Garden sage: Apple flea beetles; pruning Yuccas; cochineal scale
Answers to your questions on bugs and gardening in Southern Arizona.
Q: I have a backyard prickly pear with a cochineal infestation. Does that need to be treated?Β Do these guys ever go away on their own? Are the…
Q: We live just above River Road with desert vegetation.Β A branch of five of what I think is Yucca elata, 3 to 4 feet high, has grown up close…
Q: There are small insects about 2-3 millimeters long that are eating (and killing) our Mexican pink flowered Oenothera.Β I put a pan underneat…
Q: Now this is a bug! What the hell is it? Eerily beautiful and frightful at the same time.
Q: I am planning on planting ocotillo before the end of this monsoon season; any advice/instruction?
Q: Can you tell me about the cute praying mantis that has been on our sesame plant for several months now.
Q: When my car was serviced a couple of days ago a large black widow and her nest fell on the technician. He took it down and we sprayed under…
Q: I found a very strange looking caterpillar crawling across my patio.Β I would like to know where it came from and if it is a problem.
Q: I live in the Marana/Tucson area and would love to grow wine and table grapes. I have a wash behind me and I have a wall around my back yar…
Q: These bugs are eating my morning-glory plant. Can you please tell me what they are and how I can get rid of them?
Q: I have some low weeds (spurge?) that are slowly taking over my tiff-green lawn.Β They are easy to kill in the gravel but what can I do about…
Q: I have seen some people cutting the lower branches off their oleanders. Is this good for the plants?
Q: I am finding orange dog caterpillars on my citrus now.Β Some are very small and some are almost two inches long. Why are they different size…
Q: Weβve had this plant in our yard for at least seven or eight years, and this year it sprouted this unusual branch. Itβs about 1.25-inches w…
Q: We planted two different kinds of tomatoes in a planter. The larger variety is thriving. The smaller variety has tomatoes that grow in gree…
Q: I have at least four chuckwallas living in my backyard. I have identified them using photos on the Internet. They range in size from 6 to 1…
Q: I planted a Bearss Lime tree about five years ago. When we had the bad freeze a few years ago it froze. Since then it has come back and has…
Q: I have two mature olive trees in my back yard. They do not fruit. I would like to know how much to water them especially now in the hot Tuc…
Q: My tomatillos are full of holes and I canβt figure out what happened. What should I do to prevent this next time?
Q: I have a fig tree and a pomegranate that I planted in 2012 in water harvesting basins. They both were thriving and last year I got great ha…
Q: Iβm pretty sure my palo verde tree is suffering from major beetle damage. Many branches are dead, it barely leafed out, and there are many …
Q: We found a strange plant in our yard β a βvolunteerβ β and were wondering what it is because it is crowding out something we planted.
Q: I am taking care of two rose bushes and my fertilizing dates have been a month apart.Β That has not been a problem but now with fall coming …
Q: What is the beetle eating my sweet potato leaves?
Q: I would like to take better advantage of solar power in my garden. What ways are there to do this?
Q: Iβve been noticing the sycamore trees around where I live look pretty awful. The leaves are pale and curled up. What is causing this problem?
Q: My pyracantha leaves recently started looking like the attached picture. A drip system waters it every three days for 30 minutes. Hasnβt ha…
Q: What is this tiny black beetle with orange spots? There are a bunch of tiny black beetles with orange spots in our kitchen pantry.
Q: Can you identify this insect? Itβs beautiful, gentle and somehow makes me think of an acoustic guitar. There are perhaps 30 of them in the …
Q: I was wondering if you could help me out with another insect ID. I have this tree that crashed and while inspecting it found what appears t…
Q: What are these little gray buggers on my sunflower leaves?
Q: About 1Β ΖΒ years ago I purchased four white flowering oleander plantsβthe tall not the petite variety. They have been deep watered regularly…
Q: We recently came back to Tucson from a week in San Diego to find about a hundred or more June bugs on our mature fig tree. We have lived he…
Q: I have many Penstemon parryi seedlings that have been growing through the summer. Within the last two weeks they have begun to develop βbur…
Q: We have tons of mesquite pods and they are a huge pain. A yard guy we met said he could spray the tree next April and that would take care …
Q: What are the luminescent critters found in the Tucson region? Back East there are fireflies or lightning bugs, but I have not seen them here.
Q: I am starting to see some odd growths on parts of my oleander hedge. I understand they are galls but I am not sure what to do about them.
Question: I have a front yard without a fence or wall. Iβd like to line it with bird of paradise bushes. Can I use a cutting to start them gro…
Question: I have 13 rose bushes in my backyard against the side concrete wall that were planted two years ago. The first and second years they…
Question: What can I use to finally get rid of these stubborn desert broom weeds once and for all?
Q: Here is a picture of a new plant sprouting up in my yard. Is it a weed or something nice? Will it grow tall? Leave it or yank it? Thanks.
Q : Recently I noticed, on two mesquite trees, a tarry-looking seepage coming out, and in some cases dripping onto the ground. What is it, and…
Q: After 12 years my toothpick cactus has finally yielded five flowers for the first time. I am wondering if I could propagate a toothpick cac…
Q: I have two ocotillos that I planted myself about seven years ago. Both are oddly shaped but growing well from their original size of about …
Q: About three years ago, I lopped off the top of a pineapple purchased at a local grocery store and planted it. In April, my first pineapple …
Q: I live in Oracle and have a native oak with ivy growing up the trunk. I am wondering if it is a threat to the tree. I also have a mature ne…
Question: Iβm sorry to bug you again, but I canβt think of anyone else to ask. When I have been going out in the backyard, in the dirt there a…
Q: Can you tell me something about the weed called funastrum twine vine?
Q: Any instructions for planting a bougainvillea in Green Valley? I will purchase a potted plant and put it in a hole in the ground.
Q: I found a very strange looking caterpillar crawling across my patio.Β I would like to know where it came from and if it is a problem.
Q: We have tons of mesquite pods and they are a huge pain. A yard guy we met said he could spray the tree next April and that would take care …
Q : Recently I noticed, on two mesquite trees, a tarry-looking seepage coming out, and in some cases dripping onto the ground. What is it, and…
Q: Can you identify this insect? Itβs beautiful, gentle and somehow makes me think of an acoustic guitar. There are perhaps 30 of them in the …
