By Liz Olson, Editorial Assistant

As I was puttering around my vegetable patch yesterday morning before work I noticed a large caterpillar on one of my heirloom tomato plants (‘Better Boy’). I had never seen one as big on a plant or with white on it, so I took a couple pictures. After asking my co-worker Nan about it and searching online a bit I found out that it is a hornworm caterpillar being attacked by braconid wasps.

Braconid wasps naturally control hornworm caterpillars. Female wasps inject eggs into the caterpillar’s body. The larvae that hatch from the eggs feed inside the caterpillar until they mature and eat their way out through the caterpillar’s skin. The caterpillars would otherwise eat the tomatoes.

It is a good idea to leave caterpillars with cocoons alone so the wasps can emerge to attack more hornworms. I did not know this when I saw it and killed it, but I’m glad to know for the next time.

What’s that Bug? Is an online source to help identify caterpillars.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007 9:39:46 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [2] 

By Liz Olson, Editorial Assistant

Two weeks ago my co-worker, Melanie, let me take pieces from two of her coleus plants to try and propagate in the office. I tried Coleus ‘King Kong’ and ‘Big Red Rudy’. They both have beautiful leaves so I was excited at the prospect of having my own. Melanie propagated the plants (pictured) that I took leaves from and they grew beautifully.

Unfortunately, the leaves I tried to propagate have looked progressively worse over the past week. This morning they both looked dead so I decided to toss them out. ‘King Kong’ was definitely dead, but it turns out that ‘Big Red Rudy’ had started a root system and probably would have sprouted at some point. I didn’t realize this, though, until I had already wrecked the roots. I feel terrible that I killed it, but I’m going to give it another try next week.

Also, I’m really excited because Melanie and I are going to order some coleus plants from a nursery in Minnesota called Color Farm (www.colorfarm.com). We’ve never ordered from them before, but they have gotten good reviews so we’re going to try them out. I’m going to try ‘Fireworks’, ‘Buttercream’, and ‘Lime Frill’.

Thursday, August 16, 2007 8:44:23 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [1] 

By Liz Olson, Editorial Assistant

On my climb up to Mt. Lafayette’s peak in New Hampshire this month I saw several clusters of Mountain Avens. Mountain Avens are often mistaken for buttercups, but they are actually part of the rose family. They are also considered threatened in New Hampshire and endangered globally.

I picked up an Alpine Flower Guide and Flower Data Sheet at the Greenleaf Hut on Mt. Lafayette before I started my hike across the Franconia ridge. The flower guide and data sheet were supplied by a program called Mountain Watch, which is sponsored by the Appalachian Mountain Club. Mountain Watch collaborates with hikers to collect plant data that helps measure the ecological health of the mountains. Hikers can  then mail them the data or record it on the Mountain Watch website. 

Here is some information on Mountain Avens from Wildflowers of the White Mountains.

Mountain Avens (Geum peckii) have one or more yellow flowers, each with five notched petals. Lower leaves are large, alternate, and pinnately compound while upper leaves are smaller and unevenly toothed. In the fall, this plant is noted for its crimson-red foliage. This native flower is seen in the alpine regions of the White Mountains. Species name was given in memory of the early botanist William Peck.

For more information on Mountain Avens click here.

Monday, August 13, 2007 3:39:27 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

June and July are great months for spotting alpine wildflowers. On Mt. Washington during my first hike of the season (back in June) I saw Diapensia, Lapland Rosebay, Alpine Bilberry, and False Hellebore (my favorite of the day). I took pictures of the flowers as I hiked and looked them up in a book called Wildflowers of the White Mountains after the climb. The book provides a good image and description of each plant. Read below for descriptions on the four plants from the text of Wildflowers of the White Mountains, and links to images of each flower. Unfortunately, I lost the pictures I took during the hike, but the links below have good images of all four plants.

Diapensia (Diapensia lapponica) grows one to three inches tall with half-inch white, waxy, bell-shaped corolla flowers. They have five round spreading lobes and five low stamens. Flowers grow singly from short stalks. Leather-like narrow leaves grow in tight basal rosettes and form a spongy thick evergreen mat that enables this uncommon native flower to withstand severe wind and cold. Found at high altitude on barren ledges and sheltered beneath rocky ledges in the alpine areas of the White Mountains.

You can find more information and images on Diapensia on the Appalachian Mountain Club website.

Lapland Rosebay (Rhododendron lapponcium)

Purple to magenta corolla flowers have five deeply lobed segments and several protruding stamens. Leather-like leaves are narrowly oval with pointed tips and have scale-like undersides. This rare aromatic, low-growing, native evergreen shrub forms mats above the timberline near protected rocky areas. Grows 4 to 12 inches tall with flowers 5/8 to 1 inch wide.

View an image of Lapland Rosebay on the Mount Washington website.

Clusters of small bell-shaped flowers, each with five recurved pointed tips, bloom at the end of low bushy branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, and oval to shape with finely toothed, red-tinged edges. Seen in diverse areas from the rocky soil of alpine regions to low moist woodlands. The fruit of this native shrub is a small blue berry with a sweet taste that is a favorite ingredient of baked goods and a favorite food of the bear as well. It grows 4 to 20 inches tall.

Go to the Appalachian Mountain Club website to find out more about Alpine Bilberry.

False Hellebore (Veratrum viride)

In the spring this plant’s large oval green leaves with their prominent parallel veins are seen in small to large stands in wetlands throughout the region. It grows two to seven inches tall with half-inch flowers. As the leaves wilt, a tall branching stem is covered with small star-shaped hairy greenish flowers. The bitter roots and leaves of this plant are potentially fatal if eaten. Legend says that some Native American tribes used False Hellebore to test the strength of their leaders. Those who consumed the largest quantities of the plant, and survived, were fit to lead the tribe.

Click here to view images of False Hellebore.

Friday, August 10, 2007 4:01:36 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [4] 

This is a fun time of year in the vegetable garden. All the hard work starts to bear fruit, literally. March seems like a long time ago now, but I can remember how excited I was for the time when I could eat the tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash I started from seed. It is fun to check my garden each evening after work and find something else I can pick. It’s still early for tomatoes, but I’ve had fun harvesting my lettuce, cucumbers, squash, and zucchini.

I was neglectful last weekend, however, because I went away to Vermont. I was stunned to find that in the four days I was gone two large summer squash had grown, and fused together (pictured). My grandmother had been watering the plants while I was away, but she didn’t see them hidden under the large leaves. They don’t look very appetizing to me, but I’m curious to see if they still taste good at that size.

Check out this week’s Q&A on Butternut Squash pruning by clicking here.

Monday, August 06, 2007 9:21:27 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [3] 

By: Liz Olson

While Sara is on leave, I will be blogging in her absence. I am looking forward to passing along horticultural news and information that comes my way, and hope to hear questions and comments from our readers.

Monday, August 06, 2007 9:13:46 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

Patience is a good thing

Patience is something that I'm pretty good at when it comes to animals and children, however when it comes to plants, I'm not always so good. This past spring however, a slew of plants that I put in last year have helped me in this regard, though. The one that comes most to mind is Anemonella thalictroides 'Cameo' (Asiatica Nursery). I bought one plant for more money than seemed anywhere near reasonable to spend on what at the time was an empty pot and a plant tag promising both delicate (pale shell pink  petals)  and exotic (half the tag was written in Japanese) blooms. I guess from the tag I thought that the flowers were going to be at least nickel-size and maybe bigger. I'd seen A. t. 'Schoaf's Double Pink' in bloom at the New England Wildflower Society's Garden in the Woods and its flowers were plentiful and the size of at least a quarter. When A. t. 'Cameo' finally leafed out, I first thought the teeny, tiny flowers had fallen from a neighboring maple. Once on my knees to inspecting them, however, I realized they were blossoms of 'Cameo'. Wow, these little things were maybe the size of 1/4 of a dime...tiny. Buyer beware! But, they were doubled and pale pink. Pretty...under a microscope.

Fast forward three weeks, 'Cameo' is still flowering away with blooms at least a centimeter in diameter and lots of them. A lush burgundy heuchera leaf nearby and a late-blooming plum-colored hellebore are accented beautifully by the pale pink blossoms. I now feel badly that I ever bad-mouthed 'Cameo' to anyone (although I really only complained to about five people). Next time, I'll wait at least four weeks before complaining...

Read Meg's blog

Read Nan's blog

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 6:43:55 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0] 

Leaf Mulch Gripes

Last winter, I mulched all of my beds with leaf mulch, mostly minced oak with a smattering of maple thrown in. I've done this in the gardens at my parents' house north of Toronto and it has worked beautifully. In my small city garden that I walk by and inspect every day, not so much. I think it looks ugly and coarse. Perhaps part of the problem is that the green buds and leafing out has been so slow and late this year, that I'm spending a lot more time looking at the carpet of brown, clumpy leaf mulch rather than snow or, better yet, foliage of all the plants that are hopefully going to emerge at some point in the near future. I walk by it every day on my way out to work. So we'll see how great a job it does at conditioning the soil and how well it feeds the many woodland plants that I've got tucked into the garden. The garden is shaded most of the time, so a woodland atmosphere feels right and I think the mulch will eventually pull through, this slow, late spring has me ready for something a bit more exciting.

Read Meg's Blog

Friday, April 20, 2007 9:56:55 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [1]