This is SO different from last year - I had oaks with 10 inches of tender new growth, American persimmons with 4-6 inches of tender new growth, all my fruit trees had all but finished blooming - many with small fruit already developing. The 4-5 consecutive nights of temps into the low 20s/teens were devastating - I had young grafted pecans, persimmons, and mulberries in the 6-10 ft height range killed back to the ground. Pecans and hickories lost all their leaves. Only two of a dozen or so grafted heartnut varieties were not killed off completely - including a couple that were 10 ft tall - killed back to the black walnut rootstock. Black walnuts and most Asian persimmons were still dormant, and escaped significant damage. This year, pears, peaches, plums and a few early apples are just now in bloom, but pecans and oaks are just entering bud-swell, or early leaf extension. Persimmons and mulberries have not yet broken bud. I'm not overly worried, and I'm not bothering to attempt to cover anything. Extension fruit specialists here are predicting at most a 10% reduction in total crop.

the white spots make me think forsythia.. but at 14 degrees.. i am not walking out to compare to mine.. lol ... a failsafe check.. would be to cut some branch ends.. and put them in a vase.. and they will bloom in a week or so ... if they have had enough chill time ... if they confirm forsythia.. google: rejuvenation pruning of flowering shrubs.. and get to work ... you would remove all the largest branches as close to the ground as you can get ... ... looking at yours.. w/o a scale.. remove everything greater than 3/4 of an inch ... and see what you can make of it and stop pruning it at height ... that is part of your base problem ... and after 2 years of rejuvenation ... either decide you like where you are going with it ,... OR GET RID OF IT ... you really dont have to keep things that bother you .... the ones you forced into bloom ... will root inside a month or so.. so lucky you.. you can have more of them ... lol ... in all reality.. no matter what it is.. you could probably cut it to 3 inches.. ALL OF IT ... and have a nice smaller plant in spring.. though if you do it now.. you will cut off all the flowers.. so no spring show.. and that is why you could cut it to the ground..as soon as it is done blooming ... you will probably be pleased with the result ... or you will get rid of it .... ken

There isn't any way around it, when you spray something to kill something, you're going to kill something else. Pyrethrins aren't any less toxic to bees and is likely more so to other beneficials than Spinosad. For me, the Spinosad makes more sense because I have less slug and far more leaf miner to deal with. And, I just like the idea of it being bacterial than chemical. According to Oregon State University, pyrethrins are toxic to honey bees. If you were to spray at dusk when bee activity is less, you'll probably affect fewer of them, mostly those who try to spend the night in your rose flowers. They're the culprits for my bee stings. They always happen when deadheading and it's always due to my grabbing the bloom to be cut and awakening the sleeping bee. Oregon State says: Pyrethrins are highly toxic to fish and tadpoles. They affect their skin touch receptors and balance organs (4). � Pyrethrins are toxic to beneficial insect (such as honeybees) and many aquatic invertebrates (4). � Pyrethrins are low in toxicity to humans, other mammals, and birds (4). So, even though they're not as toxic as many others, they do have toxicity to fish, tadpoles and bees, like everything else does. Kim Here is a link that might be useful: Pyrethrins at Oregon State

Glad to see this old thread revived as I missed it the first time round. I love columbines altho do take them for granted. Altho the flowers are very pretty I appreciate them as much for the foliage which with some is almost bluish-green. I've bought the odd one altho mostly just allow them to self seed so they come and go and bloom in various colors. I weed out more than I keep and have given away many 'babies'. Last year I moved many, hopefully according to the colors, altho time will tell. Here's one of my favorites. This was a happy surprise a couple years ago. This is Columbine Aquilegia canadensis or the common wild columbine. I had bought a Black Barlow but it disappeared, then this dark one appeared. I think it's a cross as it's not as full petaled as the Barlows. I think the singles are more hardy than the doubles altho probably should buy a few more to see if that is true. A few more pics at this link. Here is a link that might be useful: My columbines