The Chickasaw plum is covered in beautiful small white flowers in the spring. Photo credit: UF IFAS
The native Chickasaw plum is a beautiful smaller tree (12-20 ft mature height) that is perfect for front yards, small areas, and streetscapes. True to its name, the Chickasaw plum was historically an important food source to Native American tribes in the southeast, who cultivated the trees in settlements well before the arrival of Europeans. They typically harvested and then dried the fruit to preserve it. Botanist-explorer William Bartram noted the species during his travels through the southeast in the 1700’s. He rarely saw it in the forests, and hypothesized that it was brought over from west of the Mississippi River.
One of the first trees to bloom each spring, the Chickasaw plum’s white, fragrant flowers and delicious red fruit make it charmingly aesthetic and appealing to humans and wildlife alike. The plums taste great eaten fresh from the tree but can be processed into jelly or wine. Chickasaw plums serve as host plants for the red spotted purple butterfly and their fruit make them popular with other wildlife. These trees are fast growers and typically multi-trunked.
Almost any landscape works for the Chickasaw plum, as it can grow in full sun, partial sun, or partial shade, and tolerates a wide variety of soil types. The species is very drought tolerant and performs well in sandy soils.
The plum is in the rose family and has thorns, so it is wise to be aware of these if young children might play near the tree.
Winter is ideal tree-planting time in Florida. While national Arbor Day is in spring, Florida’s Arbor Day is the 3rd Friday of January due to our milder winters.
Migratory animals are no stranger to our neck of the woods. Every year, Florida is host to countless creatures as they make their way from one place to another in search of food, nesting sites, or just a change of scene. From hummingbirds to manatees, it can be interesting to watch the annual cycle of nomadic animals.
A gulf frittilary butterfly.
One of the smaller wayfarers we see year-round, but especially when they migrate south in the fall, is the gulf frittilary butterfly, Agraulis vanillae Linnaeus. They spend the warmer months of the year in the southeastern United States, following frost-free weather as temperatures drop. During the winter, they enjoy the sunshine of peninsular Florida.
The gulf frittilary is a medium-sized butterfly, with a wingspan of 2½–3½ inches. Females are larger than males. It is bright orange in color, with black markings on the top of its wings and silvery-white spots on the bottoms. In its larval form, it is also bright orange in color, with dangerous-looking spines along the length of the caterpillar. Despite their appearance, these do not sting.
The gulf frittilary caterpillar looks dangerous, but won’t sting. Please do not eat it, however.
If given a choice its larvae will feed primarily on passionflower (Passiflora incarnataand related species), but have also been seen snacking on buttonsage. Toxins from passionflower concentrate in the larvae and butterflies, making them poisonous to predators – much like the monarch butterfly and its host plant, milkweed. The insect’s bright coloration serves as a warning that it is not to be eaten.
Keep an eye out for these beautiful butterflies and consider planting a passion vine in your landscape to help them out. The caterpillars may eat the leaves, but in giving them a feast you’ll help them grow into adult butterflies. Once they do mature, they are fantastic at pollinating many of our native wildflowers, further beautifying the world around them.
For more information see the University of Florida’s article here.
Not all fall color is a good thing. This statement is especially true when it comes to twig pruners and twig girdlers. These two species of longhorned beetles can certainly disappoint your grand expectations of a beautiful array of fall color. Both species cause the tips of twigs to fall to the ground in late summer, sometimes leaving your trees in an undesirable form.
Twig Pruners
The twig pruner (Elaphidionoides villosus or Anelaphus villosus) is a small longhorned beetle that attacks numerous species of hardwoods. It is usually classified as a secondary pest of declining trees and shrubs. Female twig pruners lay their eggs in late spring at the leaf axils. When the eggs hatch, the grubs bore into twigs and continue to bore as they mature. The larvae then chew concentric rings just underneath the bark. The infested twigs and branches eventually drop to the ground with the larvae inside. The larvae pupate inside the fallen twig throughout the winter.
An adult twig pruner. Photo Credit: University of Georgia
Twig Girdlers
The twig girdler (Oncideres cingulata) is a small longhorned beetle that invades many species of hardwoods. Female twig girdlers lay their eggs in late summer in small twigs (about 3/8 inch diameter) that are covered with a thin layer of bark. The female chews a concentric ring around the outside of the twig, causing the end of the twig to die. The female chews a small notch in the dead twig and lays her eggs. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the dead twigs and develop into adults before chewing their way out. The adults fly away to new host trees.
An adult twig girdler. Photo Credit: Lacy L. Hyche, Auburn University
Management and Control
It’s important to plant the right plant in the right place. Healthy trees and shrubs are the best defense against insect pests. Twig pruners and twig girdlers live in dying or dead twigs and branches. If you have trees that have suffered damage from these pests you will notice an abundance of fallen twig ends around the base of your trees. Rake and remove fallen twigs from around the trees and destroy or dispose them. This will help reduce pruner and girdler numbers in subsequent years.
It has been dry as a bone lately, and your landscape is beginning to reflect that fact. Before you call it the dreaded “D” word you should understand that these dry periods are part of our yearly weather cycle. This year, we are drier than usual which means we are indeed in a drought. This can be alarming as you’ve doubtless spent tons of time and money on your landscape and want it to thrive. Irrigating as much as possible may seem attractive but is not necessarily the best strategy. Let’s first look into a few questions. What happens to your plants when Mother Nature turns off the waterworks? What can be done to prevent the mass die-off of our landscape plants?
Drought Response
Before we delve too deeply into the subject, it’s worth taking a few lines to discuss what happens to plants in periods of drought. Many will close the tiny pinpricks in their leaves known as stomata to prevent water loss. This is known as a drought avoidance strategy, and while seemingly foolproof also prevents moisture absorption while shutting down photosynthesis. If this condition persists, the plant will begin to lose the macronutrient carbon and sugars. When a lack of water becomes long term, the plant will perish as it lacks resources.
UF/IFAS photo: J. Criss
Other plants utilize a drought tolerance strategy. Unlike the avoidance strategy, these plants leave their stomata wide open despite the lack of moisture in the soil. The advantage here is that photosynthesis never stops. They’re banking on a return of water before they perish from dehydration. Most of your landscape plants utilize the first of these strategies. Your gardening habits and strategies are crucial to keep your plants thriving even in our extreme heat.
Gardening Practices
The practices you implement in your gardens are what we refer to in this business as “cultural practices.” You may have heard of these at lectures on Integrated pest management, but they are just as applicable in landscape management.
Irrigation is easily the most crucial of these practices as improper watering is the number one killer of plants. Deeper watering delivered less frequently encourages deeper rooting and higher drought tolerance. Irrigation should occur early in the morning just before sunrise to prevent evaporation and mitigate fungal issues as plant water use begins at sun rise. Frequency and volume are the next critical factors in watering. Turf grasses need 1/2 to 3/4 inch of water, but only when they present the three signs of wilt including folded blades, a bluish-grey hue, and lingering footprints. Bedding and landscape plants are a little trickier as they don’t have standardized signs of wilt. You’ll need to pay close attention for loss of vigor in the leaves which are likely to be subtle. When these signs present, apply enough water to reach their root zone. A great way to extend the time between irrigation events is to amend soils with organic matter and to utilize mulch. These retain moisture keeping your plants less thirsty.
UF/IFAS Photo T. Jones.
Fertilization can be another far more detrimental to plant growth than you think. While it’s true that your plants need nutrition for vigorous growth, only those deficient in the soil are limiting factors. This is simply not possible to create a fertilization strategy without soil testing. Your extension office can facilitate testing, which should occur at a minimum every three years. Balance these deficiencies with your plant’s needs to create a healthy landscape.
Pruning is the final practice to look at for healthy landscapes. Turfgrasses need to be cut at a height conducive to their growth. This varies for each grass type, so make sure you know yours. Landscape plants may also need species specific pruning practices such as deadheading to maintain healthy growth.
To Sum Up
The key takeaway from this article is that stress free plants are more capable of tolerating less than ideal growth environments. Familiarize yourself with the needs of your plants and provide them with what they need to thrive. Very often this means less intensive maintenance practices. For more information, see this Ask IFAS document, or contact your local extension agent for additional information on this and any topic regarding your gardens and more.
If you ever drive in the country during the cooler months, you may notice wheat and oats planted out in the fields. They seem to be “covering” the farmland. Well, that is exactly what they are; they are a cover crop! But, did you know, that cover crops can also be implemented in your garden? You may be asking yourself, “What is a cover crop?” “How can I use that in my garden?” and “How does it benefit me?.” Today we are going to answer these questions.
What is a cover crop? A cover crop is a commodity that is planted when fall or summer gardening has ended to “cover” the area that was previously planted. It is planted in between planting seasons, so you would plant a cover crop in the winter between fall and spring crops. Cover crops are a mechanism to help improve the soil quality of your gardening area over time when it is not being used. The technique of implementing cover crops has been around for over 2,500 years. It is suggested that the Greeks and Romans used cover crop methods. So, if the wheel isn’t broke, don’t fix it!
If you decide to use cover crops in your off season, there are things to consider: your growing season, what will improve the nitrogen fixation for your next season, the contribution the cover crop will give to your organic matter building in the soil, and how it will improve your soil health to increase future yields.
Cover crops can help prevent soil from eroding during the off season. The roots of your cover crop will allow the soil to remain in place and add back organic matter over time. These crops are one of the best options to help improve your soil health of your garden, food plot, raised bed, etc. Like anything else, there are benefits and challenges. Benefits include weed control, soil erosion prevention, improving soil health/recycling of soil nutrients, and potential pollinator habitats. Challenges that cover crops can create are that they can become excessively woody and tall so they become hard to manage and if not timed correctly, your next season’s planting schedule can also be obscured. An example of a taller woody maturing crop would be sunn hemp. Shorter nonwoody options include clovers, vetch, and several types of grasses.
There are many different types of cover crops. Some examples include: winter wheat, red clover, annual rye grass, vetch, English peas, and sunn hemp. These all have characteristics in common: they are weed suppressors, they prevent erosion, a few are strong sources of nitrogen, they build soil matter, and a few even attract pollinators.
Sunn Hemp field at Bettstown Farm in Bainbridge, GA, UF/IFAS Extension A. Payne
When planting your cover crop, be sure that there are no remaining plants from your previous plantings still in your growing area. Clear the area of weeds and any flowers, fruit, or vegetables. The soil will need to be level and as you plant your seed for the cover, broadcast the seed in a back-and-forth motion to ensure even planting. Cover the seeds with a thin layer of topsoil.
The next question you may have, “When do I remove my cover crop to plant my next season?” Cover crops should be terminated when they reach their flowering stage or when they appear to begin producing seed heads. When a cover crop flowers, then it has a reached the point that it has contributed the most it can of the biomass and nutrients to your soil. If they are not terminated before the seed formation stage, then they could become a weed or what is deemed to be a plant out of place in your next crop season. We terminate by mowing or crimping down the crops to where it is flush with soil. The cover crop remains can be left on the soil surface to decompose as mulch. Leaving the cover crop on the top of the soil is considered a no till method. A rule of thumb is to time your cover crop seeding so that you can terminate the crop 3 months prior to planting your next crop.
Cover Crop Termination Example, Photo Credit: D. Leonard, UF/IFAS Calhoun Extension
