boxwood

Boxwoods and roses are garden classics for good reasons. Evergreen, deer proof, shade tolerant with a reliable structure, boxwoods are used to frame, define edges, divide spaces, border planting beds and, as topiaries, can act as living sculptures. Blooming the entire season, beautiful as a hedge, standalone or in mass, and available in a wide range of colors, shapes, and sizes, roses offer the perfect splash of color in any sunny well drained garden bed. Here in the mid-Atlantic and northeast, boxwoods and roses are ubiquitous. That is why it’s so important to safeguard them from contracting blight and rosette—fatal diseases that in recent years have become more widespread throughout the U.S. and Canada. The Boxwood Blight First appearing in Connecticut and North Carolina in 2011, boxwood blight currently has been reported in over 25 states in the continental U.S. Given the right conditions—warm and wet—the spores can kill a boxwood in just weeks! In last year’s relentlessly wet summer for many parts of the eastern and midwestern United States, this was happening at an alarming rate. Boxwood blight is caused by the non-native fungus Calonectria pseudonaviculata. The disease causes black spots to form on leaves, along with elongated black lesions on twigs and stems. Rapid defoliation (in a matter of weeks) soon follows the initial symptoms of infection. Using Resistant Varieties. The good news is that this is not going to wipe out our beloved boxwoods as Dutch elm disease did to our elm trees and the Ash borer ...