Dear Helen: When I recently dug over a plot in my garden I found numerous plump, C-shaped white grubs. Some were tiny, others larger. I found one that was almost five cm (two inches) long. What are they?
J.W.
There are several kinds of white grubs, all larvae of different sorts of beetles. One that has been in the news lately, especially in the Lower Mainland, is the European chafer. These adult brownish beetles emerge from pupation in late spring to feed on broad-leaved tree leaves, mate, and lay eggs in the soil in July. The fat, C-shaped grubs have tan heads and grow up to 2.5 centimetres long. They feed through the summer and winter, pupate in early spring and emerge in late spring to complete a one-year cycle.
European chafer larvae feed mainly on turf grasses, but they also can eat the roots of various garden plants and shrubs. The greatest damage in lawns is caused by birds and raccoons digging for the grubs.
There are other plump, whitish, C-shaped grubs that are common in our region. Ones I know I have in my garden are the larvae of the ten-lined June beetle. Because you found various sizes of the grubs, this is the more likely one in your garden. These larvae continue growing in听the soil over three to four years before reaching sizes up to听five cm (two inches) and developing into adult beetles.
The beetles lay eggs in the roots of grasses and the grubs feed on the roots. They can be a problem in home gardens where lawns (or grassy fields) have been changed over recently into garden beds. Potatoes are often damaged in these situations.
Turning beds over frequently before planting exposes the plump grubs to birds. I know one gardener who picks them out of the soil and sets them along a pathway as juicy morsels for the birds. Avoid planting potatoes where a lawn has recently been removed or right after corn or fall rye has been growing.
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Dear Helen: I am very fond of wood anemones, and have a patch of blue-flowering ones that finished blooming around mid-April this year. Someone recently told me there was a double-flowered form. Have you heard of this?S.T.
I have. A neighbour had them in her garden and was kind enough to share some with me. I听believe the variety is Anemone nemerosa 鈥榁estal.鈥� Fraser鈥檚 Thimble Farms on Salt Spring Island (thimblefarms.com) lists it.
I value these delightful woodland groundcover plants. They are lovely underneath rhododendrons. They arise in early spring with attractive, deeply cut leaves, bloom, and then die back quickly.
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GARDEN EVENTS
Rhododendron display. A display of rhododendron flowers will be on display in the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney on Friday, 7 to听10 p.m., Saturday, 10听a.m. to听10 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The flowers will be from Victoria Rhododendron Society members鈥� private gardens. Admission is free.
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Flower show. The Victoria Rhododendron Society is holding a听competitive flower show on Monday, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Garth Homer Centre. Members and guests will be able to vote for their favourite. Visitors are welcome at no charge.
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Plant sales on Saturday, May 7
鈥� Compost Education Centre, 1216听North Park St. in Victoria, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Locally and oragnically grown vegetable, herb and flower transplants. Heirloom tomatoes, salad greens, medicinal herbs and more.
鈥� Garden Babies for Birthright, at听Our Lady of the Rosary Church, 798听Goldstream Ave. in Langford, 10听a.m. to 2 p.m. Featured will be foreground plants: low growing ground covers, rock garden plants and more, as well as flowering shrubs, drought tolerant and deer-resistant plants.
鈥� Sooke Garden Club at Evergreen Mall in downtown Sooke, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Huge array of special plants.
鈥� Cairnsmore Place Volunteer Gardeners at 250 Cairnsmore St. in听Duncan, 10 a.m.to 1 p.m.
鈥� Nanoose Garden Club at Nanoose Library Centre on Northwest Bay Rd. Vegetables, heritage tomatoes, perennials. Master gardeners in attendance. Refreshments and treats.
鈥� Alpine Gardeners of Central Vancouver Island at 886 Primrose St. in Hermitage Park, Qualicum Beach, 9听a.m. to 1 p.m. Alpines, annuals, perennials, vegetables, shrubs, tools.
