I thought I'd make a quick post today to share links to several recent articles in the trade publication "CAPCA Advisor". This magazine is targeted towards Pest Control Advisors (CAPCA = California Association of Pest Control Advisors) and is published every two months.
From the Invasive Plants in Southern California blog :: April 11, 2014 A few years ago it became apparent from conversations and emails that the use of Fusilade (fluazifop-P-butyl, manufactured by Syngenta Crop Protection), a herbicide that only kills grasses (Poaceae), was increasing among wildland...
I'm sure you've noticed that different years have dominant weed species. For example this year in Southern California Russian thistle (aka tumbleweed Salsola tragus among other Salsola species) is abundant in many areas.
It's National Pollinator Week! Do you know where your pollinators are? It was good to see the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) conduct its recent "Be a Scientist" project.
Don't miss Clyde Elmore's photo exhibit Our Great Outdoors. If you attend Weed Day 2014 (July 10, 2014) you'll get a chance to see the exhibit. Our Great Outdoors July 7-Aug. 31, 2014 Buehler Alumni Center, UC Davis There will be a reception from 5-7 PM on July 11, 2014.
By day, they fly around our yard looking for the girls. At night, it's "Boys' Night Out." These males, longhorned digger bees, Melissodes agilis (as identified by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis), are absolutely spectacular.
From the May 2014 Tulare County UC Cooperative Extension "Field Crop Notes" newsletter http://cetulare.ucanr.edu/newletters_898819/Field_Crop_Notes_692/?newsitem=51665 Managing Junglerice in Corn by Steve Wright and Carol Frate Introduction.
Don't you just love those dragonflies? We watch them circle our fish pond, grab flying insects in mid-air, and then touch down on a bamboo stake in our yard to eat them. Some dragonflies stay for hours; others for what seems like half a second. Some let you walk up to them and touch them.
