Pests, Beneficial Insects and Plant Diseases
There’s an event every August in Portland, Oregon called Farwest. People come from all over the Western States and beyond to see what’s growing at the nurseries, what new plants are about to hit the market and to share information about greenhouse growing. The last piece is what really interested me. I soaked up information from the experts like Suzanne Wainwright-Evans, the Buglady, and Paul … Continue reading Farwest
Now that the hectic pace of spring has come and gone, it’s easy to think that all the hard work is over. The planting, fertilizing, trimming and clean-up are all complete, shouldn’t we just sit in our Adirondack chairs and gaze serenely at the garden? We can’t forget one of the most difficult tasks a gardener faces, summer watering. With our Northwest summer drought, plants … Continue reading Summer Watering
Today I was so excited to find ladybug larvae on my roses. I was making the usual weekly rounds, dead-heading, checking things out, snipping out leaves with black spot and scouting for aphids. Normally when I find a cluster of aphids I strip them off the leaves with my fingers (yes, I wear gloves). Today as I was brushing them off I noticed a few … Continue reading Ladybug Summer
Yesterday was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. It’s a bittersweet feeling for me, because for the last six months I’m longing for this day of light and for the next six months I’m reminiscing about this summer light. Early morning light and late evening light. Light that wakes me up with its bright intensity and light that puts me to bed … Continue reading The Moth Dance
Normally growing aphids is a bad thing, but in respect to our beneficial insect program, it’s a good thing. At the Environmental Horticulture Program at Lake Washington Institute of Technology we grow and propagate thousands of plants in our greenhouses. Each year the students put on a huge plant sale that generates money that helps fund the program. This year we had a serious threat … Continue reading Banker Plants and Aphid Mummies
Rainyleaf 