Beware of Boxwood Blight-Infected Wreaths

Seemingly innocent holiday wreaths sold across the Palmetto State have been found to carry a devastating plant disease. According to the Clemson University Media Relations Department, a fungal disease known as boxwood blight was confirmed on wreaths containing boxwood cuttings from a single North Carolina nursery. From that nursery, sales of the wreaths have stretched from the mountains to the sea in South Carolina and reached as far away as Indiana. “The biggest risk comes when people dispose of the infected wreaths after Christmas,” says Steven Long, assistant director of Clemson University’s Department of Plant Industry (DPI) , a state regulatory agency that oversees plant nurseries and regulated diseases like boxwood blight. Those who obtained a Christmas wreath this year containing boxwood plant parts should treat it as infected and dispose of it after Christmas by burning or, even better, double-bagging it and including it with their trash for deposit in a landfill. Read more at www.clemson.edu.