Florida warned about latest palm disease
Florida's queen and washingtonia palms are suffering from fusarium decline, reported Jane Morse, commercial hort. agent at Pinellas County Extension. Symptoms begin on the lowest leaves and move up through the palm's canopy. Brown stripes on the stems extend into the shafts of the leaf. The brown stripe on the outside also discolors the inside of the stems. Leaflets on one side of the leaf will die first while those on the other side of the palm frond remain green. Washingtonia palms also can get stem or petiole blight that mimics fusarium decline, so have them tested before removing them. No cure is available for this disease. Diseased palms should be removed immediately.
SNA president advocates for smart water policies
Southern Nursery Assoc. president Bill Turk recently wrote to Ga. Environmental Protection Div. director Carol Couch to warn about potential harm to the horticulture industry from landscape watering bans. "The escalating outdoor water use restrictions imposed by the state and the whittling away of exemptions by local municipalities has unfairly labeled our industry as a non-essential water user," Turk wrote. "This has had a dramatic and devastating impact on the industry. There was little to no fall planting season in Georgia in 2007 and the financial impact was immediately felt. If relief is not offered to this industry within the next few days, the spring planting season — this industry's 'Christmas' — will be lost." He urged Couch to work with the Urban Agriculture Council to develop a "scientific, equitable solution to turn the water back on for our industry."
Ga. governor allows some landscape watering
Last week Ga. Gov. Sonny Perdue granted some exemptions to the Level 4 drought response implemented last Sept. Residents may hand water for 25 minutes a day on an odd-even schedule between midnight and 10 a.m. Georgians are encouraged to join the Outdoor Water Use Registration Program through their county extension office. Participants may water newly installed landscapes up to 3 days a week from midnight to 10 a.m. for 10 weeks based on the odd-even schedule. The program begins April 1. SNA president Bill Turk said this plan is "a start at recognizing both the environmental and economic benefits of healthy landscapes" and a "step in the right direction." Local governments and water utilities in the 61-county level 4 drought response area will still be required to achieve the governor's water-use reduction goal of at least 10%. Beginning April 1, the water savings will be calculated using average monthly water use from April through Sept. 2007.
2 tie for favorite plant in Pavilion
Two perennials tied for the Favorite Plant Award at the NMPRO Plant Pavilion during the just-completed ANLA Management Clinic in Louisville, Ky. 'Coconut Lime' from Plants Nouveau is the first double, white coneflower. Skagit Gardens' gaillardia Commotion Tizzy flowers are fluted with higher petal counts that make them appear semi-double. It is being offered by Novalis.
No need for gypsy moth sprays in Washington this year
Washington Ag. Dept. determined there are no reproducing populations of gypsy moths in the state, so no spraying will be required this year. The last year no eradication treatment was needed was 2003. Entomologist Jim Marra said inspectors will put out 25,000 cardboard traps this summer to check for the pests, concentrating in areas where a few of the insects were collected last summer — at Wauna in Pierce County, Birch Bay in Whatcom County and Kent in King County.
Poplars being tested in phytoremediation project
Purdue Univ. researchers are collaborating with Chrysler LLC in a project to use poplar trees to eliminate pollutants from a contaminated site. The researchers plan to plant transgenic poplars at the site, a former oil storage facility near Kokomo, Ind., this summer. In a laboratory setting, the transgenic trees have been shown to be capable of absorbing trichloroethylene, or TCE, and other pollutants before processing them into harmless byproducts. Richard Meilan, a Purdue assoc. prof., said that if the project succeeds, poplars may be used for phytoremediation elsewhere.
Southern Living Collection rolls out 8 plants
The Southern Living Plant Collection debuts this spring with 8 plants touted as "basics for the Southern landscape." The collection is the result of an exclusive live-goods licensing agreement between Plant Development Services Inc. and Southern Living magazine. The initial package includes Purple Pixie and Purple Diamond loropetalum; 3 cleyera hedge varieties, Bigfoot, Bronze Beauty and LeAnn; Raphiolepis indica Spring Sonata, a border shrub; and 2 hollies, Oakland and Robin. Plant categories in the collection will expand to include more shrubs, trees, bedding plants, groundcovers, tropical plants, ornamental grasses, seasonal plants, flowers and related green goods.
$50 million grant to fund plant research
The University of Arizona received a $50 million grant Jan. 30 from Nat'l. Science Foundation. The iPlant Collaborative will create a physical center and a virtual computing space where researchers can share, analyze and manipulate data, such as plant biology's "grand-challenge questions," said Richard Jorgensen, Univ. of Ariz. plant sciences professor and director of the collaborative. Solving grand challenges is crucial because plants affect every aspect of our lives, he said. "Everything's connected. As our climate changes and our environment changes we need to have a deep understanding of the biology of plants from the molecular to the ecosystem level in order to understand and mitigate the problems that will arise -- to adapt as best we can and to focus our efforts on saving the organisms and ecosystems that are most important to save." The cyberinfrastructure and the researchers will rely heavily on computational thinking, which frees up humans to spend more time on the creative tasks that humans do best, he said. The 5-year project potentially is renewable for a second 5 years for a total of $100 million.
Discovering the world of sustainability
Plan for a green Valentine's Day. Project: Green Industry
Worth a visit
Project: Green examines what defines a sustainable plant. There seem to be as many definitions as there are plant varieties. Only on GreenBeam.com.
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