THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508170075
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING REMINDERS
SOURCE: robert Stiffler
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
THOSE WHO FROWN on daylilies should know they are an important food to Asians. When you order Mu Shu Pork or Hot and Sour Soup at your favorite Chinese restaurant, you may be eating daylilies, says Dr. Peter Gail, author of ``The Delightful, Delicious Daylily: Recipes and More'' (Goosefoot Acres Press, $6.95 paperback).
If you have daylilies in your yard, it's just a matter of walking to them and harvesting a few buds or blossoms for dinner, Gail says. Even the spent flowers can be used as a tasty thickener for soups and stews. Different colored daylilies have different flavors. Most tasty are the yellow Stella 'd Oro varieties, Gail says. Red flowers tend to be more bitter.
The book is available by sending a check for $6.95 plus $3.50 shipping and handling to the publisher at P.O. Box 18016, Cleveland, Ohio 44118. To charge, call (800) 697-4858. ALMOST TIME TO RESEED
The time to reseed lawns for fall is just around the corner. It's not too early to buy seed and fall fertilizer. I reseeded some bare spots last week, because heavy morning dews help it start. New seedings need to be watered every day. HEAT TOUGH ON RHODODENDRON
If your rhododendron are in full sun and you've noticed the leaves drooping and curling, North Carolina Botanical Garden specialists say your plant has Botryosphaeria. It's especially evident after heat and drought.
To save the plant, prune the affected branches with sterile clippers and provide partial shade and water during drought. If the plant dies, it needs to be replaced with a resistant variety and planted in another spot.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has just published an excellent bulletin on growing rhododendron. If you want a copy, send a stamped, addressed envelope to this column. Mark your mailing envelope ``Bulletin NN122.'' VARIEGATED FOLIAGE LESS VIGOROUS
If you have plants with variegated foliage, watch regularly for branches that reverse back to the original foliage color. Most are bred from solid-color foliage plants, and occasionally one branch will revert back to that color, usually green. Such branches should be pruned out, because they are more vigorous and can quickly crowd out the variegated branches.
Be aware as you start to plant this fall, that variegated plants of any kind are usually less strong than their solid-color-foliage parents. LOOK FOR CROWDED BULBS
Everyone should walk their yard and garden at least once a week, just to observe what's happening or changing. Right now is a good time to check beds for bulbs that are too thick. They push themselves up to the surface when they get crowded. You'll see daffodil or hyacinth bulbs on top of the ground. Dig into the clump and thin them out. Take the extra bulbs and replant at once, perhaps three per hole, 3 inches between bulbs and at least 6 inches deep. HORTICULTURE CLASSES OFFERED
Tidewater Community College, Chesapeake campus, is offering a variety of horticulture classes that can be taken for credit or audit. All courses are in the evening. Courses include beginning bonsai, lawn care, landscaping with native plants, home landscaping, holiday arrangements and flowers for table dressing, plant propagation and an introduction to floral design. Classes begin Wednesday and end in December. For information, call 549-5222 or 549-5149. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Yellow daylilies, such as the Asiatic hybrid ``Amigos,'' are the
tastiest.
by CNB