Dear Helen: In a small garden close to my front door there are hostas and Viburnum davidii bushes with ragged holes in their leaves. I suspected slugs, but there is no sign at all of the slime trails that indicate their presence.
B.L.
Dear B.L.: Slug-type damage in the form of large, ragged holes in the leaves, without the presence of slugs, indicates the cause is most likely climbing cutworms. This pest feeds at night and hides during the day in leaf litter or the top layer of soil.
Fairly new in West Coast gardens is a large and robust climbing cutworm, larva of the large yellow underwing moth. Females lay eggs on twigs and leaves in August and September. Tiny caterpillars hatch in about two weeks and are moved by breezes to host plants, where they feed all winter during warm weather. In the spring, they pupate, with adult moths emerging in June.
Dark green pellets of excrement can often be found on leaves where cutworms have been feeding. One control is to inspect plants at night with a flashlight and hand pick the caterpillars, which can be pale green to light brown. During the day, destroy caterpillars found in the soil under the plants. In dark places, or where the foliage cover is heavy, they may also be found feeding in daytime.
A light dusting of diatomaceous earth on the leaves and soil may help in controlling climbing cutworms. As a last resort, if the problem is severe enough to disfigure plantings, spray pyrethrins on the leaves after sunset. Follow label directions carefully. Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki), which controls most caterpillars, is not effective against cutworms.
Dear Helen: Why do you think my runner beans wilted and died back in July?
J.W.
Dear J.W.: I suspect that by July the plants had perhaps had enough of the nasty weather and simply packed it in. Planted as usual in May, heat-loving beans had to brave a cold, wet June and even chilly, damp spells in July. Where soils are heavy and waterlogged, or where irrigation systems are not carefully monitored and adjusted to current conditions, root rot is almost inevitable, with wilting and dieback sure to follow.
Dear Helen: In the spring I saw a gorgeous azalea with flame-orange flowers. Have you any idea what its name might be? I would love to have one of these plants in a site that faces west and is fairly hot at midsummer.
P.S.
Dear P.S.: I am presuming that the type of azalea you seek is among the deciduous hybrids that form bushy shrubs with numerous stems arising from the ground. They bloom in spring with or before the leaves. Bloom colours are in the cream, salmon, yellow, orange and scarlet range, and the foliage turns showy colours in autumn.
Gibraltar is one of the best known and popular deciduous azaleas. It bears large, fringed, orange-red flowers. Fireball is a fiery orange-red. These plants do well in full to filtered sun in a humus-rich, acidic, consistently moist but welldrained soil.
GARDEN EVENTS
Esquimalt meeting. The Esquimalt Garden Club will meet on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the lower lounge of the Esquimalt United Church on Lyall Street. Dr. David Ballantyne will present an illustrated talk on Greenhouse Conservatories in Western sa国际传媒, the U.S. and Great Britain, including a visit to the 2008 Chelsea Flower Show. Everyone is welcome. The club especially welcomes new members.
Dahlia meeting. The Victoria Dahlia Society will meet on Thursday at 7: 30 p.m. in St. Michael and All Angels Church, 4733 West Saanich Rd. The meeting will feature demonstrations on how to split dahlia tubers and collect dahlia seeds. All are welcome. victoriadahliasociety.org.
Children's festival. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is hosting the second annual Children's Harvest Festival on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Under the theme of Grow, Harvest, Eat! visitors are invited to dig a garden, plant garlic, make a seed ball or bird feeder, create a scarecrow, taste apples, make a lasagna garden, play blue grass music and more. Admission for children is free, parents by donation.
Nursery courses. Dinter Nursery in Duncan is offering the following free, one-hour courses at 10 a.m. on Saturdays in October. No registration is required. dinternursery.ca.
? Cuttings and Plant Propagation, Oct. 6, with Della of Dinter's.
? Composting and Soil Preparation, Oct. 13, with Bernie Dinter.
? Winterizing Your Pond, Oct. 20, with Scott Stevenson of Van Isle Water Services.
