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Aster Yellows Symptoms While aster yellows is found in carrots, it is by no means the only species afflicted. Any of the following commercially grown crops may become infected with aster yellows: Broccoli Buckwheat Cabbage Cauliflower Celery Endive Flax Lettuce Onion Parsley Potato Parsnip Pumpkin Red clover Salsify Spinach Strawberry Tomato Yellowing of foliage is the first sign of aster yellows disease and is often accompanied by resetting of leaves and stunting of the plant....

Balcony living space can contribute to a relaxing home life. Envisioning your space starts with outlining your goals. Do you simply want a quiet balcony outdoor seating area, or do your aims include growing your own food, or decorating with plants? Once you realize what objectives your space can attain, it’s time to start planning. What to Do With Balcony Space By all means, utilize your outdoor areas. If all you have is a postage stamp sized step out, you can still decorate with lighting, hanging plants, and maybe even some fold up chairs to use when viewing the sunset....

If you are thinking of doing the same, there are many pink blossom trees out there. Whether you want a small tree with pink flowers or a large one, read on for our recommendations. Pink Blossom Trees When you are looking for a small tree with pink flowers for the backyard, why not start with ornamental fruit trees? Though many gardeners bring in regular fruit trees for their orchards, it’s the ornamental fruit trees that have the best spring blossom displays....

Beer Plant Food, Anyone? Two ingredients in beer, yeast and carbohydrates, seem to foster the idea that watering plants with beer plant food has some benefit to the garden. Additionally, beer is made up of about 90 percent water, so logically, since plants need water, watering your plants with beer might seem like a good idea. Watering plants with beer, however, might be a bit of an expensive option even if you aren’t using a pricey import or microbrew....

Big Bend Yucca Information Big Bend yucca is native to the rocky hillsides and canyon walls of Texas, Northern Mexico, and Arizona. Historically, Native Americans put Big Bend yucca plants to good use as a source of fiber and food. Today, the plant is appreciated for its extreme drought tolerance and bold beauty. Although Big Bend yucca is slow growing, it can eventually reach heights of 11 to 15 feet (3-5 m....

Plants with Big Flowers Sometimes bigger is better, and while a mix of flowers is nice, make sure to add some of these massive blooms to your beds for maximum impact: Dinnerplate dahlia: Called dinner plate varieties, these plants produce pretty flowers of 8 to 10 inches (20-25 cm.) across. There are several types in any color you can imagine. Cultivars like ‘Hamari Gold’ and ‘Penhill Dark Monarch’ are massive dinnerplate dahlias....

Seedling bird protection can be frustrating, but you’ve got several options when it comes to protecting garden seeds from birds. How to Protect Seedlings from Birds Gardeners have devised a number of ways to keep birds from eating seedlings, ranging from the complicated to the impractical. Although you can pick up tools like artificial owls and bird scare items at your hardware store, these tricks lose their power over time....

What is American Bittersweet Vine? American bittersweet is a vigorous deciduous, perennial vine that grows 15 to 20 feet (4.5-6 m.) tall. It is native to central and eastern North America. They produce yellowish green flowers that bloom in spring, but the flowers are plain and uninteresting compared to the berries that follow. As the flowers fade, orange-yellow capsules appear. In late fall and winter, the capsules open at the ends to display the bright red berries inside....

Burning Bush Growth The arching stems are decorated with clusters of finely pointed leaves that droop appealingly from the branch. The plant is also called winged Euonymous because of the ridges that arise on young burning bush growth. These disappear after the stems mature. The plant will get tiny flowers in May to June that turn into tiny dangling red berries. Birds eat the berries and inadvertently plant the seeds in your garden....

Should You Be Planting Trees Around Power Lines? As mentioned, 25 to 45 feet (8-14 m.) is usually the height utility companies trim tree branches to allow for power lines. If you are planting a new tree in an area beneath power lines, it is suggested that you select a tree or shrub that does not grow taller than 25 feet (8 m.). Most city plots also have 3 to 4 feet (1 m....

Carolina Jessamine vines are covered with clusters of fragrant, yellow flowers in late winter and spring. The flowers are followed by seed capsules that ripen slowly over the remainder of the season. If you want to collect a few seeds to start new plants, pick the capsules in fall after the seeds inside have turned brown. Air dry them for three or four days and then remove the seeds. They are easy to start indoors in late winter or outdoors in late spring when the soil is thoroughly warm....

What is Belly Rot? Belly rot in fruit is caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia solani, which survives in the soil from year to year. The fungus becomes active when humidity is high and temperatures warm, causing obvious signs of infection within 24 hours and entirely rotting fruits in as little as 72. Temperatures below 50 degrees F. (10 C.) can slow or prevent infection. This is primarily a disease of cucumbers but may cause belly rot in fruit of squash and melons as well....

Charleston Gray History According to Cambridge University Press, Charleston Gray watermelon plants were developed in 1954 by C.F. Andrus of the United States Department of Agriculture. Charleston Gray and several other cultivars were developed as part of a breeding program devised to create disease-resistant melons. Charleston Gray watermelon plants were widely grown by commercial growers for four decades and remain popular among home gardeners. How to Grow Charleston Gray Melons Here are some helpful tips on Charleston Gray watermelon care in the garden: Plant Charleston Gray watermelons directly in the garden in early summer, when the weather is consistently warm and soil temperatures have reached 70 to 90 degrees F....

Controlling Cat’s Claw Vines The bright yellow, tube-like flowers are eye-catching and make the vine very distinguishable from other plants. This plant is very aggressive, partly because it has multiple ways of growing. When spreading on the ground, new plants can spring up from tubs under the earth. When climbing, it produces seed pods with winged seeds that fly to a new location to grow. Controlling cat’s claw is a common concern of many gardeners....

Choosing Zone 4 Evergreen Trees The first thing to consider when selecting appropriate zone 4 evergreen trees is the climate the trees can withstand. Winters are harsh in zone 4, but there are lots of trees that can shake off low temperatures, snow, and ice without complaint. All of the trees in this article thrive in cold climates. Another thing to consider is the mature size of the tree. If you have a sprawling landscape, you may want to choose a large tree, but most home landscapes can only handle a small or medium-sized tree....

As such, it makes an excellent liquid fertilizer or composted tea to feed plants and help reduce insect pests. Making comfrey tea for plants is easy and requires no special skills or tools. Try comfrey fertilizer on your plants and see the benefits in your garden. Comfrey as a Fertilizer All plants need specific macro-nutrients for maximum growth, bloom, and fruiting. These are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Much like humans, they also need micro-nutrients such as manganese and calcium....

How to Identify Lambsquarters Removing lambsquarter from the lawn and garden effectively is easier once you know how to recognize this weed. The leaves of young lambsquarter seedlings are green with a slight bluish tint on top and reddish purple undersides. The foliage of the youngest seedlings is covered with clear, shiny granules. The granules later turn to a white, powdery coating that is most noticeable on the undersides of the leaves....

Companion Planting with Beans Beans fix nitrogen in the soil, a necessary nutrient for healthy growth of other crops, which is truly a boon to the gardener. The Iroquois people were aware of this reward, although they chalked it up to a gift from the Great Spirit. Their god also bequeathed to the people corn and squash, which then became logical companion plants for bean. Corn was planted first and when the stalks were tall enough, the beans were sowed....

Why is Controlling Japanese Barberry Important? Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) has escaped its original landscape confines, and now ranges from Nova Scotia south to North Carolina and west to Montana. It thrives in not only full sun but deep shade as well. It leafs out early and retains its leaves late into the fall while forming dense thickets that shade out native species. Not only are native plants in peril, but Japanese barberry has been shown to have a role in the spread of Lyme disease....

Vines That Kill Flowers Vines like trumpet and wisteria are often added to the landscape for their showy blooms. Yes, they look stunning clambering along a fence, but beneath their beauty lies a stealth plan to overtake and rule the garden. Wisteria’s powerful, sweet-smelling tentacles are an example of flower killing vines. Trumpet vine has a lust to grow, grow, and grow, making it just as bad. Other vines that may kill flowers are more of a vine weed in flower beds....