Garden Detective: Questions about wisteria, red maple and mysterious insects
Nitrogen fertilizer could be to blame for wisteria that isn't blooming like this. Credit: Getty Images / JML Images
DEAR JESSICA: I have had a wisteria vine for over 20 years. It's in a sunny location, and in all the time I’ve had it, it has only flowered once. Would you know why that is? — Rifky Warshaw, Far Rockaway
DEAR RIFKY: There are a few reasons your wisteria might not be blooming, but the most common culprit is too much nitrogen. Using even a balanced fertilizer in spring can stunt this plant’s blooms. If you fertilize it — or if the plant is growing in or near a lawn that is regularly fertilized — that could be the cause.
Wisteria needs full sun, which you say you have, as well as good drainage, to bloom well. In addition, severe overpruning could diminish blooming.
The telltale sign of maple petiole borer is the presence of a short stem attached to shed leaves. Credit: Steve Risolo
DEAR JESSICA: I’m wondering if you might know why the leaves of a red maple tree are falling off as if they are cut about a quarter inch from the leaf. Thank you for any information you can send my way. — Steve Risolo, Massapequa
DEAR STEVE: It appears the tree is under attack by maple petiole borer (also called maple leaf borer). The telltale sign is a short petiole (stem) attached to fallen leaves, with the remaining part of the petioles still attached to the tree. The insect remains in the part attached to the tree, so you won’t see it in or on a leaf that's been shed.
There’s no remedy, unfortunately, but the good news is this is not usually fatal to the tree.
Boxelder bug nymphs, like these clustered in reader Leslie Altman's Rockville Centre garden, typical aren't deadly to plants. Credit: Leslie Altman
DEAR JESSICA: I found a cluster of these insects in a plant stalk. Are they good or bad insects? — Leslie Altman, Rockville Centre
DEAR LESLIE: I wasn’t familiar with your eye-catching insect, so I reached out to Dan Gilrein, entomologist at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Riverhead, and he suspects those insects are boxelder bug nymphs (Boisea trivittata).
“Some maples and a few other trees are primary hosts, but the nymphs are sometimes found clustered on herbaceous plants, too,” he said, explaining that usually there is a maple nearby that the bugs are associated with.
The good news is that Gilrein said he has not seen them cause any noticeable damage. You can just leave them be.
Reader Bill Alberigo of Garden City Park added an "amusing" feature to the odd-looking tomato that grew in his garden. Credit: Bill Alberigo
READER PHOTO
Reader Bill Alberigo of Garden City Park has been growing tomatoes for more than 10 years.
"Every once in a while," he said, "a funky one is found hiding somewhere within my 12 plants" — one like this "odd" beefsteak heirloom he grew from seed.
"I added a feature I thought you might find amusing," Alberigo said.
I do, Bill. I do!
