Desert Blooms

Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson I planed to get some photos of sunflowers for this week's blog post. Instead, I found these cool caterpillars. Figure 1. Lace bug eggs laid on end and covered with frass (photo credit NMSU Plant Diagnostic Clinic). Question: What’s growing on the underside of my neighbor’s sunflower leaves? -         Carl M., Los Lunas, NM Answer: At first, I thought the dusty black stuff looked like mold, but under a microscope, you can see that those black dots are a weird combination of eggs and insect poo (Fig. 1). I sent the leaf down to the NMSU Plant Diagnostic Clinic ( http://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/plantclinic/ ). Here are comments from NMSU Extension Entomologist Dr. Carol Sutherland's diagnostic report: “These little creatures are ‘lace bugs’ (Order Hemiptera, Family Tingidae, Corythucha morrilli ). The adult stage has the features that give these bugs their common name: lace bug. The elaborate pattern of veins i

Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson Drooping, necrotic tissue sampled from this pear tree was diagnosed with fire blight by the NMSU Plant Diagnostic Center. Question: I think my Asian pear might have fire blight. Can you tell from this branch? [Sample submitted with wilted, blackened leaves at tips of new growth. See photo below.]                         -          Jade W., Albuquerque, NM Sample from Asian pear tree in Albuquerque diagnosed with fire blight by the NMSU Plant Diagnostic Center. Answer: I couldn’t tell for sure from the sample, so I sent it to the NMSU Plant Diagnostic Clinic in Las Cruces ( http://aces.nmsu.edu/ces/plantclinic/ ). Our NMSU Extension Plant Pathology Specialist Jason French explained how samples are analyzed in the lab when a bacterial infection is suspected. First, they excise a small amount of tissue at the margin of the infection (the intersection of healthy and symptomatic tissue). Then they macerate and streak th

Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson "The drainage rate of any soil is also influenced by the drainage rate of the soil lower in the profile... To understand soil drainage one must investigate the total profile." - the Internation Society of Arboriculture and Urban Tree Foundation "Planting Standards "  Even African violets, which require relatively moist soil, need good drainage and to dry slightly between waterings in order to thrive (photo credit M. Thompson). This split-leaf philodendron thrives when soil is allowed to really dry out between waterings (M. Thompson).  Question: I’ve been battling with little gnats in potted plants for months. I have covered the soil with small aquarium gravel, and have tried using bowls of vinegar and even sticky flytraps. But they are still very prevalent in my home and making me a little bit nuts! -           Erin F., Albuquerque, NM Answer: It sounds like you have fungus gnats. As Dr. Caro

Southwest Yard & Garden by Dr. Marisa Thompson "Southwest Gardening" by Rosalie Doolittle and Harriet Tiedebohl is one of my all-time favorite plant books for gardening in New Mexico. First published in 1953, some of the advice in this book is outdated (like planting invasive species!), so don't follow all of the suggestions word-for-word, but it's still a great read (photo credit, M. Thompson with pink cosmos flower on July 5 at the NMSU Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas). Question: We are building our Extension Master Gardener library. What are your favorite plant books? -           Lin Y., Valencia County, NM Answer: I try to keep an edition—any edition—of Robert DeWitt Ivey’s “Flowering Plants of New Mexico” with me as I travel around the state. Every plant in the book includes a hand-drawn image of the flowering structures and leaves, and a zoomed-in portion of the plant if there are distinguishing characteristics to be found. In the