Spider Mites on Butterfly Bushes

QuestionHello, Dr. Vann. Thanks for answering my question. I have two Black Knight Butterfly Bushes that are infested with spider mites. This is the second year this has happened. I tried spr

Fruit and Merit 75WP

QuestionHi Jim, I had trouble with a borer digging a big hole in a 5 caliper inch Japaneses Maple in the spring. I sprayed the tree trunk as per your directions at 2.5 teaspoons in a half gallon of water soaking th

Lemon tree

Questionhi have lemon tree plenty of lemons lately lemons are growing more rounder in shape & some are deformed ( 3 or 4 lemons growing inside 1 ) any ideas what I am doing wrong would be app thanks AnswerPhil: I d

Plum Shothole, bugs or disease?

Question Shothole bark rolled back Hello Dr. Vann, My 3-4 yr.old Catalina Plum has Shothole on the leaves for 2nd season now. The tree continues to grow, but i notice other things along with it. It look

Dahlia disease??

QuestionHEELPPPP. Last year I planted some dahlia tubers and they sprouted and grew flowers that were really ugly and deformed. They survived the winter, and have sprouted and again, the flowers are deformed, and wi

Problems with fruitless mulberry

Question mulberry problems Hi. Thank you for reading this: I have 3 young fruitless Mulberrys that I planted 4 months ago. I live in the high desert of southern California where its very windy and hot.

pineapple guava tree problem

QuestionHi Kathy, My pineapple guava tree is pretty old & big... loaded with fruit, but a lot of the leaves are turning yellow with some red dots. I抦 in No. CA, where we抳e been in a terrible drought, as you kn

autumn blaze maple problems

Question autumn blaze maple iss I have an autumn blaze maple tree that was planted as a memorial to my child. It has never looked good since weve planted it 3 years ago. I have seen on your site t

apple tree fruit

QuestionMy green apples have brown spots in them.Some are good others not.The rest of the tree has 4 kinds of apple on them the rest of the tree is fine.The brown spots look like if you cut them open and not eat the

coral bark maple

QuestionI have 2 -- 5yr old coral bark maples at the head of my gated entrance (2 trunk & 7 tall). Since July I noticed the leaves turning on one of them...it is now dead ( I think ). One nursery told me

Fungus at base of tree

Question Fungus at oak base We have a weird fungus growing at base of our oak trees? Its not soft like mushroom its almost like rock until you pull it them the base does resemble a mushroom. We also hav

Spider plant

QuestionMy spider plant is getting black round spots on it that can be removed. It also gets round holes in it and is eating my plant. Can u plz tell me what to do. Thankyou so very much. AnswerRena: If these round

Cayenne Pepper Plants

QuestionHello, I usually have a good crop of cayenne peppers grown in containers. My husband loves hot, hot peppers, especially cayennes. This year Ive had the problem of recent rains and usually expect

Maple with missing bark

QuestionHi Jim I have a neighbor who is concerned about a maple on his parkway with missing bark on the south side of the bole (please see attached photo, the facing notations refer to the direction the trunk is fa

Mystery Tree Species

Question Mystery Leaf Hello Melissa My NWF Field Guide to Trees of North America boasts covering 700 species, but fails to identify a tree newly planted on a parkway in Chicago. The folks who planted t

Oak tree disease

Question Strange structure on t Twigs growing out Good afternoon. The oak tree in our garden (South facing, South of Sheffield , South Yorkshire, UK) Has no acorns this year. I have attached pictures if

Diseased orchid

Question Diseased orchid I have several orchids of this type, but this one worries me, is it a virus infection, should I destroy it? Many thanks for your consideration. AnswerDear Jeffrey, My apologies for

Black spots on Corkscrew Willow leaves

QuestionI noticed today that both of my Corkscrew Willows have black spots all over the leaves. I imagine it is probably fungal. They are both a couple years old and approx 12 tall. How do I treat this? Answer T

Hackberry tree

QuestionMy tree is quite old. Very large. It has developed a black fungus, mold or something on the leaves. It has gotten on my white vinyl fence, plus my pompass grass and appears to have affected my crepe myrtle .

Crocosmia Lucifer Seeds

QuestionQUESTION: Dear Melissa, I live in the rather damp and cold north of England. I have some Crocosmia Lucifer plants that have finished flowering and are spreading their seeds over the paving stone which they l