Our “What’s Blooming Page is always a month behind
this year because we have to take the pictures,
develop them and then scan and post them to the
page. By the time we get through the process, it
is next month. I have a digital camera that I use
occasionally which shortens the process and a
camera that I use occasionally but the quality is
still not as good as a 35mm camera (at least in
the range I can afford). We are building for the
future. We welcome your submissions. I enjoy this
part of our web page; it gets me out in the garden
to see what is happening and I can call it work.
The Spotlight on Alabama Green Industry by the
Agribusiness Council was a big success in
Montgomery last month. All the legislators left
knowing that the Green Industry was an important
part of Alabama’s economy and deserving of their
attention. We made a video to show the legislators
the diversity of our industry. We gave them all we
could squeeze into seven minutes. If you would
like to use the tape for a school project or other
meeting, “The Green Industry” is available through
your county Extension office.
We learn from our failures as well as our
successes. Chamaecyparis thyoides, white cedar, is
gaining popularity as a landscape plant and a
potential Christmas tree. It is a native plant
found in bogs or on stream banks. Many of our
plants that you bring out of situations like this
often do well in more upland sites. Bald cypress
(Taxodium distichum) and Swamp magnolia (Magnolia
virginiana) are good examples of this. In an
irrigation research project we have been using
this plant as a test species. In two separate
projects, we have had an irrigation glich that has
left the irrigation off for 3 days. Both Leyland
Cypress and Arizona Cypress survived the ordeal
with no apparent damage. White Cedar, however,
flamed out. Soil scientists often speak of
permanent wilting point in plants where water
deprivation has been so great that Niagara Falls
could not bring them back to life. This is what
these plants looked like. Just as Leyland Cypress
can not withstand prolonged saturation, white
cedar needs to be pampered with water. I hope no
one repeats our disaster. Automation does not
eliminate the necessity to walk the rows each day
scouting for pests and noting irrigation heads and
the condition of each plant.
Have a great month! The Horticulture Department and Auburn
University were created to serve all the people of Alabama
and we enjoy helping when we can. Send us your questions,
comments, suggestions, and ideas.
The Wildflower Society, on the other hand, wanted the state to also name a native plant to represent the state. The oak-leaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia Bart) was their very logical choice for a number of reasons. Its existence was documented even before Alabama became a state. William Bartram, a naturalist who traveled in the state in 1775-1776, named the oak-leaf hydrangea in his book "Travels" (published in 1791). Growing in every region and every soil type in Alabama, the six foot high plant produces white flowers from May throughout the summer.
Researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago have concluded, after studying 145 female heads of households in the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago, that "individuals living adjacent to greener common spaces had more social activities and more visitors and had stronger feelings of belonging." It may be an important survival strategy for those who live in poverty - a way of sharing common resources and building a social network. They theorize that grass and trees and simple landscaping draw people outside where casual contact with fellow residents can lead to friendships.
The daunting problem of blackspot on roses may have an effective treatment. A St. Louis rose grower, upon running out of Miracle-Gro borrowed some Miracid fertilizer for acid-loving plants. Application was made by a hose-end sprayer. The next day he was disappointed to see that many leaves fell off the plants. What he subsequently began to notice was that the blackspot lesions on the remaining leaves did not spread and that new ones did not appear. Since he was experiencing a particularly invasive infestation of blackspot on his 500 roses, he continued spraying with Miracid each week. No subsequent blackspot appeared. He communicated his findings to other rose growers, some of whom tried his technique and found similar results.
During the 1999 rose growing season several growers will be testing Miracid for the control of blackspot. Because of these results Miracid will also be tested as a fungicide on other plants. These are not scientific, but rather anecdotal findings, but it is assumed that the science will follow with similar results. People have been transmitting information like this on Internet garden discussion groups. Scientific experimentation should clarify how it works with resulting recommendations for the control of fungi on many different plants. You can find Miracid Plant Food for Acid-Loving Plants (The Scotts Company) in garden centers, hardware, and discount stores.
Because of potential phytotoxicity, it is suggested that you water plant beds prior to foliar spraying. Do not spray roses when the heat index is above 85 degrees. The following cultivars appear to be particularly sensitive to Miracid: 'Hansa', 'Topaz Jewel', 'Sunny June', 'Carefree Bunch', 'Joseph's Coat', 'The Fairy', Eglantyne',and 'Garten Direktor Otto Linne'. Petunias, gladiolas, irises, and many other flowers are not sensitive to this product. It may control mildew on lilacs and rust on hollyhocks. If you apply Miracid with a hose-end sprayer don't
tilt the sprayer as it can change the spray concentration. And don't apply a regular soluble fertilizer as a foliar spray while using Miracid as the fungicidal effect will likely be eliminated. Apply the fertilizer at the base of the plant. Some growers have used less expensive products with similar results.
CHLOROTHALONIL FUNGICIDES PROHIBITED
FOR HOME LAWN USES
by Austin Hagan
Auburn University Exension Plant Pathologist
For the past decade or more, fungicides that contained the active ingredient chlorothalonil, which is sold under the trade names Daconil, liquid Lawn Disease Control, Fungi-Gard, etc. have been widely used by both landscapers and homeowners on Alabama's home lawns. Chlorothalonil not only has good activity against a variety of diseases on warm- and cool-season turfgrasses but also those on many landscape ornamentals. This fungicide is also used for the control of foliar diseases on a number of important vegetable, fruit, and field crops.
For years, chlorothalonil, which is classified by the EPA as a B2 carcinogen, has been under a regulatory cloud. The problem is that this fungicide is the best broad-spectrum, contact fungicide on the market. The EPA has been aware of that fact and, until the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act was passed, had not acted. Well, now it has.
Under FQPA, all pesticide exposures from food, drinking water, the landscape, and other uses (total exposure) must be considered when determining allowable pesticide levels in food. Under the old FIFRA guidelines, non-food uses of a given pesticide had little or no bearing on setting pesticide tolerances in food crops. Now, fungicide uses on home lawns, golf courses, and sod farms are given the same weight by the EPA when filling the "risk cup" as those used on vegetables or any other food crop.
Due to the high use rates and frequent application intervals found on its label chlorothalonil was especially vulnerable to such regulatory action. Also, the EPA's misconceptions concerning the use of fungicides on golf courses added to the confusion concerning exposure to chlorothalonil residues. The EPA initially assumed that every acre of every golf course in the United States is treated year-round with the full rate of chlorothalonil: greens, tees, fairways, bunkers, everything. Anyone who has worked with the golf course industry knows that fungicide applications are largely restricted (at best) to the intensively managed greens and tees. On all but the most exclusive coures, the fairways and roughs are left to fend for themselves. On many low-budget courses, use of any fungicide anywhere, including chlorothalonil, is minimal. The mid-South, with its modest number of bentgrass courses, is really the only region where year-round fungicide applications are made to greens and tees and chlorothalonil is not the fungicide of choice for Pythium and brown patch control.
Chlorothalonil's "risk cup" was overflowing and something had to go. That something turned out to be the residential lawn uses of Daconil 2787, Fungi-Gard, Liquid Lawn Disease Control, and any other generic chlorothalonil products on the retail market. That prohibition on residential lawns goes for the lawn care industry, not just the homeowner. All other uses, including ornamentals in residential landscapes, have been retained so far, as have those for golf courses, sod farms, nurseries, and greenhouses. The re-entry interval (REI) for Daconil on nursery and greenhouse crops was cut from 48 hours to 12 hours. As with any discontinued use, existing stocks will be sold under the old labels. Residential turf uses will be deleted from the label of any new product manufactured. All chlorothalonil fungicides will soon be deleted from our (ANR) residential turf disease publications and the Alabama Pest Management Handbook (ANR-500, Vol. 2).
There are no quick replacements for Daconil 2787 and the other chlorothalonil fungicides on shelves at local stores or garden centers. At some retail outlets, it's the only fungicide AI on the shelf! Chlorothalonil was my top choice for Helminthosporium leaf spot, Gray leaf spot, and brown patch control on residential lawns. Its replacements are generally less effective, hard to find, more expensive, or a combination of all three. Some formulation of mancozeb (i.e., Fore or Dithane T/O) or Immunex (Banner Maxx) will be the most readily available products. At some point, other triazole fungicides such as Eagle and Bayleton may be sold for residential turf use through retail outlets: they will be expensive.
Zeneca Corporation, the manufacturer of Daconil 2787, did not come away from the EPA empty handed. Heritage 50W, a broad-spectrum systemic turf fungicide, was cleared for use on residential lawns. The question is whether or not this fungicide will be available only to the lawn care industry. Will the general public have access to it? Heritage 50W has been quickly adopted by the golf course industry, particularly in this area, for the control of Pythium blight, anthracnose, and several other damaging diseases on bentgrass greens and tees. It is quite expensive at $300-plus per pound of product. Can't wait to see the looks on peoples' faces when they see the price of this stuff at the local Wal-Mart.
(Published in The Alabama Master Gardener Newsletter, May 1999).
INVASIVE SPECIES EXECUTIVE ORDER
Below is a copy of the executive order released by the Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, on
Invasive Species. It will start a program to deal
with the threat of invasive species. All items
will
be put on a "green list", meaning that they will
be
considered guilty until proven innocent.
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
Today, I am signing an Executive Order directing
federal agencies to expand and coordinate their
efforts to combat a serious environmental threat:
the introduction and spread of plants and animals
not native to the United States.
Many Americans are all too familiar with gypsy
moths and other non-native insects that devour our
gardens and trees. Few realize, however, that
countless other non-native plants and animals are
upsetting nature's balance, squeezing out native
species, causing severe economic damage, and
transforming our landscape.
Those affected range from Western ranchers plagued
by a weed called leafy spurge to Chicago
homeowners whose stately maple trees have fallen
prey to the Asian long-horned beetle. Some experts
estimate the cost to the American economy to be as
high as $123 billion a year.
The Executive Order mobilizes the federal
government to defend against these aggressive
predators and pests.
Led by the Departments of the Interior,
Agriculture, and Commerce, federal agencies will
work together to prevent the introduction of
non-native species and control those already here.
My fiscal year 2000 budget proposes an additional
$29 million to support these efforts, and I urge
Congress to join us in protecting our economy and
our natural heritage against the threat of
non-native species.
---
The following is the EXECUTIVE ORDER from THE WHITE HOUSE,
Office of the Press Secretary, released on
February 3, 1999:
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, including the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention
and Control Act of 1990, asamended (16 U.S.C. 4701
et seq.), Lacey Act, as amended (18 U.S.C. 42),
Federal Plant Pest Act (7 U.S.C. 150aa et seq.),
Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974, as amended (7
U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), Endangered Species Act of
973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), and
other pertinent statutes, to prevent the
introduction of invasive species and provide for
their control and to minimize the economic,
ecological, and human health impacts that invasive
species cause, it is ordered as follows:
Section 1. Definitions.
(a) "Alien species" means, with respect to a
particular ecosystem, any species, including its
seeds, eggs, spores, or other biological material
capable of propagating that species, that is not
native to that ecosystem.
(b) "Control" means, as appropriate, eradicating,
suppressing, reducing, or managing invasive
species populations, preventing spread of invasive
species from areas where they are present, and
taking steps such as restoration of native species
and habitats to reduce the effects of invasive
species and to prevent further invasions.
(c) "Ecosystem" means the complex of a community
of organisms and its environment.
(d) "Federal agency" means an executive
department or agency, but does not include
independent establishments as defined by 5 U.S.C.
104.
(e) "Introduction" means the intentional or
unintentional escape, release, dissemination, or
placement of a species into an ecosystem as a
result of human activity.
(f) "Invasive species" means an alien species
whose introduction does or is likely to cause
economic or environmental harm or harm to human
health.
(g) "Native species" means, with respect to a
particular ecosystem, a species that, other than
as a result of an introduction, historically
occurred or currently occurs in that ecosystem.
(h) "Species" means a group of organisms all of
which have a high degree of physical and genetic
similarity, generally interbreed only among
themselves, and show persistent differences from
members of allied groups of organisms.
(i) "Stakeholders" means, but is not limited to,
State, tribal, and local government agencies,
academic institutions, the scientific community,
nongovernmental entities including environmental,
agricultural, and conservation organizations,
trade groups, commercial interests, and private
landowners.
(j) "United States" means the 50 States, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and all
possessions, territories, and the territorial sea
of the United States.
Sec. 2. Federal Agency Duties. (a) Each Federal
agency whose actions may affect the status of
invasive species shall, to the extent practicable
and permitted by law,
(1) identify such actions;
(2) subject to the availability of
appropriations, and within Administration
budgetary limits, use relevant programs and
authorities to: (i) prevent the introduction of
invasive species; (ii) detect and respond rapidly
to and control populations of such species in a
cost-effective and environmentally sound manner;
(iii) monitor invasive species populations
accurately and reliably; (iv) provide for
restoration of native species and habitat
conditions in ecosystems that have been invaded;
(v) conduct research on invasive species and
develop technologies to prevent introduction and
provide for environ-mentally sound control of
invasive species; and (vi) promote public
education on invasive species and the means to
address them; and
(3) not authorize, fund, or carry out actions
that it believes are likely to cause or promote
the introduction or spread of invasive species in
the United States or elsewhere unless, pursuant to
guidelines that it has prescribed, the agency has
determined and made public its determination that
the benefits of such actions clearly outweigh the
potential harm caused by invasive species; and
that all feasible and prudent measures to minimize
risk of harm will be taken in conjunction with the
actions.
(b) Federal agencies shall pursue the duties set
forth in this section in consultation with the
Invasive Species Council, consistent with the
Invasive Species Management Plan and in
cooperation with stakeholders, as appropriate,
and, as approved by the Department of State, when
Federal agencies are working with international
organizations and foreign nations.
Sec. 3. Invasive Species Council. (a) An
Invasive Species Council (Council) is hereby
established whose members shall include the
Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury,
the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the
Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the
Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of
Transportation, and the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency. The Council
shall be Co-Chaired by the Secretary of the
Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the
Secretary of Commerce. The Council may invite
additional Federal agency representatives to be
members, including representatives from subcabinet
bureaus or offices with significant
responsibilities concerning invasive species, and
may prescribe special procedures for their
participation. The Secretary of the Interior
shall, with concurrence of the Co- Chairs, appoint
an Executive Director of the Council and shall
provide the staff and administrative support for
the Council.
(b) The Secretary of the Interior shall establish
an advisory committee under the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App., to provide
information and advice for consideration by the
Council, and shall, after consultation with other
members of the Council, appoint members of the
advisory committee representing stakeholders.
Among other things, the advisory committee shall
recommend plans and actions at local, tribal,
State, regional, and ecosystem- based levels to
achieve the goals and objectives of the Management
Plan in section 5 of this order. The advisory
committee shall act in cooperation with
stakeholders and existing organizations addressing
invasive species. The Department of the Interior
shall provide the administrative and financial
support for the advisory committee.
Sec. 4. Duties of the Invasive Species Council.
The Invasive Species Council shall provide
national leadership regarding invasive species,
and shall:
(a) oversee the implementation of this order and
see that the Federal agency activities concerning
invasive species are coordinated, complementary,
cost-efficient, and effective, relying to the
extent feasible and appropriate on existing
organizations addressing invasive species, such as
the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, the
Federal Interagency Committee for the Management
of Noxious and Exotic Weeds, and the Committee on
Environment and Natural Resources;
(b) encourage planning and action at local,
tribal, State, regional, and ecosystem-based
levels to achieve the goals and objectives of the
Management Plan in section 5 of this order, in
cooperation with stakeholders and existing
organizations addressing invasive species;
(c) develop recommendations for international
cooperation in addressing invasive species;
(d) develop, in consultation with the Council on
Environmental Quality, guidance to Federal
agencies pursuant to the National Environmental
Policy Act on prevention and control of invasive
species, including the procurement, use, and
maintenance of native species as they affect
invasive species;
(e) facilitate development of a coordinated
network among Federal agencies to document,
evaluate, and monitor impacts from invasive
species on the economy, the environment, and human
health;
(f) facilitate establishment of a coordinated,
up-to- date information-sharing system that
utilizes, to the greatest extent practicable, the
Internet; this system shall facilitate access to
and exchange of information concerning invasive
species, including, but not limited to,
information on distribution and abundance of
invasive species; life histories of such species
and invasive characteristics; economic,
environmental, and human health impacts;
management techniques, and laws and programs for
management, research, and public education; and
(g) prepare and issue a national Invasive
Species Management Plan as set forth in section 5
of this order.
Sec. 5. Invasive Species Management Plan. (a)
Within 18 months after issuance of this order, the
Council shall prepare and issue the first edition
of a National Invasive Species Management Plan
(Management Plan), which shall detail and
recommend performance-oriented goals and
objectives and specific measures of success for
Federal agency
