You know I only got 2 comments last week about the 1842 gardening quote of the week. :-) The old gardening books have a “certain point of view” that is quite interesting when you compare it to current standards in behaviour.

Want a Better Lawn than the Neighbors?

And in answer to one of those notes – nope, I’m not bound by any standards of political correctness in publishing and yes, I’ll probably do it again, and I’ll be sorry to see you leave when I do. :-) My goodness but I rattled that cage kinda hard with a mere gardening quote.

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As you might know – I now have 8 websites up and running and hooked together by the search software. You can find many of the common garden questions by doing a simple search.

For example if you can’t find something on germinating daylily seeds, try searching for germinating perennial flower seeds. You’ll quickly be inundated by information. If you’re looking for a reason why your begonia died, search for why plants die and you’ll get articles. Got light green leaves, dropping leaves – do a search.

The trick is to take the plant name out of the question and you’ll likely get a lot of information that will relate to your question.

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New Articles for You

All my new articles are listed here. Click on the archives link at the site to see others.

Want to ask a question? Click here to ask a gardening question.www.gardening-tips-perennials.com/askagardeningquestion.html

Your Questions Answered

I’m getting a ton of “should I cut back my (insert your perennial name here) at the moment. The plants are looking pretty shabby in the heat.

The bottom line is that pruning a plant *stimulates growth*. That’s the net effect of pruning.

So if you want your plant to throw new growth, then prune.

But I don’t want any of my perennials to throw new growth now. We’re almost into September and if they spend the energy to throw up new foliage now, they won’t have it to overwinter the root.

So – bottom line – don’t prune perennials to the ground now.

That rule will lift as soon as the plants themselves stop growing and prepare for dormancy. The lowering light levels (shorter day lengths) will be kicking many plants toward dormancy now. And once they decide to go dormant and stop growing, you can easily prune to the ground.

In zone 4, this comes around the middle to end of September. That’s when I tend to do all my perennial moving. Get them moved, let those roots establish and overwinter.

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#1. Why do sunflowers always face east? #2. In zone 5, Ohio. My 9" raised veggie garden dosnt' seen to hold water well. Garden was made with all bagged topsoil, manure & compost, what's best to put in it peat moss or spagnum to hold more water?

1 – to improve their tan. (or phototropism – take your pick) 2 – peat is a great addition to artificial soils to hold water. I’ll be using a truckload of it next year if I’m still in this garden.

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I have a "dropmore Scarler" that is starting to pull down its trellis. How far back can I trim this vine in order to replace the support, and when is the best time to do the deed?

A: Honeysuckle can – like *most* vines – be cut right to the ground and will resprout the following spring. Cut them in the late fall after dormancy if you have to do major repair work.

Or cut them back as far as you have to in order the replace the trellis and then tie them back up to the new trellis until they’re growing again and have attached themselves (new shoots).

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My friend recently gave me a leafy tall plant that has bi-color foliage and she doesn't know the name. My first thought was that it was a delphinimum (same shaped leave, tall, etc.) however she said hers has never had flowers. Now, the other day I saw a bi-colour Monkshood (Aconitum cammarun bi-color) and lo and behold, the foliage is the same as the plant my friend gave me.

So, my question - is it possible that the plant is a Monkshood and has never flowered, or is there a plant from the same family that is non-flowering?

Thanks - I have just been a first time visitor to your website and love it!!!!

A: The foliage on Aconitum x cammarum ‘Bicolor’ is not bicoloured – the flower has two colours – a blue edged white flower. It is a lovely plant and I had it given to me a long time ago by a good friend.

The same rules apply for growing it as the other Aconitum – they do much better in the full sun and may not bloom in the shade or poor soil. It grows much like a delphinium – loves full sun and rich soil. I know that some garden experts claim this is a shade loving plant but my experience dictates otherwise (and I tried to grow it in the shade – blooms simply disappeared). Perhaps some shade will not reduce blooming in the South.

So – if your plant has two-colour leaves as you say – it is not this plant. I do not know of a variegated leaf aconitum.

And all aconitum bloom if you treat them right.

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My neighbor has calla lillies and has told me that if the seed pods that are now hanging off of them can be planted to go ahead and take them. Can you just cut off the pod an plant it? HELP I have looked just about everywhere for an answer. Thanks for you time I really appreciate it.

A: The calla lilies must be setting seed over the world right now – and it must be a good year for seed as I’m getting this question repeatedly. The seed pod is ripe when it has turned yellowish and is soft. Remove the pulp from the pod and dry the seed. The resulting gray seeds can be sown immediately. Sow thinly – only one or two seedlings per 3-4 inch pot and barely cover the seed. Keep soil warm (70F minimum) and water with warm water when needed. You’ll need grow lights if you sow indoors.

This will give you seedlings.

The seedlings will need further growing on in regular garden conditions until they are large enough to flower. Plant small seedlings at the same depth as in the germinating mix – they’ll lower themselves to the proper depth with their contractile roots (the roots contract to pull the bulb down). Good luck.

p.s. info on growing these plants can be found on the website by doing a search on calla lilies or just calla will pull it up.

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Early this year I covered my perennial garden (3rd yr.) with dark brown bark mulch. To my surprise, the garden sprung up so well, it's now overcrowded and I have to divide and transplant many of the plants. I have 6 Hopi Crape Myrtles, cone flowers, salvia, day lilies, sedum, and a few others. What's the best way to dig these up and prepare the soil for transplanting with the bark all over. Should I rake the bark off first?

A: I don’t rake off the bark from the entire garden when I work – I’m too lazy for that. All I do is pull the bark back from the digging/planting hole area with the back of my shovel. I make the space large enough so I can dig around in there without having to bury mulch or cover the mulch with soil from the hole I’m digging.

In terms of digging them up and moving them – let me suggest you check out the gardening-tips-perennials.com website and do a search on moving perennials or fall care – you’ll find a lot of info on how to move plants successfully.

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Good Morning -- Two questions....When is the best time to cut back a spider wort? Every summer we have very large, about three feet in circumfrence hanging flowers. Two years running we have lost them to powdery mildew and aphids. This is the first time in ten years it has happened. What is causing this and what can we do to prevent it from happening next summer.

A: Well, spider wort (Tradescantia) are *like the rest of the perennial garden* – you cut ‘em back in the fall as you’re putting the garden to bed for the winter. The powdery mildew problem might be because of overcrowding in the plant itself (a spring division will thin it out) or it might be because the garden has grown up and is a little shadier or more rain has fallen or something in the environment has changed. Or, a little bit of both – big plant – less air moving through and some changes in microclimate – wham! You have a problem.

The aphids are likely there because the plant is weak – I’d want to look at not only dividing but also improving the fertility of the soil – how about some compost next spring as well. But a strong jet of water will knock them off or a spray with insecticidal soap.

Check out the organic sprays for powdery mildew and botrytis – do a search on the gardening-tips-perennials.com website and they’ll pop up. Follow those directions, divide the plants and you’re likely going to be OK.

I guess the point I’d make is that all perennials will eventually get too big – and their health can be vastly improved by dividing and renewing. In the meantime, organic controls work quite successfully to control problems.

From My Garden To Yours

I think I can safely say that the squash vine borer is a great friend of mine. This pernicious pest lives in the solid sections of hollow squash stems and with its mining/eating activities will kill its host plant in a matter of weeks. Given my well-known dislike of all tastes squash-like, this is a good thing.

However, I have been brought up short on this matter by some well-meaning but totally misguided friends who insist that squash is an excellent vegetable and are committed to making me eat some by the insidious method of inviting me for dinner and serving it. Personally, I simply think they should be committed.

Having said all that, let me point out that the squash borer has been working its wonderful magic in gardens all over North America this past year or two and gardeners have been asking for advice and assistance.

My first bit of advice is to stop growing the crop. Given that some of you will not take this well-meant bit of wisdom, I’ll pass along what I do know about stopping this pest with organic controls. Note there are no chemical sprays to control this pest.

To begin with, let’s make sure we’ve identified this pest correctly. You’re rarely going to see a squash borer larva out of his tunnel but if you did, he’d have a brown head and white body with 3 sets of legs and a 5 sets of false legs (extensions that look like legs) and he’ll be a few centimeters long. You might mistake the adult for a wasp but it’s an orange and black, often ringed pattern around the abdomen that gives it away. The attractive front wings are metallic green and the rear wings are clear with black or sometimes brown margins. The wingspan is around 4 cm or 1 inch.

Our friend overwinters as a dark brown pupa about three quarters of an inch long and hatches in mid-June. The moths lay single or small groups of flattened brown eggs on the squash stems immediately above the ground.

Ten days later, the larvae hatch and immediately burrow into the stem of the plant. You’ll be able to see a small hole and some “frass” or chewed up plant debris at the entry area.

They’ll happily bore away for a month and then drop out to the ground, spin a cocoon and pupate for the following winter and next year’s crop of squash.

Recommendations for control usually include spraying shaving cream around the base of the plant to prevent the adult from laying eggs. This is an oft-recommended suggestion but I’ve never tried it; I pass it along for your own trials with my tongue in my cheek.

The most recommended solution is to split the stem of the squash vine where you see the entry hole and carefully kill the borer. Then to mound damp soil up around the split and the plant will form new roots around the wound. This is a ton of work but can be effective as long as you get all the borers and don’t weaken the plant by the surgery.

Frankly, common practice shows that you’ll likely kill as many plants as you’ll save.

Some gardeners suggest you use row cloth over your squash plants to stop the adults from getting to the plants. This is fine as long as you haven’t grown squash in the preceding year. If you did, the squash bugs will be hatching out under the row cover and all you are doing is trapping the squash bugs and protecting them from your own work.

Dealing with this pest effectively means changing tactics and normal garden operations. To begin with, rototill the garden very well in the fall rather than in the spring. This will aerate the soil and allow cold air to freeze the soil deeper. This cold will knock back overwintering pupa.

Second, deeply turn over your soil in the spring before planting. Farmers use a spring plowing to turn over the soil but gardeners could use a shovel and the objective is to bury the pupa deeper than normal so they’ll have trouble digging their way out. You’ll find a reduced population in years you do this.

Another method is to change the squash type you are growing. Rather than grow hollow vine types, grow the solid-stemmed varieties (check with your seed company for the best of these).

Grow butternut squash as they are not a good host.

You can also use aluminum foil quite effectively by laying it down under the stem of the plants as a ground hugging mirror. Apparently this disorients the moths and they will not be laying eggs in that area.

Finally, you need to consider methods of stopping the larvae from dropping out of the plant into the ground. Here’s how you can accomplish this:

Grow your summer squash like lettuce. That is, plan on sowing seed every two weeks from spring through fall. Harvest as many squash as you can before you see the stems being invaded and inspect the plant daily.

Approximately three weeks after you see the first hole (remember they pupate at 4 weeks) tear out the plant by the roots. Cut off the top leaves leaving the part of the plant with the larvae. Drop this in a bucket of soapy water for a few days and then discard to the garbage bin. Do not compost.

Over a few years, you’re going to see the number of borers decrease dramatically as you reduce the overwintering success of the plant. You might get the odd one that comes from a neighbour’s place. Simply convince the neighbour to adopt your system.

Or do what I do and don’t even grow the darned plant.