- Author: Erin Mahaney
Nothoscordum gracile, commonly known as “slender false garlic” or the“devil bulb,” truly deserves its latter name as it attempts to take over my back yard. Nothoscordum gracile is somewhat similar to a wild onion in that it has long, narrow leaves and little white flowers. But this plant has longer and more gray-green leaves and white flowers with pink stripes. It is a much taller plant overall than the wild onion and blooms through the summer.
Nothoscordum gracile's success lies in its bulbs. Once the plant forms three leaves, it begins producing bulblets. The central bulb is surrounded by many, tiny, bublets that fall off as you dig up the plant. They are so tiny that it is hard to capture them all. In my yard, we have to dig at least 6 inches deep, and usually deeper, to get to the central bulb. To avoid breaking the central bulb and spreading bublets, we have to dig carefully and remove the bulb and soil entirely. This year, where feasible, we are now digging up and removing yards of soils to get as many bulbs and bublets as possible. We aren't fooling ourselves that we will get them all.
When we had renovated our yard several years ago, we asked the landscaper to dig out the dirt in the problem areas because we knew the bulbs spread easily. I have a strong suspicion that the landscaper didn't take us seriously because the plant is more widespread than before. Moving the dirt around, instead of removing it, spread the bulbs even farther.
But digging big holes isn't always feasible. The devil bulb is very clever at nestling at the base of other plants and often can't be dug up without harming the plant that you want to keep. In that case, I break off the plant as close to the surface as I can, or if it is possible to dig a little, I dig as deeply as I can even if I am only getting the stalk and not the bulb. My hope is that such continued efforts will reduce the plant's ability to obtain energy. I'm not optimistic that it helps, but at least I feel better for doing something. I also make it a priority to remove all the flowers so that they don't go to seed, but frankly, I haven't noticed a reduction in plants the following year when I do this. I think the main issue is the spread of the bulbs. We try to limit the use of herbicides in our backyard, but we have tried them as well and they didn't work at all.
I wish I could end on a more optimistic note, but the devil bulb truly is a scourge in my backyard. I hope that our persistence and removal of dirt where feasible will help slow the bulbs' spread at least.
For more information on eradicating the devil bulb, see Pam Peirce's article “Eradicating noxious N. gracile devil bulbs” (May 19, 2011) at https://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/goldengategardener/article/Eradicating-noxious-N-gracile-devil-bulbs-2370868.php.
- Author: Kathy Low
We all know about birthstones. But for all, you trivia fans, do you know about birth flowers? There is a flower assigned to each month, and supposedly individuals inherit the characteristics of the flower assigned to their birth month. The birth month flowers and characteristics associated with them are as follows.
MONTH |
FLOWER |
CHARACTERISTICS |
January |
Carnation |
Love, distinction, fascination |
February |
Violet |
Faithfulness |
March |
Daffodil |
Spring, rebirth, happiness |
April |
Sweet Pea |
Pleasure |
May |
Lily of the Valley |
Sweetness, humility |
June |
Rose/Honeysuckle |
Love, romance |
July |
Water lily |
Joyfulness, positivity |
August |
Gladiolus |
Moral integrity, the strength of character |
September |
Aster |
Love, affection |
October |
Marigold |
Devotion, comfort, healing |
November |
Chrysanthemum |
Happiness, friendship |
December |
Narcissus |
Hope, wealth, self-esteem |
If you're thinking the list of birth flowers may be something put together by florists to sell flowers, you might be right. The concept of birth flowers appears simply to have developed from the practice of gifting flowers to celebrate a birth. The list of birth month flowers also varies slightly from one floral company to another. For example, some florist websites list the December flower as Poinsettia, while others list Holly. But who doesn't love receiving flowers for any reason?
- Author: Martha White
We recently received an invitation to submit photos from the past 40 years of California Master Gardener program activities. These photos will be compiled into a visual history, of sorts, showing the evolution of the MG programs. I began to wonder about how the program got started. Did it begin in California? Why was it started? Who thought up the idea?
A quick Internet search informed me that in 1972, Dr. David Gibby and Dr. A Davidson were working together at the Washington State University Cooperative Extension in the Seattle area. They needed help in dealing with the high demand from the public for gardening advice. The first trial clinic was held in a vacant space in the Tacoma Mall. Curriculum was developed, and training began in King County and Pierce County, Washington, in 1973. The concept spread. Today, Master Gardeners are active in all 50 states, and in 8 Canadian provinces.
The first California Master Gardener programs were established as University of California Cooperative Extensions in Riverside and Sacramento counties. The map in our California Master Gardener Handbook shows the statewide network of MG county programs. In 2016, according to the Extension MG Survey, more than 5 million hours have been donated by UC Master Gardeners since the program began, with a value of more than $137 million.
I don't even try to put a monetary amount onto any conversations I get to have about gardening! For me, I am happy to help someone figure out the name of a pretty flower, or look up a pesky bug to decide if it is a “beneficial” bug. Master Gardeners will continue to offer gardening advice and support for Solano County, hopefully, for the next 40 years and beyond!
Resources:
David Gibby,” Master Gardener Program History Archived”
Extension MG National Survey
CA Master Gardener Handbook, 2nd Edition, UCANR 2015, Publication 3382.
- Author: Launa Herrmann
https://www.pbase.com/rcm1840/wingpatterns
Dragonfly wings vary in appearance from transparent to glassy or brightly colored to metallic. Insect curator with Australia's Museum Victoria says what holds together the wing's vein structure is chitin (pronounced kite-en), a thin shiny film which is a starch variation that makes up the exoskeleton of most insects. Dragonfly wings that appear smooth, glassy and reflective are due to not only lack of pigment but also the extreme thinness and translucence of the chitin.
Dragonfly wings have intrigued scientists and artists since the 1500s as reflected in sketches by Leonardo di Vinci. Today's entomologists, biologists and mathematicians are exploring the dragonfly's wing structure asking if respiratory tubes exist within the wing veins and creating 2D wing images to study the geometry of the complex networks of secondary veins “partitioning the wing into hundreds or thousands of small simple shapes.”
As I continue to search for the correct identity of the riveting red wing dragonfly who frequents my backyard, I remain intrigued by this insect's wings. A double set of wings that can flap about 30 beats per second. Wings that operate independently of each other. Wings that can propel the dragonfly up, down, back, forward, and side to side, in addition to hovering. Intricately patterned wings that are absolutely gorgeous. I wonder what entomologists, biologists, and mathematicians will discover in the years ahead.
Additional resources:
http://migratorydragonflypartnership.org/uploads/ROOT/File/MDP-field_guide.pdf
http://azdragonfly.org/species/mexican-amberwing
- Author: Brenda Altman
When I first inherited this pear tree it was hemmed in between two structures and restricted to a 3-foot diameter opening in the concrete. I had noticed that several of the branches growing straight up were blacken and appeared dead. I assumed that the recent drought had caused the problem. No problem I said to myself. I repeated the dead, dying or diseased tree mantra and remove the branches. I cut the branches and thought problem solved and that was that. Since then, one of the buildings has been removed as well as all the concrete. The tree has done better and produced a number of pears. When it was hemmed in it only had a few inedible pears.
Later that year Sally Thompson a classmate in my Master Gardeners Class said what are you going to do with that fire blight on your pear tree. She continued, “I know what fire blight looks like I have it on several ornamental pears growing next to my house.” Really fire blight? I realized that she was right after all she's a Master Gardener. I did a little research and confirmed her diagnosis. It was more than just dealing with dead wood but a serious disease that could be transmitted throughout the entire tree, maybe killing it and even spread to my newly acquire apple trees.
Fire blight is named because of the appearance of the limbs, leaves and fruit look like they got hit and blacken with a blow torch. It's caused by a bacterium, Erwinia amylovora, and there is no cure for it, but control and prevention are possible.
At the outset choosing the right tree is Important. According to the UC IPM article on Fire Blight, certain varieties are susceptible: Asian Pear (except Shinko) and red pear varieties are just a few. An ornamental pear tree to avoid is the Aristocrat. Fire blight can also infect other pome fruit trees such as several apple varieties: Fuji, Gaia, Golden Delicious. Granny Smith, Jonathan, Mutsu, Pink Lady, and Yellow Newton are more susceptible than other apple varieties. The disease starts in the flowers so trees that bloom late in the spring or throughout the seasons can have severe fire blight damage. In my case, however, I had to deal with the tree I inherited or cut it down entirely.
Even though I pruned the damaged limbs from the tree, it was still infected. E.amylovaora winters over in cankers and in twigs and branches and even the trunk of diseased trees. You have to wait for the symptoms of the disease to appear before you can do preventive maintenance. I had removed several infected limbs last year using a 10% bleach solution between the cuts. You should cut at least -12” below the infected area. Check for discoloration at the cut, the inside of the cut should show clean heartwood with a definite dark layer of bark. Just below the bark, there is a layer of cambium. This is living tissue of the tree and where E. amylovora invades. The cambium should be distinct and be uniform all around if there is some discoloration and or irregular growth in one area you may have to cut further back.
But this summer I noticed more infected twigs and branches with the disease. I got out my pruning shears dipped them in bleach and disposed of the twigs branches and leaves into the Green Recycling bin. Never put the infected tree parts in the compost, you'll just spread it around even more effectively than the wind or rain could ever do. The best time to prune the tree is after the spring growth and when there is less moisture in the air. Summer or late Fall would be the best times for pruning.
Over-fertilization is another no-no. The bacterium takes advantage of new growth from the additional nitrogen in the soil and spreads rapidly.
Weather is an important factor in the spread of fire blight temperatures between 75 – 85 F daytime with 55 F at night accompanied by rain are ideal conditions for disease spread. If those conditions exist, be on the lookout for signs of infestation. The disease spreads from the flowers to the shoots invading the cambium a thin layer just below the bark.
I probably will be fighting fire blight on my pear tree as long as it lives. It has survived many years with the disease so it probably won't die soon. Without management, the situation may become worse. My other concern is keeping the disease in check because I don't want it to spread to the new pome apple trees I have planted. Because the disease is not systematic on my tree, I am just pruning as needed and disposing of the infected limbs and leaves in the green waste. Hopefully and this will work and I will have several years of fruitful rewards.
There are chemical (liquid copper) and biological management (organic sprays) tools available. Check with the UC IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Program for the latest and safe use of pest control products for fire blight.