With apologies to Shakespeare, one old saying leads to another: “Dieback, not tieback” answers the question. Don’t cut off daffodil leaves until they lose their green color and start to turn yellow and dieback of their own accord. Flowering causes bulbs to expend a tremendous amount of stored energy. Healthy leaves are necessary to gather sunlight and convert it into carbohydrates utilized to produce next year’s bloom. This requires a minimum of 6, but preferably a full 8 to 10 weeks after flowering for the bulb to complete its rebuilding process.

For this reason, the widespread practice of braiding the leaves, or bending, folding and securing them with rubber bands to tidy up the garden, is also discouraged. Not only does braiding cut off sunlight to all but the exposed top layer of leaves, but it can also promote fungal diseases, especially during cool, wet weather. Bent and folded leaves are analogous to a bent and blocked straw that can no longer transport liquids efficiently. To insure success in subsequent years, everything possible should be done to encourage and retain healthy leaves until their work is completed. Only after the leaves have yellowed and browned, should they be removed.

This season’s emergence of the Japanese beetle has been observed within the last week. Individual metallic green beetles with hard, copper brown wing covers live about 30 to 45 days with activity over a four to six week period. They decline in late July but some are found as late as September. It is too soon to tell if there will be a plentiful population. The Japanese beetle, commonly known as the jitterbug is a serious pest to roses, grapes, cannas, and crape myrtles as well as other plants. Odor and location in direct sun seem to very important for plant selection. They usually feed in groups, starting at the top of the plant, working downward. Adults feed on the upper surface of foliage, chewing the tissue between the veins. This gives the leaf a skeletonized appearance.

During the larval stage, this insect lives in lawns and other grasslands, where it eats the roots of grass, During that stage , it is susceptible of a fatal disease called milky sport disease , caused by a bacterium called milky spore. The USDA developed this biological control and is commercially available in powder form for application to lawn areas. Standard applications take form one to five years to establish maximum protection against larval survival.

Research has shown that the traps containing a pheromone attractant bring in more beetles than without a trap and have fallen into disfavor. Natural repellents include catnip, chives, garlic and tansy as well as the remains of dead beetles. Tolerance of small populations is certainly a consideration. For other controls please consult the Garden website--- and consult the Pest Management tracker.

Maximize your time in our very popular all-day classes. Don't miss Complete Container Gardening on Thursday, June 26.

This Missouri native of the Citrus family is called toothache tree because native Americans once chewed the bark/fruits for relief of toothache pain. Although unrelated to ashes, it is also commonly called prickly ash because of its prickles and ash-like compound leaves. It spreads by root suckers to form dense thickets. Red berries in fall may be its best ornamental feature. See this at the Missouri Native Shade Garden at Kemper.

When summer heat arrives, stress, insects, and disease can follow that affect our trees. Learn which to be concerned about, which are just cosmetic, and what you can do to give your trees their best fighting chance when enviornmental stresses come. Every gardener should learn to recognize these top 10 problems.

Ahhhh……. It’s summer in St. Louis and the plant-a-holics are reaping the benefits of their work.

One old-fashioned plant making a comeback is the Trumpet honeysuckle: Lonicera sempervirens. NOT to be confused with the invading variety of bush honeysuckles native to Asia that form dense thickets, crowding out Missouri’s native forest plants. This non-invasive, semi-evergreen vine is noted for its showy, non-stop spring-to-fall bloom of red to peach colored trumpet shaped flowers with golden throats. Needless to say, hummingbirds LOVE this plant. Flowers give way to orange-red berries in the fall that are attractive to birds. It typically grows to 8-15 and responds well to shaping and pruning. Perfect for a ‘hard-scape’ softener such as fences and walls.

On a personal note, I fondly remember playing hide and seek in the neighbor’s yard, and planning my camouflage underneath their trumpet honeysuckle trellis. While hiding, I eagerly picked the trumpets and pull out the stamens, revealing sweet nectar. Hhhhmmm…. Maybe that’s when my love of flowers (and my sweet tooth) first begun to evolve!

This curiosity was found on a clump of Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum) growing in the Kemper Center’s Flower Border. Normally, the flowers hang straight down on the underside but on these stems there are some extra leaf-like appendages that have developed on the flower stalks. We aren’t sure of the cause or how common it is. Mother Nature is always full of interesting surprises and variations. Keep your eyes open! To see the normal flower development click on the plant name above.

Check out the Pseudocydonia sinensis (Chinese tree quince) just north of the south wall in Chinese Garden. One night after I left Kemper I took the long way backto my office in the rain and happened upon the tree as the old bark was exfoliating like puzzle pieces. Simply stunning!