Stinky Cactus?

Question: I have a cactus that has large blooms on it as large as my hand. They do not smell good and I was wondering if they could live outdoors in winter. I have brought it in the past years. It appears to love the cool weather. I live in Sterrett, south of Birmingham, and we had frost this morning. Therefore I must decide soon whether to bring it in or leave it outside. I do not want to lose the plant.

Answer: The plant in question is not a cactus at all but does look very much like a cactus. The plant is likely, Stapelia gigantea is a flowering plant in the genus of plants commonly referred to as the Carrion Plant. It could be one of the other Stapelias but the photo looks like this particular one. It is likley not cold hardy in or near Birmingham area.

It is called Carrion Plant because of the foul smelling blooms which attract blow flies as the primary pollinators. Not only does it smell like rotting meat the flower color is flesh like in appearance. All of these attributes are designed to attract flies for pollination purposes.

Bougainvillea Pest

This morning a lady called who was observing foliage damage to her bougainvillea plant and wanted to know what might be eating the foliage. She spoke with one of our Master Gardener interns who asked me. I gave her some questions to ask to help narrow the search down. If the leaves are being eaten/chewed but not totally gone it is likely a caterpillar type pest. You can often tell if the insect is nearby by looking closely at the margin of the chewed area. If the margin is dead or brown then the damage is older and the culprit may no longer be around. If on the other hand the margin is still green you should look closely to find the critter responsible as he is likely nearby.

In the case of this question I suspect a cabbage looper but doing a little research I found a "new pest" called the bougainvillea looper that has shown up out west. I suspect the new pest is not in our area but you never know. The lady in question could not find the critter so there is no way to be certain.

Chinaberry Tree

This morning I got an unusual question from a lady who was concerned about a plant she felt is missing. What has happened to all the Chinaberry Trees, she asked? Since this plant is considered an invasive weed in our area I was a little surprized. If they are gone I say good riddance to bad rubbish.
Of course the question prompted me to research the plant a little and I found out some interesting things about this species, Melia azedarach. It is in the same family of the highly useful neem tree that we get the safe insecticide from. It is being researched for its insecticidal properties and it is also poisonous to humans.
You may see some pictures and read a description here at the Auburn Forestry Department site.
Chinaberry is native to Southeast Asia and northern Australia. It was introduced into the United States in the mid 1800s for ornamental purposes but is now considered an agressive invasive.

Birds may need extra help this year

The April freeze and the summer drought will likely reduce the normal food supply for wildlife and birds this year. Many hollies were in bloom during the Easter weekend freeze event. The lusterleaf holly pictured to the right should be covered in berries now in October but all you see is the dead female blooms. This site is evident everywhere in our region and is indicative of the type damage done to many fruit bearing plants that wildlife depend. Many nut/acorn bearing trees lost their crop to the freeze or subsequent drought.

A few plants like American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) and Hearts-a-bustin (Euonymus americana) do have a good crop of berries. The pictured Euonymus is not normally a significant contributor to bird diets but may prove helpful this year.

Birds collide into window

I had a call about mockingbirds and cardinals colliding into windows and thought I would pass on what I learned from the US Fish and Wildlife Service:

"Contemporary homes and modern office buildings often use insulated and reflective glass to replace walls. These windows may be aesthetically pleasing to humans, but often they are lethal to birds. Unfortunately, many birds cannot distinguish the difference between the real sky and a reflection of the sky in a window.
You can minimize these collisions by breaking up the reflection on the outside of the window with a window screen, flash tape and bird netting. Life-size, animate "scares" (plastic falcons, owls and balloons) and falcon or owl silhouettes attached to windows with suction cups are not effective deterrents.
Planting trees and installing window awnings to block the sun from hitting the window may eliminate some reflection.
Migration isn't the only time homeowners have trouble with bird-window collisions. Birds may hit your windows during breeding season, and in the winter too.
During breeding season, male cardinals, woodpeckers and mockingbirds may "fight" their own reflections in windows (and car mirrors). They'll stop banging into the window as the breeding season ends. You can discourage them with screens and other barrier techniques.
Regardless of the season, birds can fly into windows when they're frightened while visiting a feeding station. Either move the feeders a considerable distance away from the window, or immediately adjacent to the window (so birds don't get up to flight speed before hitting the window)."

Here is a great site for bird information: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/

Bird flying into window video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSVD8H-WTGU

Hungry Squirrels

We are finally getting some rain and the temps are cooling down here at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. I took a little break to walk in the gardens and observed an interesting event. While strolling near a mile high pine showing severe drought stress I saw a small limb fall to the ground. Naturally, my eye was drawn to the area it landed where it stabbed into the rain softened forest soil. I noticed several of these little limbs sticking in the ground like small seedlings would look if sprouted. I pulled a few up and noticed they were all neatly cut at about a 45 degree angle.

We have had several reports lately of pecan/hickory limbs being cut off in a neat beaver like fashion. This I knew was caused by the Hickory/Pecan Twig Girdler. The cut of the pine was very different and I was not sure what the cause was. My assumption after some research is squirrel damage from hungry/thirsty squirrels. It seems the little critters will cut off a green shoot and lick the sap that exudes from the fresh wound. If anyone has another hypothesis I would be interested.

Dying Leyland Cypress

Q. Why is my Leyland cypress turning brown?
A: This question seems to be growing more and more common. Leyland cypress is a relatively inexpensive, fast growing conifer used for screens and specimen plantings. I have a long row of them in my own landscape and have had no problems thus far and they are about 10 years old. Nevertheless, they do have several problems that are making them less and less desirable in our area. The most common problems found on this plant are fungal tip blights & cankers and occasional bagworms. This year the cankers are by far the most common problem.
Seiridium canker is becoming a serious problem of Leyland cypress. This disease may kill young shoots, older branches and in some cases entire trees. Bleeding cankers are often observed on the trunks of infected trees. Trees that are stressed by transplant shock, drought and/or high or low temperature may be more likely to be infected by this disease.
Botryosphaeria canker is usually found on established Leyland cypress. Branch dieback is often the first symptom observed on diseased cypress. Again, bleeding cankers may be observed on the trunk of infected trees but is much more common with Seiridium canker. If the canker girdles the trunk the entire tree will likely die. This fungus, like many other fungi that cause cankers, is opportunistic and attacks plants weakened by drought stress, site problems, pruning wounds, insect damage or construction damage. This disease is particularly damaging to those trees suffering from drought and heat-related stress like what we have experienced this summer. Even though drought conditions can exacerbate this disease the problem can also be worsened by poorly drained soils.
Dr. Jim Jacobi, Extension Plant Pathologist says, “These canker diseases have similar symptoms of scattered dead branches throughout the canopy. However, this year Botryosphaeria canker is the more common of the two canker diseases of Leyland cypress. Drought this year and last year have greatly increased problems with canker diseases. Planting in good well drained soil, mulching and watering during dry weather are the key factors to growing healthy Leyland cypress. Fungicides are of little help with these diseases.”
For detailed information on diseases of Leyland Cypress check out the Extension publication at this web address: www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1160/