Flowers, Fruits, and Frass

August 30, 2012 News source: Kelly Allsup, 309-663-8306, kallsup@illinois.edu News writer: Silphium Weevil URBANA - The 2012 Master Naturalist class has started, says Kelly Allsup, University of Illinois Extension Educator, Horticulture. A guided tour to study prairie plants highlights the most floriferous season in a pra...

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August 30, 2012 News source: Kelly Allsup, 309-663-8306, kallsup@illinois.edu News writer: Katydid Hunters URBANA - Katydid Hunters (Sphex pensylvanicus) have been congregating on your flowering plants to feed on pollen and nectar in the garden leaving gardeners to wonder if they should close the...

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August 30, 2012 News source: Kelly Allsup, 309-663-8306, kallsup@illinois.edu News writer: Damsel Bugs URBANA - Without question when I visit a garden, I will approach the most beautiful flowering plant in the landscape and start inspecting it for garden pests and beneficial insects, states Kelly Allsup, University of Ill...

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Corn harvests are beginning to happen around the state.  At least what little there may be out there to harvest.  Given the drought conditions there are some difficult decisions for growers to make right now.  From cutting stalks for silage or baling soybeans to managing your lawn and garden during drought, University of Illinois Extension has created some i...

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Lace Bugs on Sunflowers By Kelly Allsup Horticulture Extension Educator It was the frass (insect excrement) on a sunflower leaf that caused me to stop and take a closer look. Upon further inspection, the frass was lined along the veins of the leaf and looked like black tar. The leaf was covered in stippling (feeding injury) and neucrotic spots (dead tiss...

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Cucumber Beetles: Bug Report By Kelly Allsup Striped cucumber beetles ( Acalymma vittatum ) and spotted cucumber beetles ( Diabrotica undecimpunctata ) have been attacking our vegetable gardens since the beginning of spring and continue to feast on leaves, blossoms and fruits of many crops. Cucumbers, beans, melons, and squash are the most preferre...

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Beware Aphids: Aphid lions are hungry By Kelly Allsup Beware Aphids; the aphid lions are out ferociously eating about 400 of you in one week. However, the larvae of green lacewings (Crysoperla or Chrysopa spp.) also known as the aphid lion have a plethora of other beneficial insects to compete with. Lady bugs, parasitic wasps, minute pirate bugs, Hover...

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The combination of record high temps and severe drought conditions have made the 2012 growing season particularly difficult for growers.  As we move into late summer harvests of heat loving cucurbit crops (e.g. cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and squash) it is time to give some thought to how to maximize the quality of the fruit yields that are still out in the...

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I know, it's been in the 90s everyday for the past who knows how long.  It seems like the heat of summer has no end in sight, but it does.  In fact, the total sunlight each day will only decrease until December 21st.  Not because that's the end of the Mayan Calendar (even though it is), but because that's Winter Solstice when we celebrate the return of the l...

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