August 2006

Edible

• Become a Master Gardener. Training starts on January 22 at Garfield Park Conservatory. Classes include botany, soils, woody ornamentals, vegetables, herbaceous plants, fruits, insects, turf, plant pathology, integrated pest management/pesticide safety and using herbs in the garden.
  
  
• Melon varieties ripen at different times.  Most cantaloupe, muskmelon, honeydew, and similar varieties are ready when their gray-green color beings to change to buff-yellow, and when a light tug separates the fruit from the vine.  However, this test is not 100 percent foolproof, and you may need to experiment.  There are three traditional tests to determine if a watermelon is ripe:  (1) when the tendril nearest the point on the vine where the fruit stem attaches turns brown; (2) when the spot where the fruit rests on the ground turns yellow; and (3) when you flick the melon with your finger and hear “punk” instead of “pink” or “pank.”
  
  
• All sweet bell peppers start out as “green peppers,” which is their unripe state.  When peppers ripen, they will turn red, yellow, or orange, or some of the newer white or purple colors, depending on the variety grown.  Pick the ripe peppers promptly as soon as they reach full size, to encourage further fruit set.
  
  
• While herbs add zing to our cooking, they are also of great value to bees and butterflies. Herbs that produce plenty of pollen for bees include basil, marjoram, thyme, sage, savory, mint, lavender, rosemary, anise, hyssop, bee balm, and borage. Caterpillars of the Black and Anise Swallowtail butterfly make their home on--and eat the leaves from--fennel, angelica, dill and chervil. The American Painted Lady prefers borage, and peppermint attracts the Pearly Crescent Spot.

Ornamental

The second annual “Earth Machine” compost bin sale will be held on Saturday, August 19, 2006 from 8 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the parking lots of the following locations: Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 North Central Park Avenue at Lake Street, the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, 3807 West 111th Street and North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 North Pulaski Road. Bins will be sold for $25.00 each to Chicago residents only with proof of residency. Cash or check only. Rain or shine. Free "How to Compost" booklet with each purchase. Call 773-233-0476 for more information or go to http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/cook/

Bagworm caterpillars are here. They usually attack junipers, arborvitae and junipers. The caterpillars form a small bag of silk and leaves on their backs as they feed. While they are feeding, control with Dipel or Thuricide. If feeding has stopped, removing the bags by hand is an option for light infestations. For a bagworm fact sheet, call 773-233-0476.

In late August, plant autumn-flowering crocus, colchicum, and other fall-flowering bulbs as soon as they become available at garden centers. Crocus need full sun; colchicum can be planted in areas receiving light shade. Plant winter-hardy pansies and fall annuals (calendula, dianthus, ornamental cabbage and kale).

Diversify the tree plantings in your home landscape. With the recent discovery of the Emerald Ash Borer in the suburbs, it is important not to over-plant with one tree species like ash or as the elm was in the past. A mixture of tree species will restrict the spread of insect and disease pests because of their differences in susceptibility.

Powdery mildew may soon be showing up in your vegetable and flower garden, especially if you are growing roses, phlox, lilacs or zinnias. The fungus appears with warm, humid days with a relative humidity from 23 to 99 percent. The mildew will not kill plants, but it doesn’t look good. The best control is to plant mildew-resistant varieties and to space plants properly to allow good air movement around plants.

Grubs are hatching in your lawn. If you water your lawn consistently, you will be much more likely to have grub damage because the adult beetle likes to lay eggs in moist soil. Your neighbor who never watered his lawn may have far fewer grubs. Treat the lawn now with imidacloprid (Merit) and immediately water it in with one-half inch of water to get it down to the root zone where the grubs are feeding.

Septoria leaf spot has been showing up on many species of Rudbeckia such as black-eyed Susans and orange coneflowers. Dark 1/8 inch, dark brown spots appear on lower leaves. The spots merge into large, brown areas and move up the plant. Splashing on the leaves from rainfall will spread the disease. Avoid wetting the leaves when watering. Remove dead leaves at the end of the growing season. Copper based fungicides are effective, but should be applied before symptoms appear.