My favorite nematodes (as we've established, I am a geek) are the Foliar Nematodes. Each nematode swims into a stomate in a film of surface water and feeds on the leaves within a leaf cell. Once they have eaten all of the carbohydrates from within an area, they swim out of the stomate and into another area of the leaf (They can't chew through the tough leaf veins).
I found nematodes last week on Hostas while I was scouting a nursery. Here is what the damage looks like:
The darker areas are show where the nematodes have already been. The lighter yellow-green areas are where they are now.Hostas are monocots, so the leaf veins run parallel to each other. This explains the pattern of damage that they cause on Hostas.
On dicots the damage is different, as seen on this Viburnum leaf. The injury has more of a stained glass effect because of the netted vein pattern.
To diagnose foliar nematodes, you simply cut out a tiny square from an area that is discolored (not brown) and put it in a glass dish with some water. I use a watch glass.When you look through a dissecting scope, you will see clear nematodes swimming out of the leaf edges and into the water.
So what's the big deal about nematodes? Well, foliar nematodes cause leaf damage, stunting and impact the overall health and vigor of the plant. And they are hard to treat.If you have a nursery or greenhouse, throw away badly infested plants. Spray the rest of the crop with Pylon at the high rate (2 applications, one week apart).
If you are a homeowner, do not buy plants with this type of damage. These nematodes have the ability to live for several years in a state called anhydrobiosis where they dry down completely and go dormant. As soon as moisture returns and conditions are right, they revive themselves and infest plants. You could put an infested leaf in an envelope, file it on a shelf and rehydrate the nematodes years later! Not exactly fair, yet very interesting.
A shot from a couple of weeks back, on our way down through the Central Highlands after spending Easter on Speyside. This is the north-eastern edge of the Cairngorms range of mountains, here with the last of the spring snow. As well as one of Scotland's main ski areas, the Cairngorms also have remnants of the primeval Caledonian Forest, rare birds, plants and animals, and five of Scotland's six highest mountains.
I've always had a cat in my life. Many hours have been spent cuddling them and crying into their fur when life wasn't as good as I'd like for it to be. 
“I can not begin to express what an honor it was to fly John Simac and Lee Tegner around the mountain in September, 2007. As a climber and rescuer, the stories I heard from them during the flight were truly amazing. John talked about his first Rainier climb in 1932 and the body recovery of Delmar Fadden in 1936; Lee talked about being strapped into the open door of a plane while making cargo drops to the Camp Schurman hut in the early 1960's. Both reminisced about camping on the summit for a week, playing football and eating watermelon while teaching young Explorer Scouts the skills of mountaineering.
We took four laps around the north and east face of Mount Rainier, Little Tahoma, and in particular Camp Schurman. No one was around that day; it was just us, the mountain, and the hut. After all I'd heard, I decided to pull a maneuver that would give them a clear view. I took the plane to 11 K and then dropped the flaps, pulled the engine to idle, and gently rolled in for closer inspection. We quietly glided over the glacier with the hut to our right. Then John spoke with a tear in his eye, "Seeing that hut again brought back a flood of memories that I can't sort out at once." Lee, with a smile, said, "we had a hell of a time on this mountain."