THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407080101
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G4 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
We have only one vine of scuppernong grapes. Every year it blooms and little grapes form on the vine. But before they can get big and ripen, they fall off. What is the problem? We have Concord grapevines and have no problems with them.
Helen Smith, Virginia Beach
Virginia Tech authorities say your grape lacks pollination. Even a wild grape can perform that duty, but it would be smarter to visit Robb's Market at the Virginia Beach Farmer's Market. Robb's specialize in grapes and sells only pollinator grapes, offering bronze and blue varieties. Once you get a pollinator, your scuppernong should produce fruit.
The plant I am sending may be a weed, but it has a lovely cocoa-vanilla scent. It has recently been popping up along the curb where I put food out for the birds. It did not show up until I put birdseed out, so I am afraid I have inadvertently planted a monster. Can you identify it?
Julie Miller, Willoughby, Norfolk
Your weed or flower is hairy or winter vetch. It may have arrived as part of the birdseed mix. It is hard to eliminate since all of its seeds don't germinate the first year. If you want to get rid of it, spray it with Roundup but be prepared for new plants to show up for several years. Some folks like it as a groundcover and in Pennsylvania, it is often used along highways for that purpose.
I have Dutch irises that have not bloomed this year, and I miss them. They did bloom for the last four to five years. I have 150 of them in a row, and they have been healthy. After the hard winter we experienced, the tips burned brown. My husband cut the tips down to about 3 inches around March 15. Did we cut off the bloom buds, too?
Linda Federico, Virginia Beach
Because of the severe winter, your Dutch iris may not have been strong enough to flower this spring. Fertilize them now, and water thoroughly afterward. Then fertilize again this fall. Your husband most likely cut off bud tips when he cut them down to 3 inches. Dutch iris are difficult to get to repeat bloom in this area. I find that some colors come back for a few years, but I've never had any repeat blooms for as long as five years, so consider yourself lucky. They are so inexpensive that it costs very little to buy new bulbs every fall.
I have a large spot in my yard in which I am interested in growing bamboo. I had a bamboo plant at my house in California, and although it needed frequent trimming, I thought it was lovely. Will it grow in Norfolk? Where can I buy plants?
Jean Hopkins, Norfolk
It is doubtful that any bamboo that grew outdoors in California will survive in Norfolk. You can buy bamboo at most good nurseries, but make sure that's what you want. Most bamboo is terribly invasive. I would not plant any except in a cement barrel from which it could not escape. Once it gets loose, there's no stopping it from invading every corner of your yard.
Newer varieties are reputed to be ``noninvasive.'' There also are pseudo-bamboos that are relatively noninvasive. Why not call a good nursery or two and talk to them about what they have to make sure you get a noninvasive variety.
My peony was at least 7 years old. For the past two years, I have not seen anything come out of the ground. The last year it bloomed, the plant looked wonderful with lots of blooms. It was located under a crape myrtle in part sun. I am wondering if it rotted or the mulch I have added every year made the peony deeper than it should be?
Louise Gaines, Virginia Beach
There are two possibilities. First, moles or voles may have gotten to it and eaten or killed it. Moles make the highways for voles and field mice to use as runways for eating roots.
The second possibility is that peonies won't bloom if they're planted too deep. The mulch you say you added every year may have made its roots too deep. Peonies like some mulch to protect them from winter, but remove it in the spring and don't apply more every year.
The trunk and branches of my tree turn black as shown on the sample enclosed. Leaves stay green. Zillions of ants are on this tree, and they also have migrated to a small loblolly pine. Can you tell me what to spray on the tree, or should I let the ants take over? I tried Sevin last year and it did not help much.
Norma S. Venavage, Chesapeake
Your problem is honeydew, which is the excretion of aphids hiding on the bottom sides of the leaves. Ants love it and that's why they flock to it. A fungus called ``sooty mold'' forms wherever the honeydew falls, and that is what you see.
It's believed that Sevin actually promotes more aphids, so don't use it if you have an aphid problem. You should spray with malathion, Orthene or an organic insect spray. Even Raid Ant & Roach Killer will do the job. 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