Carpenter Bees

They are out there harassing not only you and me, but they are also harassing the unpainted wood around your house. While these buzz -bombing rascals may look like bumble bees, they are actually carpenter bees, sometimes called wood bees.

 Carpenter bees are solitary nesters, although there may be several females nesting in the same basic area. The female chews holes into unpainted wood, sometimes into dead trees, and establishes nest compartments off of the main tunnel. She then lays an egg at the end of each nest compartment and packs nectar and pollen in over the top of the egg. After the egg hatches, the larvae eats the food then pupates, and late this summer they’ll hatch out. Now, the male carpenter bees hang around where there are females and act threatening and fly around you and buzz bomb you. Don’t worry! Males do not have stingers. 
The females are busy gather food and won’t bother you UNLESS you grab them or pick them up. The best solution is to paint the wood. If you cannot do that, then spray the entrance tunnels with sevin or permethrin.  A dust works better than a liquid, but leave the tunnel unplugged.  This fall you can fill the holes with wood putty and then paint over it or apply a wood stain so that the area won’t be so attractive next year.

Mississippi Medallion Plants 2011


   The Mississippi Medallion program was started in 1996 to To increase awareness of outstanding garden and landscape plant materials and to promote sales and production of ornamental plants in Mississippi.  Fifty-eight plants have been selected as Mississippi Medallion winners since then. For 2011, 3 plants are being featured.




SunPatiens



  'SunPatiens' are hybrid impatiens that thrive through the hottest parts of summer. Provided with adequate water, they will flower from spring until first frost.  There are 15 Sunpatiens selections that come on colors  include white, red, orange, coral, pink, blush, and magenta.  They have been solid preformers in trial gardens in Mississippi.

 



   'Aristotle' bell pepper very widely adapted green to red, blocky bell pepper with tremendous yield potential. Its extra large, dark green fruit and heavy sets have impressed growers everywhere. 'Aristotle’s' vigorous 20-24 in. plants offer good sun protection to the fruit and have intermediate resistance to bacterial leaf spot (races 1,2,3), potato virusY, and tobacco mosaic virus.

 



   Itea virginica, commonly known as Virginia Sweetspire is a native plant in Mississippi. This shrub has erect, densely branched stem when grown in full sun. The plant is evergreen most years in the coastal region and semi-evergreen to deciduous in northern Mississippi. The foliage is dark green and changes to a brilliant red fall color.  Flowers are produced on the previous year’s stems, prune after flowering. There are no serious pest or disease problems.  Virginia Sweetspire needs adequate moisture during dry periods inorder to grow well.

 

   Look for Mississippi Medallion plants at your local garden center.