My roses are looking like I’ll begin enjoying marvelous color in a week.
I also noticed a few holes in the leaves. I applied systemic fertilizer/insecticide several weeks ago and those little green worms that tried to feast on the leaves got eliminated before they did much damage. The worms are the same color as the leaves and are on the underside of the leaf.
If they are not controlled, they will defoliate the plant in just a few days and that loss of foliage will really weaken the plant as well as destroy the beauty you were hoping to enjoy. Most insecticides will eliminate these problem bugs, but the product has to be applied to the underside of the leaf where the bugs are feeding. Certain varieties of roses are sure hosts and other varieties are never bothered … I haven’t figured that out, must be the flavor.
Farmers Market starts this Thursday, and I am excited about all the produce that we already have available this season. I planted my garden early this year and have had a few frost scares, but the crops are looking great and we are harvesting asparagus, kale, radishes, green onions, spinach, kohlrabi, Romaine lettuce and will also have brown eggs from our happy hens, and of course, Corrine’s pies. The market is great fun for us and we hope to see you there.
I sprayed my goldstrum rudbeckia and tall garden phlox this week to prevent fungus problems that attack both of these perennials. New varieties of the phlox have much more resistance than the older but are also shorter and earlier to bloom. Having both gives me a much longer season of color, so the preventative care is worth the extra effort for me. The fungus that causes the black spots on the rubeckia is very disfiguring if it gets started. Prevention is the only way to keep those plants looking great.
If you haven’t had a problem with this fungus, you probably won’t have to worry about it. However, if you have had it, the disease carries over in leaf debris from the previous season, so you can be sure it will show up every year.
Be sure to clip off the old flower heads of tulips and peonies so the plants aren’t pumping energy into seed instead of the bulbs. Also remember that spring blooming bulbs need their foliage to build the flower buds in the bulbs for the next year. Once the foliage begins to turn yellow, you can cut it off. If you are planning to move the bulbs, dig them when that foliage begins to dry. You can store them until fall, or replant them immediately.