Nor. Calif San Fran. Bay area roundup

I just put in on the Calendar. I been waiting to get rid of all these volunteers that pop up around the yard. Looking forward to seeing some of you again. Maybe we can set up a car pool from the Tri-City & Tri-Valley areas. On second thought I may need the space for plants ;-}

P.S. I am sending D-Mails to subscribers in the area, linking to this thread. I will also probably start a thread for those interested in plastic tags & markers.

This message was edited Jul 19, 2007 4:27 PM

:-)
Ok, I'm ignorant...which are the tri-cities and the tri-valleys?

A local thingie -
Tri-City = Fremont, Newark, Union City
Tri-Valley = Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin (& San Ramon?) Depends on who writes it.
Areas about ½ - 1 hr S of Concord.

ah-something I'd have never figured out.

Moraga's a very do-able location for me.

>October would be much better for dividing plants, too.

Some of us are in counties that are quarantined for Light Brown Apple Moth. Check with your county ag extension agent or your local Master Gardener before transporting any plant materials. LBAM hosts on a LOT of plants. I don't think any of us would feel that getting some free plants (I love free!) would be worth the possible destruction of California's agriculture. The economic consequences would be dire.

Thanks for the heads up!

Still planing on going , posted on another forum . My only advice is try to bring a wagon or small cart for moving plants from and to car .

I have a plastic box on wheels with long handle in the trunk at all times. Purchased at Fry's, but I sure they are available elsewhere. Costco has the "Tool Tank" for about $10. Same thing but much sturdier and heavier. It also has more metal parts, so rusting could become a problem. You can put another plastic Milk Box on top with bungy and carry a good number of plants.

Spent a chunk of time today separating and re-potting a very large clump of Dietes bicolor for the roundup. Hope people want some!

Any idea what time the RU will start? I have a potential other task in Walnut Creek the same morning.

This will be fun. I will be there. Right now I have many many african violets--maybe they would be welcome?

Marilyn,
Like last year, we will try to serve lunch around 12:30 or 1:00. Feel free to come a little earlier.

We had some arrive around 11:00 AM last year, which is fine.

Thanks, Choke! Ruth Bancroft Gardens is having a plant sale that day and I wanted to attend it too. It starts at 9:30 so that shouldn't be a problem.

For those of you who are interested, here's the info: http://www.ruthbancroftgarden.org/pages/calendar.html Scroll down to "Fall Plant Sale" to see time and date.

I would like to come, but I really don't have much to share. I have some Cannis that is peach colored and I could get Dahlia's (yellow and purple) from my mother and maybe some white Iris. I also bought some seeds that I have not had the chance to plant. Columbine, Viola, Abrieta, and a painted daisy mix. Would this be ok?

I don't think you need to bring any plants. They are certainly more than welcome, but this is more about putting faces with the "handle" from DG. I have never seen anyone counting how many were brought against how many are taken home. I bring all my extras and hope to find something new. I would not be at all disappointed to come home empty handed, just knowing my babies will be in loving homes.

> I don't think you need to bring any plants.

Which is good, because as I mentioned, most of us seem to come from quarantined counties. I can bring seeds, but I don't think I'll responsibly be able to bring any other plant materials.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/12/BUGP3QUV6V1.DTL&hw=apple+moth&sn=002&sc=760

So according to the above message, I shouldn't bring the Dietes?

spidra, is it just plants that can be hosts of LBAM that can't be transported, or is it any plants? If it's just the possible hosts, do you have a link that you know of that would list the host plants so we know what to avoid?

Unfortunately there isn't much the LBAM WON'T eat! Take a look here for info:

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_5737690
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/03/MNGDEQ6SHU1.DTL
http://cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/LBAM_main.htm

Maybe we should just have a potluck and forget about bringing plants?

Well, we can always cross our fingers and hope that all the LBAM's are dead by October and we'll be allowed to move plants again!

I'll be there, unless my husband gets a show on that day. I don't drive a car.
Christie

Here's a blog post that has more LBAM info as well as a link to an ag extension PDF on it.

http://mybayareagarden.blogspot.com/2007/04/beware-of-moth.html

ecrane, my impression is that a comprehensive list would be very hard to fine because the LBAM hosts on over 200 plants. So you can see how helping this moth make its way across the state would be very dangerous indeed.

Luckily, I'm gathering a fair amount of seeds from the plants I let go to seed. I have Erigeron glauca, "Drama Queen" poppy, marigolds, love-in-a-mist and others. Seeds are okay. I'd be willing to bet that tubers and corms are, too. But no leaves, stalks, fruit, veggies...

How about if we make sure we spray the plants we bring to the roundup before they are moved?

Is there any chance the roundup could be later in the year, after the bugs were naturally killed by frost, or isn't that likely and feasible? Just a thought.

Some places around here that are on the coast or near the Bay probably don't get frost in a lot of winters, and even a little farther inland we don't get frost usually until around Christmas time, and it's hard to predict when exactly we'll get it. We don't really get hard frosts either most years, I'm not sure how much cold it would take to kill the moths.

> Maybe we should just have a potluck and forget about bringing plants?

I really think that's the best policy. The consequences are just too dire for us to take the risk of spreading this pest beyond the counties it has already infected. CA depends on agriculture as a major part of its economy. So beyond the inconvenience and damage LBAM inflicts on home and community gardeners, we're talking about great destruction that would hit our produce industry as well as the wine industry. Not to mention all the nurseries...

Here is the California Department of Food & Agriculture site. It is update with findings and quarantine maps. I am less than 1 mile outside a quarantine area. As much as I hate it, I am beginning to agree with Spidra. http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/lbam_main.htm

I agree as well....though...as much as I was interested in meeting people, trading is an important component for me, considering all it would take for me to get there. There is no sense in spreading that thing around. My property is surrounded with old apple trees and I'd sure hate to have anything else to keep out of my gardens.

Thanks for post on moth - 1st I heard of quarantine
I agree - no plants . Has anyone read of a natural enemy ? May be the tri flies ? [ they lay eggs in larvae - can't remember their name - just that they like cats and grubs . ]

I had not heard about this quarantine. I live in Alameda so I am in a quarantine area?

Here is a good article on the moth. And pictures.

http://www.answers.com/topic/light-brown-apple-moth

If you go to the CDFA link that George posted above, it has links to maps that show exactly which areas are quarantined. I think most of Alameda county is so chances are you're quarantined like the rest of us! Fortunately all the nurseries have been inspected so you can still buy plants from them, just can't give your plants/cuttings to other people.

Kell and I are both outside the quarantine area.

I didn't realize you could enlarge those maps. I am out of it too. But I am sure it is just a matter of time.

I'm in it. No Dietes. I'll try to collect some seeds.

I am also outside of the quarantine area.

Not me unfortunately, I'm right smack in the middle of one of the areas. :-(

Me too.

I went into SF today and back to 3 Bees Nursery which was mentioned in one of the articles Marilyn posted as having a brown apple moth captured there.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/03/MNGDEQ6SHU1.DTL

"A few days earlier, on April 11, Jeff Rosendale, co-owner of Soquel Nursery Growers in Santa Cruz County, had gotten a visit from county inspectors. A light brown apple moth larva had been found on a periwinkle plant at Three Bee's Nursery in San Francisco a week earlier. The plant had come from Rosendale's nursery. "

I bought a black bamboo ( thanks - NOT Sue for getting me looking at them) so I asked them if It was OK for me to take it to the East Bay since they were in a quarantined area. And he said no problem. I wonder why that would be.......for a brown moth could have laid eggs on it.

Because they're irresponsible idiots?

More than likely they've done whatever they were supposed to do to get rid of the moth and have been inspected by the Ag dept and cleared to sell things. I think all the nurseries in quarantine areas (and probably a bit outside the quarantine areas too) have to get these inspections regardless of whether moths were found there or not, and if they've been inspected and found to be free of the moth then they're allowed to sell things (otherwise all the nurseries in the quarantine areas would have to close down). I'm not sure how often the nurseries get inspected or how good of a system this is, but that's why they're allowed to sell things.