A recommendation
I was looking for information about peat-free compost and came across an interesting trial conducted by Jack Wallington. Since then I have read a few articles by him, he's always very practical and down to earth.
Have a look:
Wild Way, Jack Wallington. Wet Growing Season problems.
A problem that wasn't
or how I attacked our Autumn Flowering Cherry prunus × subhirtella autumnalis
I had been dealing with an attack on our flowering cherry - Shot hole disease or Coryneum blight - by removing every sign of disease, which meant a really severe pruning. I have been keeping close watch on the newly appearing shoots, which have looked nice and healthy, until .... I noticed small, sticky, round blobs on the leaf stalks and I thought "on no, what now?" So, some more pruning and careful disposal after which I decided to look it up properly (I had tried on my mobile phone in the garden without finding anything). Indoors on the laptop with an image search tucked away down near the bottom of the page was a picture which took me to a blog post, which has probably saved the tree from my over-enthusiastic attentions.
The little red blobs it seems are "extrafloral nectaries" released by the plant to attract beneficial insects.
Thank you LISA'S GARDEN ADVENTURE
