Scale insect problems are common this time of year throughout the Lowcountry. It is not surprising since this group of small immobile insects comprises over 18 genera, with thousands of species ...

“I want to get rid of mealybugs on my 20-year-old ponytail palms. Is there any way to save the plants?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Deborah McCullough of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Horticultural ...

You have a few options, ranging from tolerance and leaving it alone to manual removal to using an insecticide.

I got an email with some pictures a few years ago asking me about magnolia scale, which is a topic I have written about for a number of years. I feel confident the insect was magnolia scale. The ...

Scale insects can infest and damage many of the plants we grow in our landscapes and indoors. They feed on the sap of plants, and a large enough population can weaken a plant, damage it or even kill ...

We enjoy magnolia trees for their beautiful early spring flowers, but in summer they sometimes get downright ugly. Gardeners may notice a fuzzy black coating on branches or a sticky glaze that ...

I have white spots that turn to a blackish mold on my crape myrtles. What is it and how do I get rid of it? Tricia, Tulsa. We addressed this issue in this column last year, but some of the ...

The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service last year began urging homeowners to keep an eye out for a new pest. The crape myrtle bark scale was beginning to attack trees in Pulaski ...

A lot of plants in my front yard have a layer of black covering the tops of the leaves. It's widespread, not just in one location, probably 30 by 30 feet. Is there some kind of fungus going around?

Q: I have a prickly pear with an increasing number of chalky-white splotches forming on the pads. Is this a fungus? Can it be treated? Should I just get rid of the plant? (It isn’t very big). A: What ...

Camellias were almost at their peak of blooms a few weeks ago and then frigid temperatures ended our spring flower show. With a closer examination of the damaged blooms, other problems with the ...

Long Beach is home to 7,000 magnolia trees, but that number may shrink in the coming years, thanks to a pest known as the tuliptree scale. The insects, which favor plants in the magnolia family, suck ...