The Garden At Rock Cottage by Lance Brilliantine

Sad Thoughts for a New Year

Life is always wonderful and bittersweet at the same time. Year-end is upon us. I appreciate how lucky I am to have a full belly and garden space to call my own. A life with minimal problems is a blessing few can boast! Many struggle for food each day. A glance at the evening news displays a list of kids who die each day. Something seems wrong in a world where youngsters die untimely deaths.

At the same time, late fall has been glorious with its unusually warm weather. The green that dwindles in December has not disappeared because the ground is not yet frozen. It seems more like early April than the threshold of winter. Since I hate really cold weather, this has been wonderful.

This warmth has helped spring bulbs build roots and get ready for spring. Early bulbs are breaking the surface of the soil and forsythia and witch hazel are blooming in some areas, fooled into thinking time is not what it is. Even the blue holly at Rock Cottage has opened its flowers. But the wiser oaks, while their buds are swollen, still wait for an event several months away.

The inevitable frigid cold of January will soon appear with its ice and snow. However, I continue to wander through the garden, silently looking for signs of spring and watching changes on a weekly basis. The birds don’t seem to mind the lack of cold. The perennials, anticipating longer, warmer days, are sending forth fledgling leaves for the New Year. Christmas roses (Helleborus niger) that were planted beneath the rhododendrons and azaleas are blooming with their green-white, purple flowers. They will bloom through March if I understand anything about flowers.

However, I also notice a battle is raging in gardens throughout the northeast in warmer seasons and is subtly showing itself. It portends a larger war this coming spring. Oh, life is never easy and never to be taken for granted!

Though I may never see a battleground with guns and tanks, I wage a battle with a subtle killer in my garden, the winter moth. You may have noticed him of late, flittering around windows and nighttime lights. The warmer late fall weather has provided an entry way for this pest that is now always there and already attacking.

The winter moth (Operophtera brumata) was introduced to our area from Europe through Nova Scotia. The pest quickly defoliates deciduous plant material in the spring. Trees at risk are maples, oaks, cherries, ash, white elm, apple and blueberry. The moth’s caterpillars, as they forage, drop from trees into flower and perennial beds where they eradicate the foliage and kill the plants. There is not much defense, as there are no natural predators.

Male winter moths have wings that are drab-colored. The hind edge of their wings are fringed with small hairs and the bottom row of dark banding near the tip of the wing appears as a series of hash marks. Adult female winter moths have smaller wings and do not use them. While flightless, the females are avaricious breeders.

Both male and female moths emerge around Thanksgiving and continue to emerge well through December whenever milder temperatures prevail. As with many moths, these are attracted to light. If you see small moths flittering around windows or lights this time of year, you probably have something to think about.

Females orient on a vertical silhouette of a surface such as a tree trunk and race up while emitting a sex pheromone to attract males. Male winter moths can be seen flying around tree trunks, resting on the bark and mating with females at this time. They also fly into homes, and around nighttime lights.

Once they mate, the females continue scurrying up the tree and lay their eggs. Both males and females die soon after mating and depositing eggs. Each female lays up to 150 eggs. These egg clusters look like tiny individual barrels that are tightly packed together. The only defense against these pests is to spray and kill the caterpillars in spring. There are no control options for the adult stages of these moths.

Most people think that gypsy moths are responsible for the defoliation of spring trees – but it is the winter moth that is the culprit. Last year was a particularly hard hit. A hoard of moths can defoliate an entire tree in less than a week.

So, keep an eye out for these pests. If you see them, start saving your money now to spray this spring!

You can contact Lance Brilliantine with any questions or comments at GardenLance@yahoo.com.