The plant disease called aster yellows seems to be hitting St Louis pretty hard this year. It thrives in cool wet weather which we have had plenty of this spring. Aster yellows will effect many common garden plants, in my garden it is on the purple coneflowers and black eyed Susan's. Aster yellows is caused by a leafhopper that transmits a  phytoplasma to the plant that causes it to deform. The plant will be deformed by having mini flowers sticking out of the flower head, looking chlorotic, and twisting growth. The only way to keep the disease from spreading to other plants is to remove the infected plants, and don't put them in the compost. It is hard for me to rip out a plant but I remind myself that it is no longer able to perform it's ecological function and may spread the disease. I made myself a nice bouquet of aster yellows infected flowers for my dinning room table while I was at it. In addition to aster yellows there is a similar looking deformity that is caused by a mite living in the flower head. These plants will have a normal looking foliage and flower heads except for a deformity in the center of the head. If the plant is infected with the mite the flower head can be removed and not the whole plant. More info http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/diseases/viruses/aster-yellows.aspx http://extension.missouri.edu/phelps/documents/Horticulture_News/AstersYellowsDieases.pdf

Happy Earth Day everyone! I hope you take some time this month to reflect on the choices you make and how they impact the planet for good or bad. Planting native plants is an easy way to make a positive difference for the earth by providing habitat for the birds and insects. The humming birds have arrived and the monarch butterflies are on their way. Make sure that this little patch of earth you are in charge of provides the resources they need to live. Here is a photo of my happy earth day Blue Wild Indigo that was given to me six years ago at the Forest Park Earth Day celebration. It is doing great and is a favorite with the bumble bees. I'm looking forward to going again this year to see what new plant I can bring home. Maybe I will see you there...

I recently had a bad experience with an irritating plant. I had a rash and blisters form on my legs after spending the day pulling weeds. I didn't notice what plant caused the rash but the symptoms seems to match wild parsnip exposure. When the sap of wild parsnip gets on skin it doesn't cause an immediate reaction until the skin is exposed to sunlight. The plant sap and the sunlight combined causes burns on the skin that will blister. The reaction is called phytophotodermatitis. My experience was an unpleasant one and I will be more careful to wear long pants and wash any exposed skin immediately in the future. I often have many small irritations on my skin from the plants I come into contact with. Poison ivy has given me many rashes in my life and I'm very careful around it. When I find poison ivy in my garden I pull it out using a bag over my hand in the same method used to pick up dog poop. I bag it up and throw it away.  Another plant that I get a rash from is Japanese Hops. It is an annual vine with many spines. The spiny vines grab at my skin and leave me with tinny itching bumps for a few days. Last week I was cutting back iron weed and ended up with a rash on my arms from the fuzz of the stems as I hauled them off to the compost pile. Many plants have spines or irritating fuzz to protect themselves from being eaten. It also deters the gardener from pulling them if they cause a rash. My advice is learn which plants irritate you and how to recognize them at a young age so they don't get a foothold in the garden. Most skin irritations go away after I wash or are gone the next day. If I have a lasting rash I like to use creams that numb the skin, aloe, or an anti itch cream. With this latest rash I had from the wild parsnip I found it difficult to find information about the rash and how to treat it. There are a million different opinions about how to treat poison ivy but very few sources about wild parsnip. I even went to my doctor and she had never heard of wild parsnip. My recommendation for dealing with a wild parsnip rash is to use lots of aloe and ice packs for relief. Keep skin cool and not exposed to sunlight. I received steroids from my doctor which helped to give me relief from the allergic reaction right away. It took about two weeks for the rash to run it's course but I hear that it can return after being exposed. I will have to remember to wear long pants for the rest of the year.

My favorite plant this month are the Asters. I'm not going to try to pick a favorite Aster because they are all special in some way. Asters get a bad rap because they are tall and flop over and like to spread and bloom just when you gave up on them ever doing anything useful. But when they do finally bloom they are the gem of the garden and you are so glad to have them. Asters provide food for a lot of caterpillars without even looking bad. They are host to American Lady, Cabbage White, Common Buckeye, Painted Lady, Pearl Crescent, Question Marks, Viceroy, Skippers, Sulphurs, Admirals, and Swallowtails. Since the flowers bloom so late in the season Aster is a very important food source for migrating butterflies and last meal for bees. The fluffy seeds come after many other food sources have been depleted and migrating and over wintering birds depend on the seed for winter food. Due to their size and tendencies to fall over Asters are often planted in large groups. Asters look great mixed in with grasses like little blue stem. Keeping a good density of stems helps keep everyone standing up. Many gardeners also give their Asters and other fall blooming plants a good trimming in May to help them grow more densely and shorter. Picking the right Aster for your space can be challenging since their are so many to choose from. Some prefer shade or sun. Some grow more bushy with many small flowers and some have bigger flowers at the top. Asters range in color from pink, white, blue and purple. Some species spread faster then others using rhizomes and seeds. Don't just judge by the pretty flower, match all other factors to your site. The easiest way to pick an Aster is to find one you like in your friends garden and ask for it, I'm sure they have some extra to share.

River Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) When most plants have succumbed to gravity and fallen into the frozen February mud the river oats still stand tall waving their seeds in the breeze. I love to walk through a river bottom of river oats that remind me of a waving sea as they bend in the breeze and make a rustling sound as I push my way through. River Oats are also know as Sea Oats or the very descriptive Fish-on-a-string. They also make great cut plants for your winter arrangements. However, a word of caution! River Oats will take over your entire yard if you let them, they are very aggressive when they are happy. You will probably have regrets if you plant this plant in your flower bed of your small urban lot. The plant will spread from a single plant to a large clump within a year and start growing out of your compost pile and anywhere else the seeds fall. A great use for river oats is in drainage ditches or honeysuckle choked stream banks. I have an intermittent stream/drainage ditch behind my yard that was formerly covered in bush honeysuckle, winter creeper, and Japanese hops. After removing these invasives I planted river oats and Elderberry to help revegetate the slope. In areas with frequent flooding it is important to get new plants established as quickly as possible after removing unwanted plants so that the soil will not wash away. River oats is perfect for holding down slopes because it establishes quickly and has a strong root system. It tolerates wet soils and periodic flooding as well as hot dry summers as long as it has some shade. River Oats also grows densely enough to crowd out those pesky honeysuckle resprouts. Another alternative to river oats is Beakgrain. Beakgrain also requires shade and is flood tolerant. Beakgrain is slightly less aggressive and shorter with the same arching habit. Beakgrain is also more difficult to find at the garden center. These two plants are prime examples of putting the right plant in the right place. The right place for River Oats is a moist woodland river bottom area where it is free to spread.

Early spring is a excellent time to pull honeysuckle. It is easy to spot as the leaves burst before other shrubs. Many of our forests are filled with a green hazy right now, unfortunately it is all honeysuckle. Now that the soil has thawed and frequent rains keep it nice and soft it is a good time to pull honeysuckle out by the roots. Young honeysuckle shrubs that are 3ft or less can be pulled up by hand. Instead of going straight down, the honeysuckle roots branch out sideways just beneath the soil which makes them easier to pull out. When pulling up honeysuckle it is ok if some roots break off as long as the crown, the part where the above and below ground parts meet, is fully removed. Larger honeysuckle may require tools and strong backs to remove later but right now remove the young ones so that they never become a problem in the future. I scout my garden regularly this time of year for the hundreds of inch tall honeysuckle that the birds have planted in my yard from their droppings. The few that I missed last year are now a foot tall but I can still easily pull them out when the ground is soft. After pulling up a shrub I carefully replace the soil so that all the little overwintering critters won't be disturbed. I have learned the hard way that freshly pulled honeysuckle bushes will try to reroot themselves if their roots are in contact with the ground or a nice compost pile so I prop them upside down against the fence or pile them on the driveway until they have experienced a nice hot day. I want to get them out of the garden now before they have a chance to produce seeds and be spread to other areas. Even though my neighbor has a bush producing berries I feel I need to do my part to stop the spread. Here is a good video to watch about how to get rid of larger shrubs. Very large shrubs will require heavy equipment or at least a saw. https://www.deercreekalliance.org/root_docking_honeysuckle

My daughter and I were talking about the grocery store shortages and she commented that she wished she could be a rabbit and just eat the grass. Well, we can all be rabbits with the bounty of edible greens in our spring gardens. Looking around my garden I found several edible weeds including henbit, dead nettle, onion grass, violets, and dandelions. In my herb garden I found parsley, garlic chives, kale, and mint. For some fun color I included the edible flowers of dandelion, violet, and red bud. With all the nutrients from these hardy spring greens I should be able to avoid a trip to the grocery store for a few more days. Our family has an Easter tradition of including flowers in the Easter meal. The easiest flower to find on Easter is the violet because of the long bloom period. My garden grows plenty of violets and I harvest them often. The violet leaves are edible but the tastiest part, I think, is the flower. Some people candy or make a syrup of the violet flowers for attractive desserts. The violets I harvest go straight on a salad or as a pretty garnish on any side dish. Violets have a lot of vitamin A and C. Harvesting violets can be tedious. I have good luck picking the flowers by running them through my fingers to pull them off the stem. There are always some bugs that are living in the plants I pick so I set them out in the sun for a bit to encourage the bugs to crawl off. Whenever adding new foods to your diet, start small in case you have an allergic reaction. Also, if you are taking medicine that can be effected by your diet it is important to talk to your doctor before eating new things.

St Louis Native Plant Swap https://www.facebook.com/groups/STLNPS/ This swap page is dedicated to native plants. It is a good resource if you have a plant you are looking for or have extra plants you want to trade or give away. The group hosts a few swap events and attends other plant swap and native plant events. There is also general info about native plants, native plant events, and other resources. I try to host a couple clearing out the garden days each year where I post which plants I have in abundance and mark them in my yard. People will message me with what plants they want and when they can come over, I will give them my address and when they arrive we go out and dig up how many plants they want and they take them home. Some people will bring me plants as a trade but most are just starting gardening and I'm sure they will pay it forward in a year or two. St Louis Wild Ones https://www.facebook.com/StLouisWildOnes/ This page of the St Louis Wild Ones Chapter is a good resource to find out about native plant events coming up in the area. Wild Ones hosts native plant lectures, yard tours, and plant swaps. Most events are free to the public but many join the chapter after their first event because it is a great group for any native plant lover. This group also has a blog about native plants which they post to facebook. I follow the St Louis Wild Ones so that I can learn about all the native plant events in St Louis and get registered before they fill up. I also like going to the yard tours because it is neat to see real life native plants in the garden and the many ways that they can be used. Every gardener has a slightly different touch and the Wild Ones group tours all the best gardens in St Louis. Missouri Native Plant Society https://www.facebook.com/groups/MONPS/ This group has more of a botanical focus then a gardening focus. The best way to learn about native plants and their needs is to observe them in the wild. This page is also the go to plant ID group for all your native plant questions. If you find an unidentifiable plant in your yard or on a hike just upload a photo to the page and the group will have an ID for you in a few hours and if it is native or not. Be sure to always double check plant IDs unless they are from an admin. The Missouri Native Plant Society is also a real club you can join. They have native plant lectures monthly and guided plant ID walks. I follow the Missouri Native Plant Society so that my facebook feed is filled with plant photos. It is a fun game to try to ID the plants I see and then look down in the comments to see if I was right. I also use it to keep track of what is blooming where. Like when I want to see the peak bluebell bloom at St Francis State park I can see when the best time to go is by the photos being posted on the MONPS page. There are also many other pages that I follow including Missouri nature lovers, Bring conservation home, Missouri naturalist, Bi-state bugs, and many others.

There is an iNaturalist event coming up this month. Participate from your yard or local park. City Nature Challenge, Friday, April 24 to Monday, April 27, 2020. I have the iNaturalist app on my phone. It is a good tool for identifying plants and the insects they host. When I'm using the app I have the best luck getting a correct ID if I upload several closeup photos of different parts of the plant. The app will also tell me if certain plants have been seen in that area before. I feel more confident about my ID if someone else has found the same plant there before. St Louis has an event coming up soon called the City Nature Challenge. This is an activity that you do alone in nature with the iNaturalist app. It is a competition between cities to see who has the most biodiversity in their city. Anyone can participate in the event. Every ID that is made in St Louis using the app is uploaded to the project and counts towards our cities biodiversity. The City Nature Challenge is a fun way to be a part of a large citizen science project that provides valuable data about urban biodiversity. The challenge is from Friday, April 24 to Monday, April 27, 2020. Participants can upload their observations to the app anytime during those 4 days. Any observations you upload using iNaturalist will automatically be added to the challenge. More info about City Nature Challenge https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/sustainability/sustainability/biodiversecity-st.-louis.aspx#10705 https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/city-nature-challenge/index.cfm

A summary of, Attracting Native Pollinators, a guide published by the Xerces Society. Part 1 of 4 Our native bees and other pollinators are declining mostly because of human created environmental factors including the loss, fragmentation, and degradation of habitat, poisoning from pesticides, and the introduction and spread of diseases. Other problems are light pollution and climate change. Bees can be poisoned by pesticides if they are out foraging when plants are sprayed. If the mosquito spray truck drives by in the evening and sprays the front garden the bees can be killed from absorbing the chemicals. Bees can also pick up insecticide later while they are foraging on flowers that have chemical residue on them. Even soil can be contaminated with insecticides and kill bees in their nests. Plants can be engineered with systemic pesticides inside the plant call neonicotinoids. Even a small non lethal dose of pesticide can cause a bee to become disoriented and not be able to fly back to it's nest. Don't use pesticides. Home gardeners are often guilty of applying pesticide much more heavily then recommended which can damage the pollinator haven they are trying to create. A healthy and diverse landscape will encourage pest predators and parasites. Pesticides may harm beneficial insects that keep a pest in check. To protect bee habitat first recognize what existing pollinator habitat there is and protect it. Expand the existing habitat and add new type of habitat that are missing from the landscape. Minimize disturbance of pollinators using their habitat by leaving it alone. Leave leaves on the ground until pollinators emerge from their winter dens. Don't disturb bare patches of soil where queen bees might be nesting. Let rotting logs and plant stems stay to provide habitat. Brush piles and rock piles can shelter insects. Practice benign neglect in the garden.

A summary of, Attracting Native Pollinators, a guide published by the Xerces Society. Part 2 of 4 There are 20,000 or more species of bees in the word with over 200 species occurring within the city limits of St Louis. Bees can be difficult to identify without using a microscope but there are a few easy features to use to tell a bee from their look alike wasps and flies. Wasps are more flamboyantly colored, are less hairy, and never carry pollen. Flies have only 2 wings, are less hairy, have larger eyes closer to the top of the head, shorter antennae, and don't carry pollen. Many flies try to mimic bees and wasps for protection so they are hard to tell apart. Some flies and wasps can even fool bees with their mimicry. Native bees are more effective at pollinating then honey bees. This is especially true with native plants that have co-evolved with native bees and have flower parts that are specially designed to be compatible with the local bees. Pollinators play an essential role in the ecosystem. Pollinators help fertilize seeds, nuts, fruits and berries. They are a food source for birds, fish, predator insects, and some mammals. pollinators are an essential and large part of the food web. Pollinator conservation can happen anywhere. It provides a community with and opportunity to build environment awareness. Pollinator conservation enriches an area by providing habitat for other plants and animals. Managing an area for wildlife often is cheaper and easier than maintaining a manicured lawn area. Citizens can educate public leaders and agencies about pollinator conservation by advising on management of public areas. Help local conservation groups manage conservation areas for pollinators. Contact local park managers about minimizing pesticide use and especially limiting mosquito spraying to protect pollinators. Help influential people in the community understand the importance of pollinators and how to protect them. Engage the local community in pollinator education events where good management practices are used.

A summary of, Attracting Native Pollinators, a guide published by the Xerces Society. Part 3 of 4 When designing a pollinator friendly landscape there are a few common basic needs. Maintain open unshaded areas. Pollinators like the sun. Many trees are good for pollinators but they should be placed where they wont shade the pollinator garden. Have a diversity of flower species that bloom throughout the year. Early spring and late fall are the most important times to have blooms. Some plants like witchhazel even bloom and winter and are a needed resource for insects out on a warm winter day. Design the pollinator garden with large blocks of color. Insects fling by will be called in to large areas of blooms. Foraging and pollination is easier for pollinators when they do not have to travel far between blooms. "Native plants are four times more likely than nonnative plants to attract native bees, and native plant genera support three times as many species of butterflies and moths as introduced plants do." Design flower beds so something is blooming at all times. Native bees typically forage in an area from 500ft to a half mile. Placing pollinator plantings within 500ft of each other and nesting sites ensures that all bees can find the resources they need. Pollinators find it easier to locate and forage on large (3' or larger) groupings of their preferred plant. When flowers are close together a bee uses less energy flying between blooms and is more efficient at pollinating and foraging. To have a high diversity of pollinators a high diversity of flowers must be present. Flower blooms should occur constantly throughout the year when insects are active. Different pollinators are suited to different types of flower structures. Some flowers have large landing pads for uncoordinated insects to land. Some flowers require a pollinator to hover while sticking it's long tongue down to the bottom of an equally long tube. Some flowers must be pried open by a strong bumble bee. Create an ecolawn by allowing a rich diversity of low growing flowers to bloom. Sedges, violets, clover, self heal, yarrow, poppy mallow, etc can enrich a lawn that is mowed high and infrequently. To protect pollinators when mowing; use a flushing bar and mow at a slow speed and increased height to allow pollinators a chance to flee, avoid mowing at night and times when pollinators are active, and allow time between mowing for populations to recover.