Note: This article originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post on date as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column may have been edited slightly or deleted here if they are no longer relevant.
Seems that [many gardening] columns deal with what/where to plant, when/how to divide, or ways to attack those darn invasives. But now and then, we need to stop and smell the roses, er, native honeysuckle, perhaps with a glass of our favorite beverage in hand.
While you growl at the latest patch of weeds that have sprung up from nowhere, we hope that you also find time in these hot and humid days and evenings to enjoy the birds, butterflies, and bees flitting about your garden and to smell the flowers that are attracting them.
You’ll also find lots of suggestions for gardening resources available online in the following:
- University of Maryland Extension Home & Garden Information Center, https://extension.umd.edu/hgic
- Frederick County Master Gardeners Publications, https://extension.umd.edu/frederick-county/home-gardening/publications
- Facebook,http://www.facebook.com/mastergardenersfrederickcountymaryland
In addition, our latest (always free) [now called GardenSmart] flyer offers you lots of suggestions that not only entertain but also educate children. For instance, there are suggestions for making family portraits with plant materials, as well as URLs for science-related webinars and virtual classroom materials. These may augment your child’s virtual learning this fall. If you’d like to receive [GardenSmart] by e-mail, contact us at fgardenersnews@gmail.com.
Occasionally, we have warned you about pesky invasive plants or insects. This month, our warning concerns packets of seeds being mailed from China to people across the country. Do NOT plant them! Instead, report the packet to ppwm.mda@maryland.gov or call 410-841-5920. The seeds may be those of invasive plants, or may carry harmful diseases that could severely damage American crops. Keep the seeds, packaging, and mailing label until a representative from the Maryland Department of Agriculture or USDA Animal and Health Inspection Service contacts you with further instructions. More information is available at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2020/sa-07/seeds-china.
As you are taking that garden stroll or sitting in your lawn chair making up yet another garden to-do list, keep an eye out for caterpillars, to know which ones are dangerous, which are not. Leafrollers, orange-striped oak worm, green-striped maple worms, oak skeletonizers, and sawflies are feeding on various shade trees. The fall webworm appears in late summer, is hairy and about one- to two inches long. It creates tent-like webbing on the ends of branches of various shade trees and shrubs. Although the webbing is unsightly, it causes little damage, nor do the others mentioned previously, according to the University of Maryland extension service https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/august-tips-tasks. Learn to recognize and avoid saddleback caterpillars or other stinging caterpillars.
[Finally,] the extension service also notes that hot and humid weather, such as we have experienced throughout July, encourages “Southern blight, a significant soil-borne disease.” The blight attacks “a wide range of annuals, groundcovers, and perennials, including thyme, coneflower, coreopsis, and black-eyed Susans.” Generally, “the lower stems turn brown or black, foliage wilts, and plants gradually dry up and die.” About the only way to control the blight is to remove the affected plant and all mycelium (fungus) filaments that are clinging to stems, roots, and soil.
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