May 18, 2005
Answers to Frequently Asked Strawberry Questions
Strawberries are a widely grown fruit crop in Iowa gardens. Answers to several frequently asked strawberry questions are provided below.
Q. I would like to start a new strawberry bed, can I transplant plants from an existing bed or should I purchase plants from a garden center?A. Purchase plants from a reliable garden center or mail order nursery. Plants from an old planting may be disease infested. Plants purchased from garden centers and mail-order nurseries should be disease-free.
Sick Sycamores
The leaves of many trees and shrubs turned brown and black this spring as a result of frost damage. In addition to suffering from this environmental stress, sycamores trees have also been troubled by fungi this spring. Anthracnose is a common fungal disease of sycamore trees and also causes browning of the leaf tissue. With freezing temperatures and fungi, sycamores still look quite bare. The only positive side of this situation is that the interesting bark characteristics of sycamores are easily viewed.