THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408120073
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Last winter you wrote about some camellias having a fungus infection, whereby the buds rot on the bush. It seems to me I remember something about mildew. I cut the article out, since that was my problem, but alas, I don't know what I did with the clipping. If you will research your winter articles and send me a reprint, I would be most appreciative.
I also wrote about a year ago in reference to ginger lilies and you told me where I could purchase some, but I also received many phone calls from readers offering to give me ginger lilies from their yard. I was so happy. Your gardening column reminds me of what it must be like in a small town, neighbor helping neighbor. Thanks so much.
Eileen Hartigan, Virginia Beach
Camellias are relatively free from disease or insect problems. They are one of our easiest plants to grow. If your camellia buds were brown and dropped off, most likely it was due to winter weather and the flowers froze before opening. When that happens, and it often does, the buds go completely brown. The edges of the flowers, if they open, are also brown. Early blooming varieties, such as Debutante, are particularly hard hit by cold weather.
After a camellia blooms, if blooms have a blighted look, that is a disease called petal blight. You can spray with a fungicide to prevent it spreading. The best solution, however, is to remove and destroy all blooms that you believe have the blight.
As for ginger lilies, these tropical flowers really caught it from last winter's severe weather. I don't see many ready to bloom - and they should be blooming in less than 30 days.
I was raised at the edge of a small town (New Virginia, Iowa - pop. 403) where the town met fields of corn, alfalfa and oats. It was an era where neighbor helped neighbor. Wouldn't it be great if we could have that kind of country again?
I have two different sets of instructions for fertilizing Plumeria. One order from the Big Island Plant Co. in San Diego says to use a high acid fertilizer. The other order from David Baggette Horticulture Products in Birmingham says to fertilize with a balanced plant food. Can you set the record straight? I ordered yellow Plumeria from San Diego and pink and red from Birmingham.
Gayle Ifft, Virginia Beach
Actually, both suggestions are correct, since most any chemical fertilizer is acid-forming. If it's high in nitrogen, the first number on the container, you can bet it's acid-forming.
Interestingly, many houseplant books don't list Plumeria. It's also called Frangipani and described as a family of handsome, tropical shrubs or trees with thick, fleshy branches. Flowers are fragrant. They grow to 15 feet tall, so give yours lots of room or be prepared to cut a hole in the roof!
The enclosed leaf came from our very old, very large pecan tree. It had good nuts for three or four years. Last year, we had none. A year or two before that, the few nuts we were able to gather had no firm or ``fat'' meat.
Hoping to have better results, we ordered insects (Trichogramma) from Gardens Alive, which we have used twice. We are due one more shipment. There were numerous blooms this year and I can now see some fruit forming.
Leaves like the one enclosed concern me. Can you tell me what might be going on?
Margaret Smithson, Tyner, N.C.
Virginia Tech authorities say your leaves show no insect problems. The black on the leaves may be minor nutrient deficiencies. Pecans like zinc, so you may want to try adding some under the drip line of your tree. It's available at feed and seed stores.
Your tree is either not setting pecans or squirrels are getting them. As I've written before, pecan trees offer many challenges to homeowners, making them marginal as an investment. 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