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The definition of potpourri in Webster's dictionary is a mixture of unlike things. This article is a follow up of some articles written as well as mention of other topics.

In early September I wrote about growing garlic. September 23, Carl Rosen from the University of Minnesota did a presentation to a full class on garlic. He raises several varieties of garlic and offered some of them for sale following the class. The time to plant garlic is late September to late October. Plant about two inches deep and four to six inches apart. Space beds two to three feet apart. Straw mulch is recommended to avoid winter damage after the ground freezes. The mulch can be removed in the spring or left on.

I usually write some kind of article on raising asparagus each spring because it is one of the bare root plants we offer for sale each year. We don't usually make house calls but I did visit the garden of a friend because asparagus that he bought from us was doing strange things. The ferns were curling up into heavy balled foliage on many of the plants. Also, around the stem there were many hair-like ferns coming out of the ground that almost looked like grass.

I contacted Sue Humble, our Master Gardener Coordinator who researched the problem. Sue showed me some pictures taken off the internet that looked exactly like what I described. This is a sign of the asparagus aphid. The pest overwinters as small, black eggs on dead stalks and foliage. In the spring, when new stalks begin to emerge from the ground, the eggs hatch and the young begin feeding only on the stalks and young volunteer asparagus seeding. During feeding the aphid injects a substance that causes the asparagus foliage to grow into balls, and heavy infestations can reduce production. The aphid feed until fall, when they mate and lay eggs.

To control the aphids, remove asparagus foliage after it dies in the fall. This reduces the number of eggs to survive the winter. Weed your patch of small volunteer ferns which young aphids feed on first in spring as this will reduce the damage. For heavy infestations spray insecticidal soap in the spring when the spears begin to send out branches and ferns. Repeat the spraying a few times during the growing season whenever you notice damage to leaves.

In July I wrote about wireworms. The click beetle is the adult stage of the wireworm. You will know when you are dealing with this worm because it is a grey-silver worm that is almost impossible to crush. It spends the majority of its life underground and likes to bore into the bottom of squash and melons in the fall and seeds that are newly planted in the spring.

I picked my squash the other day because of the fear of frost. In lifting up the squash, I have never seen so many wireworms huddled beneath the squash. This fall they are everywhere, not only in the garden, but they are also climbing up the walls of outside buildings and are becoming a problem like the boxelder bug.

In an article last year I wrote on squash bugs because we had so many calls on them. At first I thought gardeners were calling about the squash borer which bores into the stem of the squash vine causing the plant to wilt and die. When they said there were hundreds of grey-black and ugly looking bugs that were eating everything in their path, I knew it was not the borer. When several gardeners called about the problem we suggested that they use an insecticide called Sevin or Eight and to spray whenever there was an infestation. I realize this does not set well with those that are organically minded, but they were left with no other choice.

When I was picking my squash, not only did I find wireworms under the squash but also the ground was infested with squash bugs. This really surprised me because I had never had the problem, or so I thought. I took the advice of other gardeners by picking the squash and spraying Eight on the plants and on the ground. Next spring I need to have my squash or any other vine crop in a different location and to be on the watch for the squash bug now that they are in my garden.

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