THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605030091
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G6 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Long : 141 lines
I have a cement patio at the rear of my home, bordered by healthy azaleas that form a tight hedge. The patio is covered with a black stain which I believe is mold. Is there a product I can use to clean the stain from the patio that will not harm the azaleas?
Mrs. Marie Hayes, Virginia Beach
Your stain may be mold or it could be tannin from trees. Oaks particularly can stain a patio or side walk. Your best bet is to use chlorine bleach. Pour out a small amount and scrub it around on your patio with an old broom. Cover the entire area, being careful not to get it on your azaleas. In two hours, it will have degenerated and become harmless. If one application doesn't clean the stain, use it again.
I just built a 6-by-10-foot potters shed. It is covered with lattice and located in a 60 percent sunny location. I'd like to plant it with a vine that has large, continuous blooming fragrant flowers. What do you suggest and can I grow two different vines on the same lattice, providing a variety of color?
Tish Llaneza, Hampton
Two or more vines would ensure more color more often all summer. Some suggestions are clematis, in various colors. Many varieties bloom only once, so you need to check the bloom period before buying. Some climbing roses such as New Dawn have repeat blooms. For annual vines, try morning glories, purple hyacinth bean or passion flower. Passion flower can be invasive, so be on guard.
Please identify a volunteer plant that appeared in my garden last spring. It grew to 2 1/2 feet tall, with many blue-green leaves in clusters of six. The leaves of the plant closed as the sun went down. It had small yellow flowers and seed pods that looked like green beans. The leaves eventually turned yellow and the seed pods turned brown, split open and dropped their seeds on the ground. Each pod contained about 20 seeds.
Margot Jordan, Virginia Beach
You've given a good description of Cassia, a legume in the pea family. You find some in this area when birds or wind carries the seed. It dies down in winter and usually comes back in spring from its roots or from seed. You often find it growing wild in the Outer Banks area.
What can I do to save a large yellow and green aucuba bush that my husband trimmed back to look like a tree? He left about 2 feet exposed. It has taken me so long to get one established, and then he got carried away with his pruning last fall.
We also had a beautiful hibiscus in our flower bed that bloomed all summer. Our first frost seemed to kill it. How should it be cared for in the fall?
Joan L. Murden, Onancock
Your aucuba may need more pruning, spreading the limbs apart to again take on the appearance of a bush. Feed it, and it will slowly grow back to look the way it was. Avoid fall pruning. Pruning should be done in early spring.
Regarding your hibiscus, there are many species, but yours probably was a tropical hibiscus. They can be potted and brought into a sunny room for winter, although they attract aphids and white flies. If you want to fight those pests, you can winter the plant over, prune it back and repot, and it will grow larger and bloom more every summer.
Another of the hibiscus is a hardy one with blooms 6 inches across in colors of red, white or pink. Those leave tall tough stems standing in a garden all winter. If you have such stems, they are hardy hibiscus that will come back this spring and rebloom.
Can you help locate gardeners in this area who grow and sell chrysanthemum cuttings - the prize-winning exhibition types? I wrote chrysanthemum specialists Sunnyslope Gardens in California two months ago but have had no reply.
I am a member of Ye Accomacke Garden Club and will co-chair the October meeting on chrysanthemums. If there are Chrysanthemum Society members in the area, I would appreciate hearing from them. I have several plants now but would like to increase the number and types.
Beatrice J. Johnson, 26429 Parks Road, Parksley, Va. 23421
I've never before had a request like yours. We'll find out how many mum growers there are in the area. Unfortunately, I know of no gardeners who specialize in chrysanthemums, but there probably are some.
Last summer we helped our daughter in New York start a compost heap. Now she wants to know if she can put used coffee filter papers in with the compost. Will they rot or not? I don't use paper filters so don't know from experience.
Charlotte Dawson, Cheriton
That's another question new to this column. I seldom use coffee filters so can't speak from experience. I called meteorologist Duane Harding, a longtime member of the Organic Gardening Club of Hampton Roads, and he doesn't know. Your daughter can experiment and try a few and see what happens.
Ferry-Morse seed company horticulturist Linn Harris said that if you keep the filters damp, they will decompose. She adds that you should know what the filter is made from. There could be material in them that is harmful to plants. Perhaps a reader has some experience.
I received an allamanda in 1994 that bloomed profusely and grew to a very large size. In the fall, I brought it in, watered less and did not fertilize it. When spring arrived, I pruned and returned it to its former southern exposure outdoors and watered and fertilized it. But nary a blossom appeared until late October, although the leaves and stems were overwhelming in size. Did I use the wrong fertilizer or what? It is such a beautiful plant when in bloom, I'd really like to have a repeat performance of 1994 in the summer ahead.
Elsa Edwards, Southern Shores, N.C.
Virginia Tech experts say that it must be wintered over in a warm, sunny location. Hopefully you did that. A garage is too cold. And prune it less. Very little pruning should be done in the spring. With proper watering and fertilizing, it should again bloom properly.
I recently dug up what used to be a blueberry hedge and am replacing it with a flower bulb bed. I was surprised to find that nematodes had infested the blueberry roots. There were knots all over the roots as big as your fists. Then I dug up some amaryllis bulbs and found they were infested or destroyed by worms. I thought I had used enough diazinon in the past to take care of these insects but obviously I had not.
How can I protect the remaining blueberry bushes in other beds from nematodes? How can I protect my amaryllis and tulip bulbs from the underground insects that ruined the first bulbs?
Barney Chambers, Virginia Beach
Unfortunately there is no approved homeowner control for nematodes. Rotating the plants is the only recommendation, which does not sound practical in your case. A product called Clandosan, made from ground-up clam shells, is supposed to give some control.
As for your bulb problem, make sure it's worms and not voles that are eating your bulbs. Almost any insecticide should control them. Change from diazinon to Merit, Orthene or a different insecticide to see if you get better control. When you plant your bulbs, make sure to put some insecticide in the hole where the bulb-eating worms live.
I am a 29-year-old gardener who believes that a lifetime of experience would not answer all the predicaments that arise in gardening. My current problem is a consequence of the ice storm that left me without power and heat for 48 hours. I have two 5-foot high hibiscus that are in 18-inch pots. I water them every day and have a grow light next to each one. They were surviving the winter in my drafty living room at 68 degrees. They were not blooming but continued to show new growth at their tips. The temperature in my house dropped to 32 degrees before my heat returned. All their leaves drooped and withered. Can I save these beautiful plants until it's warm enough to place them outdoors in full sun, where they thrive?
Dan Snyder, Portsmouth
If you have a friend with a greenhouse, farm them out to such a spot. If not, prune them back slightly and keep them in a warm, tropical sunlit room. They are a tropical plant and may or may not come back. They must have heat and light to be healthy. by CNB