THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9412300105
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING REMINDERS
SOURCE: Robert Stiffler
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
NOW IS THE time to plan your garden trips for 1995. The first should be to the Maymont Flower Show in Richmond on Feb. 24. This is an excellent show that gardeners and non-gardeners will enjoy.
My wife and I will host the trip on a 40-passenger bus. The highlight will be afternoon lectures by Jim Wilson, host of ``The Victory Garden'' on PBS, and author and photographer Pam Harper. The $89 cost also includes a breakfast snack, lunch, refreshments on the trip home and a donation to the Norfolk Botanical Garden.
Reservations should be made now by mailing a check to Lynnhaven Travel, 2872 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va. 23452 or call 486-1911. In North Carolina, dial (800) 969-2872.
The next trip is to Longwood Gardens and Delaware Valley garden estates, including Winterthur, Hagley Museum and Mount Cuba. The first stop on the May 10-12 trip is at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. The cost is $360, which includes two nights at the historic Mendenhall Inn. This trip, hosted by me and my wife, again is to benefit the Norfolk Botanical Garden.
Everyone should visit Longwood at least once, because it is considered - even by Europeans - to be one of the best gardens in the world.
Send a $50 reservation check to Lynnhaven Travel at the address above, or call the numbers listed above for more information. GARDENS OF OTHER LANDS
If you want to travel overseas, the group with the largest selection of garden trips is Expo Garden Tours in New York City. For a free brochure, write to 145 Fourth Ave., Suite 4A, New York, N.Y. 10003. Call (800) 448-2685 or fax (212) 260-6913. WILD AND WONDERFUL WEEDS
Want to start the New Year by making peace with your weeds? ``Just Weeds: History, Myths and Uses'' by Pamela Jones (Chapters Books, $19.95 paperback) is a beautifully printed book that covers 30 common wild plants from sumac to poison ivy.
It's available in bookstores or send $22.95 to Chapters Bookstore, 2031 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, Vt. 05482. Call (800) 892-0220. VOLE CONTROL
Many people misidentify voles as moles and visa versa. Voles are small rodents native to the Southeast. They damage ornamental plants during winter and early spring by consuming bark and sap wood at the base of the stem or by eating bulbs and tubers. Often small shrubs are chewed completely off, and the entire plant gently tumbles over. Voles are often more of a problem in natural areas near woods where thick mulch provides cover for them.
Entomologist James Baker of North Carolina State University says control is not easy. If you suspect you have voles, place small boards or other flat objects on the mulch or soil near plants that need protection. From time to time, place slices of apple under the boards, because vole tunnels do not go deep. Voles will feed on the apples and give away their presence.
Homeowners can place mouse traps baited with apple or peanut butter and covered with a box or bucket to make it dark. A reader in Suffolk wrote some years back that she trapped 22 in a single day. The chemical control professionals recommend is Ramik. TIME TO IGNORE HOUSEPLANTS
Remember that houseplants thrive on inattention this time of year. They need very little water, no fertilizer and as much light as possible. Turn them regularly so they don't get lopsided growing toward the light. TRY A FEW FREE SEEDS
Want to test new seeds for free? You can become a ``plant partner'' with Thompson & Morgan, the large British-based seed supplier, if you are willing to make a report at the end of the growing season. Program participants pay an enrollment fee, which Thompson & Morgan says is more than covered by the free seeds.
You grow and compare new varieties not yet on the market and fill out a report to Thompson & Morgan. The company hopes this new method will give good data on how flowers and vegetables perform in widely different locations in the hands of gardeners of varying ability, using techniques that range from inorganic to fully organic.
If you're interested in taking part, send a stamped, addressed envelop to Bruce Sangster, Thompson & Morgan, Department PP, Jackson, N.J. 08527. LOOK FOR DISEASE RESISTANCE
Now that we're almost into the planting season, remember what ``VFN'' means when you buy tomato seeds or plants. Varieties so marked have in-bred resistance to verticillium and fusarium wilt and nematodes. If there is also a T after the other initials, it means the plant has been bred for resistance to tobacco mosaic virus. Such built-in resistance is important, because there is no treatment or cure for those diseases. Nematodes are difficult to diagnose and control, so that resistance is also important. by CNB