My South Florida garden continues tutoring me in the finer points of growing things. Today I learned about black citrus aphids. The hard way, discovering the new growth on my Sugar Belle Mandarin orange tree covered in tiny black bugs – who knew aphids were black?
I decided to plant an orange tree after reading that the new variety of mandarin, Sugar Belle, is reportedly resistant to the scourge of Florida citrus, Huanglongbing bacterial disease. This terrible sounding thing causes citrus greening, basically ruining the fruit. I planted one of these trees last fall. It is settling in very well and has too many flowers on it, so I liberated one for a Vase, cleared the bugs off and will give it a dose of Neem spray later. Fingers crossed that clears up the problem.
Here is a closer view. The orange blossoms are in the foreground. The fragrance has permeated the house. It has a sweet scent and the range of travel is impressive. I am also enjoying my new Salvia plants again. In blue, Mystic Blue and the white is White Flame. I plucked a varigated leaf from the Pie Crust Croton and added some climbing Asparagus Fern for contrast.
Thanks to Cathy for hosting. To see more vases and celebrations of spring in the garden follow this link RamblingintheGarden
Happy Spring Gardening!!
The Shrub Queen 
Love the combo of purple and green, a favorite. Ick about the aphids… they come in all colors it seems, our milkweed gets yellow-orange ones! A few ladybugs are needed. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very pretty.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you.
LikeLike
That is an impressive scent. Bugs, yuck. I haven’t met too many at my new house, yet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL, I am sure you will meet some new bugs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck with your Mandarins – and I love the unreal-sounding name of the bacterial disease, just the name that is! Your salvias are gorgeous and I can only guess at the fragrance of the orange blossom. Lovely, Amelia
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Cathy. The name is ominous and has decimated citrus here.
LikeLike
Aphid of all colors are common on new growth of citrus here. I do not bother to get acquainted with them enough to know what species they are though. I just know that some of them are black.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The neem seems to have done the trick.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very pretty flowers, but it was the foliage that grabbed me first – love that variegated leaf and the ferns. Hope you can combat the flies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Cathy. I already lost my Salvia cuttings! arggh
LikeLike
It’s not just me then! LOL!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Seriously!? there must be a secret.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A lovely vase Amelia. I just consulted Google to see what a black citrus aphid looks like and got a fright 😂 We have black aphids too known as blackfly which usually trouble any nasturtiums I grow especially in containers. I hope that your treatment does the trick and that you have a bountiful crop of Mandarin oranges this year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Anna. The orange tree looks much better. I haven’t used Neem oil very often, but it seems to work.
LikeLike
I love the blend of colors, from white through silvery to blue and green–wonderful! I didn’t know there were any mandarins resistant to citrus greening bacteria; that is good to learn. I’ve been thinking about planting some of the more outlying types like Australian finger lime and kumquat, which I believe are also resistant. I’d hate to lose the scent of citrus flowers in the spring, as well, of course, as their fruit!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks..I have finger limes and Rangpur limes..so far so good 👍
LikeLike
Oh, wow, that is the niftiest arrangement I’ve seen in a while. I agree with Cathy that the foliage is wonderful. Everything about this arrangement is great–the foliage, the flowers, and the vase!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Beth.. Happy Spring 🌱
LikeLike