Blackspot is a common fungal disease of roses. Symptoms of blackspot are circular black spots on the leaves. Infected leaves turn yellow and drop prematurely. Initially, symptoms develop on the lower leaves and gradually move…
Most garden areas, including the lawn, vegetable garden, and perennial garden, perform best when they receive an inch of water each week. When this is not supplied by rain, the gardener must do it using a hose, bucket, or sprinkler.
Most garden areas, including the lawn, vegetable garden, and perennial garden, perform best when they receive an inch of water each week. When this is not supplied by rain, the gardener must do it using a hose, bucket, or sprinkler.
To encourage vigorous growth and abundant bloom, hybrid tea, floribunda, and grandiflora roses should be fertilized two or three times a year. Fertilizer applications can be made in early spring (immediately after pruning), during the first…
Modern roses, such as hybrid teas, floribundas, and grandifloras, require watering during hot, dry weather. The frequency depends upon weather conditions and soil type. In most gardens, a thorough watering every 7 to 10 days during…
Japanese beetles eat the foliage, fruits, and flowers of over 300 plants. When feeding on foliage, the beetles consume the tissue between the veins, leaving a lace-like skeleton. Flowers and fruits are sometimes devoured completely.…
The large, hard growth is probably crown gall. Crown gall is caused by the bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The bacterial disease can infect roses, grapes, apples, raspberries, willows, euonymus, and many other woody…
The yellow-green bugs are probably the adults of the northern corn rootworm. The larvae of the northern corn rootworm feed on the roots of corn plants. The adults (yellow-green beetles) appear in mid-summer and are present until frost…
Deadheading or the removal of faded flowers is done to encourage additional bloom on hybrid tea and other repeat-flowering roses. Hybrid tea roses usually have one or two 3-leaflet leaves immediately below the flower. Next (lower down…
When plants produce a chemical that prevents the growth of other plants, it is called allelopathy.
Black walnut is a common woodland and landscape tree in the Midwest that produces an allelopathic compound called juglone which is…
There are many trees, shrubs, perennials, and vines that can be planted in an Iowa landscape. What you decide to plant is based on many different considerations. While selecting plants that are attractive to you is certainly a consideration…
Many settlers in Iowa admired the rose growing wild throughout the state. In 1896, the Iowa legislature selected it as the motif on a silver tea set presented to the U.S. Navy and used on the battleship Iowa. A year later, on May 6, 1897, with…
