About Long Island Gardener Expertise Growing Tulips? Dahlias? Daffodils? Gladiolus? It doesn't get easier than bulbs and tubers. Once in a while, something goes wrong: The dreaded Narcissus Bulb Fly, which resembles a honeybee. Mosaic virus, which can ignite a field of tulips in a single season. Nematodes, lurking underground. Here on the North Shore of Long Island, the garden is full of surprises. If you live in the Northeast/Atlantic Coast, I can help you pick the right bulb for every season, indoors and out, and help you fertilize, bloom and harvest for home or work. How: I have degrees in related fields, but my best understanding is all learned from trial and error. For most of my 53 years I have been gardening somewhere. No matter what the problem, I've learned the best answers are always Organic -- Earth friendly, less expensive, healthier for people and pets, easier and cleaner than toxic liquids and powders that big chemical companies sell so smoothly.
Experience Besides degrees in related fields, and a few favorite horticultural societies, I work as a docent at our local botanical gardens -- but it's the years of work in the garden that's the real test.
Question my zip is 53578- my glads grew but the flowers never opened- they just dried up on the stem- i have planted them many years, and have at times put them in this same garden- watered them often- have never had this happen before- why do you think this happened? thanks
Answer A few Gladiolus-loving Insect Pests will cause those symptoms.
Lygus lineolaris -- aka 'Tarnished Plant Bug' -- causes bud blast in or abnormal development. See this photo closeup of one photographed at University of Florida:
web1.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modop/00000670.html
This insect is often overlooked and more prevalent than you would assume. Points out Auburn U Nursery Management Coop, 'In early 1989, the risk of feeding damage by L. lineolaris prompted several Florida forest nurseries to initiate preventive insecticide applications.'
But these bugs are very mobile. So they are rarely found on plants when the symptoms appear. During a drought, these insects converge on succulents for dinner:
Wireworms drill holes , then feast on flower stalks. Shoots turn Yellow and become deformed and stunted.
The Tulip Fly/Tulip Bulb Aphid ruins Bulbs beginning in Spring with Daffodils and Tulips. It is often found in Sandy Soil. Shoots typically dry up and die.
Thrips consume leaf, flower and corm tissue. Attacked plant parts are discolored; leaves turn Brown as they die out.
