White Butterflies Visiting Your Garden By Joyce D’Agostino

Cabbage Moth

This year I noticed a large amount of  small, white delicate butterflies in my garden and yard areas. These little visitors are actually an Imported Cabbage Worm Butterfly (Pieris rapae (Linnaeus) and while they are attractive they can bring some damage to your garden brassicas. 

Plants in the brassica family  include cabbage, broccoli, kale, collards and turnips. Many people enjoy growing and eating these healthy vegetables so if you notice these insects, what do you do to avoid crop loss and protect your plants?

Leafcurl Ash Aphid by Patti O'Neal

As if ash trees have not been terrified enough this year with the threat of emerald ash borer on them, worried homeowners are seeing yet another injury to their ash trees.  Luckily this one is not as potentially threatening as EAB – although it is much uglier!

Leafcurl ash aphid has struck trees in the Denver Metro Area.  Symptoms are twisted, thick, gnarled leaves at the ends of branches.  These clumps are often covered with the sugary exudate, honeydew, that is excreted by the insects which in turn collect pollen and other debris passing by in the air and can cause the clumps to appear webby and really messy – a scary thing to behold.  The kind that sends one to the closet for, what else? something to spray on it!

But resist.  First of all, it won’t help, and second, the colonies will begin to decline as new growth ceases being produced on your trees, which is about now.  And third, by now the natural enemies have amassed to curtail the outbreaks. 

Make the Most of Your Microclimates by Donna Duffy

A microclimate is the climate of a small area that is different from the area around it. It may be warmer or colder, wetter or drier, or more or less prone to frosts. Microclimates may be quite small - a protected courtyard next to a building, for example, that is warmer than an exposed field nearby. Cornell University Extension offers the following information about factors that influence microclimates.

Health Hazards for Gardeners? by Donna Duffy

Gardening is great for your health, right? The benefits of gardening-related exercise are well known. Lesser known are some serious health hazards that you could encounter. Remember,  your physician is always your first line defense and should be consulted anytime you have symptoms that are concerning.

Gardening, yard work and landscape injuries can be as simple as a scrape or as severe as a deep puncture wound, but any that break the skin can leave you at risk for tetanus, a serious and potentially fatal bacterial disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost one-third of reported tetanus cases come from gardening or farming injuries.

Fire Blight Arrives in Our Trees! by Mary Small

As if trees didn’t have enough trouble from last summers’s hail, fall's damaging freezes, and a late spring, some have now developed fire blight!  This bacterial disease is common on crab apple, apple, mountain ash and pear. 

Warmer than average temperatures during blossom time creates ideal conditions for disease development. If rain falls at the same time, its spread is rapid.  And guess what?  This spring was just perfect, if you were fire blight bacteria!

What Makes a Weed a WEED? by Rebecca Anderson

Photo by Rebecca Anderson

This is the time of year when our landscapes are becoming greener and new plants are sprouting every day.  As I spend more time doing projects in my yard, I'm often faced with a decision: is a particular plant a weed or is it a beneficial landscape plant?  Here are some guidelines I use to help come to a conclusion. 

1. Plants growing in the wrong location are weeds. This defines all the traditional weeds like the dandelions (Taraxacum sp.)in the lawn, but it also helps when evaluating more mobile landscape and garden plants. The morning glories (Ipomoea sp.) growing on the trellis where I planted them can stay. The ones climbing up the arborvitae (Thuja sp.) need to go. 
2. Plants that are unattractive are weeds. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but many of the common weeds lack attractive characteristics we value in other plants. This benchmark may apply to an intentionally placed landscape plant that has become scraggly over time, too. If pruning can't bring it back to the desired form, then perhaps removal is another option.

Large Miller Moth Population Expected by Mary Small

Euxoa auxiliaris Miller Moth

According to CSU Extension Entomologist, Dr. Whitney Cranshaw, “miller moth” numbers will be above average. Because the numbers of their caterpillars found in crops and other locations this spring, the moth numbers may be way above average. 

How much of a nuisance they will be is dependent on moisture and numbers of flowering plants around. Moisture has been good, contributing to the development of flowering plants. While last week’s freeze may have damaged some flowers, they are still abundant and will be attractive to the moths. Moths feed on nectar in the flowers.

Flowering plants most often visited by miller moths in our area include lilac, cherries, spirea, cotoneaster, horse chestnut, raspberry and Russian olive. Dark and dense plants such as cotoneaster, spruce and pines are most used by miller moths for shelter around homes.

The moths become a problem for humans when they accidentally enter homes.  During the day moths seek shelter in cracks and crevices around homes, in door entries and near windows.  At night, the moths become active and may be attracted to indoor or exterior lighting.

The major infestation is not expected for a few more weeks, about mid-June.
For detailed information on miller moths, including deterring them from your home, see this information.

Caution on Compost . . . Can It Be Too Much of a Good Thing? by Patti O'Neal

Amend, amend, and amend.  It is the mantra we all chant when managing our Colorado soils.  We here at CSU are constantly recommending that you add organic materials to your soils to improve water and nutrient holding capacity if you garden in sandy, gravelly or decomposed granite soils and to improve soil structure, drainage and filtration of water and nutrients in clay soils.  Improving the soil is still important for good plant growth and production of fruit and flowers.

But can you have too much of a good thing?  Much is being made, and justifiably so, of phosphates these days and their adverse effect on our groundwater supplies.  As a result many states are adopting laws to prevent the addition of phosphates to many products for household and outdoor use.

How to Plant Tomatoes in Colorado

It just snowed here but we know that tomato planting time is nigh! Here's a video from Carol O'Meara, Boulder County Extension Agent on the proper way to plant tomatoes in Colorado.

Lawns Struggling as Spring Gets Underway by Mary Small

It’s not that unusual for lawns to look a bit tough right now, especially when MotherNature hasn’t been cooperative with moisture! What’s a person to do?
First, try to figure out what is causing the lawn problem.  Look at it as a whole and see if you can pick out a pattern to the damage.

A colleague of mine stood took this picture from her home’s second floor window. You can see that some areas of the lawn are brown and some are green.  The damage is happening in swaths, not small spots or circles. This pattern is pretty typical of poor sprinkler function and it means that the sprinkler system needs a closer look. (Especially note the foreground and the area near the raised bed in the background.)The problem could be that heads are plugged or partially plugged, so aren’t applying enough water. They could be tipped due to the freeze/thaw cycles from winter. Maybe the head is a bit high and was dislodged during aeration or mowing. But you won’t know until you look at the sprinkler heads and check sprinkler delivery.

Tending to Roses in the Spring by Donna Duffy

It’s finally beginning to feel like spring! Your roses are probably showing signs of life again with canes turning green and leaf buds starting to form. But this is Colorado, and we’re not quite out of freeze danger yet. With that in mind, the following are some steps you can take to help your roses get off to a good start. 

What is an Heirloom Plant by Caroline Reardon

njhealthfederation.org

An heirloom seed today will grow into a plant that is an exact replica of its 50- to 100-year-old ancestor. And the seed of this plant will grow into an exact replica of itself for future generations to enjoy. Wind, bees, birds or other natural helpers have pollinated it —no scientific intervention to “improve” its production, uniformity, transportability and resistance to diseases or pesticide—and it has been cultivated. An heirloom plant is a vintage treasure and an important link from our past to our future.

Why should I grow them?  Just taste one! Heirloom fruits and vegetables are prized for their amazing flavors. Our gardening forefathers and foremothers saved seeds selected from their most delicious produce to grow again the next year, and then the next year and the next. We now benefit from their selective process, saving the best to grow the best. You can continue this heritage by saving seeds from your favorites to grow in your garden next year.