THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601260116
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING REMINDERS
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
THERE'S CONFLICTING information on how to get Powis Castle artemesia through the winter and have it repeat as a perennial each spring, so I called Linda Pinkham at Smithfield Gardens.
She recommends letting it stand all winter, even though it looks beaten and wilted. Around March 15, when you prune your roses, cut it back to 1 inch above ground. It will then send out new shoots and be as beautiful as the year before, Pinkham says. She suggests giving it a haircut in April, to give it good shape, repeating that slight pruning every 30 days or so. DON'T CUT BACK SALVIA LEUCANTHA YET
Salvia leucantha is another weak perennial or hardy annual, whichever you choose to call it. Pinkham says if you leave the stalks standing in your garden and prune it down to the ground March 15, it usually comes back. The stalks, which look like skeletons in your garden all winter, bother me, so I cut them off. Therefore, mine seldom if ever come back, so I'm forced to buy new plants each year. GIVE MEXICAN HEATHER A TRY
A plant with similar hardiness is Mexican heather. This is a great small shrub with purple blooms that is underused in this area. Many people are mulching it heavily and getting it to repeat as a perennial. I had one last year that came back with little mulch, but last winter was mild. RYE GRASS MAY NEED MOWING
If you planted rye grass in the fall, it probably needs mowing now. Just a few warm days gives it lots of growth-energy. If you did what I did and overseeded with fescue but planted rye in the bare spots, you have a patchy looking lawn. Get out the lawn mower, use a grass catcher and mow the entire area to even it up. You probably won't have to do it again for another month, depending upon the weather. GOOD GUIDE TO ORGANIC GARDENING
A new reference book that should be helpful is, ``The Best of Organic Gardening'' (Rodale Press Books, $27.95 hardback, $12.95 paperback.) It includes the best of 50 years of how-to organic gardening knowledge. Included is advice from some greats of the past including Ruth Stout and Euell Gibbons. Any bookstore can order it for you or call (215) 967-5171. ADVICE ON KEEPING DEER AWAY
For those with serious deer problems who are using or considering using an electric fence, there is some new advice from the Dawes Arboretum in Ohio. To keep deer out of flower or vegetable gardens, most electric fences have to be at least 6 feet high. The Dawes Arboretum was able to keep deer away by stringing an electric wire only 30 inches high and using peanut butter at various locations on the wire. The peanut putter has to be reapplied each year. If you want a copy of the plans, send a stamped, addressed envelope marked ``Dawes deer plan'' to this column. GOOD SELECTION OF HOSTA
Tony Avent of Raleigh, N.C., offers a wide selection of new varieties of hosta. Avent, a nurseryman/garden writer with a sense of humor, says the price for his new catalog is 10 postage stamps or a box of chocolates. The address is Plant Delights Nursery, 9241 Sauls Road, Raleigh, N.C. 27603. by CNB