CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Mid-Atlantic Grower: The Agribusiness Newspaper for the Nursery, Greenhouse, Landscape, Turf and Horticultural Industries, isn't exactly riveting reading.

Yet this publication, sent to me by Beth Loflin of the West Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association, does have some interesting information for gardening enthusiasts.

An article by Jane Graham said a strange spring and the economy seem to have produced a mixed bag of sales results for nursery and landscape businesses. Sales were strong in March and April for most in our area, but the wet weekends of May made for below-average sales. June's heat didn't help sales, either.

A quick survey of garden centers around West Virginia shows that business is even with last year for most centers.

"No records broken," said Bill Mills of TerraSalis. "July is always very sleepy. Our landscape design and install business has been very strong, thankfully."

Other garden centers had similar replies.

In other "exciting" reading (this from the Country Folks Grower, the monthly newspaper for greenhouses, nurseries, fruit and vegetable growers), I saw a story about a nursery on Long Island that provides a recycling weekend for customers to turn in pots, flats and any other nursery containers. The nursery gave customers a discount coupon for their efforts, and the nursery received great publicity for the event.

I wonder if there's a way to make this happen in our area? I have a shed full of plastic pots. I reuse, but I would like to recycle!

Bugs caught!

According to the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram, U.S. Customs inspectors at Los Angeles International Airport intercepted and destroyed a highly aggressive plant-jumping bug with the potential to ravage the state's agriculture industry in July.

"The tiny rust-colored pest was identified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as Toxoptera odinae (van der Goot), an insect from the aphids group, never seen before in the United States. Aphids attack grains, fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants causing plant deformities, scarring and loss of crops.

"Agriculture specialists assigned to LAX discovered the bug in a shipment of fresh-cut flowers arriving from South Africa," said Jaime Ruiz of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

This reminded me of the emerald ash borer, recently found in Fayette County.

West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass has placed a quarantine on a variety of forest-related articles from Fayette County in an effort to combat the emerald ash borer, a forest pest that has already killed about 20 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

The quarantine prohibits the movement of any firewood -- as well as ash logs, ash timber scraps and other regulated articles -- from Fayette County to other West Virginia counties. A similar federal quarantine prohibits the movement of regulated articles from Fayette County to other states.

In November 2007, an emerald ash borer larva was discovered in a "trap tree" that had been prepared by the Department of Agriculture to survey for the beetle. Trap trees are intentionally damaged to provide an attractive tree for the beetles to inhabit, if they are present. Because the discovery was made so far from the West Virginia border, experts believe the beetle entered the state by hitching a ride on firewood brought into West Virginia by campers from an area already infested and under quarantine.

Izaak Walton League of America

Founded in 1922, the Izaak Walton League is one of the nation's oldest and most respected conservation organizations. With a powerful grass-roots network of nearly 270 chapters nationwide, the league takes a common-sense approach toward protecting our country's natural heritage and improving outdoor recreation opportunities for all Americans.

The Mountaineer Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America will be holding its second annual Youth Conservation Day at 9 a.m. Aug. 21 at its clubhouse on Files Creek Road in Beverly. The event is free and open to children ages 8 to 17; space is limited to 40 participants.

Organizers include Bruce Evans, Jay Winn and Don Thomason, along with many Mountaineer Chapter members sharing their own skills in individual learning stations.

A grant from the Izaak Walton League of America National Endowment Board helped make this event possible. Register by calling 304-636-6454. For information, call 304-636-0916 or 304-636-3416.

On the day of the event, registration will begin at 8 a.m., for spaces that are available. Door prizes will be awarded at the end of the event and lunch provided for all attending. Learning stations include fish shocking, aquatic insect study, air rifle shooting, archery, animal and pelt identification, shotgun safety and shooting, catfish fishing, snake identification, dressing of wild game and animal radio tracking.

Reach Sara Busse at sara.bu...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1249.