Thursday, 8:00 AM. 55 degrees, wind W, very light. The channel and the Island are obscured by fog, and the sky is blue except for the fog that rises to great heights over the lake. We are being treated to a concert of dueling foghorns from ferries and docks, each of which has its own tone and pitch.
Some of the questions most frequently asked of me regard the lumps, bumps and pimples which may occur at this time of the year to disfigure tree leaves and branches, particularly those of willow, silver maple and sometimes oaks . These are galls caused by insects, often tiny wasps, laying their eggs under the epidermis of tree leaves, the larvae then feeding on the leaf tissue. The galls, which often have very characteristic shapes and colors, are the response of the host plant to the irritation. These galls usually do no great harm and nothing much can or should be done about them. Raking up fallen leaves and composting or burning them can minimize the next year’s infection.
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