Plus, theAmerican Beauty berry, Grumpys favorite plant this time of year.
Question Of The Week
Any suggestions for controlling murder hornets?
Our neighbors have them in their Chinese privet bush.
Grumpy Gardener Answer:All my listeners know I hate privet.
Get rid of ‘em.
Now, having said that, let’s talk a little bit about murder hornets.
The term murder hornet, is something that was created on social media purely for click bait.
And when it attacks a nest, it usually goes and bites off their heads.
The only time we’ve ever found them in this country is on the West coast.
And how that happens is a queen Asian Giant Hornet hitches a ride on a shipping boat.
They cross the Pacific, she flies off and starts a nest.
And when they discover this nest, people go bonkers.
They call out the cavalry and that nest is immediately eradicated.
What is probably more likely is our smaller hornet called the black-faced hornet.
And in the bottom of it is one single entry hole.
Now these black-faced hornets, they eat a lot of bugs, and they’re good in that way.
First of all, you have to get yourself a jet spray can of wasp and hornet killer.
Take careful aim-and you soak the entry hole of the nest.
And that immediately kills all the hornets inside.
So, follow this strategy, and let me know how it went.
I hope to hear from you again in the future.
It’s quite common out in the woods.
But the one that people mostly know is the purple one.
It has little pink flowers in late spring.
So it becomes quite showy and also the berries are good.
They’re actually edible.
People will go out there andmake jelly and stuff from them.I won’t, but they will.
They’re also very good for birds.The birds love ‘em.
The botanical name is Callicarpa americana.
But there is a white form.
It’s a natural form.
It likes the same conditions.
It’ll take, usually parts onto shade.
It likes to have kind of moist soil.
And, this one blooms a little bit earlier.
It tends to bloom in the middle of the summer, and it has white blooms.
About Ask Grumpy
Ask Grumpyis a podcast featuring Steve Bender, also known asSouthern LivingsGrumpy Gardener.
