The Eastern Tent Caterpillar

The eastern tent caterpillar, Malacosoma americanum, is a pest native to North America.

Populations fluctuate from year to year, with outbreaks occurring every several years. Defoliation of trees, building of unsightly silken nests in trees, and wandering caterpillars crawling over plants, walkways, and roads cause this insect to be a pest in the late spring and early summer.

Eastern tent caterpillar nests are commonly found on wild cherry, apple, and crabapple, but may be found on hawthorn, maple, cherry, peach, pear and plum as well.

And they're back this spring--this time in a crotch on the Yoshino cherry tree. The eastern tent caterpillar overwinters as an egg within an egg mass of 150 to 400 eggs. These masses are covered with a shiny, black varnish-like material and encircle branches that are about pencil-size or smaller in diameter.

The caterpillars hatch about the time the buds begin to open, usually in early March. These insects are social; caterpillars from one egg mass stay together and spin a silken tent in a crotch of a tree. Caterpillars from two or more egg masses may unite to form one large colony. During the heat of the day or rainy weather, the caterpillars remain within the tent. They emerge to feed on leaves in the early morning, evening, or at night when it is not too cold.

The larvae are hairy caterpillars, black with a white stripe down the back, brown and yellow lines along the sides, and a row of oval blue spots on the sides. As the larvae feed on the foliage, they increase the size of the web until it is a foot or more in length. In 4 to 6 weeks, the caterpillars are full grown and 2 to 2-1/2 inches long. At this time, they begin to wander away individually from the nest in search of protected areas in which to spin a cocoon. The cocoon is about 1 inch long and made of closely woven white or yellowish silk and is attached to other objects by a few coarser threads. The adult moth emerges from the cocoon about 3 weeks later.

My ususal organic strategy for dealing with these pesky pests is to apply Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) after I've disturbed the nest with a long bamboo cane. The Bt spray must come into direct contact with the larvae in order to work. Unlike typical nerve-poison insecticides, Bt acts by producing proteins (delta-endotoxin, the "toxic crystal") that reacts with the cells of the gut lining of susceptible insects. These Bt proteins paralyze the digestive system, and the infected insect stops feeding within hours. Bt-affected insects generally die from starvation, which can take several days. I've never had an in-season return of the caterpillars after applying Bt. A couple of suggestions: (1) if you spray up into the tree, watch out for residual mist coming back down onto your face, and (2) beware of falling caterpillars! I'd recommend a hat, goggles, and a face mask. Gross!

Good Afternoon, Lady Banks!

The Lady Banks Yellow Rose (Rosa banksiae 'Lutea') will be blooming soon, and I am so excited! It was a new addition to the garden last spring; I bought it at the Tryon Palace Heritage Plant Sale just after it had finished blooming.

The Lady Banks Rose is a species rose--generally defined as those roses found in nature. Most species roses tend to be very vigorous and are extremely disease resistant. They are a good choice for naturalizing and will often grow well without attention if planted properly and given minimal care during the first year or so of their establishment.

Although many are climbers, with a minimum of pruning and training they can be grown as hefty shrubs. This old garden rose was introduced into European commerce prior to 1796, but was grown for centuries in China.

I am growing my Lady Banks Rose along our picket fence that faces the street. I have had to prune it three times since it was planted because it grows so quickly.

The Loquat Tree

Loquats (Erobotyra japonica) are documented to have been grown in Japan around 1100. Some botanists have suggested that the first plantings of the loquat trees may have originally come from China and were later introduced into Japan. The loquat tree was widely distributed in Europe after 1712, but early records show that it came to the United States in the mid-1800's. This prolific plant is now established firmly as a seed-borne naturalized fruit tree in hundreds of countries, even in the Southern United States where it readily grows after the seeds sprout from bird-planted visitations after eating the loquat fruit directly from the trees. The art underneath the image of my loquat tree is entitled Loquats and a Mountain Bird, and was painted by an anonymous Chinese artist of the Southern Ming Dynasty (1127-1279).

My loquat tree, pictured above with new spring growth, is about to enter its third growing season here in USDA Zone 7b. It's technically not hardy here, but I haven't told it that yet. It's more than tripled its planting size, and its leaves remain evergreen year-round. It typically doesn't flower or set fruit in North Carolina, but that's fine; it's a beautiful ornamental.

The loquat was at home in the gardens of Colonial Williamsburg, appearing on the list of historic plants grown there. Loquats are also popular in the historic gardens of Charleston; I saw several specimens last summer that were as large as magnolias! Wow!

The leaves of a mature loquat tree vary considerably in size, usually ranging from six to twelve inches in length and the dark-green waxy leaves are prominently bisected with recessed leaf veins. In the fall around Thanksgiving, the loquat tree loads itself with clusters of one inch white flowers, which are extremely fragrant and especially pleasing when trees are planted near patio entertainment centers. The loquat fruit can begin to ripen in South Georgia as early as February and March and in an extended ripening period, depending on the weather, the loquat may continue to ripen into June. The loquat has been designated on some websites as only capable of producing fruit in areas south of Jacksonville, Florida, but this is incorrect. Loquats produce fruit reliably every year throughout Southern Georgia and coastal areas up to North Carolina. The loquat trees have survived low temperatures of zero degrees Fahrenheit in Georgia, and have returned to fruit later. The roots of a loquat tree are shallow and the soft tissue grows rapidly to establish a vigorous system.

The Yoshino Cherry Tree

Our Yoshino cherry tree, Prunus yedoensis 'Somei yoshino', has awakened from its winter slumber. In Japan, there is a believable legend that each spring a fairy maiden hovers low in the warm sky, waking the sleeping cherry trees to life with her delicate breath. This tree's cousin is the Kwanzan cherry tree.

To see the tree--now about 30 feet wide and about as tall--burst into full bloom is like nothing else! Standing under it, you feel as if you have been transported to a fantasy land...the delicately sweet fragrance of the five-petaled cherry blossoms wafts through the air, and the buzzing of hundreds of pollinating honey bees overhead is frighteningly pleasant. I just adore the round shape of this tree, which we've pruned carefully so that is has an open center.
The Yoshino cherry is a very widely used ornamental tree. Highly revered in Japan, it is the cherry tree responsible for the stunning display on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and the surrounding Washington tidal basin each spring. The National Park Service has created a top-noch site dedicated to the story of Japan's gift of cherry trees to the United States. It is a fascinating timeline account of the introduction of these gorgeous trees to America.

The Yoshino cherry, known as Somei-yoshino in Japan, is a hybrid of unknown origin that was first introduced in Tokyo in 1872 and is now one of the most popular cultivated flowering cherries.

The Japanese flowering cherry is an important source of food for many small birds and mammals including robins, cardinals, and waxwings.

One Little Big Pollinator

Our Yoshino cherry tree, approaching full bloom in this photo, is providing a feast for the honeybees. I captured this busy lady last Thursday in the late afternoon. I'm grateful for all of the beneficial work she does. We're fortunate to have a neighbor who has set up several bee boxes on his property; I suspect this pollinator is one of his.

Worker bees do all the different tasks needed to maintain and operate the hive. They make up the vast majority of the hive's occupants and they are all sterile females. When young, they are called house bees, and they work in the hive doing comb construction, brood rearing, tending the queen and drones, cleaning, regulating temperature, and defending the hive. Older workers are called field bees. They forage outside the hive to gather nectar, pollen, water and certain sticky plant resins used in hive construction. Workers born early in the season will live about 6 weeks while those born in the fall will live until the following spring. Workers are about 12 mm long and highly specialized for what they do, having a structure called a pollen basket (or corbiculum) on each hind leg, an extra stomach for storing and transporting nectar or honey and four pairs of special glands that secrete beeswax on the underside of their abdomen. They have a straight, barbed stinger which can only be used once. It rips out of their abdomen after use, killing the bee.

As the field bees forage for nectar, pollen sticks to the fuzzy hairs which cover their bodies. Some of this pollen rubs off on the next flower they visit, fertilizing the flower and resulting in better fruit production. Some plants will not produce fruit at all without the help of honeybees. In the United States alone, it is estimated that honeybees accomplish 1/4 of the pollination needed for all fruit produced for human consumption - an estimated $10 billion worth of work each year!

The field bees stop periodically to groom themselves and collect the pollen onto their pollen baskets. They remove this load from their legs when they return to the hive and the house bees store it in a special part of the comb. The pollen provides protein and other essential nutrients for the bees.

Pheasant's Eye Daffodil or Poet's Narcissus

Pictured in English herbals of the early 1600s, this wild daffodil grows in endless variety in alpine meadows from Spain into the Balkans. The oldest available form, Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus, dates to 1831 but is indistinguishable from those in colonial gardens, including those of Colonial Williamsburg (Narcissus poeticus). Famously fragrant and intriguingly dainty, it’s often spring’s last daffodil, with loose, recurving white petals that arch back from a “green eye and crimson-fringed crown."

This variety has been known to naturalize easily and has been found to live in gardens for hundred of years. I purchased this batch from Johnny's Selected Seeds four years ago, and they are just beautiful here in the late spring. Their new growth emerged the first week of March. This variety of daffodil has not been hybridized.

From A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve writes, "The bulbs of N. poeticus (Linn.), the POET'S NARCISSUS, are more dangerous than those of the Daffodil, being powerfully emetic and irritant. The scent of the flowers is deleterious, if they are present in any quantity in a closed room, producing in some persons headache and even vomiting."

The Simple Beauty of Grape Hyacinths

Cultivated for more than 400 years, Muscari botryoides originated in France and Italy. The flowers are phenomenal, especially when planted in large groups or drifts; the small bulb delivers a bright, clear, sky-blue flower, a hue that is rare in the spring garden. These bulbs are included in the list of historic plants found in the gardens of Williamsburg.

These hyacinth cousins naturalize easily. The leaves last a long time after the flowers are gone, so carefully choose their position in the garden. Once the bulbs are established, it is hard to completely eradicate them from the garden, but not impossible.

The name Muscari comes from the Latin muscus, so named for the scent of some of the species, and botryoides because the inflorescence resembles a miniature cluster of grapes.

I planted about 3 bags of these little guys around my mailbox several years ago. As you may be able to see in this photo, I really need to dig and divide them because they have become so dense that it is difficult to interplant pansies or summer annuals within the foliage. The blue flowers from my bulbs are two-toned. The foliage lasts all season here in zone 7B.

Peachy Pinks

The peach, Prunus persica (L.) Batsch, is native to China. From China, peaches were introduced to Persia, Greece, and temperate European countries including Italy, Spain, and France. Peaches were introduced to the southeastern United States more than 300 years ago when the Spanish visited the Florida region in the 1500s. It is believed that in the northeastern United States the early English and French settlers brought peach seeds with them.

Our peach tree was already planted when we bought the house, so I have no idea what variety it is. We don't maintain the tree for its fruit, but we do appreciate its ornamental value.

The Promise of Spring

The spring kitchen garden is about to become a reality. I have interplanted sweet buttercrunch lettuces with Vidalia onions and violas. I am planning to add sweet allysum seeds and "Little Finger" carrots to the planting. I love being able to plant intensively in my raised beds!