--Dr. T. Michael Likins, Extension Agent, has been a great resource for homeowners and Green Industry professionals battling plant diseases in Chesterfield County, VA. His office has a one of a kind diagnostic lab to process field samples for timely identifications and control recommendations. Mike s efforts have given residents better management tools to maintain their suburban landscaping. Dr. Likins program on Friday night at the AIS Region 4 Fall Meeting focused on three disease issues plaguing annuals, perennials and woody shrubs. He recently made headlines in the Richmond area with the discovery of Boxwood Blight in Chesterfield. The fungal pathogen is a major threat to a popular selection in landscape designs for Central Virginia Gardens. Rose Rosette Disease, a virus, has been spreading through the wild rose population in the Eastern, Southern and Midwestern United States for years. It is now proven to be lethal to many ornamental rose species and cultivars. There is no effective chemical control. Likins stressed prompt disease identification. Affected plants (foliage, stems and roots) should be immediately removed to prevent further infection. Impatiens has been a popular summer annual for decades. They have helped create eye-catching color splashes particularly in shady garden areas. Nature unfortunately has finally caught up to its exciting hybrids. Downy Mildew devastated plantings in late summer and fall in 2012. Mike discussed the disease mechanism and proper identification. New Guinea Impatiens has a high resistance to the fungus, but the future appears bleak for the other hybrid types. Please see accompanying fact sheets or contact your local Cooperative Extension Service Office for more information. A special thank you to Mike for another timely presentation on diseases plaguing Central Virginia gardens.
HANDOUTS (pdf): I had the pleasure to attend the AIS Region 4 Fall Meeting in South Richmond on Saturday, October 19th. In addition to seeing beautiful rebloom in full swing at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, I met new and old iris friends. I’ve corresponded with some attendees for many years through email and iris forums. As “icing on the cake”, I was able to present some of the fun I’ve had hybridizing after the evening’s dinner. Thanks a million to Mike Lockatell and the Region 4 affiliate members for the warm welcome. Here’s a brief summary of my presentation. I registered two reblooming diploid MTB irises, Cricket Song and Easy Smile in 2008. They resulted from a combination of three diploid bearded iris species (Iris cengialtii X (Iris variegata x Iris suaveolens. Mellita). My hope is MTB hybridizers will be to use these two irises to bring more rebloom into diploid MTBs. Iris variegata Iris suaveolens. Mellita X Picture Picture Picture X Picture Iris cengialtii X Clown Pants In 2013, I had maiden bloom on the lone seedling from a cross of Lowell Baumunk’s TB Introspection X Easy Smile. It shows no sign of reblooming this year, but I hope that this sort of seedling will be a bridge to bring the rebloom genes from my diploid MTBs over into the tetraploids. Picture I’ve been having fun hybridizing for purple foliage characteristics. I’ve been working in parallel with both diploids and tetraploids. My best diploid lines so far are derived from Iris pallida “Kupari, Iris suaveolens var. rubromarginata and the MTB Rosemary’s Dream. Picture My best tetraploid lines for PBF are from a combination of TB“Honky Tonk Blues”, Iris aphylla and TB“American Sweetheart”.
Picture I hope to see Mike and my Region 4 iris friends again for the upcoming 2014 Spring Meeting in Timonium, MD.
Impatiens Downy Mildew
Boxwood Blight 2011
Boxwood Blight characteristics with VDACS
Rose Rosette characteristics
450-620 Rose Rosette Disease