Q. My mother ordered ever-blooming lilacs, and I would like to have some for my landscape. Can you share with me the site to order these from? A. To the best of my knowledge, there aren’t any lilacs that bloom continuously all summer, but there are a few that may re-bloom in late summer and/or fall. Different species and even cultivars within a species vary in their requirements for developing flowers buds. So an individual…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]
What better way to melt the snow than a cozy read through garden catalogs with all their promise of mouth-watering produce for the coming season! Here’s a look at just a few of the new vegetable seed offerings for 2010. Try a few alongside your old standby favorites so that you can compare performance in your garden. Basil ‘Amethyst Improved’ is a dark purple basil with large, thick, curled-down leaves similar to the classic variety…Read more about New Vegetable Varieties 2010[Read More]
Q. I have two large pecan trees that have a problem. One tree is 75 feet tall with a 30-foot spread. The other is about half this size. Both trees were started with nuts. Both produce large quantities of nuts that do not mature. When the nuts get to the kernel stage, the insides dry up, and the nuts fall off. The trees get plenty of water and fertilizer from the yard, so I can’t…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]
Q. I’m looking for a tree about 20 foot tall for the corner in the backyard that will be decorative all four seasons: flowers in the spring, pretty green foliage in the summer, colorful foliage in the fall and berries in the winter. I live in Fort Wayne, and the soil is a lot of clay. Can I still plant this tree in December? Will it need watered? Also, one more question please. I’m not…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]
Q. I’m trying to identify a plant growing along my fence line. It is about 3 foot tall and stays green year round. Grows very slow, and I have a couple others that are smaller. Looks like a pine but does not smell like one. Just curious. A. I was not able to discern enough detail from your info to confirm the plant’s identity. Here are some tips to help you determine what this evergreen…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]
An onion by any other name still may not smell sweet to most of us. Onions are notorious for causing malodorous breath and a trickle of tears. In both cases, sulfur-containing compounds are the culprits. According to legend, Western cowboys referred to onions as “skunk eggs,” thanks to the sulfur compound’s ability to permeate the lungs. The sulfur is contained within a volatile oil that enters the lungs and then is exhaled with the breath….Read more about Onions Don’t Need To Be a Crying Shame[Read More]
Q. I have two wisteria bushes that I planted alongside each other about 10 years ago, and either has yet to bloom. One is white and the other is supposed to be red. Do I need to have a female and male plant, as you do bittersweet, in order to produce blooms, and, if so, how do I know which is which? A. First, wisteria do not have separate male and female plants, but even…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]
Q. I moved to the country 15 years ago, and started planting oak trees then. I have a problem with my white oaks, but not the reds. The leaves are severely curled up and wilted; new growth comes on and looks good for a short while, then it curls also. The tips are especially affected. The trees are growing, but slowly and look awful. Any idea what to do? A. This sounds like a case…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]
Q. I moved to the country 15 years ago, and started planting oak trees then. I have a problem with my white oaks, but not the reds. The leaves are severely curled up and wilted; new growth comes on and looks good for a short while, then it curls also. The tips are especially affected. The trees are growing, but slowly and look awful. Any idea what to do? A. This sounds like a case…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]
Q. The last approximately six years have been disastrous for my two cherry trees. The first year, I thinned out the fruit and harvested a light crop. The second year, I had an abundance of fruit but, after a few weeks, all the leaves fell off. The fruit stayed, and I harvested a good crop. The next year, the trees lived a short time and then died. This same thing happened three years before —…Read more about Question and Answer[Read More]