Ants and Aphids Have Each Other's Back by Angelica Elliott

 

Photo: Pexels

Late last summer, something strange caught my attention while weeding around a Cosmo plant. I noticed a black blob on the plant's main stem. As I got closer to inspect, I realized it was a thick colony of black aphids (family Aphididae), and from my experience, where there are aphids, there will likely be ants.

Check Your Turf for Snow Mold by Donna Duffy

Photo by Donna Duffy

Snow mold is a fungal disease that appears in late winter/early spring as the snow melts. Due to the prolonged snow cover this winter, there’s a good chance that you may find some patches of snow mold on your turf. I found several large and small patches when I walked around the (finally) snowless yard this morning.

Downy Mildew on Sunflowers by Donna Duffy

I always grow a few sunflowers at the edge of my yard every summer. They are a great conversation piece and a delight to the neighborhood kids and birds. Because of the rain, I got the seeds started late this year and they are up about 3" this week. I was checking them out and noticed a white fuzzy substance on the bottom of the leaves on two plants. After some research, I discovered this is Downy Mildew.