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!