I have been seeing a lot of Scale Insect problems on Hollies in the last few weeks.  The holly may have a dark black appearance on the old foliage with a cottony mass on the leaf surface.  The black appearance is called sooty mold and is the result of fungus growing on the insects frass.  The scale insect is generally protected by a shell and is generally diffucult to kill.  The difference being right now the insect eggs have hatched and are moving out from under their protected shell.  This is called the crawler stage and the insects are at their most vulnerable.  Click here for control options.

Sorry I haven't been posting but as you can see spring has sprung.  Lots of things hitting us hard right now from the insect world.

• Maple petiole borer:  Leaves of sugar maple drop unexpectedly.  Usually happens every year and began happening this week.  Will not pose a threat to the tree.
• Little red bugs running around on the sidewalk and walls.  These are Clover mites not Chiggers, or any other bugs of bad thoughts.  Will not cause any problems and will go away shortly.
• Rose Curculio: These are responsible for the holes in your rose flowers and can also show up on your leaves.  Will cause minimal damage and will likely not be a problem on the second flush of flowers.  Many of the permethrin type chemicals will work just read the label before using.
• Pine Sawfly;  These are defoliating white pine trees around the county right now.  Should be controlled since a second generation will cause more damage. 

From the disease side of things we are also seeing lots of problems as well.  Here are a list of some starting to show up in my office. 

• Peach Leaf Curl;  Very deforming to the tree usually won't cause great problems with one season of damage. Will need to be treated in order to get rid of it.  May times once we see symptoms or signs of a disease it is too late to help matters therefore we must become proactive.
• Fireblight;  Seems like it is going to be a slight problem this year.  Ocurs on apples and pears that are susceptible to the bacteria.  Infection occurs at the time of flowering and continues for a unknown period of time. 

As always the blue highlights are links for more detailed information so read further if the short description fits.