Buzzing with answers | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

This guy has the blue ague. He is upset by seeing spots, and the reason is: (A) He is a dandelion, and lions hate leopards; (B) This drawing illustrates the dire consequence of spotty watering; or (C) This poor hydrangea has a case of cercospora leaf spot disease, which might have been prevented with the right fungicide.

Each week, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette cartoonist Ron Wolfe creates a drawing to illustrate Janet Carson's "In the Garden" column on the front of Saturday's Style section.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Landscapers go bananas for this grasslike ground cover that sometimes needs trimming, namely: (A) Chimp clump; (B) Monkey grass; or (C) Baboon bamboo.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Not every bird has a chirpy disposition, and people can’t do much but let birds settle their own affairs. Refusing to share the same space, these two are among the scrappiest species: (A) Heavyweight hummingbirds; (B) Rockin’ robins; or (C) Sparring sparrows.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Mulch can help plants grow. But this gardening material brings up many questions. What kind to use, how much, when? And maybe an even better question: What is mulch? (A) Creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky, altogether ooky; (B) Crumbled-up stale muffin bottoms, left over by people who eat only the tops; or (C) Peat moss, straw, grass clippings, bark, shredded newspaper — or in this case, a bag of wood chips.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Some bugs bug gardeners, but other bugs battle baddies for the better. Ladybugs, for example, are so beneficial that some people release them in the garden on purpose. But this bug is a leaf-chewing party crasher that merely resembles a ladybug, both having a spotted back. It is, in fact: (A) Cucumber beetle; (B) Bugsy Siegel; or (C) Aphid with a doctorate in pestiferousness.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Tree owners may be alarmed at the appearance of webby, nestlike constructions high in the branches. The infestation is generally more unsightly than harmful, and the billowy bag is the work of this nuisance: (A) Weevil Knievel; (B) Tent caterpillar; or (C) Weeki Wachee worm.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Something can happen to crape myrtles that makes the shrub look sooty around the base, almost as if it had caught fire. The name for this problem is: (A) Hunka-hunka burnin’ brush; (B) Crape scrape; or (C) Not a disease, but an insect called crape myrtle felt scale. Bugs cause the black gunk, a mold.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Here’s a troublemaker that can strangle and smother flowers and other desirable plants. The cartoon illustrates: (A) What happens when thoughtless gardeners throw leftover spaghetti in the flower bed; (B) The attack of dodder or love vine, a clinging weed; or (C) Rapunzel fungus.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Pretty as they are, Bradford pear trees can be troublesome. One complaint is the trees are highly invasive. This cartoon shows another pear-shaped grievance, being that: (A) Bradford pear trees are apt to explode at any moment; (B) These trees have a disconcerting ability to speak; or (C) The fragile trees are inclined to break during one of Arkansas’ many storms.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Four o’clocks are flowers so called because: (A) They open in late afternoon; (B) They keep bank hours; or (C) They close early on Saturdays.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

The warm sixth month of the year is time for the annual appearance of this buggy bozo. He’s a clumsy sort who barely seems able to fly, yet manages to bumble against the screen door and bonk his head on the porch light. He is: (A) Mayfly; (B) June bug; or (C) Buffoon bug.

Photo by Ron Wolfe

Some gardeners make the mistake of over-watering, but this opalescent cartoon illustrates something else, namely: (A) What grows in an octopus’ garden in the shade; (B) Harmony pearl, a colorful flower seen here doing the wave; or (C) A dream brought on by eating the native oyster-cracker plant.

Gardening expert Carson answers an acre of questions, everything from how to grow cucumbers to what to do about ailing azaleas. Being a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, she knows a lot.

Wolfe knows ink stains better than grass stains, watercolors better than watermelons, and he scatters eraser crumbs better than garden seeds. The sunflowers he keeps trying to plant never come up, and he has quit the struggle to grow tomatoes. The grocery store sells tomatoes -- or at least those red tennis balls they call tomatoes.

Dumb as dirt when it comes to gardening, the artist's ignorance happily frees him to disregard how fruits, flowers and vegetables really are. Instead, he imagines how they might be -- how they might feel about the troubles that beset them, and how they react to the questions people ask.

Ordinarily, these cartoons run small to fit the column. But this page shows them big and ripe like never before, ready to pick without bifocals.

It's a guessing game. Each cartoon poses the question: What's going on here?

Dig in. The answers, based on Carson's advice in the column, are in a box on Page 6E.

Garden variety quiz answers: 1-C, 2-B, 3-A, 4-C, 5-A, 6-B, 7-C, 8-B, 9-C, 10-A, 11-B, 12-B.

ActiveStyle on 06/27/2016

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