There are several types of smoke bushes (Cotinus coggygria) I grow. The green original variety is a large shrub going to 15 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Mine grows as a shrub but can be pruned into a small growing tree.
Most of the varieties grown have purple leaves (Royal Purple, Winecraft Black (PV), or Velvet Cloak) growing slightly smaller at 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide. I find the purple varieties get more winterkill than the green varieties. There is a yellow-leaf variety called Ancot.
All varieties get their name from the smoke-like plumes of flowers blooming around July looking like puffs of smoke.
Once established, they are drought-tolerant and pest resistant. Plant smoke bushes in full sun for they do not shade. They do well in sandy or clay soils making it a good choice for South Dakota.
In the garden this week: as it gets hotter, water your newly planted trees and shrubs more remembering they need more water than watering your lawn will give. For the first year or two most of the roots are contained in the root ball of the container they were in. I planted a crabapple tree a couple of weeks ago and have watered it every three days. Stick your finger in the root area and if dry water.
Drought injury on maple leaves
The spots appearing on apple and pear trees are apple rust. They are roundish reddish-brown lesions going through the leaf. There is not much that can be done now, and apple rust does not harm older trees.
Apple rust on a pear leaf
There is a lot of herbicide drift still showing up on tomatoes and peppers being very susceptible to 2,4-D injury. Most herbicide shows up as deforming (curled) leaf growth. Roundup usually shows up as a browning of the leaf area or brown spots. Aphids will curl leaves but look closely and you will see the aphids in the curling portion of the leaf.
2,4-D injury in a tomato plantRoundup injury in a tomato plant
If you have a good apple crop you might want to think about spraying the apple maggot. I have not seen any yet, but when you have them, it is too late. So, if you have had damage from the maggot, spray with an all-purpose orchard spray every 10 days until mid-August (follow label instructions). Online there are apple maggot sicky traps you can hang in the tree.
Apple maggot flyApple maggot in an apple
Do not water in the heat of the day for lawns, flowerbeds, and gardens. Not only do you waste money, but it can also harm some plants. Wait till early morning.
Aphids are becoming a problem this week. If the plants (vegetables or flowers) are becoming deformed, look underneath the leaf and see if you have tiny green, black, or reddish “bugs”. If so, use Neem oil or insecticide soap to kill them. Be sure you get the undersides of the leaves to rid yourselves of these tiny pests. Sometimes they cause witch’s broom in some shrubs like cotoneaster and honeysuckle, which looks like distorted growth on the tips of the branches. On ornamentals, you can use a systemic insecticide.
Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus) 2nd instar nymph
If the rains (few and far between) have not killed the little grasshoppers (nymphs), you may have a problem. The small they are the easier they are to kill. In the flowerbed or garden use Seven. Grasshopper baits around the perimeter of these areas help. Keep the weeds and grass around the garden mowed. It gives me great pleasure seeing the mowing and chopping of these insects up!
Cabbage butterflies are out in abundance which will lay eggs on the Cole crops, then the eggs hatch into little green caterpillars which can wipe out the crop. Used Sevin on a schedule to control them. Better yet is a product called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) which is a biological chemical killing young worms without harm to the environment. I have not found this product around the area, however, it can be ordered through any online garden store. These worms are hard to see being the same color as the vegetable, so most likely you will see the holes and damage first.
Blossom end rot is showing up in tomatoes and peppers as a large leathery brown spot on the bottom of the fruit. The problem is a calcium (and magnesium) tie-up in the soil due to dry and warm conditions. To prevent this use a mulch and keep your watering even.
Another water problem is the cracking of the tomato fruit usually along the top and shoulders. The cause is water going to the fruit faster than the skin can compensate for it. Again, even watering and mulch help. Some varieties are more susceptible to this condition like the cherry tomatoes and varieties like Early Girl with thinner skins. As the summer goes on this condition should decrease unless we get a heavy summer rain.
A few questions about purslane showing up in gardens and flowerbeds. Do not use any herbicides this time of year. Pull and remove it because they will root down again if left in contact with the soil. Better yet, use it as a garnish with any salad you make. They were grown and used as food at one time. You can buy cultivars as blooming plants in the greenhouses in yellows and reds.
