Tuesday, May 23, 2017

700 Growing Degree Days (B42)

First White Clover blossoms sighted.
Many sources on the internet will warn fruit growers to eradicate clover in their orchards.  They claim that the clover blossoms compete with apple blossoms for bee's attention, to the detriment of the apples.
Slide from HERE
There are probably reasons to not favor clover in your orchard.  They are a host for dagger nematodes, which are vectors for virus (but many plants are hosts for dagger nematodes).  They attract bees when you might be spraying insecticide, to the detriment of the bees.  But, at least in Michigan, they do not open until long after the fruit has set.  They do not compete with apple blossoms.

Two cow flops.  The one on the left is younger.  Based on its height and texture it was deposited when the grass was fiberous, probably September.  The one on the right is more decayed and probably had less fiber to start with.  It is covered with germinating white clover seeds.  It was probably deposited in late June-to-mid-July.
A close-up of the cow flop on the right.
Wild Phlox has been in bloom for a bit.
Autumn Olive is almost done blooming.  Black Locust just started.  None of the trees on my property are in bloom but some of my neighbor's trees are in full bloom.  I don't know if it is clone-to-clone variation or site-to-site variation.  Honeybees love Black Locust.
The Iris are in bloom.  These are at the base of a Honey Locust and should not be doing as well as they are given the shade.  Also in the picture is Autumn Joy Sedum, Daylilies and some Poison Ivy climbing up the trunk.

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