Thursday, May 3, 2012

What the %@&# happened here!?...

Last Friday I shared a picture of an oh so perfect little leaf on my Rodgersia aesculifolia.
Over the weekend I decided to poke around and see if there were signs of other leaves, one is fine and dandy but I was hoping for a few more. What the?
That single leaf wasn’t so perfect anymore! Lucky for me the culprit was still hanging out on the stem…
Looks like a cutworm, I had trouble with them last year too. Even though I’ve read they are primarily a danger to seedlings (eating through their tender stems and “cutting” them down) they seem to have no trouble munching on any and all foliage in my garden. Does anyone have a method of “eliminating” them? I’d love to hear about it if you do. Luckily I did find another leaf, and it was unharmed.
Since I’m on the topic of Rodgersia I need to right a wrong I made last week when I identified this…
As Rodgersia ‘Chocolate Wings’ it’s actually Rodgersia podophylla 'Rotlaub.’
And this is R. ‘Chocolate wings’…
With its dark leaves still folded and resembling velvet.
Other new foliage in the garden (thankfully unharmed by anything, yet?) the slowly opening leaves of Darmera peltata.
The huge leaves of Astilboides tabularis…
With my thumb for scale…
I should have lugged these three containers somewhere with a more photogenic background but I was feeling lazy. This is where they spent the winter, cozied up against the neighbor’s fence, sheltered a bit by over hanging trees. Now that they’re showing signs of life I need to move them to their summer home.

Finally, the unfurling fronds of Osmunda cinnamomea (Cinnamon Fern). This one is so late I was beginning to worry.
There is a stretch of dry and even sunny weather coming up over the weekend and into next week, I’m looking forward to much time spent in the garden “working.” Hope you get a chance to do the same!

24 comments:

  1. Grrr, I hate cutworms! Scrubjays like to eat them, I hear.

    Awesome photos--I love how that cinnamon fern in the last photo looks like it's rubbing its hands together, plotting something nefarious.

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    1. Well we've got a lot of scrubjays...they better get busy!

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  2. I love the photo of your unfurling Osmunda..... looks like something alienesque emerging from a sticky webbing of sort. Your Astilboides looks fabulous! We had snow last week and I lost the one stem that had risen. I see three more still curled, just peeking out from the soil so I think I will have a decent presentation this year, fingers crossed as it is a favourite.

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    1. Oh yes, I bet snow would do those leaves in quick. Winter has to be over for you soon!? Right?

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  3. I squish the cutworms and I hate them!! They eat more than tender seedlings here. My husband uses seven sometimes, I know, don't tell anyone..

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    1. Yikes. I just sent mine off to gorge itself in the yard waste container. What happens after that, well...

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  4. These are all plants of which I have never heard. Love the velvety chocolate one. I think I told you this before but you really are a plantswoman.
    I picked of 2 cutworms on the top of plants this morning. You could never have as many cutworms as we have had this year. It boggles the mind. The good thing was that nature gave them some kind of virus which causes them to just melt. Even she couldn't cope with the numbers of caterpillar eating her stuff.

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    1. These plants would probably last about 10 minutes in your heat Jenny. And thank you for the compliment!

      Yay for Mother Nature! Revenge is sweet (sometimes).

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  5. It's like Rodgersia week in Portland! Love them, of course, hopefully my Oxalis will fill in around mine this year and I'll get a nice green background too :-) My Astilboides was decimated by slugs a month ago...and i just now sending up new stems :-( I actually just found a cutworm this morning in the garden, first one I've ever actually seen...it was laying on a fat, juicy Persicaria leaf...until I threw it in the street, that is ;-)

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    1. Ya I felt kind of silly posting on the heals of your beautiful post. Oh well...

      Damn slugs...do you throw them in the street too?

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  6. Heather expressed my thoughts on that last photo. Now that you have cleared up the Rogersia confusion I will need to be on the lookout for both of them. Scott is the champion plant spotter and says they have "Chocolate Wings" at Portland Nursery Division. I am now the proud momma of a baby 'Night Heron' from Cistus...just waiting for a stretch of good weather to turn my loblolly into a new bed.

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    1. Yay for your new baby. Mine finally took off this year after being in a bad spot and sulking for it's first year. After I moved it (again, b/c of the painter) then it was happy!

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  7. I'd love to know how much heat the Astilboides and Rogersias can take. I'm looking for more big-leaved plants, but our summer heat is tough on them. For reference, Gunnera won't grow here, even in full shade.

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    1. Wow and Gunnera are tough! These would probably sulk too, although I don't know for sure. Sun is their enemy, that I can tell you.

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  8. Isn't it frustrating when a pristine new leaf you're anticipating growing gets eaten? Lovely shots, especially the Rodgersias. I've somehow taken them for granted and planted several in the garden without bothering to remember their names. Thanks for reminding us all how wonderful they are :)

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    1. I suppose that's a risk in a garden as lush as yours, something has to go unnoticed!

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  9. Eeeww a cutworm! I've been lucky so far in my garden, but I don't take the lack of them for granted. Your Astilboides tabularis is so stunning I didn't notice the fence in the background until you mentioned it, though I was admiring the pot it's in.

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    1. That pot has almost ended up in the trash multiple times. It's cracked and discolored. The only thing that saves is it my buying a plant I have no place for and needing a container!

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  10. Bacillus Thuringensis (commonly called BT) is naturally occurring bacteria which can be used for the control of moth larvae including cutworms, cabbage loopers, etc. (Will kill any moth or butterfly larvae.) Should be available in any garden supply store that carries organic products. MIGHT be able to get at big box stores. Nasty buggers those cut worms.

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  11. One more thing about BT - there are several different strains so you have to be sure you get the right one. (BT that kills mosquitoes won't kill cutworms and visa versa.) The GOOD thing about using BT is that it is very specific and will not kill beneficial insects. Here is a link to more information: http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05556.html

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    1. Thanks LJB, sounds drastic...but sometimes drastic measures are needed!

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  12. The Rodgersia podophylla 'Rotlaub' is a stunner up against the bright green!!

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  13. So love the Astilboides tabularis and Rogersia, just wondering if they would be too big for my garden though?

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    1. oh Libby...where there is a will there is a way!

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