by Les Harrison | Jul 14, 2017
Praying Mantis, Image Credit Les Harrison
Summertime is bug time in the Florid Panhandle. The weather has provided enough rain for the bugs which depend on a supply of foliage and the temperatures have been ideal for a population explosion.
Stink bugs, leaf-footed bugs, grasshoppers, all sizes and colors of caterpillars and many more have been enjoying the lush and plentiful dining options. More than one Panhandle homeowner or gardener has been plagued by the sudden appearance of a hoard of hungry nuisances which are eyeing the menu choices at residences.
Fortunately, nature has a way of eventually balancing all situations when left to its own devices. With the increase of the plant eaters comes a surge in those insects which restrain the excess population.
One of the most easily recognized predator insects is the praying mantis. This beneficial insect is actually a family with multiple members, some of which have been introduced to Florida.
While there are over 2400 mantis members worldwide, Florida is home to eleven. Two of those exotics have been introduced from other regions, but considered non- invasive.
Mantises are thought to have evolved during the Cretaceous period about 100 million years ago, possibly from a predatory cockroach with similar front legs. Their closest surviving insect relatives are cockroaches and termites, both of which they will consume if given the opportunity.
Like many insects, the mantis is equipped with a tough, durable exoskeleton which provides a basis for successful close quarter combat and meal procurement. These hunters have three other advantages which create a severe vulnerability in their prey’s defense and potential for surviving a mantis encounter.
The mantis is an ambush predator which will lay in wait for the victim/meal to deliver itself. The mantis has the instinctive ability to identify and hide in areas with high amounts of prey species traffic.
This insect is a master at stealth and camouflage. The creature’s coloration and linear shape allow it to blend into the earth tones of many settings.
To complement its ability to conceal itself in plain sight, the mantis can hold perfectly still and patiently wait for the oblivious bug to bumble into sticking range. At that precise moment, the mantis is a blur of lethal motion.
The mantis’ forelimbs are a set of deadly spiked vices used to immobilize and secure its target. It extends these spiny levers forward in a raised position which appears as though it is in a mealtime prayer, hence its name.
The kill technique is to impale and restrain the victim with a single stroke of the forelimbs while holding the victim securely to the mantis’ body. On occasion the attempt fails and the mantis has to apply a more direct approach.
This insect’s beak is designed for slicing and tearing its victim’s body. Its jaw muscles provide the power to effectively employ this tool.
Depending on its stage of live, the mantis will eat a wide variety of creatures. Early stage mantises will eat little flies and other tiny insect (including its siblings), but at maturity they will take on small reptiles and amphibians along with a variety of destructive insects.
Female mantises will even consume their prospective mates. Despite its vicious and cannibalistic nature, the praying mantis is the answer to many gardeners’ prayers.
To learn more about praying mantises and other beneficial insects, check out this EDIS site with many articles on various species of beneficial insects.
by Julie McConnell | Jul 12, 2017
Coontie (Zamia floridana) planted at the same time but growing at different rates. Photo: J_McConnell, UF/IFAS
When designing landscapes, it is popular to create lines and masses of plants for high visual impacts. Plants are carefully selected to be similar in size and shape at the time of installation. They are all grouped together, so they must be getting the same care, but why do they look different years later? There are several factors to consider when we are trying to figure out why a perfectly matched set no longer looks like a uniform planting.
Although plants may be in the same bed, shadows cast at certain times of the day may reduce sunlight to some sections and not others. This can be caused by structures or trees that have grown over time and changed light patterns.
Supplemental irrigation may also be variable even with the best system design. Over time plants grow and may block sprinkler emitters from reaching some sections of landscape beds. Even if the landscape relies on natural rainfall, there can be still be dry/wet spots in the landscape due to drainage off of hard structures, low areas, or wind direction during storms.
It might be possible to adjust some lighting and watering issues, but there is one factor that many gardeners have not considered – genetics. If plants were grown from seed, than variation is not only possible, but likely. This might be displayed as differences in height and width, foliage color, flower color, speed of growth – all may be influenced by parentage despite best efforts to care for each plant similarly.
Many landscape plants are cultivars. This means they are grown from cuttings or divisions which make them identical to the original plant. When a plant is grown from seed, however, there is no guarantee it will have the same specific qualities as the mother plant.
To combat this phenomenon, landscapers should check sunlight and watering for irregular growth patterns and adjust if needed. If a landscape design requires uniform plants, use named cultivars rather than seedling grown plants in lines or masses.
by Molly Jameson | Jul 12, 2017
The modern carrot is available in many sizes, colors, and flavor profiles thanks to thousands of years of plant breeding. Photo by Kelly Thomas.
Fruits and vegetables have undergone various forms of domestication for thousands of years. Throughout this time, selective breeding of wild forages has allowed humans to develop crops with many desirable traits, such as increased size, higher sugar content, more nutrition, and brighter colors.
If you ate a carrot 5,000 years ago, you would be in for a surprise. First, it would not be orange. Instead, it would be white or purple, and would taste very bitter and be very small. We think wild carrots were first cultivated around 1,100 years ago, but that it took another 600 years to develop carrots that are not only available in white and purple, but also yellow, orange, and even red.
Sweet corn 9,000 years ago was a thousand times smaller, and barely edible, tasting more like a raw dried potato than corn, with only a few hard kernels per ear.
When you trace back the history of fruits and vegetables, you not only see many changes taking place through human intervention, but also many rituals, beliefs, and superstitions along the way. Take the mighty onion, for example. Did you know that Greek athletes in the Ancient Olympic Games would eat pounds of raw onion, drink the juice of onions, and rub onions all over their bodies before competing?
Roman generals believed garlic gave soldiers courage and strength, so they planted whole fields of it in areas they conquered, believing this transferred bravery to the armies. According to ancient Egyptian records, the Pharaoh gave the Egyptian slaves who built the pyramids garlic daily, along with their meager rations of beer and flat bread, as a means to increase strength and endurance. By today’s standards, it is believed it cost the Pharaoh two million dollars to keep the slaves supplied with garlic.
The Aztecs domesticated tomatoes around 500 BC, but they were not introduced to Italy until the 16th century. Even then, it took Italians another 250 years to embrace the tomato, as this member of the nightshade family was – understandably – feared to be poisonous. Can you imagine your pizzas and spaghetti without marinara?
Cucumbers originated in India, where their domestication started more than 4,000 years ago. They were traded to the Middle East and Europe about 3,000 years ago, and were even mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh. In Ancient Rome, Emperor Tiberius, who reigned briefly from 14 to 16 AD, demanded that he be served cucumbers daily. In the winter, his gardeners had to grow cucumbers in mobile wooden frames to protect the plants and expose them to the sun.
So the next time you enjoy the crunch of a bright orange carrot, sink your teeth into a chunk of hot garlic bread, or nurture your prized heirloom tomatoes, reflect back on just what it took our ancestors to get to the fruits and vegetables we relish today.
by Carrie Stevenson | Jul 5, 2017
This rain garden used stone for a berm and muhly grass as a decorative and functional plant. Photo credit, Jerry Patee
Tropical Storm Cindy’s early arrival soaked northwest Florida this month, followed by even more heavy rain. Homes in low areas and along the rivers flooded and suffered extensive damage. That being said, we are just entering our summer “rainy season,” so it may be wise to spend extra time thinking about adjusting your landscape to handle our typically heavy annual rainfall.
For example, if you have an area in your yard where water always runs after a storm (even a mild one) and washes out your property, you may want to consider a rain garden for that spot. Rain gardens are designed to temporarily hold rainwater and allow it to soak into the ground. However, they are quite different aesthetically from stormwater ponds, because they are planted with water-tolerant trees, shrubs, groundcovers and flowers to provide an attractive alternative to the eroding gully that once inhabited the area! Rain gardens are not “created wetlands,” but landscaped beds that can handle both wet and drier conditions. Many of the plants best suited for rain gardens are also attractive to wildlife, adding another element of beauty to the landscape.
A perfect spot for a rain garden might be downhill from a rain gutter, an area notorious for excess water and erosion. To build a rain garden, the rainwater leaving a particular part of the property (or rooftop), is directed into a gently sloping, 4”-8” deep depression in the ground, the back and sides of which are supported by a berm of earth. The rain garden serves as a catch basin for the water and is usually shaped like a semi-circle. The width of the rain garden depends on the slope and particular site conditions in each yard. Within the area, native plants are placed into loose, sandy soil and mulched. Care should be taken to prevent the garden from having a very deep end where water pools, rather allowing water to spread evenly throughout the basin.
This larger rain garden, or bioretention area, functions as stormwater treatment for a large parking lot in North Carolina. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson, UF / IFAS Extension
Besides reducing a problematic area of the lawn, a rain garden can play an important role in improving water quality. With increasing populations come more pavement, roads, and rooftops, which do almost nothing to absorb or treat stormwater, contributing to the problem. Vegetation and soil do a much better job at handling stormwater. Excess sediment, which can fill in streams and bays, and chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides are just some of the pollutants treated within a rain garden via the natural growth processes of the plants.
A handful of well-known plants that work great in rain gardens include: Louisiana iris, cinnamon fern, buttonbush, Virginia willow, black-eyed Susan, swamp lily, tulip poplar, oakleaf hydrangea, wax myrtle, Florida azalea, river birch, holly, and Southern magnolia. For a complete list of rain garden plants appropriate for our area, visit the “Rain Garden” section of Tallahassee’s “Think about Personal Pollution” website.
For design specifications on building a rain garden, visit the UF Green Building site or contact your local UF IFAS County Extension office.
by Beth Bolles | Jul 5, 2017
Many bees and beneficial wasps will be attracted to African blue basil. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Basil is a favorite plant in the summer herb garden and an absolute must for those who enjoy fresh leaves for a sandwich or delicious homemade pesto. While we grow basils as a food enhancer, an added benefit is that those basil selections that form flowers are very attractive to pollinators. If you would rather not let your favorite basil form flowers, consider adding a specific species that is grown more for its attractiveness to pollinators than its culinary uses.
African blue basil is a hybrid of two basils that has inherited a camphor flavor from one of its parents. Although edible, the flavor may not be appealing to those who are familiar with more traditional basil flavors. Plants produce abundant flowers that are pink with a dark purple base, although flowers are sterile so no seeds will be formed. If you want more African blue basil, you must purchase transplants or start your own from cuttings off the main plants.
African blue basil enhances gardens and landscapes. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Flowers of African blue basil are also showy in the garden. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Like other basils, African blue basil does like soils amended with composts that are well-drained. Plants thrive in full sun and will form rounded mounds that will be much larger than more culinary basils, up to five feet in some gardens. Plants do form woody stems and although frost tender, some plants may return in the spring in more protected areas.
Although some edible gardeners may not want to allow space for a basil that they will not use in the kitchen, the amount of pollinator activity on this selection makes it a benefit to any edible garden for all the frost-free months.
