THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602160080
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G3 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Long : 123 lines
Can ``lilies of the Nile'' be grown here? If so, where can they be purchased locally?
Gini Miller, Chesapeake
Lily of the Nile is Agapanthas, a long-stemmed lily with blue blooms. There are new white-blooming varieties as well as dwarf versions. They like to be pot-bound and are marginally hardy here. Their blessing is that blooms last for weeks. They are hard to find, but normally, White's Old Mill Garden Center, Smithfield Gardens and McDonald Garden Centers stock them. They're also available by mail from bulb suppliers.
I live between Murfreesboro and Ahoskie and am an avid flower grower. I would plant my entire two acres with flowers, but I cannot care for them myself, because I am disabled and partially blind. I try to limit my enthusiasm to my capability. My questions are about roses. You wrote that the carpet rose needs no spraying. I have several bushes that are so beautiful that people stop along the road to ask what kind they are. I don't know what variety they are, because my children planted them and have forgotten the names. I am interested in new roses that don't take so much care. You spoke of one called Seviliana and another called Carpet of Roses. Where can I get them?
My impatiens are very tall and bigger than I have ever had before. They were filled with seed pods, so I'm wondering if they will come up in the spring. Should I mulch them to keep the frost from killing the seed? The plants were mulched at the time I set them out. I have used Miracle Gro, and they have grown like gangbusters.
Ila M. Liverman, Ahoskie, N.C.
The only source I know for the Seviliana is McDonald Garden Centers in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. Other garden centers will probably have them in the spring. The Flower Carpet rose was available last fall at McDonald, Smithfield Gardens, HQ and Lowes.
As to your impatiens, I've found they come back better if you don't mulch. Mulch delays germination of the seed. Although you will eventually get some repeat plants, you'll get more and get them earlier if you don't mulch.
As a long-time sufferer from white fly infestations, I was delighted to read of the chemical Neem mentioned in your column in September. Now my problem is where to buy it. I live in Manteo and am limited to whatever local hardware stores stock. Can you suggest a source and who is the manufacturer?
Jack Overman, Manteo, N.C.
Neem is a new organic insecticide that is very expensive and has not been very well promoted, which is probably why stores in Manteo do not carry it. The basic supplier is W.R. Grace Co. A call to distributor Wetzel Seed in Harrisonburg, Va., or Wyatt-Quarles in Raleigh should give you information on what retailer nearest you carries it. Virginia Tech specialists say that Neem is sold under a number of trade names. The active ingredient is azadirachtin. That would be the name used in the fine print on the label. A mail order source is Gardens Alive. Call (812) 537-8650.
A more recent development has been the recommendation by some sources to use Sun-Spray Ultra-fine oil with liquid soap added. I've read that this really works, so it's worth a try. The problem in getting white fly control is that they lay eggs that hatch every five days so you have to spray frequently to get any control.
I have two scheffleras, well established in 12-inch pots. They are 2 feet tall and very bushy. In the summer, I put them outdoors where they flourish. Inside, during the winter, they are a disaster, shedding leaves. I am limited to medium light indoors, and the room is kept at a moderate temperature. I let them dry slightly before watering, yet they drop leaves until I have nearly bare branches. Is there any way I can prevent this?
Donna Thomas, Chesapeake
Scheffleras tend to do a lot of leaf dropping, and there are much easier houseplants to grow. Whenever you change the light on a plant, especially from outdoors to indoors, there is going to be leaf drop. Virginia Tech experts say that if you keep them in the shade outdoors, there should be less leaf drop when you bring them in. Indoors, give them all the light you can.
I have a peach tree that is looking as if it needs something done for it. There is something like jelly up and down the limbs. The tree has been bearing for two years. If I don't do something, I think it won't bear any more fruit.
Alice A. Hughes, Norfolk
Sounds like your peach tree has become a victim of borers. They are a constant threat to peach and nectarine trees. The jelly-like material is called gumosis, a bacteria that forms when borers cause trees to lose sap. Chances are your tree will die. Some folks take a wire coat hanger and dig into the tree where the goo is coming out and try to kill the borer. Sometimes this works.
To prevent borers, you must spray the trunk thoroughly each fall with Lindane or Thiodan. Fertilize your tree in late February. If it dies, when you replant, some recommendations include putting mint or mothballs around the base of the tree to ward off borers.
I have seen some plants in a yard on a corner of Indian River Road two blocks east of Military Highway that I am very interested in. The man who lives there said they are called ``summer poinsettias.'' He told me people are always stopping to ask what kind of plants they are. These plants have red flowers. A nursery person told me they may be ``Texas hibiscus,'' but I do not believe they are. Can you tell me something about summer poinsettias and where I might find them, because they are very beautiful. What can you tell me about Texas hibiscus?
Cecelia D. Baum, Wanchese, N.C.
The plant you admire is Euphorbia heterophylla often called Mexican Flame or Fire Plant or sometimes Painted Spurge. It grows 1 to 3 feet high and is an annual that colors up in the fall with red bracts, similar to a small poinsettia. It usually seeds itself and comes back the next year and even can become a pest. Few people are familiar with it. Often those who have it will give plants away or you can get seed from a catalog. It is usually labeled ``annual poinsettia.''
I can find nothing in my references for ``Texas hibiscus.'' If a reader knows, please share the information. I'll be visiting Texas soon. If I find out anything there, I'll share the news.
Here's more about your roach-killer recipe. It will only kill the ones that come in contact with the honey. To kill an entire colony, mix boric acid with sugar and leave it dry. Place in jar lids and put it in out-of-the way places. The roach will take the boric acid back to the nest on his feet and kill the whole roach family. It really works. Be careful not to put it where children or pets can get into it, because it is poisonous.
Marion Johnson, Harrellsville, N.C.
Thanks for more good advice for getting rid of roaches. MEMO: No gardening questions will be taken over the phone. Write to Robert
Stiffler, The Virginian-Pilot, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va.
23510. Answers will be published on a space-available basis. For an
earlier reply, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope. by CNB