Midsummer, with the early garden chores behind and the weed and water routine ahead. Note to self: Take time to look, to learn, to enjoy.

Aphids love the tender shoots and buds of roses.

photo by E Barth-Elias

Picture this: you, strolling through your garden beds, morning coffee in hand, when your pleasant garden reverie halts abruptly at the rose bed. Rose aphids cover buds that looked pristine a few days ago! Leaves are curling on your elm tree. A careful unfurling reveals the woolly elm aphid, hordes of them. And, how did all of those calico scales cover the lilac branches? These three insects use a special reproductive technique to multiply quickly and take advantage of tender rose buds, unfurling elm leaves, and succulent lilac sap. This time of year they switch gears and reproduce asexually. That’s quite a feat!

The vast majority of animal species reproduce exclusively sexually—males and females get together to fertilize eggs or in some cases just the sperm and egg get together. Each contributes half the genetic information required to create a new individual.  However, in some species the egg develops into a fully functioning embryo without fertilization, with no DNA contribution from a male (parthenogenesis). The offspring created in this asexual manner are called parthenotes, and in most cases are female, an exact copy (clone) of the mother, carrying only her genetic material. In rare cases the mother is able to modify cells that replace sperm and create males or offspring with varying genes. Amazing!

While some animals only reproduce asexually (obligate parthenogenesis), most parthenogenetic animals reproduce sexually, switching to parthenogenesis when the going gets tough, or when circumstances, such as a rich food supply, are favorable (facultative parthenogenesis). Because she has no need to engage in courtship rituals and find a mate, a parthenogenic mother is able to spend her energy securing food and shelter and reproducing a LOT of offspring.  In an environment in which conditions are favorable for that one cloning mother her offspring will thrive, such as soybean aphids reproducing in a springtime soybean field. Aphids, fruit flies, honey bees, ants, and some wasps reproduce rapidly using facultative parthenogenesis.  But scientists have found that obligate parthenogenetic animals have a higher likelihood of becoming extinct because of the limits of their inbreeding. A changing environment favors sexual reproduction, with its wide gene pool creating individuals that thrive in new and differing conditions. 

Now picture this: you, strolling through your garden beds, noting that the rose aphids have peaked, and planning your control strategy; then seeing that the annual incursion of wooly elm aphids has begun right on cue, and knowing they rarely do more than aesthetic damage. You stop at your honey bee hives and see them busy at work, putting up honey stores, which you will enjoy. Parthenogenesis—another of nature’s remarkable survival strategies. Look Around!



PARTHENOGENESIS: Biology Online

K Edgington

Cladrastis kentukea at Secrest Arboretum

photo by K Edgington

Flower of Perkins Pink yellowwood cultivar

photo by Francis Groeters

The yellowwood tree is a rare and unique tree that will win you over with its brightly hued heartwood and showy flowers. It's a plant you'll want to add to your must-have list. Cladrastis kentukea, or yellowwood, is a small tree native to Kentucky and other states in the Southeast and Midwest, including Ohio, where it grows in isolated pockets. Hardy from zones 4-8, this gem performs well in average soil, medium pH, and full sun. This specimen or shade tree grows to 30-50 feet, provides nesting sites for songbirds, and is highly prized for its nectar and pollen. A deep root system allows shade-loving plants to grow beneath, giving it versatility.

This charming native was first discovered by eagle-eyed French botanist Andre Michaux in March of 1796 while scouting a bend in the Cumberland River in present-day Tennessee. He was so excited about the tree's commercial potential due to the wood’s yellow tint, that he retrieved some seeds and brought them back to the Carolinas. We know this because he promptly wrote the governor about his exhilarating find. Sadly, he most likely never saw the tree in full bloom since he died in Madagascar a few short years later.

Yellowwood is the only Cladrastis species in North America but others are found in Japan and China. It’s a member of the Fabaceae family of legumes that includes peas, soybeans, and chickpeas, but does not fix nitrogen. The pendulous flowers that cover the tree in May and June are reminiscent of sweet peas and can reach 15” long.

Reasons to grow this lovely tree are numerous. It offers four seasons of interest with a stunning fragrant floral display in the spring. This is followed in summer by a lush tree that displays an alternating leaf pattern, giving it a zig-zag look. Seed pods form in late summer before the leaves turn a vibrant yellow in the fall. Wintertime showcases the smooth grey beech-like bark and interesting silhouette.

Yellowwood does have its quirks. Its limbs tend to fork close to the ground, leaving it at risk of splitting in windy weather. This can be remedied by planting in a protected area or pruning regularly to eliminate weak branch forks. Even quirkier, it can only be trimmed in the summer because spring pruning causes the tree to ooze messy sap from the cuts, which squirrels love and homeowners hate. The blooms, while spectacular, only form every 2-3 years.

This tree’s forking habit makes it less viable for commercial growing, but because of the beautiful yellow-toned wood it is used in veneers, small furniture pieces, and gun stocks. In Appalachia, yellowwood bark was traditionally prized for creating yellow-hued dye.

Yellowwoods can be found in nurseries, mostly in smaller sizes because of the long tap roots. The native tree has white blooms, but the most common nursery-sold tree is a pink-blossomed cultivar known as Perkins Pink or Rosea.

If you’re one of those gardeners always looking for something out of the ordinary or to impress your neighbors, this may be your tree. You can provide shade for yourself and critters during a hot summer, furnish food and shelter for pollinators and songbirds, and do your part to promote the species. Not only will you enjoy the sound of songbirds, but that of your neighbors oohing and ahhing!

YELLOWWOOD: University of Kentucky

J Gramlich

Opossum young enjoy the view from Mom's back.

photo by Melissa Morphew

Ooooopossum. Oh dear. There’s a lot to sort out regarding this misunderstood and somewhat unnerving creature. Its name, for starters. A “possum” (Phalangeridae family) is a marsupial native to Australasia. An “opossum” (Didelphidae family) is out back rooting around your garbage can. But apparently “opossum” may be pronounced with the first syllable silent, so yelling “Get outta there possum!” is correct. Good grief.

It's hard to overlook its looks. Long greyish fur, black legs, a cone-shaped head, white face, beady little eyes—so ugly they’re cute?—or just ugly. Their twelve-inch prehensile (capable of grasping) tail is a creepy but amazing tool for grabbing, climbing trees and hanging upside down. (Opossums climb trees but live on the ground). Sharp claws also help with climbing, but an opposable (moves like a thumb) clawless toe on each hind foot is really handy for climbing, feeding and grooming. But it’s also creepy —see HERE. You can’t tell by looking at them, but opossums spend a lot of time grooming, similar to house cats. Can’t blame ‘em for trying…

The opossum is not the only marsupial in North America (there are several in Mexico), but is the only one native to the U.S. The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) now ranges up into Canada and down into Costa Rica. Opossums have been around since dinosaurs but are obviously much better adaptors than ol’ T-Rex. Scientists believe they are as smart as pigs, which are smarter than dogs (sorry Fido). While preferring to reside in woody spots near water, low-maintenance opossums will nevertheless den almost anywhere—hollow logs, abandoned dens, garbage piles, rocks, storm sewers, under barns or sheds. They tend to be transient, but nevertheless furnish the den with leaves and plant debris gathered into a pile via paw and mouth, then carried via tail wrapped around it. Watch HERE:

Their not-picky nature extends to their diet—they eat almost anything, including carrion (tastes like chicken). Opossums consume beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, slugs, snails and earthworms, birds, eggs and small mammals, foraging in vegetation, trees, shrubbery, and your garden, your garbage can, your bird feeder, and Fido and Fluffy’s food bowls. Scientists used to believe opossums ate tons of ticks (up to 5,000 a year), which really boosted their likes on social media. Too bad THIS turned out to be fake news.

Opossums also snack on snakes, including poisonous rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths. Scientists believe that as possums evolved, they developed a protein that neutralizes snake venom. These tough critters also have immunity to Lyme disease, scorpion and honeybee stings, and botulism, and their lower-than-most-mammals' body temperature (94-97 degrees) deters the rabies virus.

Predators of opossums include fox, bobcat, coyote, raptors such as the great horned owl and gun-toting humans. Opossums often end up as roadkill due to their slow speed and propensity to hang out on roadsides dining on other roadkill (karma?). Opossums can live up to 7 years but generally don’t survive past their second birthday.

Being a marsupial means females have a marsupium (pouch to carry and nurse young). Breeding takes place from February to March but can extend longer. Ohio opossums generally have one litter per year. Gestation lasts only about 13 days, and newborns are the size of a honeybee. These teensy joeys crawl to Mom’s pouch, finding their way by smell. Once there they must attach to one of Mom’s 13 nipples. Not all the nipples work, so this is baby’s first (and maybe last) time playing the lottery. Baby stays attached to the nipple for two months, then emerges for piggyback rides on Mom, eventually leaving her for good between three and five months old. Click HERE to see a dedicated mom. Watch THIS good-hearted dog carrying joeys. During breeding season, females killed by cars often have live babies in their pouch; wildlife rehabilitators may be able to save the orphans. 

Opossums are small and slow, so they need their full arsenal of defensive tricks. A threatened opossum will run (at 4 mph more of a fast walk), hiss, growl, bare their teeth, burp, or go to the bathroom. (Hopefully not all at the same time.) Although they may look fierce, they are not aggressive. Famously, they “play possum” —rolling over and playing dead. But again, things are not what they seem. This “play” is quite real—an involuntary state that includes stiffening of the body, wide-open but unseeing eyes, protruding tongue, bared teeth, drooling, and a very bad odor, all convincing evidence of death. A scared possum can remain in this catatonic state for six hours. WATCH Carson playing dead on CNN...

Like all wild animals, opossums carry diseases, and as hosts for ticks, fleas, mites and lice, they can transmit diseases carried by those visitors. So yes, opossums are a little scary. But some people find them adorable. Take a LOOK. Or that guy might be nuts. The woman in THIS VIDEO is clearly nuts, but her enthusiasm is fun.

Creepy or not, opossums play an important role in the ecosystem as scavengers, prey and seed dispersers. And given they’ve been around for 70 million years, they’re probably not going anywhere, so live and let live. To encourage them to live elsewhere, see THIS, and THIS.

C Christian

Three Green Lacewing eggs hitched a ride indoors on a garden bouquet.

Photo by Emma Dobbertin

It’s disconcerting when you do your daily round of the garden and see an unwanted interloper. Whether it’s an aphid, tomato hornworm, cabbage looper or any of a seemingly endless list of things-that-will-eat-your-precious plants, you may be tempted to reach for the insecticide to blast those buggers to oblivion. But haste makes waste, in this case time, money and a host of allies just waiting to feast on the enemy. As hard as it seems, patience can yield unexpected results.

Beneficial insects are your friends. They want what you don’t. They are part of Integrated Pest Management, and are the first step in an effective IPM plan, which include biological, cultural, physical and chemical methods.

Biological controls are the least intrusive step of IPM. Native-born insects and other pests have evolved as part of a food chain. The IPM method takes advantage of this system, and allows a pest's predators to address infestations. There are hundreds of beneficial predators, but this article will focus on just a few.

Lady beetles – most of us just call them ladybugs – are probably familiar even to the most inexperienced gardener. A member of the order Coleoptera, ladybugs are in the family Coccinellidae, Latin for scarlet. Lady beetles are dome-shaped; wing covers most often are red or orange with spots. 

Lady beetles are voracious predators of aphids, but they also eat scale, mites, small insects or their eggs. They are generalist predators, meaning if they run out of aphids, they will look for other food. They also feed on pollen and nectar.

There is usually only one generation per year, although some species of ladybeetles will produce up to 1,000 eggs per day. Their larvae look like little banded alligators.

Cotesia wasps are parasitoids that treat caterpillars as their dinner and dining table. They are small, black insects with long antennae and four wings, but there is a far easier way to find them. Their prey is often tomato or tobacco hornworms, into which they deposit their eggs. The larvae eat the caterpillar inside out, emerging as long white cocoons extending from the caterpillars. They are commonly found throughout eastern North America.

Hover flies (family Syrphidae) are often confused with bees because they have similar yellow-and-black bee-like markings. However, they are flies and can be distinguished from bees in several ways: They are in the order Diptera, meaning they have only two wings, not the four found on bees and wasps. Their antennae are short, and their eyes appear to wrap around their heads. Hover fly eggs produce maggots, which are aphid predators.

Only the larvae feed on other insects. Adult hover flies need nectar and pollen, so be sure to keep pollinator plants handy. While aphids are their main prey, hover flies also feed on thrips, small caterpillars and occasionally European corn borers and corn earworm larvae. There can be up to seven or eight generations per year.

In the larval stage, green lacewings (Chrysoperla carnea) are ravenous predators of aphids and other soft-bodied insects such as mealy bugs, caterpillars, thrips, leaf hoppers and other sap-sucking pests. Adults will eat pests of peppers and larvae of Colorado potato beetle, which eat both potatoes and eggplants. These predators need encouragement to stick around your garden, so make sure you provide plenty of nectar- and pollen-producing plants. They love honeydew, which seeps from damaged plants onto leaves when aphids are active. Tolerating a bit of aphid damage might be a way to keep them around.

Lacewing larvae are so voracious they have evolved to lay eggs atop silken filaments, keeping them above the leaf surface where they would be eaten by their brothers and sisters. They are native to North America.

Tiny, plant-eating critters are never a welcome sight in your garden. But think of those pests as an invitation to beneficial predators to belly up to the leaf. Chances are they will find plenty to munch on, and you can go about the merrier task of basking in your garden.

S Vradenburg

photo by Christina Brand

In a little corner of my grandmother’s cabinet sits a tiny mason jar of seeds. Cucumber seeds to be exact. Every year she gets them out and plants them. And every year she babies the little plants by bagging the female flower and ensuring proper pollination, turning those seeds into perfect little vegetables. Each year she collects the seeds and repeats the cycle. As a child, I wondered what was so special about these little seeds until I learned these were seeds from the cucumbers of her grandmother’s garden. 

My husband’s mom follows a similar process with several varieties of tomatoes. They were handed down from her grandmother and each year she gently goes through the process of planting, growing, and collecting more of the tomato seeds to continue the cycle. They have shown me that seeds hold a legacy within them and a connection to our past while providing for a future. 

Humans have saved seeds for thousands of years. Seeds altered the human story; we evolved from hunters and gatherers to farmers due to the ability to store and harvest seeds. Moreover, the biological aspects of seed survival are fascinating in many ways. These little life-bearing entities withstand the digestive tracts of animals (zoochory) to be deposited onto fertile ground. They have evolved in amazing ways, like fungi which shoot their spores into the air (ballistic). Some seeds have survived by their ability to float to distant lands, like the coconut (hydrochory). Some are blown by the wind for long distances, finding a safe landing spot (anemochory). Their resourcefulness and life-giving powers have supported cultures and food systems throughout the world—think Indigenous Peoples, who saved seeds for thousands of years, developing their companion planting concept of the three sisters' crop still used today. Seed saving fostered self-reliance; consider the Victory Gardens war efforts in the 1950s. The legacy of seed saving has amazing stories. It’s no wonder people are still motivated to save seeds today.

Historically, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, more than 6,000 plant species have been cultivated for food. It wasn’t until the second half of the 1900s that the commercial sale of seeds became mainstream, leading to a lack of genetic diversity in our food supply. According to FAO data, nine species make up two-thirds of total worldwide crop production. At the end of the day, seed-saving is educational, entertaining, and a great way to connect with nature.

Seed Saving Tips:

• Know how the plant reproduces. Open-pollinated varieties will produce the “true to type” characteristics of the plants you want to reproduce. “True to type” means the offspring plant's characteristics will resemble those of the parent plant. Self-pollinating plants, like beans, lettuce, and tomatoes, are the easiest for seed-saving beginners.  Cross-pollinating plants, like squash, corn, and carrots, will require some isolation to keep offspring more “true to type.” For example, Queen Anne’s Lace and carrots can cross-pollinate, so prepare for the occasional surprise. Heirlooms are open pollinators. They have been around a long time which means they have adapted to the environment and have strong genetic backgrounds—you should get the “true to type” qualities of the parent plant. Remember, hybrid varieties often produce characteristics very different from the parent (they pull from all their genetics and may have characteristics from their grandparents). The National Gardening Association has more information about this topic and provides a list of plants to get you started.
• Save seeds from healthy, mature plants. This will produce plants with strong genetic tendencies.
• Clean and dry the saved seeds to prevent molding and allow for viability. Place prepared seeds in a paper envelope and/or a glass jar in a cool, dry, dark location. The ideal seed-storing temperature is between 32° and 41°F, so many people store their seeds in the refrigerator.
• Label and date saved seeds to include name and variety. Most seeds need to be used in one year to ensure the best germination rates.

Would you like to leave a seed legacy? It's easy—saving seeds allows you to share with friends, preserve native plant species, support biodiversity, become more self-reliant, grow foods suited to the local climate, support pollinators, spend time outdoors, create memories, foster a community, and be a steward of nature. You, too, can start a family tradition.

SEED SAVING BASICS: UC Master Gardeners

SAVING VEGETABLE SEEDS: University of Minnesota Extension

 N Callicutt

July Checklist

• Deadhead and fertilize roses and other perennials to encourage reblooming.
• Plant basil, beans, cucumbers, and radishes from seed in any open garden space.
• Pinch back mum buds to prevent premature blooming and encourage bushier plants.
• Stake delphiniums, dahlias, and hollyhocks.
• Clean and refill your bird bath with fresh water. The birds will appreciate it.
• Control invasive Japanese Beetles by handpicking, spraying, or JAPANESE BEETLES IN YARDS AND GARDENS: University of Minnesota Extension
• Start broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and ornamental cabbage seeds for late-summer plantings and fall harvest.
• Water during dry spells, less often but deeply.

J Gramlich