Creeping Jenny Eaten By Sawfly Larvae

What's eating my Creeping Jenny?

Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'), is a staple in any garden. Used as a perennial ground cover or trailer for containers and hanging baskets - it grows in sun or shade.

So when I walked through the garden this morning, something was awry. I noticed foliage had been eaten; nearly every leaf was damaged.

On closer inspection, these Monostegia abdominalis larvae were happily munching away. Grrrr.

Great, here's another alien insect, reeking havoc in Ontario. Another introduction from Europe we don't need.

These "caterpillars" are in fact sawfly larvae.  Check out this link by Kansas State University to see the difference.

In total, I collected 23 from this one spot.

They are known to feed on foliage within the Loosestrife family of plants, which Creeping Jenny Lysimachia is classified under.

No spraying necessary, it took me no more than 4 minutes to gather them. They are quite easy to find as their silver/grey coating is a great contrast to the lime green foliage. Do Note: once you touch them, they coil and drop off the leaves.  They are known to have 2-3 life cycles per season. These came out in late June, so keep checking your plants for any other generation that may come 'calling'!

One bonus, they became a great snack for our Koi fish in the pond.

Here's Wikipedia's taxonomy description:  Monostegia abdominalis

Tree Sweaters - Yarn Bombing

This post may not have true horticultural content, but I felt compelled to share.

I usually have many distractions walking downtown Toronto. There's so much to take in. Like today, I couldn't help but notice colourful, eye catching sweaters adorning tree trunks. Well, not actually sweaters, but crocheted/knitted items that were wrapped around trunks.

I must say, they are quite creative.

Some are simply granny squares, colourfully designed...

...others are whacky characters.

They certainly took a lot of time and effort to make. They also made many a passer by smile.

Part of me giggled, enjoyed and appreciated the effort and the skill the artist(s) demonstrated.

Part of me worries about what may lurk under these yard bombing sweaters.  You can be certain, many insects nest and hide beneath these crocheted items. I checked. I found earwigs, pill bugs and two egg sacks. That and moisture are not a good combination for the health of the tree. If the yarn stayed sopping wet, it would be the equivalent of wearing a bandaid around your finger all the time. Not the best way to preserve the tree's health.

I'm divided. I would say depending on the type of crocheted/knitted stitch, I think there could be a happy middle ground. The more air that a tree trunk receives the better. The more the community engages with trees, the better - as I hope this "art" achieves. 

To the artist - well done, but make sure you keep the best interest of the trees in mind first before any other intention.

What do you think?

Living Walls - Update

I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised when visiting this living wall again. It has been nearly 4 months since I last stopped to take a look.  Here is my last post to refresh your memory:  Living Walls - Still Not Sure...

My hunch was correct.  A slow state of decline is apparent.

 Lots of yellowing foliage is seen in various spots.

Simple care plants like Philodendrons even yellowing is not a good sign.

Large pockets of missing plants.

Dieffenbachia plants struggling...it's so sad.

Well, I hate to report such a sorry state, but like I mentioned in my original post: living walls require attention and constant care. Great idea - but to say it takes minimal maintenance, the evidence proves otherwise.

Be sure if you decide upon installing one, to invest in a maintenance routine that creates great results.

Evergreens Falling Over in Wind Storm

If only my phone camera could have captured as many fallen evergreens as my eyes have seen in the last 4 days.

The GTA suffered from a serious wind storm that took shingles off roof tops, toppled limbs off of trees and uprooted many a tree within my neighbourhood.

This is our neighbour's Spruce. Two limbs went straight into their back window. It could of been so much worse!

A common denominator that I've noticed: each had their limbs lifted to quite a height off the ground.

I get it - folks want to have clearance and to enjoy perhaps shade or what not under the tree. But doing this practice isn't encouraging optimum plant health.

These evergreen trees aren't supposed to have growth and branches only on the top 1/2 to 3/4 of the tree.

Removing the branches from the bottom half, makes the above growth act as a sail of sorts - which puts added pressure at the base of the tree. Once you remove the branches, foot traffic at the base of these pruned evergreens just compacts the soil and allows the base to dry out.

Evergreens should have a "skirt" to protect the root mass below and to shield the trunk from heavy winds.

Trees pruned like the ones above have no defence mechanism to bear the weight and force of wind.

The skirt protects the base of the tree from drying out. Needles, fall cast and cones are nature's own mulch. They help keep moisture locked in, enabling the tree to flourish despite drought conditions.

The wind flows all the way around the tree as apposed to through it when trees have a skirt. This stabilizes the tree and keeps it at bay.

So if you're interested in planting an evergreen, give it ample space to sprawl out and allow it to spread to its natural width and breadth.  Don't limb it up and park your car close by.

Or, you'll have a hefty arborist bill awaiting the next time we have one of these storms.