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November 16, 2006 Hortiscope
Q: I received a call from a homeowner asking if shrubs and trees planted during this time of the year should be watered in. The trees have dropped their leaves. I thought it would be a good question for your column because I’m sure other people are wondering the same thing. (e-mail reference)
Q: I have a healthy marigold in my front yard. However, the frost soon will kill the plant. I was thinking about getting seeds from this plant for next year, but I'm not sure how to go about doing this. My dad says the seeds are in the flowers. If that's true, do I have to wait until a certain time to gather the seeds? Do I have to dry the seeds? I'm a little confused as to what I need to do, so your help would be appreciated. (e-mail reference)
Q: A friend gave me some seedpods from what I believe is a datura she had growing in her yard. Do the seeds need to be frozen or chilled before they will germinate? Also, my son grew a Texas bluebonnet for me. It grew well and bloomed profusely through the summer. I have it in a pot now that Bismarck is headed into the deep freeze. How do I care for it? The plant is losing color and looks like it would benefit from a trim. I also would like to germinate this plant as well. Any suggestions? (Bismarck, N.D.)
Q: My neighbor and I planted 13 hybrid poplar trees in our backyards in 1997. They have grown to about 35 feet and were healthy until last spring. All of the trees bloomed in early spring and had leaves. In May, one of the trees started to drop its leaves. A month later it started to grow new branches with some leaves, but as soon as the drought started, the leaves and branches died. The tree was dead by August. A few weeks ago, I cut down the tree. All the branches shattered when it hit the ground. The remaining 12 trees look good. What happened to the tree? Was it bugs, disease or physical damage from an ice storm last November? (Wahpeton, N.D.)
Q: What will happen
if tulip bulbs are not planted 6 inches deep? I just planted a large bed
of bulbs, but don't think I got the bulbs deep enough. I would rather
Q: My husband has owned a beautiful jade plant for 12 years. It gets lots of natural light, but little direct sunlight. It sits on the north side of the house with a Christmas cactus. The plant was dusty and dirty, so a few weeks ago I took it outside and washed it with a hose. I had the water running very lightly. I then sprayed leaf shine on it. My husband also put more soil in the pot (on top of what was there). The soil was Scotts Potting Soil for Cactus and Succulents with bone meal added. Now a lot of leaves are turning yellow (most of them) and falling off. I was going to take the plant outside today and wash it as best I could. I don’t know what else to do. Should I not use the leaf shine on a jade? (e-mail reference)
Q: I hope you can help me with my once healthy schefflera plant that I’ve had for several years. It seemed to need increasing amounts of water, so I repotted it to a larger pot. As I was repotting, I noticed there was no crowding of the roots along the sides, but there was one extremely long root wrapping around the bottom. I thought that confirmed that the plant needed repotting. A few days after I repotted, one branch began to turn yellow and then fell off. I thought I bumped the branch. Then another branch turned yellow and fell off. It has been more than a month, and each week another branch turns yellow and falls off. The yellowing starts in the main vein of the leaf. A few of the leaves have brown spots. I don't see any bugs or mite webs. The leaves look healthy until the yellowing starts. I have taken the yellow leaves to two local plant stores. They said it could be over or underwatering. I don't think it is a watering problem. I did decrease the watering, but it didn’t make a difference. Your help is much appreciated. (e-mail reference)
Q: Our family is yakking about some black spots on maple leaves. Some are saying the trees have cancer and are trying to breath in air just like a smoker. Others are saying there was too much rain in our area this year and the soil is too alkaline. What’s up, Ron? (e-mail reference)
Q: My anthurium has not bloomed since I brought it home from the store a year ago. Every leaf has brown edges, which I trim often. It is not in direct sunlight, so I do not believe it is getting too much sun. (e-mail reference)
Q: I read with interest your reply to the wodarz apple question. I would like to get some trees, so I would appreciate the name of a good nursery. I live in Scranton, which is 50 miles south of Dickinson. Russell Wodarz was a relative of mine. My grandmother and Russell were cousins and were both into apples. Grandma grafted a lot and had one tree with 33 varieties on it. I now live on the same place. Unfortunately, during the last 32 years since she passed away, the trees are all gone. I can remember Russell coming out to the farm when I was young. Grandma talked about him a lot. We had a family reunion years ago on his farm near Wyndmere and had a chance to see all of his trees. Adelide, Patricia and Jerard Wodarz were living there at the time. Adelide mentioned the wodarz apple, but I never followed up on getting any. Thank you very much for your help. Your column is much appreciated. (e-mail reference)
Q: We inherited hollyhocks when we purchased our home. We don’t like them! We have tried digging them up and killing them with weed killer. Nothing seems to work. Now there are miniature hollyhocks starting to grow in the grass. What can we do to get rid of them? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! (e-mail reference)
Q: I would like to know if the Saskatoon berry bush is the same as a Juneberry bush. If there is a difference, I would like to know the size of the bush and fruit. Is there more than one type of Juneberry? (Rugby, N.D.)
### Source: Ron
Smith, (701) 231-8161, ronsmith@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
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North Dakota State University |
