Hi, I am new to gardening. I have just moved into our first home with an actual yard and flower beds. Today my daughter and I were out checking out plants and found this seed pod with seeds on a plant. I do not know what kind of flower it is. Could someone tell me please if they know? I would really appreciate it. Thank you much.
Hi Missmarple, really sorry, but in some way, I do recognise these seeds, yet it escapes me what plant they are from, could you possibly give a description off the plant/shrub or tree they came from, then either I, or someone else will come back to you with some real help, right now, I will keep the brain working till it gets it's battery recharged, Good luck. WeeNel.
The plant is a tall climbing plant with darker peach flowers that I thought were a holly hock maybe, but from my searches on the web, none say that their seeds grow in a long pod like that. The flowers almost hang like a foxglove, but I don't know if the foxglove seeds grow in a pod like that either. The plant is several seasons older, but unfortunately seems to be infested with some type of parasite so I thought I would replace it with some seedlings from the pod next spring if they grow. Here is another image.
Try looking at trumpet creeper, a wild vine, although some do grow it on purpose.
If you like the plant, see if there's any pruning advice. I would not take the whole thing out and start from seed. I would prune off some of this current growth, esp any that seems infested, and dispose of that stuff , not keep it to compost.
The seed pod looks like Catalpa tree seed pod. You say its from a different entity? Plant, flower, tree, shrub??
Julie
Trumpet creeper is in the same family as Catalpa, so it would make similar seed pods. Since the flowers are peach, I think it might be crossvine (Bignonia), it's less aggressive than the trumpet vine is but it's also in that same family. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1789/
Thank you so much. I have looked at the information for trumpet creeper and this seems to be what it is. The plant is huge, going up a telephone pole on my property with no problem and is well rooted and thick stemmed. I will check on prunning it and treating the pests instead of uprooting the whole thing. It puts out clusters of flowers, but because of the pest invasion, they are sickly. The eggs of the pests make them droopy and the plant is not flourishing like it looks like it once did.
Thank you again on the help.
Hi Miss Marple, good that your plant has been identified, but now if you can describe the insects that have made it there home, maybe we can tell you the best way to get rid of them before they over winter and come back next year, remember, these bugs can hop from plant to plant and can soon infest your hole garden, best if luck, WeeNel.
I am pretty sure the pest that have infested are ants, but do ants leave their eggs gobbed up in white gunk messes on the flowers? THat is what was killing the flowers of this guy. Also, it seems the leaves are yellowing and have some brown spots, not a lot. And for the size of the trunk of this plant - over an inch in diameter and over my head, he is just not healthy with foliage. All the flowers had the white gobbed mess on them when we first moved in, that is why I was surprised to find the lone remaining flower without anything on it the other day with the seed pod. I don't have a picture of the infestation unfortunately, but would love to know what it might be and the best way to get rid of ants. We seem to have purchase a lot of ground nests with the place. We have over an acre and my goal is to turn all of it into gardens slowly, starting with what is already here. 1/2 of the place is grass already and some trees which need upkeep. The ants are scattered here and there. on another note, can you transplant decorative kale and have it survive and is spring or fall better?
Ants are probably not the real culprit--they like to farm pests like aphids and scale which are the real things that do damage to your plants. I have ants all over my garden and they have yet to hurt any plants. When I see them crawling all over a particular plant I always take a close look, and sure enough I always find aphids or scale on it. Since the ants help provide protection to the aphids and scale, it certainly doesn't hurt to get rid of them too, but you need to also get rid of the aphids or scale, otherwise they will continue to damage your plants.
Ok, Kale is an annual plant, that means you grow the seeds each year as far as I know, unless there are different types of kale, but if left to flower, they can seed themselves.
Ants dont build nests above ground unless it is under a stone etc that is laying ON the ground, they have large chambers where they have a queen that lays the eggs and the worker ants take the food back to the nest/chambers, under attack, the soldier ants will be sent out to kill/attack any predators that want to get to the eggs/grubs within the nest, so I dont think what you have on your plant is trouble from ants (on saying that, aphids will be eaten by ants and be protected by them as they are a good source of food for them) I cant really identify from your description so photo would be great, but from what you say, I thing you have an infestation of some form of aphids, these are either green fly, white-fly, black-fly, then there are various types of mites, there are grubs from say moths/butterflies etc that will all live/eat your plants, so maybe you could go along to your garden center with small sealed container with some of the beasts in that for them to identify, this way, you will get the right treatment for your plants before they maybe overwinter on the plants/soil etc and become a problem for next year, if you decide to prune/cut your plants, the best way to get rid is by burning, dont toss the cuttings away into compost or another area of the garden as it will spread. good luck. send a picture if you can for more help. WeeNel.
Is the white messy gunk foamy? If so, they could be spit bugs, which are a type of aphid. (large) I get them on my garden phlox. They cause the leaves to deform and look sick.
oops.... hit send too fast.... If it is spit bug, it is hiding inside the white foamy stuff, not eggs.
Spittle bugs are only around in the late spring/early summer, I have never seen them at this time of year. And I've never found ants taking an interest in them either, so I have a feeling it's something else.
Some seeds come out of the pods with this furry looking coating around them, it is protection for them, I would plant a few in a pot, away from other plants just incase, and see if they grow OK, if they do, then the seeds are in the protective coat, if they dont, then you have lost nothing as you have lots of them, there is nothing to stop you opening the fluffy sack to see if there is anything inside other than the seed, I would say the seeds are normal for a large seed, sometimes the seeds are like this as natures way of separating the seeds and keeping them safe. good luck. WeeNel.
I think I will try and see if the little coated seed sprouts, if not I may open them. I don't think I want to plant anymore of these right now until I see what the big one does. Thank you for your help everyone. I'm chasing down the pests, still looking. Seems most of the offending white gunk has disappeared for the fall but with the weather being unseasonably warm it may return.
Jane
Next time you see this gunky stuff, get two wooden lollipop sticks, one to scoop the gunk off, the other to separate it when you place it on a sheet of paper, then you will find whatever grub is inside it, if it is a white to pale green tiny grub, fat at the head and narrow at the tail end, then you have the spit bug, the parent lay the eggs on the plant and cover them with this white frothy stuff, as the eggs hatch, the grub stays inside this till it matures, while inside, it sucks the sap from your plant and weakens it allows other aphids to get eating the plant and the plant suffers even more, the grub inside the white frothy stuff stays there till it is mature and flies away to mate and lay more eggs and the troubles begin again, unlike other sap eating grubs the birds cant get to the spit grub as they cant find the grubs inside the frothy stuff, I normally pick the spit off and the bug gets squashed, end of bug, sometimes when I am watering, I hose the spit off and the birds then find the grub as the spit is dislodged. Here in UK, we call this Cuckoo spit, but it is the same grub, As for the ants, they will live on any plant that has aphids like green fly etc as they live off the sweet deposit ( poo ) as they munch your plants so look for them also, good luck, hope you get rid. WeeNel.
