Eriospermum paradoxum

Cool nights and shorter days mean that winter-growing succulent plants are becoming active. Here is a pot of Eriospermum paradoxum, a tuberous plant from South Africa, blooming in cultivation in Connecticut. The flowers have a very strong fragrance, reminiscent of narcissus. After the flowers are finished, the tubers produce small leaves with a branched outgrowth that resembles a miniature Christmas tree. The leaves last until April or so, gathering weak winter sun to fuel the growth of the subterranean tubers, which will survive the summer heat in a dormant state before flowering again next autumn.

Fungus Among Us

Calostoma cinnabarina

I think that the rain last week has been encouraging our mycelial forest friends, and over the weekend I found a bunch of these strange objects growing in the woods along the Fenton River in Mansfield Center. After a bit of poking around in mushroom books, I'm fairly confident that they are Calostoma cinnabarina, or Pretty Lips, a fungus with some similarities to puffballs, though apparently the two are not related. A gelatinous protective layer and inner membrane peel away from the puffball part when the spores ripen, creating a little pile of tapioca-looking jelly with curled up bits of membrane in it.

Sunflowers

Helianthus annuus 'Mammoth Russian'

It's feeling like the waning days of summer here in Connecticut. Just the other day I took this photo out in a baking campus garden; today it's windy, cool and drizzling. Well, we can use the rain, and it's supposed to be back to heat and humidity by the weekend.

The Mealybug Destroyer

Cryptolaemus feeding on a mealybug infestation on an ice plant (Aptenia).

The common name “Mealybug Destroyer” sounds like it might be part of the advertising for an overhyped, doubtfully effective gardening product, but when applied to the predatory beetle Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, it’s actually appropriate. Here at the University of Connecticut greenhouses, we’ve been trying to minimize the use of pesticides, and rely instead on beneficial insects and other biological controls for pests, as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. Cryptolaemus has been critical to our efforts to beat one of the worst enemies of indoor horticulture.

Cryptolaemus is a tropical lady beetle, related to the native and Asian lady beetles commonly found in gardens (and houses) in New England. Adult “crypts” are small, nondescript brown and black beetles, which eat mealybugs and mealybug eggs. Cryptolaemus larvae are what really earn the name Mealybug Destroyer, though. These are camouflaged to look like large, fast moving mealybugs, and they devour pests at a prodigious rate. They mostly go after Citrus Mealybug and Long-tailed Mealybug, but in a pinch they will settle for other insect pests; I’ve seen them make short work of an infestation of Brown Soft Scale, for instance.

Mealybug Destroyers do best in warm, humid conditions, and even in a greenhouse usually don’t survive through the winter. Adult beetles can be ordered through the mail in the spring, from specialist suppliers such as IPM Laboratories. Once a population of crypts gets established, it can quickly become a problem to find enough mealybug-infested plants to keep them fed.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to make use of Cryptolaemus in all but the largest home collections of plants. It’s fairly expensive to acquire a package of the beetles (the joke in the horticulture industry is that IPM stands for “I Pay More”), and you really need a large number of plants with a lot of mealies to support a population of Mealybug Destroyers. The beetles are far more sensitive to pesticide residues than the pests are, and probably won’t survive if systemic insecticides have been applied within the past six months, or possibly longer (pests evolve resistance to chemicals used to control them, but populations of beneficial insects have likely never been exposed to pesticides). Still, under the right circumstances, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri can be a devastatingly effective weapon in the battle against mealybugs.

Newport Flower Show 2010

The Newport Flower Show starts up tomorrow. I was out there bright and early this morning to lend a hand with "passing" entries for the judged show, which basically meant checking for proper naming, making sure no pest-infested or otherwise unsuitable material got through, and filling in paperwork. It was a nice excuse to check out the show setup and a little bit of Newport, and catch up with New England plant people.

The show is held in and around Rosecliff, one of the 19th century mansions along Bellevue Avenue. It's a somewhat fancier venue than the Connecticut Flower Show's Hartford Convention Center.

Massachusetts cactus club bigwig Paul C. and his wife relax on the terrace. It was a hot day, but there was a pleasant sea breeze.

The theme of this year's show was Safari Flora & Fauna, so plants native to Africa were well represented, such as Art S.'s award-winning Aloe plicatilis being wheeled into place here.

Back in the registration tent, the succulent plant entries had all been processed and the action had moved on to cut flowers, so my duties were finished for the day.

Just in time for a late lunch at Rhode Island institution Flo's Clam Shack. The eats at Flo's were pretty typical deep fried seafood, probably a bit fresher and less oily than average for beach food joints.

I meandered down to the beach, but a storm was moving in (possibly remnants of the one that apparently trashed part of Bridgeport earlier in the day), so I decided on a quick retreat back to the safety of northeastern Connecticut.