No. 9/June 26, 2017

Hot Weather and Foliage
During hot weather, even though it appears there may be moisture in the ground, many trees and shrubs will shed entire leaves to reduce the moisture stress and transpiration loss on the plant. Some may think autumn has come early.

Are You Seeing Spots? - Spotted Spurge
It's time for spotted spurge (Chamaesyce maculata) to make its appearance in a landscape near you.  This warm-season annual member of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae) typically appears midseason when soil temperatures are warm enough for germination (60° to 65°F).  As soil temperatures climb to more than 90°F, germination can continue provided adequate moisture is available.

Bleeding Canker of European Beech
The true beauty of a mature European beech is hard capture with words alone. Perhaps Michael Dirr described the tree's landscape value best in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants- "There is no finer specimen tree; so beautiful that it overwhelms one at first glance…" European beech also offers the additional benefit of being relatively free of insect and disease problems. However, bleeding canker is an increasingly significant disease problem on many mature specimens, especially in the Northeastern states.

Japanese Beetle
Japanese beetles feed on the upper leaf surface, eating through the epidermis and mesophyll, leaving the lower leaf surface (epidermis) intact. This lower surface is initially light-colored, but soon dries and turns brown. Japanese beetles feed on more than 100 plants, with favorites including smartweed, willow, linden, rose, buckeye, birch, crabapple, apple, cherry, hazelnut, currant, grape, and raspberry.

Native Bees
National Pollinator Week was June 19-25, a good time to discuss bees. When you mention bees to most people images of golden-yellow honey bees come to mind. However, there is a lot more to bees than the exotic honey bee. In fact, there are over 20,000 bee species worldwide and around 500 species of bees native to Illinois.