Q. I have two tomato plants that I placed in Topsy Turvy planters. I mixed a “garden soil” with some aged horse manure into the planters. The plants are growing fine but wherever there is a flower bud, the little stem turns yellow and the bud falls off. What is happening? And what do I [...]
Q. I have a sweet gum tree in my back yard that has always been beautiful and full. This year it has been slower to leaf out and is not very full. There were a number of dead branches that started with buds early in the spring and then died. The branches are deformed. The [...]
Q. I planted some mums last year and they were beautiful. They came back this year and are growing wonderfully, and look fantastic. My question: I’ve been told that they will blossom in early summer and then again in the fall and that if I snip off the buds in the early flowering, then the [...]
Q. I have several wisteria plants that are probably offshoots of a main vine. The main vine blossoms like crazy every year but the offshoot plants don’t blossom, even though they grow and send out lots of stringers and look very healthy. I want to train and control these off shoot plants and want [...]
Q. I have a beautiful wisteria on my terrace. It was green and leafy. I have an irrigation system as well as someone to check them when I am away. I just returned from a 6-day vacation and upon return my wisteria did not get enough water (the irrigation hose slipped out of the planter [...]
Q. I planted gallon pots of Gaillardia last year. I don’t see any of them coming up this spring. Perhaps I’m mistaking them for weeds? What should they look like by this time?
-Geneva, Illinois
A. Gaillardia needs excellent drainage to survive wet soil during the winter. If you planted in heavy clay, I am not [...]
Q. We recently moved to South Carolina and this house. I think we have a honeysuckle bush growing along/up our fence. It doesn’t match up to what I am finding online. I am not sure I have smelled honeysuckle before, but this is wonderful and I assumed this is what it was. I think the [...]
Q. It’s nearing the end of sugar snap pea season here in Sacramento. A bunch of my plants, while still producing a few peas, are covered with what appears to be a mildew or mold that turns the leaves and stems white (powdery). Some of the pea pods themselves are mottled on the sun side [...]
Q. Any suggestions as to what to plant beneath a Black Walnut tree? I have tried rhododendrons without luck. I like the tree, carefully pick up the fruit when it falls to no avail. What plants if any will grow around a ‘Juglan’?
-Hudson, Ohio
A. There are a number of wildflowers and native grasses that will [...]
Two answers for this one!
Q. I purchased a Sweet Kate Spiderwort and I am not sure how much sun or shade this plant needs?
-Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
A. Sweet Kate Spiderwort is one of the most visually vivid partial-sun plants around. It does best in morning to early afternoon sun (1pm-2pm). The bright yellow foliage will [...]
