Si Pak Tani

By Vicky Barney, Steamboat Springs The serviceberry bushes in my backyard look unhealthy.   The leaves are covered in brown spots and the berries look very dry.   Since I love the bushes because they feed the birds and the occasional bear, I decided to investigate the problem.   Rust on serviceberry leaves Serviceberry and chokecherry bushes dominate the open space in my neighborhood.   In previous summers, a few brown spots were noticeable on some serviceberry leaves, but the bushes looked healthy overall.   This year, though, entire bushes look sickly and berry production has been poor.   Some research indicated that the bushes might have a fungus, if there was something more than brown spots on the leaves.   On closer inspection, I saw the brown spots had tendrils growing out of the back sides of the leaves, another indication of fungus. (See photo)   I took a branch from an infected bush to Barb, Christine, and Rozanne at the Master Gardener Office Hours last Thursday to confirm t

Onions form bulbs in response to daylength. When the number of daylight hours reaches a certain level, onion plants start forming bulbs. Long-day onions need about 14 to 15 hours of daylight to bulb. Short-day onions need 10 hours of daylight. Day-neutral onions form bulbs regardless of daylight hours and produce well in almost any region. As soon as daylength hits the 10-hour mark, a short-day onion starts forming a bulb. If the top of the plant hasn’t had enough time to grow big and lush, the resulting bulb will be small. Conversely, if you live where daylength never hits 14 hours, long-day onions will never form a bulb. All you’ll get are green leaves or possibly scallions. By choosing the right type of onion for your region, you’ll get healthy green stems that are large enough to fuel forming fat and tasty bulbs. Which onion type you should plant depends on where you live. The general rule of thumb is: ·         In the North (the area north of a line drawn from San Francisco to Wa