THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503310090
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G4 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 175 lines
A recent article in Garden Design magazine mentioned the Butterfly Rose (Rosa chinensis mutabilis). I'm wondering where this might be available locally and how well it performs in this area. I've lost interest in roses that need a lot of spraying. Perhaps this one will be different. Also how often during the summer does it bloom?
Anne Stratton, Norfolk
I have the 1995 rose list from Wedgewood Garden Centers, which specialize in roses, and they don't list this old-fashioned rose. If you call them at 587-4481, they may be able to order it. It is available by mail from The Antique Rose Emporium for $9.95, bare-root. Call (800) 441-0002. The Rose Emporium catalog says the blooms of this China rose darken with age, instead of fading. The single petals open sulfur yellow, changing through orange to a rich pink and finally crimson. When these colors are on display at the same time, it looks like a group of multicolored butterflies have settled on the bush, from whence came the name, ``Butterfly Rose.'' The catalog does not say when or how often it blooms, but most old-fashioned roses bloom only once in the spring. Old-fashioned roses like this one do as well in this area as any other rose.
I've been to almost every nursery looking for the 36-inch diameter material you described in a recent article. But every clerk looks at me like I'm nuts. I explain that it is to put around trees to control weeds, but that doesn't help. I did find some black ``weed barrier'' material that is 36 inches wide and cut it to use around one of my trees, but it's sure not round. I'll wait until I hear from you, because I think you said it was round!
Myrt Kindig, Chesapeake
I'm sorry, but your question is one I can't answer. The story described a round mat, slit on one side so it could be slipped around a tree to prevent weeds and nicking the tree trunk with a lawn mower or weed trimmer. I believe the manufacturer was Rubbermaid or Weed-X. When I receive new product announcements, I write up those that warrant attention and then throw away the announcement. There is nothing that upsets me or our readers more than to go to store after store and not be able to find a product advertised or mentioned in this or any other newspaper.
I now refuse to run new product announcements until I call the manufacturer and find out if the product is available and where. Surprisingly, many manufacturers do not know if a product is available here. If a hardware store, home center or garden center carries this tree mat, please call, and we'll pass the news along to readers.
While staying at our beach house in Nags Head in late 1994, I read your column concerning a plant list for repelling moles. Since we have both moles and gophers at our home in Florida, I'd really appreciate receiving that list. I've tried everything else recommended, with no success. If there are plants that would help, I'd like to give them a try. We always look forward to reading your column when in Nags Head. It would be wonderful if your suggestions would help us here in Florida.
Mrs. E.P. Sauer, Spring Hill, Fla.
You are being sent the plant list prepared by greenhouse operators Doc and Katy Abraham. Euphorbia or gopher spurge is the plant most often recommended. Sometimes I think the plant is as bad as moles, because it spreads around in your garden and can become a pest.
A more recent deterrent is the use of Mole-Med, a product you spray on your garden two or three times a year. It is supposed to drive away moles, squirrels, rabbits and raccoons. It is available in this area and should be in Florida.
Remember me? I am the ``clivia-searching lady.'' First, I want to thank you for your kindness and help. The sad part is I have had no luck. The Suffolk or Norfolk lady evidently did not read the newspaper the weekend my letter appeared. I will let you have the same laugh that my husband had. On Jan. 14, the day before your article appeared, I prepared a big note pad and a pen beside the phone. I don't like to get without giving, so I also prepared Solanum pseudocapsicum (Jerusalem cherry) seedlings growing in my garden to give to the callers. Finally, to top it all, I immobilized the household for two days, saying to my husband, who was already laughing at me, ``But you don't understand that this is a very important day, and the phone is going to ring off the hook.'' On Monday, he was asking me to do some errands, but I said I couldn't. I told him, ``People didn't call Sunday, but they will call me Monday. If they honor me with their phone calls, I have to honor them with my presence!'' On Tuesday, one gentleman called to ask if there was a resemblance between clivia and amaryllis. He told me that a friend of his promised him some, but he would have to call me back to let me know. He never did.
I hope you will enjoy reading my letter as much as I will still enjoy reading you every Sunday. Maybe someday, you can try again. I know that Park Seed is selling seeds at $3 for a packet, but success is not guaranteed, plus I would have to wait all those years to get a bloom. And the plant is being sold for $22.95 each, which is too expensive for me. But I am sure someday I will get lucky and get some.
Nicole Zimmer, 5404 Wallingford Arch, Virginia Beach, Va. 23464. Call 420-8426
What Nicole refers to is a letter from her published Jan. 15 that asked: ``Will the lady from Suffolk or Norfolk who had plenty of `clivia babies' please get in touch with me, as I would love to have one baby clivia.''
Not many people grow clivia. I think in 20 years, I've seen only two plants grown locally. It's not unusual, when a reader offers free seed, to receive 150 or more requests - and run out of seed. So will someone - anyone who grows clivia - divide your plant and call or write Nicole so she can have a clivia.
For the many who don't grow clivia, it has amaryllis-like leaves and large showy bright orange, lily-like blooms once a year. But it takes up to 7 years before it blooms. Most of us are not that patient. So will someone who grows clivia share with Nicole?
I read the recent article about two new petunias and am especially interested in ``Celebrity Chiffon Morn.'' I talked with Gloria Winiker, who manages the trial gardens at the Virginia Tech Research Center. She gave me a source for the seed.
Did you photograph the pictures used in the paper and, if so, do you know the source of the planters in the picture? It looked like a delicate pink color to compliment the petunias. I'd like to try a patio area with a border of petunias, and potted petunias on the steps.
Grace M. Armistead, Portsmouth
That photo was furnished by All America Selections in Chicago. They are the group who select All America vegetables and flowers each year. I called them, and they referred your request to Steve Jones of Bodger Seeds, who bred the petunia ``Celebrity Chiffon Morn.'' Jones was requested to write you with a source for the containers. If he has not done so, please let me know.
What kind of gourd vine came up in my daughter's back yard last year? I'd never seen anything like it, and she didn't plant it. She has over 100 banana trees in her yard. This vine started to run up those trees, so she pulled the vine out of them. Then it ran over half of her back yard, up the side of her house, onto the patio, up the fence, up a pine tree and even now there are five or six gourds up in the pine tree - and more gourds on the ground. We weighed one of them, and it weighed over 15 pounds. I am sending you a picture of the ones in the pine tree. Somebody said you can eat them, so I pulled one of them while it was small and cooked it like you would squash with onions. It was real good. My daughter lives in the Roosevelt Gardens section of Norfolk.
Jessie Driggs, Norfolk
The folks at the Hampton Roads Research Center are winners when it comes to plant identification, and their expert says your vine is moon flower or white-flowered gourd. It's often called Calabash gourd, and the photo you sent shows that it sometimes has a bottle shape. It is a fast-growing tropical vine with a botanical name of Lagenaria siceraria. The gourds are irregularly shaped and can range from 3 inches to 3 feet in length. It is edible, as you found out. A bird or animal most likely dropped a seed or two in your yard. The gourds left in the tree will eventually drop their seeds, and your daughter may have gourds running up her house the rest of her life!
Our plant beds were built with about 8 inches of top soil. We covered the beds with a weed blocking fabric screen and then covered that with mulch. The mulch and weed block have been very successful in limiting weeds - except wild onions. The wild onions grow through the weed block and are impossible to pull out by their roots without cutting the weed block. How can I kill the wild onions without killing my plants?
Paula A. Hennessey, Virginia Beach
Your letter explains how weed fabrics can work to a disadvantage as well as to advantage. Without the weed fabric, you can often pull up wild onions or wild garlic after a heavy rain storm, which is an ideal control. But they do make smaller bulblets to the side of the main bulb that will come back to haunt you.
The only sure control is to carefully spray their tops with Roundup. Make a funnel from an old newspaper and use it to control your spray so you hit only the onion or garlic tops. Allow two weeks for them to die. If they're not brown, spray again.
Please identify the holly enclosed. I have two of them which I've allowed to grow too large and severe pruning is required before the buds begin to form.
Can I remove all the leaves on the top, taking one-third off the bush, without killing it? Is it going to have berries?
Lastly should I prune my small dogwood trees, and if so, when? Keep the up the great work.
Bill Banton, Virginia Beach
Your holly is Ilex cornuta variety burfordii, a handsome plant that grows 25 feet tall and may spread to 30 feet across. It is usually labeled Burford holly in nurseries. Leaves are bright green but less spiny than English hollies. Fruits are bright red and borne profusely. It is especially recommended as a fine holly for Southern gardens. You can prune it severely just before new growth takes place, which is now. It's better to leave a few leaves, rather than prune it back to bare stems. It will be slow to re-leaf and will have no berries for two to three years. I'd fertilize it after pruning.
Your dogwoods can be pruned as much as you want. Because they're slow-growing, all the pruning I suggest is to shape the trees to a desirable shape for the locations where you have them. by CNB