THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507150090
SECTION: HOME & GARDEN PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Reminders
SOURCE: Robert Stiffler
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
THE ANNUAL Crape Myrtle Festival will be held Saturday and next Sunday at McDonald Garden Centers in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Hampton. Garden societies, including Master Gardeners, Tidewater Rose Society and Cape Henry Audubon Society, will exhibit and sell a variety of plants.
The Tidewater Daylily Society will sell daylilies for $5 each or five for $20. More than 40 varieties will be offered in many colors, and all are double-fan plants. The Tidewater Iris Society will sell tall-bearded iris, as well as Siberian and Japanese. In Chesapeake only, there will be a Tidewater Bee Keepers and native reptile exhibit.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Call 722-7463. Watch out for wilt
Check newly planted trees and shrubs at least twice a week to see if they need water. Summer rainfall has been scattered - some areas had downpours while others were bone-dry.
I moved a large Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) last winter and had thought it was doing fine. Last week it was wilted, but I hope a bucket of water will bring it back. You can loose plants rapidly when they need water, so be on guard. Daconcil best bet for combating tomato blight
DOZENS OF READERS have called to ask where to find Bravo, Dithane or Manzate, recommended for tomato blight by Virginia Tech experts in last Sunday's column. Tommy Heath, owner of Norfolk County Feed & Seed in Portsmouth, says a three-pound bag of Bravo is cost-prohibitive at $35. Dithane and Manzate are basically the same compound and are agricultural chemicals, he says. Dragon puts out a similar fungicide, called Mancozeb, costing $29 for a bottle.
``People with six or 12 tomato plants don't want to spend that kind of money,'' Heath says. ``We recommend Daconil 2787, because it's labeled for early blight, late blight and leaf spot. And there is zero waiting time. You can use it one day and pick your tomatoes the next. An 8-ounce bottle from Dragon retails for $7.99. Ortho puts out Multi-Purpose Fungicide Spray, which is Daconil, for $9.99. It's almost twice the strength so you use a lot less.''
A call to Southern States on South Military Highway confirmed that they also recommend Daconil, but they had only one bottle left. Tickle your tomatoes
Make sure your tomato plants have a good sex life, says North Carolina State University scientist Randy Gardener. He vibrates the stems of his tomato plants with an electric toothbrush to make sure they spread their pollen promiscuously. If you plan to do the same, warn your neighbors so they won't think you've gone nuts. White's fall garden catalog
White Flower Farm's fall garden book is ready for mailing with more than 50 new plants, including 34 new bulb varieties, plus new iris, peonies and Oriental poppies. Call (800) 503-9624 for a free copy or write to P.O. Box 50, Route 63, Litchfield, Conn. 06759. British blooms are arriving
Blooms of Bressingham is known throughout England as one of the best nurseries. Alan Bloom and son Adrian have written many books, including ``Blooms of Bressingham Garden Plants,'' and are recognized leaders in the development of distinctive plants. Now Blooms of Bressingham will be available in North America through a new company formed by Ohio-based Yoder Brothers, the large mum growers, and Peppergrove Perennials of Michigan. The new line of plants will be handled by 200 selected retail outlets in 1996.
Alan and Adrian Bloom are the only father and son team to earn the Royal Horticulture Society's Victoria Medal of Honor. Stop tree sprouts
After you cut a tree down, sprouts spring up, presenting another problem. Balakrishna Rao, manager of research and development for the Davey Tree Co., offers this advice in Landscape Management magazine: ``To prevent this growth, apply herbicides such as Roundup, Garlon or Tordon - either as concentrate or diluted to 50 percent with water mixtures. Soon after cutting, apply directly onto the cambium layer. One application is normally enough.'' No fanfare for fungicides
Informed Washington sources tell me the Environmental Protection Agency will ban fungicides used by home gardeners within the next two years. The same fungicides, found to be carcinogenic, will be severely restricted for agricultural use. by CNB