- Author: Mike Flanner
Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) is a common sight throughout our hot dry Butte County summers.
This non-native weed arrived in Texas in the 1830s and by the late 19th century was recognized as a problem in the North Valley and throughout California's agricultural fields.
The Butte County UC Master Gardeners are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4H, farm advisors, and nutrition and physical activity programs. Our mission is to enhance local quality of life by bringing practical, scientifically-based knowledge directly to our community. For more information on UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
- Author: Jeanette Alosi
Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) is an attractive green plant with small yellow flowers commonly seen growing prostrate along the side of the road.
Unfortunately, there are is no easy way to control this noxious weed. For most homeowners, the mechanical control methods of hand removal or cutting the plant off at the taproot are most effective. Any seeds left on the ground must be removed by raking or sweeping. Use heavy gloves to protect hands from the spiky seedpods. Of course, as with any weed, it's best to remove it before it flowers and sets seeds. This is especially important for puncturevine, as seeds are viable for years, and can be spread by shoes or the wheels of lawn mowers or carts.
Biological control using several species of weevils have been tried but are not always effective. Chemical control of puncturevine in the home garden is often unnecessary. However, in heavily infested areas, or when hand removal is difficult, herbicide may be an option.
For more information on puncturevine see the IPM Pestnote No. 74128 and the IPM Weed Gallery.
- Author: Laura Lukes
Why are wine bottles tall and narrow? That distinctive shape contributes to the happy marriage between cork and a bottle made tall enough to lie on its side so the wine can “breathe” through the cork as it matures. Lying on its side while stored in cool, dry cellars ensures that the liquid within the bottle will marinate the cork end just enough to keep it from drying out and crumbling.
What do wine, wax, and wrinkles have to do with local trees? In 1904, a cork oak grove was planted in Lower Bidwell Park near the Nature Center on East 8th Street. The grove was located within a 29-acre tract of land that John Bidwell donated in 1888 to the newly created State Board of Forestry for use as a woody plant nursery and demonstration plantation.
The species can reach about 66 feet in height, but is usually smaller than that in its native habitat. There are two notable exceptions: In Portugal, the Sobreiro Monumental (Monumental Cork Oak), is 234 years old and 52 feet tall, with a trunk so large in circumference that it takes up to five people with outstretched arms to encircle it. It is listed as a National Monument, and cited in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest and oldest cork oak in the world. Closer to home, a Quercus suber in Napa is registered as a California Big Tree. It is 89 feet tall, with a trunk circumference of 20 feet, and a crown spread of 81 feet.
What makes the cork bark commercially viable is its unique cell structure and its ability to regenerate. A cubic centimeter of cork bark is teeming with air cells (up to 40 million!) and those cells are waterproofed by the waxy suberin. Cork oak bark is durable, light, and bouncy, and once cut, has a suction-cup effect that helps it adhere to the neck of a bottle. There is a long list of uses for cork that's left over after the stoppers have been cut out: flooring, cricket ball cores, insulation panels, sound-proofing materials, fishing rod handles, even devices for the space industry. In Portuguese towns and cities, it is common to see shops selling backpacks, handbags, and even shoes made out of cork.
In the harvesting process, the bark is peeled from the tree by hand, using only an axe to strip the bark from around the tree. Absolutely no machinery is employed. It can take up to five people to harvest the bark of each tree. Because expertise and finesse is required to peel off the bark without damaging the trunk's cambium layer, harvesters train for about 8 years.
Our cork oaks in Lower Bidwell Park were also harvested periodically; scars from a stripping performed in 1940 and again more recently are visible even now. Click here for a photo taken in 1941 of the local cork oak trees.
In addition to providing cork bark, cork oak groves in Portugal and Spain support another form of agriculture: their acorns provide sustenance to sheep, cattle, and especially hogs. A superior type of ham with a distinctive sought-after flavor is obtained from the Iberian pigs that feed on the fallen acorns.
The Butte County UC Master Gardeners are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4H, farm advisors, and nutrition and physical activity programs. Our mission is to enhance local quality of life by bringing practical, scientifically-based knowledge directly to our community. For more information on UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
Photo Credits:
Cork oak acorns - Bellotas de alcornoque (Quercus suber), Ceuta, España. Xemenendura - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29528312
Cork oak stripping - Nederlands: Kurkschillen in Santa Margarida da Serra. By Nocampo - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23045407
Trunk of a Cork oak - Stamm einer Korkeiche (Quercus suber). By Claus Ableiter - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2170249
Cork Oaks Southern Portugal. By KirjavaKinkytail - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79311214
- Author: Cindy Weiner
By this time of year the lush growth and colorful flowers of spring are just a memory.
Eriogonum, or wild buckwheat, is a large genus with many species native to California. These perennials are available in a variety of sizes, growth habits and flower colors, and some species also have named cultivars. Individual flowers are small but are born in clusters containing many flowers, providing a visual impact. Wild buckwheats are very attractive to native pollinators, especially butterflies, and also provide food and habitat for birds. The flowers are long-lasting, fading to a rusty color in late summer. The plants are evergreen, grow in full sun, and require little to no supplemental water once established.
California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum) is native to the foothills of southern California and is quite drought-tolerant. It grows one to three feet tall and up to four feet wide. Its needle-like leaves grow in clusters along the stem. The white or pink flowers grow in flat-topped clusters.
St. Catherine's lace (Eriogonum giganteum) is native to the Channel Islands and Baja California. It grows to be a large, rounded woody shrub four to five feet tall and six or more feet wide. Its creamy flowers grow in large flat clusters held above the plant. The leaves are gray-green and felty.
The Butte County UC Master Gardeners are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4H, farm advisors, and nutrition and physical activity programs. Our mission is to enhance local quality of life by bringing practical, scientifically-based knowledge directly to our community. For more information on UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
![Bee on California buckwheat, J. Alosi Bee on California buckwheat, J. Alosi](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/dirt/blogfiles/61963.jpg)
![Sulfur buckwheat dried flowers, J. Alosi Sulfur buckwheat dried flowers, J. Alosi](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/dirt/blogfiles/61959.jpg)
- Author: Jeanette Alosi
The decline in numbers of European honeybees, bumblebees and other native pollinators has been well documented for over a decade. Research exploring pollinator decline began in earnest in 2006 when Colony Collapse Disorder, affecting honeybees, first appeared. In 2006 and 2007 managed honeybee colonies experienced a loss rate of over 30 percent. There was great concern that the loss of pollinating honeybees could negatively affect agricultural production including our local almond crop. Although managed honeybee colonies rebounded (thanks to improvements in hive management), hive losses from April 2018 to April 2019 reached 40%, the highest loss since monitoring began, primarily due to reduced effectiveness of Varroa mite control materials.
Neonics are a nicotine-derived class of pesticides developed for use on both farm crops and landscape plants. Approved by the EPA in the 1990's, this group of neurotoxins are the most commonly applied group of insecticides in the world.
No direct link has been found between neonics and the Colony Collapse Disorder of honeybees. Although not clearly understood, neonics may weaken the honeybee immune system, thus making the bees more susceptible to pathogens and diseases. Research has also found that bumblebees and solitary bees are affected differently than honeybees. A study at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts discovered that queen and male bumblebees suffer much higher rates of mortality compared to that of worker bees. This negatively affects the ability to form new colonies.
Neonics are long lasting; they can persist in the soil for months, but can last years in woody plants. When used to protect corn and other seeds, they can remain in the soil to be absorbed later by other untreated plants.
Because many products approved for home and garden use can be legally applied at rates significantly higher than the rates approved for agricultural crops, home gardeners may unwittingly be exposing pollinators to toxic levels of pesticide. Neonic pesticides found in common home and garden products include imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, acetamiprid, and dinotefuran.
The Butte County UC Master Gardeners are part of the University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) system, serving our community in a variety of ways, including 4H, farm advisors, and nutrition and physical activity programs. Our mission is to enhance local quality of life by bringing practical, scientifically-based knowledge directly to our community. For more information on UCCE Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit https://ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg/. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
Examples of neonicotinoid ingredients found in common garden insecticides: |
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