Home BYGL 2011 Text Only Contacts Search Site Map ENLT Presentations Lead Editor: Curtis Young Contributing Authors: Pam Bennett, Joe Boggs, Cindy Meyer, Jim Chatfield, Erik Draper Dave Dyke, Gary Gao, Tim Malinich, Bridget Meiring, Amy Stone and Curtis Young Buckeye Yard and Garden onLine provides timely information about Ohio growing conditions, pest, disease, and cultural problems. Updated weekly between April and October, this information is useful for those who are managing a commercial nursery, garden center, or landscape business or someone who just wants to keep their yard looking good all summer. BYGL August 18, 2011 Thursday, 18 August 2011 18:05 This is the 20th 2011 edition of the Buckeye Yard and Garden Line (BYGL). BYGL is developed from a Tuesday morning conference call of Extension Educators, Specialists, and other contributors in Ohio. In This Issue: 1. PLANTS OF THE WEEK: Annual (Snapdragon); Perennial (Hosta); Woody (Blueberries); and Weed (Pokeweed). 2. HORT SHORTS: Robbers on the Wing (Robber Flies); Captivating Orbweavers (Spiders); and Nuisance Wildlife Management Websites. 3. BUG BYTES: Baldcypress Twig Gall; Net-Winged Beetles; and Windshield Wipes (Common Bagworm and Dusky Birch Sawfly). 4. DISEASE DIGEST: Junk in the Box. 5. TURF TIPS: Chinch Bugs Arise (Hairy Chinch Bugs). 6. INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) Update - A Time of Transition and Magnolia Scale Crawls. 7. WEATHERWATCH. 8. COMING ATTRACTIONS: Diagnostic Walk-About; Diagnostic Workshops for Master Gardener Volunteers; 71st Ohio Plant Diagnostic Workshop at Secrest Arboretum; 6th Annual Why Trees Matter Forum; and 2012 Ohio Commercial Pesticide Applicator Recertification Conferences Set. 9. BYGLOSOPHY. APPENDIX - ADDITIONAL WEBSITE RESOURCES. 1. PLANTS OF THE WEEK. *ANNUAL - SNAPDRAGON (Antirrhinum majus). There are over 40 species of this underused plant. The snapdragons' bright and showy lavender, red, yellow, violet or white flowers make a colorful splash in the garden throughout the summer. It grows from 1-3' tall. The shorter mound-type varieties are used as bedding plants, intermediates (15-24") require no stakes and therefore make good border plants, and the tall columnar snapdragons are best for cuttings. The snapdragon does well in moist, fertile, well-drained soil. It needs full sun and good air circulation at the base of the plant. Small types can be spaced 6" apart; larger varieties should be staked 12" apart. Remove the faded flower spikes. *PERENNIAL - HOSTA (Hosta spp.). Hostas are extremely popular and hardy herbaceous perennials grown primarily for their beautiful foliage. There are up to 45 species of these plants, which originally came from Japan, China and Korea. They were first introduced to Europe in the late 1700s and then came to the United States in the middle 1800s. Hostas are easy to grow and are adapted for shade-environments. Their leaves come in a wide range of shapes, colors, sizes, and textures and may be solid in color or variegated in different combinations of blue, green, white, and gold. The plants are low maintenance and are widely available in nurseries and garden centers. Many catalogs also offer a large selection of hostas, with more than 2,500 different cultivars on the market. For more information on hostas, see OSU Extension FactSheet HYG-1239-02, "Growing Hostas" http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1239.html . For more information, see: OSUE FactSheet HYG-1239-02 *WOODY - HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRY (Vaccinium corymbosum). Highbush blueberries can be wonderful landscape plants. They have a multitude of attractive white flowers in the spring, wonderful foliage in many shapes and shades of green, showy and nutritious fruits in various hues of blue with many flavors - tasty fruit for humans and wildlife alike, brilliant scarlet foliage in the fall, and many interesting growth habits that can provide winter interest. There are many cultivars of this native North American plant, which vary greatly in fruiting time, growth habit, berry color, and taste. Highbush blueberries grow 6-12' tall and require full sun to optimize growth and production. Like other Ericaceous plants, blueberries require a high organic matter soil with a low pH (4.5-5.5). Highbush blueberry is self-fertile, but cross-pollination increases fruit set and results in larger, earlier berries with more seeds. Highbush blueberries will not tolerate competition from other plants. It is essential that they be kept weed free and well mulched. It has been found that a mulch of 4-6" of fresh hardwood sawdust will work extremely well - this type of mulching is not recommended for almost any other plant. For further information on highbush blueberries refer to OSU Extension Bulletin 940, "Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide" http://ohioline.osu.edu/b940/index.html and USDA/NRCS Plant Fact Sheet, "Highbush Blueberry" http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_vaco.pdf For more information, see: USDA/NRCS Plant Fact Sheet, "Highbush Blueberry" OSU Extension Bulletin 940, "Midwest Home Fruit Production Guide" *WEED - COMMON POKEWEED (Phytolacca Americana). Common pokeweed is native to the eastern half of the US. This species appears to be widespread in Ohio and is continuing to invade reduced-tillage fields. Common pokeweed prefers low, rich, somewhat disturbed, gravelly soils, and can be found in pastures, roadsides, fencerows, open woods and wood borders. It is a large, bushy, herbaceous perennial that sometimes resembles a small tree, growing up to 10' in height. The plant is characterized by an enormous taproot, smooth succulent red- purple stems, large lance-shaped leaves and grape-like clusters of dark purple berries in the fall. It reproduces from seeds. All parts of common pokeweed are toxic to humans, pets and livestock. Roots are the most poisonous, leaves and stems are intermediate in toxicity (toxicity increases with maturity), and berries are the least toxic. Since common pokeweed is not very palatable, most animals avoid eating it unless little else is available, or if it is in contaminated hay. Horses, sheep and cattle have been poisoned by eating fresh leaves or green fodder, and pigs have been poisoned by eating the roots. Children are most frequently poisoned by eating raw berries. Infants are especially sensitive and have died from eating only a few raw berries. Although boiled young shoots have been eaten as greens and berries cooked in pie, ingestion of any part of the plant cannot be recommended. Adults have been poisoned, sometimes fatally, by eating improperly prepared leaves and shoots, especially if part of the root is harvested with the shoot, and by mistaking the root for an edible tuber. Research with humans has also shown that common pokeweed can cause mutations (possibly leading to cancer) and birth defects. Since the juice of pokeweed can be absorbed through the skin, contact of plant parts with bare skin should be avoided. For more information on this plant, refer to "Ohio Perennial & Biennial Weed Guide" http://www.oardc.ohio- state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=270 . For more information, see: Ohio Perennial & Biennial Weed Guide 2. HORT SHORTS. A. ROBBERS ON THE WING. Joe Boggs reported that he has received several e-mail messages and phone calls about ROBBER FLIES (family Asilidae). There are over a thousand species of robber flies in North America representing a wide range of forms and sizes. The largest sized species found in Ohio is the scary-looking (and named!) RED-FOOTED CANNIBALFLY (Promachus rufipes) which can measure over 1 1/4" long. The cannibalfly makes a loud buzzing sound as it flies and alert observers may hear the buzz punctuated by a very loud "snap" which means the fly has committed an insecticidal act! Cannibalflies have narrow bodies and long, dangling legs. Their stout thorax appears slightly humped when viewed in profile. Each leg is tipped with two formidable tarsal claws that function like grappling hooks. In a smashing display of aerial acrobatics, the fly slams into its airborne quarry which stuns the hapless insect victim. The high-speed collision produces a snapping sound that may be heard several feet away. The fly then grasps its dazed prey with its claws, and uses its piercing-sucking mouthparts to inject saliva containing neurotoxic and proteolytic enzymes. The enzymes paralyze the victim and digest the internal tissues. The fly then lands, and sips the life out of its victim. Adults of all species of robber flies are predators and they will attack a variety of insects including bees, wasps, grasshoppers, dragonflies, damselflies, and sometimes each other. They often seize prey that is much larger than their own body size. Their larvae are also predaceous and live in the soil, or in decaying wood and other organic matter, where they feed on insect larvae. Thus, both the adults and larvae rob insects of their lives. For more information, see: University of Kentucky Entomology Critter Files Fact Sheet University of Florida Entomology Featured Creatures Fact Sheet B. CAPTIVATING ORBWEAVERS. Travelers in Ohio may be treated to the beautiful early morning view of dew-covered orbweaver webs shimmering in fields along roadways. The round ("orb") webs consist of radiating spokes of non-sticky silk overlaid with a spiraling thread of sticky silk. Three of the more common orbweaver spiders (Family Araneidae) currently on display in Ohio are the large BLACK-AND-YELLOW ARGIOPE (Argiope aurantia), the tiny TRASHLINE SPIDER (Cyclosa turbinate), and the medium-sized BARN SPIDER (Araneus cavaticus). The black-and-yellow Argiope is one of the largest orbweavers found in Ohio; females often measure over to 2" from the tips of their legs. The spider sports black legs, a yellowish-silver cephalothorax, and a black abdomen with intricate bright yellow to golden-yellow markings. Their markings and web locations engender a number of monikers including: yellow garden Argiope, yellow Argiope, golden orbweaver, yellow garden orbweaver, and golden garden spider.