THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9407010090
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Some time ago my mother had a rose she called The Seven Sisters. I'm not sure that is its real name. I have looked for it a long time and can't find where they are sold or even if this rose is still around. Can you or your readers can tell me where I might buy one?
Lillian Clewis, Chesapeake
Bill Milner, past president of the Tidewater Rose Society, says that Seven Sisters is a pink blend, old-fashioned rose. That is its real name, and it can be obtained from these sources: Antique Rose Emporium, Route 5, Box 143, Brenham, Texas 77833 (call 1-800-441-0002); and The Rosary at Bayfields, P.O. Box R, Waldoboro, Maine 04572 (call 207-832-6630).
Please help identify a weed that appeared in my yard last year. If pulled up, thorny seeds stick into your fingers. What can be done to get rid of it?
Veronka Rideout, Franklin
Virginia Tech experts identified your weed as knawel. It has a spiny burr in its leaf axil that sticks into your hands when you pull it up. Try Weed B'Gon to eradicate it. If that doesn't work, spray it with Roundup or an organic weed killer.
I have a white oak in my back yard that measures 2 feet in diameter. Growing on and in it is a wisteria vine. The vine is 2 1/2 inches in diameter and fills the tree. The vine completely encircles the trunk and all branches many times. I am concerned that the vine might be slowly killing the tree by squeezing the cambium layer and cutting off the flow of nutrients in the trunk and branches.
Is a large wisteria capable of killing a tree? Should I sever the main stems of the wisteria before the tree is harmed?
R.B. Rice, Virginia Beach
Is the vine choking the tree? In other words, are there furrows or ridges in the tree trunk? Is it growing out around the wisteria vine? If your answer is no, you have no problem, because oaks are tough. But if there are ridges where the tree is growing around the vine, then the wisteria could very well choke the tree. In that case, you need to cut the wisteria off at ground level. It will come back from the roots, so you should be prepared for that.
What do I do about tent worms that invaded my pecan trees? Is there anything to kill them in the ground that will not kill grass and plants? Four houses in River Forest Shores had them so bad last year that worms were even crawling on porches and into houses. You could see hundreds of them coming up out of the ground.
Mrs. H. McCulloch, Norfolk
Webworms do not live in the ground. Probably what happened is that winds or squirrels shook them out of the tree and they crawled from the ground back up in the tree. Any good insecticide, such as Orthene, malathion or Concern Insect Killing Soap, will eradicate them.
Is there anyone out there with pecan trees who is not having a problem? Pecan trees grow too large to be good yard trees. When they get big, it's impractical to spray them. Meanwhile, squirrels get the pecans. I'm in favor of cutting down all pecan trees within city limits and growing pecans only on farms or in commercial orchards.
Is there any solution to keeping wasps and yellow jackets off a hummingbird feeder? Last year they kept the hummingbirds from it.
Elizabeth Booth, Smithfield
There are bee guards that come with many feeders, but I'm not sure you can buy them separately. They're little plastic screening devices.
While we're on the subject, ants, too, are often a problem on hummingbird feeders. Some companies make ant guards, which consist of a container of oil between the hanger and the feeder. Or you can use any grease, even Vapor Rub, applied to the hanging device on your feeder. That will keep the ants out. MEMO: No gardening questions will be taken over the phone. Write to Robert
Stiffler, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, 150 W. Brambleton
Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510. Answers will be published on a space-available
basis at the proper time for their use in the garden. For an earlier
reply, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope. by CNB