopthora Root Rot
A fungal disease usually caused by poor drainage. A wide variety of plants are susceptible (azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, boxwood, etc.) Do not replant the same plant in the same spot; improve drainage before planting anything in the affected area.

What to do for Tomato Diseases
Not much this year. Usually a diseased plant cannot be cured; therefore control must be based on prevention and avoiding spread of any disease already present. (The exception is the fungal leaf spot diseases if control spraying is begun early.) 1. Rotation of crops 2. Use disease-resistant varieties 3. Pull out and destroy affected plants and leaves promptly; do not compost them 4. Incorporate organic matter annually to increase diversity of organisms.

Prepared by: Durham County Master Gardener Volunteer Program  
Revised: October 26, 2007

Book Review: Native Plants of the Southeast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Best 460 Species for the Garden

Native Plants of the Southeast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Best 460 Species for the Garden                              
Author: Larry Mellichamp, Photographer: Will Stuart   Hardcover: 367 pages
Publisher: Timber Press (January 28, 2014)
ISBN-10: 1604693231
ISBN-13: 978-1604693232

Editors Note:  This book comes highly recommended by the NC Cooperative Extension Office and NCSU Horticultural Department. http://www.ncsu.edu/goingnative/index.html

From the Publisher...
Using native plants in a garden has many benefits. They attract beneficial wildlife and insects, they allow a gardener to create a garden that reflects the native beauty of the region, and they make a garden more sustainable. Because of all this, they are an increasingly popular plant choice for home and public gardens.

Native Plants of the Southeast shows you how to choose the best native plants and how to use them in the garden. This complete guide is an invaluable resource, with plant profiles for over 460 species of trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, grasses, and wildflowers. Each plant description includes information about cultivation and propagation, ranges, and hardiness. Comprehensive lists recommend particular plants for difficult situations, as well as plants for attracting butterflies, hummingbirds, and other wildlife.

Native Plants of the Southeast will be the definitive reference on the region's native flora for years to come.

A Cool Arrangement Inspired by Matisse



By Lindsey Taylor
WSJ, June 27, 2014

I wanted June's arrangement to have a cooling effect—to mentally prepare me for the oppressive summer heat to come.

Searching for inspiration, I recalled a favorite series of paintings done by French artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) while he was in North Africa in 1912 and 1913. Matisse traveled to Tangier, Morocco, where he worked mostly from his hotel room. The resulting paintings are a departure from the heretically vivid ones he'd produced as a leader of the Fauvist movement: Thin washes of soothing blue pigment show the texture of the canvas and capture the haziness of the desert light.

 

"Zorah on the Terrace," an oil from 1912, is part of a trio that Matisse completed for his Russian patron Ivan Abramovich Morozov. The enigmatic Zorah sits like an icon in the painting's center as if in a pose for prayer. Just looking at this restful image immediately brings my internal temperature down; even its warmer elements—the creamy shaft of light with casts of gray and pink, the fish bowl's subtle oranges and pinks—only make the blue seem more refreshingly shadowy. 

For my vessel, I selected a tall handmade piece as upright as Zorah with an organic, gesso-like patina. To reference the painting's shades of blue, I went with the breezy, but still majestic, perennial blossoms of delphinium, cutting the stems at different heights and arranging them loosely to echo the painting's naive, anti-formal quality. For a little playfulness, I chose two red tulips, not yet open, and placed them off to one side of the bouquet, to stand in for the slippers Zorah removed before assuming her kneeling pose.