St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is a popular celebration in the United States, due to the number of Americans, 10.5%, with Irish heritage. One million Irish emigrated to North America, Australia, or other parts of Great Britain in the mid-1800s because of the potato disease now known as late blight. Late blight, caused by the water mold, Phytophthora infestans, destroyed the Irish potato crops in 1845 through 1849 and caused the Irish Potato Famine. Another one million people died from hunger or disease.
The irony of the famous story of the Irish Potato Famine is that the United States was the likely source of late blight. In a 2016 study, DNA fingerprints were generated for P. infestans samples preserved in 48 dried, diseased potato, tomato, or nightshade leaves collected between 1846 and 1939 in the United States (36 samples) and Europe (12 samples). Over three-quarters of the samples had the identical fingerprint, which suggests that an 1843 to 1844 outbreak of late blight in the eastern United States was the source of the Irish outbreak that started in 1845. It’s very likely that diseased potatoes shipped from the United States to Europe carried late blight, but it’s not known if diseased potatoes or airborne spores spread P. infestans from mainland Europe to Ireland.
The oldest known late blight sample was collected in Ireland but not from potato. Late blight also affected a shrub called red-striped yellow tailflower, Anthocercis ilicifolia, that, like potato, is a member of the nightshade family. Even more surprising is that the shrub is native to Australia, not Ireland.
The Irish Potato Famine is a good reminder of how trans-oceanic movement of plants can also move pests and diseases.
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Bloomcore, also known as flowercore, is an aesthetic trend that is just right for gardeners. It embraces the natural world, and most importantly, flowers. Putting nature first, it creates a pretty, flowery look both indoors and outside in the garden.
My Rhododendrons were in full bloom when a late frost caught them quite badly. Winter has been wet and mild but if the USA is anything to go by hard frosts may still be on the way so look after your early flowering Rhododendrons.
Potato blight, also called late blight, is a destructive fungal disease that is caused by spores of Phytophthora infestans. Potato blight spores are spread on the wind and may also contaminate potato tubers in the soil. It can ruin a crop in 10-14 days and there is little that can be done to save an infected crop. It was the original cause of the Irish Potato Famine.
No other plant native to South Carolina has such fragrant and beautiful spring blooms and stunning fall color as the witch-alders. Fothergilla was named after Dr. John Fothergill, an English physician and gardener who funded the travels of John Bartram through the Carolinas in the 1700’s. These beautiful shrubs have been planted in both American and English gardens for over 200 years, including gardens of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
This North American native plant is a relative of the popular holiday poinsettia. Both plants are members of the euphorbia family. This plant is sometimes grown for the colorful green and orange bracts, but it is considered a weed.
Quick backstory: You may remember Charley, co-author of my most-used field guide “Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates,” from our recent interview about galls and leaf mines, two of his specialties.(I’m giving away two more copies; enter by commenting in the form way down at the bottom of this page, after reading the entry details in the tinted box just before that. The book can help you to know what you are seeing when you look closer, too—kind of like always having Charley by your side.)When that story ran, Charley had noticed a photo I used to accompany it–of a squiggly “leaf mine” I’d observed in my Asian-native big-leaved perennial called Petasites. He’d wondered if it was caused by the insect that feeds in a few different genera in the tribe Senecioneae (including some native American botanical cousins of Petasites). Why don’t you come try to find out, I’d suggested—and while you’re here, why don’t we have a
Click on the first thumbnail to start the show, and toggle from slide to slide by using the arrows. Note: You may have to scroll to find the arrows below the verticals, in particular. Enjoy.What are all these images, and where did they come from suddenly? My beloved Nebraskan-English-Transplant correspondent explains (imagine this with an accent if you can):“My mum has begu
The numbers on a fertilizer bag are the so-called N-P-K ratio, the percent of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash (or potassium, chemical symbol K) inside the bag. Simply speaking, nitrogen is for green growth; phosphorus is for roots, flowers, and fruit; potash is for general vigor and disease resistance. A so-called balanced fertilizer, often recommended in books, is one that has equal percentages of each element.With chemical fertilizers, the numbers are much higher than with organic formulations. A standard is 10-10-10 or 5-10-5, meaning there are those percentages of each element in the bag (the rest is filler). You won’t find those totals in any organic formulation. In fact, if the total of the three numbers on a so-called organic or natural bag adds up to more than 15, I’m suspicious. Unless blood meal—an organic material very high i
YES, YES, I KNOW: I have already told you I love hellebores. While waiting for mine to reach full bloom, I took an online tour this very cold morning of other hellebore plantings that are enviably farther along.