ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512060003
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Dear John
SOURCE: JOHN ARBOGAST
It's time once again to talk about the new varieties that have been tested and honored with the All-America Selections designation for the coming year.
Look for these winners when browsing through seed catalogs that arrive in the coming weeks so you can plan for '96.
The AAS winners are Petunia Fantasy Pink Morn, Petunia Heavenly Lavender and Salvia Strata. Once again, there are no vegetable award winners for '96, since AAS judges did not see any significant improvements in the vegetable variety entries over current varieties.
The unique qualities of Petunia Fantasy Pink Morn are its petite plant habit with height of about 10-12 inches and width of about 12-18 inches. Its flowers are an inch or so in size and show a light pink color with creamy white center. This petite petunia thrives in container plantings and does not dominate other annuals growing with it in a bowl or patio pot.
Petunia Heavenly Lavender produces flowers that are almost 3 inches across in a pure lavender that is rare among petunias and totally unique for a double flower. Plants of this petunia are easy to grow in either containers or garden soil.
Salvia Farinacea Strata is a unique annual salvia, since it is the first with blue and white flower spikes. Strata plants should be tough once they're established in a sunny garden. This Salvia variety should perform well under either hot, humid, wet or dry growing conditions.
Q: We have no luck in getting mole beans (castor beans) to come up from seed saved from the previous year. What are we doing wrong? E.S., New Castle
A: Possible causes could be seeds that have not ``ripened'' before harvesting, too warm fall and winter storage of seeds (a dry spot with a temperature around 40 degrees F. is excellent) or problems caused by the hard seed coat of beans.
The Garden Way Publishing book "Secrets of Plant Propagation" suggests that germination of castor bean seeds can be speeded up by soaking them in barely warm water for 24 hours or by nicking the hard seed coat with a file before starting the seeds in peat pots indoors in mid to late winter.
Q: What is the proper time of the year to fertilize trees? I have a 40-foot tall poplar and a 9-foot tall dogwood. J.M.G., Bassett
A: Your choices are an application in early December while your trees are dormant but the soil temperature is still above 40 degrees F.; or a split application with half of the yearly fertilizer amount applied now (October to December) with the other half applied in early spring; or at a time when the grass is being fertilized if the trees have their roots in a grassy area.
Send short questions about your lawn, garden, plants, or insects to Dear John, c/o the Roanoke Times, P. O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. We need your mail, but this column can't reply to all letters. Those of wide appeal will be answered during the weeks that the subject is timely. personal replies cannot be given. please don't send stamps, stamped envelopes, samples, or pictures.
Gardener's checklist
Jobs for early December:
Tie cone-shaped needle and leafy evergreens in a spiral fashion with rope or twine to reduce chances of snow or ice loads ruining the plant shape; use firewood stored indoors within a few days so that unwanted insects don't emerge indoors; frequently inspect indoor plants for insect problems that seem to occur more readily in the winter.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. This year's winners (left to right) are petuniasby CNBFantasy Pink Morn 2. and Heavenly Lavender 3. and salvia Strata.
color.