All posts by jane

Hackberry Nipples

disease, education

Mrs. A, the friend I visited last Spring in Louisville, migrated back to her native state and is now closer by and in the same growing zone as I. She and her family purchased a modest little farmhouse in a rural area of the state. With the house came a beautiful parcel of land including a veggie lot, small apple orchard, herb garden, mature trees, and established perennial plantings.

Every now and then she’ll ping me with a question about gardening as she is a newcomer to the hobby. She’s been soaking up knowledge like a sponge and I’ve been having a great time chatting with her about all things green and growing. The following was a photo she sent to me from leaves she noticed on a mature tree near the garage. She asked if this was a disease and something they should treat.

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Weird, right?! It’s one of those things you poke at with fascination and a touch of “this creeps me out.” There were cylinder-like growths protruding from the underside of the leaves.

ID the Victim

The first thing to do was ID the tree. Many universities have great tree ID keys on their websites. After using the bark, leaves, shape of the tree, and the growing Zone where we are located, we identified the tree as a hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). The hackberry is a hardy shade tree growing up to 60 feet tall. Mrs. A’s hackberry was one of these mature specimens.

What are the Symptoms

Here is another shot of the hackberry leaf. The leaf itself was picked up from the lawn, not from the tree. However, some branches were hanging low enough to notice the leaves were not dry, but did have the same odd growths.
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Many irregular growths on plants are referred to as “galls.” The plant reacts to a parasite ranging from bacteria to insects, increasing growth hormones. According to the University of Minnesota, “These plant hormones cause localized plant growth that can result in increases in cell size (hypertrophy) and/or cell number (hyperplasia).” The gall is a growth similar to a benign tumor or wart on an animal.

Galls can appear on leaves, stems, twigs, flowers, and buds. This appeared to be a leaf gall, one of the most common in the plant world. UofM summarizes leaf galls as “leaf curls, blisters, nipples, or erineums (hairy felt-like growths) on the upper or lower leaf surface.”

So, this gall growing on the underside of the leaf was a further clue to help Sherlock the situation. The situation seemed hopeful though because most galls are more of a cosmetic blemish than threatening to the health of a plant. Plus, unlike a young plant needing every bit of the nutrients it can collect, this huge hackberry was older and well settled.

Hackberry Gall Psyllids

Searching on The Internets, armed with the name of the tree and the knowledge of galls, eventually landed me on the Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County website. It seemed the culprit was the hackberry gall psyllid.

After overwintering beneath the bark of the tree, adult psyllids  lay eggs on the new growth of spring leaves. When the egg hatches, the young insect begins to feed on the sap of the leaf. This action triggers the forming of the gall, enclosing the insect. The psyllid will remain protected as it feeds throughout the summer.

To Spray or Not to Spray

It depends on the homeowner or gardener as to how comfortable he or she is with the cosmetic alteration of the tree. It was comforting to Mrs. A to know the hackberry gall psyllid was not harming the tree. Because of the large size of the tree and the fact at this stage the galls protect the insects, a foliar spray would have been a waste of time and money. Spraying during spring when the nymphs are emerging would be an option, but the application would have to be repeated over several weeks, again resulting in a huge expense. There are insecticide drenches that can be mixed and applied at the base of the tree during the feeding period of sucking insects. This also is based on the size of the tree so may be impractical due to cost. That money could be put toward new plants! If it were up to this gardener, the tree is not being harmed so I would let nature handle it.

Blueberry Season

Uncategorized

The Other Half and I are blueberry picking this morning. It’s the very beginning of the season, so it’s easy to nudge the ripe berries off into our buckets. These are of the Blue Crop variety. Can’t wait to eat them in my morning cereal!

Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – July 2016

backyard bed, bloom day, containers, fence bed, front bed, gate bed, house bed, perennials, sidewalk bed, the Lot

Happy Bloom Day! Every month May Dreams Gardens host Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, a day in which gardeners from around the world share what is blooming in their gardens.

First up is a shot from the Lot’s gate bed which is in the shade the majority of the day with just a touch of afternoon sun. The astilbe is in bloom, nestled among the hosta, maiden hair fern, and maiden hair grass.

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This next bloom is a dwarf coneflower, Echinacea purpurea ‘Butterfly Kisses.’ This little guy helps to keep the roots of the clematis cool in an area exposed to full day sun.

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And out front in the south bed are the standard purple coneflowers. I noticed these plants aren’t as prolific as last season. I will have to get in there later and see if there is any disease or other factors stunting the growth.

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Here is one of the hanging baskets from this season, containing zinnias, snap dragons, and kale. I really dig how the blue green foliage of the kale is working out here.

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Here is a container put together by my gardening friend Miss A.

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In the north bed by the house, the ligularia is blooming.

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And on the east side of the house, the masterwort and lady’s mantle are both showing color.

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This next bed I’ve struggled with ever since beginning to garden on the Lot. Who knew common milkweed grew so tall! Blooms include tall garden phlox, balloon flowers, and coreopsis.

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I picked up this mix of succulents, great as a ground cover,  from a neighborhood plant exchange. I used them to fill in some gaps here and there in the full sun bed in the backyard.

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Finally, here is the ornamental oregano just added to the Lot this spring. It is near the purple coneflowers in the front, south bed. I saw this plant draping over a rocky border during the 2014 Portland Garden Bloggers’ Fling. I’ve wanted one ever since!

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