Hort Notes 2019 Vol. 30:6

A monthly e-newsletter from UMass Extension for landscapers, arborists, and other Green Industry professionals.

To read individual sections of the message, click on the section headings below to expand the content:

Hot Topics

The UMass Winter School for Turf Managers is now accepting applications

The UMass Winter School for Turf Managers immerses students in a full-time program focused solely on the management of fine turf and taught primarily by UMass faculty and staff. Winter School is a comprehensive certificate program designed to furnish turf managers with the fundamental concepts essential to maintaining high quality turf, while instilling a sense of environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility. 

Winter School 2020 runs January 6 - February 14, 2020, at the UMass campus in Amherst, in a recently revised, time-efficient six week format. Classes are scheduled: Mon-Th 8 AM - 5 PM, and Fri 8 AM - noon. This schedule is designed to accommodate weekend commuters who may want to stay in the Amherst area Mon-Thurs evenings but head home on the weekends. Some area hotels offer special packages for UMass Winter School students.

The international student application deadline is September 13, 2019.  Application review for US students will begin in early September, with a deadline of November 1, 2019 (late applications may be accepted pending availability of seats). Space is limited.

Pesticide recertification contact hours will be offered for all New England states, and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are offered.

For more information, including application instructions, visit https://ag.umass.edu/turf/education/turf-winter-school.

Questions & Answers

Q: I found a tick attached to myself. It may have been picked up while working outdoors, but I am unsure about the timing of when this may have occurred. What should I do? 

A: First, remove the tick properly and immediately. Save the tick; do not throw it away. Call your doctor/primary care physician to have a conversation about tick borne disease risk and any symptoms you may be having. They will advise you regarding whether you should be seen for evaluation so the physician can decide upon the appropriate course of treatment. 

Unsure about what symptoms to look out for? Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more information: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html 

Q: How do you properly remove a tick? Is there such as thing as a “wrong way” to remove a tick? 

A: To properly remove a tick, take clean, fine-tipped tweezers and grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. There is no need to twist or tug the tick. Pulling steadily and upward will eventually release the tick. Ticks only insert their mouthparts into your skin. If the mouthparts break off and remain attached, leave them be and let your skin heal. There is no need to attempt to perform surgery on yourself. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area as well as your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. 

Wrong ways to remove a tick: old tales might advise “painting the tick” (with items such as nail polish or petroleum jelly), burning the tick, or freezing the tick. Do not use any of these methods. The main goal is to remove the tick as quickly as possible. Using the method above with a clean pair of fine tweezers will achieve this, these methods will not. Remember: the longer the tick is attached to the body of its host (you), the greater the chance the tick could transmit a disease. 

Q: Why should I save the tick once I remove it instead of throwing it away/destroying it? 

A: Once you remove the tick, place it in a sealed package (preferably a zipper locking plastic bag). There is no need to add alcohol or other preservative. Place this plastic bag in an envelope, such as a “bubble” envelope, and visit TickReport for instructions as to how to ship your tick.

TickReport is a testing service provided by the UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology. They will identify the tick species and life stage (six-legged larva, eight-legged nymph, eight-legged adult), assess the tick’s feeding status, and provide you with a secure, private report that tests for the pathogens that cause Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and other disease causing agents that ticks may carry. You will received your results in 3 business days or less. 

The UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology does not give medical advice, nor are the results of their tests diagnostic of human disease. Transmission of a pathogen from the tick to you is dependent upon how long the tick had been feeding, and each pathogen has its own transmission time. TickReport is an excellent measure of exposure risk for the tick (or ticks) that you send in to be tested. Feel free to print out and share your TickReport with your healthcare provider. 

Q: I was bitten by a deer tick (blacklegged tick) and it’s been 3 days and I do not have a “bulls eye” rash. There’s no way I have Lyme disease, right? 

A: This is a tricky question and there really is not enough information to answer it. Some key points to make include the following:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that the circular rash (erythema migrans) that is often described as a “bulls eye” shape may appear within 3-30 days of exposure. (Average is 7 days.)  
• The CDC also explains that the rash occurs in 70-80% of infected individuals, so 20-30% of individuals who contract Lyme disease may not get this rash. 
• It may not always look like a “bulls eye”: https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/signs_symptoms/rashes.html 
• From this statement we do not know for how long the deer tick was attached to the individual. It generally takes longer than 24 hours of attachment before a deer tick can transmit an infectious dose of the agent that causes Lyme disease. 
• The statements made in the above question do not address other symptoms of Lyme disease, including but not limited to fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, and joint pain. Additional symptoms are discussed here: https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html 
• UMass Extension and the Laboratory of Medical Zoology (TickReport) do not give medical advice and the tick testing provided by TickReport is not diagnostic of human disease. It is best to have this conversation with your physician. 

Q: Where can I find more information about ticks and tick-borne disease? 

A: Excellent resources include but are not limited to: 

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• MA Department of Public Health
• The University of Massachusetts, TickReport
• The University of Rhode Island, TickEncounter
• Tickology, Cape Cod Cooperative Extension

Tawny Simisky, Extension Entomologist, UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery, & Urban Forestry Program 

Trouble Maker of the Month

Daylily Leaf Miner (Ophiomyia kwansonis)

Plant of the Month

Anemonopsis macrophylla, False anemone

August is often a time of quiet beauty in shady perennial gardens where there is generally an appropriate reliance on foliage shapes, forms, sizes and colors to provide interest at this time of year. This state of affairs, where foliage reigns, is due in part to the fact that so many popular shade loving plants are early blooming ephemerals whose flowers, and sometimes foliage, have come and gone by mid-summer. Add to this the rush to garden in spring, the nearly insatiable desire for color, and the exuberant acquisition of plants that occurs around Memorial Day and then peters off thereafter, and it’s easy to understand why many gardens, not only shady ones, peak in early summer. Seasoned gardeners and those in-the-know eventually seek out plants that will carry the day in July and August. Some of those, of course, are wonderful foliage plants, but there are many choices which provide a satisfying floral display as well. In shady borders, cultivars of Anemone, Astilbe, Gentiana, Kirengeshoma, Ligularia, Tricyrtis and are among the perennials that hold out for later bloom, adding both interest and fodder for pollinators in August and September. Unaccountably uncommon and worthy of adding to the list is the lovely False Anemone (Anemonopsis macrophylla), a shade loving perennial which is easy to cultivate, pest and disease resistant, and adds interest from July into September. 

Anemonopsis macrophylla is the only member of its genus, and is a member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) along with Anemone, columbine (Aquilegia), and bugbane (Actaea sp.), all which share similar physical characteristics. In fact, the name Anemonopsis alludes to its resemblance to Anemone; Anemon for Amemone and –opsis meaning like. Many similarities exist between the flowers, each bearing numerous individual petals and distinct and numerous stamens and pistils, but false anemone flowers are conspicuously pendant and the petals, which have heavy substance, can only be described as waxy. An outer whorl of petals flares out horizontally above the inner whorl and the petals are lightly blushed with lavender. The inner petals are far shorter, remain pendant, and overlap to form an elegant cup around the stamens and pistils. Each inner petal is trimmed in deep purple with the leading edge traced in a thin line of white. Two pure white cultivars, ’White Swan’ and ‘Alba’, are even rarer than the species and a double-flowered form, also with pristine white petals, is listed rarely. Flower buds are held on gracefully arching pedicels which depart from wiry, 2’ tall stems. The stems are often ebony-hued, adding to the particular beauty of this plant. Pale green buds dangle expectantly, pearl-like, throughout July only beginning to open in early August, then displaying airy masses of flowers which dance above the deep green foliage until early September. The wiry, leafless stems remain upright while the buds remain closed, but, as the petals unfurl and the flower gains size, the stems begin to lean elegantly, rarely flopping, but rather displaying a relaxed countenance. 

The specific epithet, macrophylla, refers to the plants large basal leaves. Each ternately compound leaf expands to 24” across; smaller leaflets are deeply lobed with unevenly serrated edges. In all, the foliage mass is usually 12-15” tall. The foliage is similar to that of black bugbane (Actaea racemosa), but the color of Anemonopsis leaves are slightly darker and boast a distinct sheen. The species is native to the island of Honshu, Japan where it is known in only a few mountainous woodlands, rare now even in its native habitat. 

In the garden, this subtle beauty is best situated in full shade or morning light, in rich, organic soil. Ample moisture will produce the most robust and floriferous plants, though it resents excessively moist or soggy locations. The false anemone is particularly resentful of winter wet. Protect from midday sun and drying winds or the foliage will scorch. It is quite hardly, often listed as being suited to USDA hardiness zone 4 (-30 degrees Fahrenheit). I have personally trialed it in the colder part of zone 5 with unfailing success. In 20 or so years, it has not succumbed to rabbit, vole or deer damage, and while it occasionally sports some perforations in foliage from unknown assailants (see photo), it has yet to sustain damage that rises to aesthetically objectionable levels. 

When flowering is finished, allow the seeds to mature in their upward facing follicles until the follicle turns brown and splits open (dehisces) to reveal the ripe seeds within. Seeds require a cold period to break dormancy and permit germination. Sowing in flats and leaving outdoors for the winter is a simple way to satisfy the need for cold stratification. Left to its own devices, the false anemone will self-sow gently in the garden. Flowers are self-fertile, so there is no need to start with more than a single plant, though they are best enjoyed in masses and are particularly useful for sloped areas in the shade where the flowers can be viewed from below. When seed dispersal is complete, the foliage, which is deciduous, can be cut to the ground for the winter. 

In addition to combining nicely with the closely related plants mentioned above, Anemonopsis is wonderful in borders which include other shade loving companions such as European ginger (Asarum europaeum), creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera), fairywings (Epimedium), hepatica (Anemone sp,) and early blooming ephemerals like Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), wakerobin (Trillium sp.) and fumeworts (Corydalis sp.). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joann Vieira, Director of Horticulture, The Trustees of Reservations

Upcoming Events

Landscape and Forest Tree and Shrub Disease Workshop

September 14, 2019

Join Nick Brazee, UMass Extension Plant Pathologist, for this workshop where participants will gain hands-on experience with many important landscape and forest diseases of trees and shrubs. The UMass Amherst campus offers a wide variety of ornamental and forest trees and shrubs of all ages. Selected diseases will range from leaf spots, needle casts, root rot, stem cankers, rusts, anthracnose and more. An introductory lecture will review the basics of diagnostic plant pathology followed by a walking tour of campus. The day will end with a laboratory session using microscopy to view prepared slides.5 pesticide contact hours in categories 29, 35, 36 and Applicator’s License will be offered; valid for equivalent categories in all New England states.
Association credits: 5.5 ISA, 2 MCA, 2 MCLP, and 1 MCH credits. SAF requested.

Registration and Additional Information.

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Other Upcoming Events:​

• 9/7: In Celebration of Trees with Dr. Michael Dirr
• 9/14: Landscape and Forest Tree and Shrub Disease Workshop
• 10/9: Tick Webinar - 2019 Tick Updates from the UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology 
• 10/17, 10/31 & 11/14: Invasive Insect Certification series

For more information and registration for any of these events, go to the UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery, and Urban Forestry Program Upcoming Events Page. 

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Additional Resources

For detailed reports on growing conditions and pest activity – Check out the Landscape Message

For commercial growers of greenhouse crops and flowers - Check out the New England Greenhouse Update website

For professional turf managers - Check out Turf Management Updates

For home gardeners and garden retailers - Check out home lawn and garden resources. UMass Extension also has a Twitter feed that provides timely, daily gardening tips, sunrise and sunset times to home gardeners, see https://twitter.com/UMassGardenClip

Diagnostic Services

A UMass Laboratory Diagnoses Landscape and Turf Problems - The UMass Extension Plant Diagnostic Lab is available to serve commercial landscape contractors, turf managers, arborists, nurseries and other green industry professionals. It provides woody plant and turf disease analysis, woody plant and turf insect identification, turfgrass identification, weed identification, and offers a report of pest management strategies that are research based, economically sound and environmentally appropriate for the situation. Accurate diagnosis for a turf or landscape problem can often eliminate or reduce the need for pesticide use. For sampling procedures, detailed submission instructions and a list of fees, see Plant Diagnostics Laboratory

Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing - The University of Massachusetts Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory is located on the campus of The University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Testing services are available to all. The function of the Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory is to provide test results and recommendations that lead to the wise and economical use of soils and soil amendments. For complete information, visit the UMass Soil and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory web site.   Alternatively, call the lab at (413) 545-2311.