Whitney's Farm Pick of the Week!

Joes Shurb pick of the week

Stewartia Tree

Height - Over 30 ft.
Spread - 15 ft. to 30 ft.
Growth Pace - Slow Grower
Light - Full Sun to Part Shade
Moisture - Medium Moisture
Characteristics - Interesting Bark; Showy Fall Foliage; Showy Flowers; Showy Foliage
Bloom Time - Summer
Flower Color - White Flower
Uses - Flowering Tree, Specimen Plant/ Focal Point
Seasonal Interest - Winter Interest, Spring Interest, Summer Interest, Fall Interest

Sarah's Perennial Pick of the Week

Gaura

Zone 5 – Zone 9
Blooms early summer into the fall
Plant in full sun
Adapts well to dry or moist soil conditions
Grows 30”-36” tall
Space 24” apart
Great cut flower
Delicate flowers over a long season, a graceful filter for the garden or bouquets. Attractive massed or in informal gardens with verbena, sedum, Jupiter’s beard and ornamental grasses. Avoid we soil in winter months.

Eric Pest of the Week

Cucumber Beetle

Identification:
Striped cucumber beetles are about 7mm long, yellow with three black stripes that reach the end of the forewings, a yellow thorax and black head.
Life Cycle:
Adults overwinter in field edges near last year's crop, with a small proportion remaining in the field. With the onset of warm days, beetles move rapidly into young crops.
Crop Injury:
Adults cause direct feeding damage to cotyledons, leaves and the base of the stem. Eggs are laid in soil and larvae feed on roots. After the pupal stage is completed in the soil, summer adults emerge. These adult beetles congregate in flowers and may cause damage to fruit.
Beetle feeding spreads bacterial wilt to young plants, especially before the 5-leaf stage. Cucumber and muskmelon are highly susceptible to wilt; watermelon is not. To prevent bacterial wilt in susceptible crops, scout for beetles twice weekly at the seedling stage. Treat when beetle numbers reach 1 beetle per 2 plants.
Cultural Controls & Prevention:
Use crop rotation to reduce beetle numbers. Spunbonded row covers exclude beetles; use hoops to prevent abrasion and remove at flowering to allow pollination. Transplants may allow plants to reach a later growth stage before beetles arrive. Some repellents or systemics may be applied to transplants outside the greenhouse before setting in the field, which is convenient and allows lower rates of application.
Use a perimeter trap crop of Blue Hubbard or another Cucurbita maxima variety and treat borders with a systemic at planting or with a foliar insecticide as soon as the first beetles arrive, to protect a main crop of cucumbers and melons from beetle damage.
Management: We recommend Bonide Tree and Shurb with the active chemical imidacloprid, Also the chemical Sevin will work really well in the control of this pest the active chemical in it is Carbaryl. A natural control for the beetle is Bonide’s Captain Jacks Dead Bug Brew, its active ingredient is Spinosad which is derived from the whiskey brewing process.

*Information regarding cucmber beetle was taken from the umass extension website http://extension.umass.edu/vegetable/insects/cucumber-beetle-striped

Sue’s pick of the week

Inglehoffs

In 1929 Rose Biggi started Beaverton Foods in the cellar of her farmhouse. To help endure the Great Depression, she began grinding her horseradish crop, bottling it, and selling it to local grocery stores. Through her hard work and perseverance, she not only survived the hard economic times, but also built the foundation for the largest specialty condiment manufacturer in the United States.
We carry the Ingolhoff’s line of products from the Beaverton company.
Available in squeeze bottles in our store are
Cream Style Horseradish
Dijon Stone Ground Mustard
Honey Mustard
Stone Ground Mustard
They are all great products that fly off of our shelves. They are very flavorful! A great addition to any summertime barbaque! The Cream Style Horseradish is the best I have ever tasted!

Joe's Shrub Pick of the Week

Common name:
Let’s Dance Starlight Re-blooming Hydrangea

Latin Name:
Hydrangea Macrophylla ‘Lynn’

Requires Full to part sun
Grows 2’-3’ tall and 2’-3’ wide
Zone 5-9
Brilliant color, purple lace cap
Large vivid lace cap flower every summer
Soil ph affects the color of the bloom

Sarah's Perennial Pick of the Week

Common Name:
Tick Seed

Latin Name:
Coreopsis

Requires Full Sun
Attracts butterflies
Blooms Midsummer into the fall
Grows 18”-24” Tall, plant 18”-24” apart
Zone 4-9
Ideal cut flower
Remove dead heads for continued blooms
Complements Aster, Cone Flower and Phlox in the garden

Eric’s Pest of the Week

Pest: Viburnum Leaf Beetle (Pyrrhalta virburni)

Order: Coleoptera

Family: Chrysomelidae

Host Plants:This native of Europe feeds exclusively on many different species of viburnum, which include: Viburnum opulus (and cultivars), V. dentatum, and V. rafinesquianum. Adults have also been found feeding and laying eggs on V. lentago, V. acerifolium, and V. trilobu.
Life Cycle:This pest over-winters as an egg on the twigs of the host plant. Eggs hatch in May of the following year and the young larvae begin feeding on the host plant foliage. Larvae are usually found feeding together in groups. Pupation occurs 8-10 weeks later and the first adults begin to appear around the middle of July. Adults are active up until the first frost. Mating occurs, starting in July, and the female will chew small holes in the twigs where she lays her eggs. She then proceeds to cover these individual eggs with excrement giving the bark of these twigs a roughened appearance. Each female produces up to 500 eggs. (Source: Insects That Feed on Trees and Shrubs. Johnson and Lyons).

Injury and Appearance:Both the larvae (immatures) and the adults feed voraciously on the foliage of the host plants. Heavily attacked plants will have every leaf skeletonized by this pest. It is the only pest that causes such injury to viburnums.
Adults are small and brown and somewhat difficult to see. The immatures are dark in color and can be found feeding in groups on the host foliage.

Management:Homeowners need to be aware of the signs of this beetle’s injury along with knowing what the different life stages look like. One should also monitor for the eggs on the stems of viburnums. When found, this pest should be treated to limit its injury and spread. Physical removal of this pest from the host plant is difficult to obtain especially when many plants are involved. Therefore, pesticide treatments may be necessary to manage this pest, once found.

We recommend Bonide Tree and Shurb with the active chemical imidacloprid, Also the chemical Sevin will work really well in the control of this pest the active chemical in it is Carbaryl. A natural control for the beetle is Bonide’s Captain Jacks Dead Bug Brew, its active ingredient is Spinosad which is derived from the whiskey brewing process.

*Information regarding viburnum beetle was taken from the umass extension website http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/defoliators/viburnum_leaf_beetle.html

Sue’s Farm Market Product of the Week

Rufus Teagus Barbeque Sauce

“He put some in a jar and shared itwith the boys they kept on painin’ him ‘till he fixed up another batch next thing he’s makin’ sauce all the time”

A 100% natural and gluten free food that is made in Kansas City.
It goes best with Beef, Chicken Fish and Pork and also goes well with literally everything else. This product has been flying off of our shelves since we got it in April! It is sweet, spicy and thick a must have for the upcoming BBQ season. We carry three flavors Touch of Honey, Honey Sweet and Blazin’ Hot. “Good sauce makes bad barbeque good and good barbeque gooder’

Hanging Basket Care!

Hanging baskets are a great way to welcome spring and summer! That bright burst of color after an oh so long winter! They are gift giving staples on many summer holidays; they last much longer the cut flowers and add that much needed splash of color to our decks and porches that we need this time of year. The only trouble is trying to keep them looking as beautiful as the day you purchased them. One of the hardest things about keeping hanging baskets looking nice all summer is the fact that there is a lot of plant material being supported by a small amount of soil. Having a small amount of soil means that your soil will dry out quickly, you have to always be diligent about water. Here are a few tips that will help you keep your hanging baskets looking as good as the day you got them.

Water it every day! Every day! Even if it rains, at least check it. A mature 10 inch hanging basket can transpire gallons of water in a day, not glasses!! On hot and/or windy days you have to water it twice! If you go away for a weekend water it well and place it on or close to the ground in full shade with as little direct sunlight and wind as possible---maybe even in the garage. When you purchase your hanging basket from us we provide you with a slow release osmocote fertilizer that will last a few months but you will still want to fertilizer your hanging basket at least once a week with a liquid fertilizer such as miracle gro. If your hanging basket starts to look overgrown or leggy a quick ‘haircut’ will bring it right back into shape.

***Never ever entrust the care of your hanging plants to anyone else. A full 98% of hanging basket deaths that are reported to me were in the care of a husband, sibling, neighbor, friend or other trusted individual***