To the editor:

The good news is first as the rest will be more or less about the winter moth which is not of interest to a lot of people. Home Depot has agreed to not buy plants that have been sprayed by neonics and plans to have absolutely none by 2020. This should influence growers and other plant distributors. (As mentioned in my last letter I can send you the list of commercial sprays containing this systemic poison for pollinators.)

Bleeding Heart, peonies and bulbs of various kinds including a charming small woodland tulip are all showing up and ready to go. Early May should be more full of flowers than ever. In case I don’t get around to writing in early May be sure to put the open garden days for Sakonnet Garden, May 21st and 22, on your calendar. Unlike other years, this year they will be open after Mother’s Day to show off the azaleas. If you have never seen these unique and beautiful garden rooms, check out their website. Remember Sakonnet Garden is singular.

The released parasitic fly (ours were released last year) is monitored by the Eastern Conservation District from URI. The fly doesn’t eat or attack the little green caterpillars but lays eggs on the leaves where the “pupae” are feeding and if an egg is eaten the ingested contents will hatch inside the caterpillar and destroy it. It may take five years for a difference.

The winter moth eggs turn blue two days before they hatch so you would think they would be easy to spot but they are tiny and hide in the crevasses of the bark. Bt spray products last 4-5 days, but wait until the caterpillars are moving around. If you made sticky bandages around the trunks of special trees in November to catch the wingless females on their way out of the ground to lay eggs, petroleum jelly, aka Vaseline, does not work. Tanglefoot, which will glue anything to anything, can be ordered on line if not otherwise available. When you take off the disgusting result, thoroughly spray the underlying bark with horticultural oil to get any escapees.

Some trees die after three years. The oak trees in Oak Forest will be undergoing their fifth defoliation this year but because they have been able to send out a second growth of leaves they have survived although their lesser growth can be read in their tree rings.

Alas – none of this applies to the gypsy moth whose voracious huge caterpillars have hit several areas.

Hoping you can be outdoors as much as possible.

Sidney Tynan

Little Conpton