by Lindsay Bond Totten
Scripps Howard News Service
Here are answers to some of the summer gardening questions I've received recently:
Q: What plants can I grow around my patio that won't attract bees?
A: To decrease bee activity around high-traffic areas such as patios, walkways, and swimming pools, choose plants with colorful foliage and interesting textures instead of flowers. Tropical plants such as elephant ears (Colocasia spp.), Phormium and Aucuba are ideal. Many cannas have striped or tinted leaves; just snip off the blooms (though their flowers don't tend to attract bees). Ornamental grasses offer textural contrast.
In the shade, colorful foliage plants might include coleus (pinch plants to keep them bushy and to remove the flowers), ferns, caladiums, and polka-dot plant (Hypoestes ). An ivy topiary might also be fun.
Q: My climbing roses have gotten leggy. How and when should I prune them to get more blooms at the bottom?
A: In general, prune climbing roses right after they bloom in spring or summer. In your case, heavier pruning may be needed to rejuvenate the plants. Tackle the job in early spring when the plants are still dormant. You'll lose some blooms, but this schedule is best for the plants, for it allows a season-long recovery period.
Most climbing roses are naturally leggy, blooming best on new growth near the top. Avoid drastic rejuvenation pruning by cutting out the oldest canes each year and training some of the vigorous young canes to low horizontal supports to fill in the bottom.
Q: Is pelleted seed OK for my organic garden?
A: Generally, yes, but not always. Tiny seeds, such as those of lettuce and carrots, are sometimes coated with a clay-based material to make them easier to sow. Occasionally, the coating includes a fungicide to protect germinating seeds from soil borne fungi.
Fungicide-treated seeds are not acceptable for organic gardens, but as they're most sold to commercial growers, home gardeners aren't often exposed to them. If you're worried, use only regular non-pelleted seed or buy strictly from companies that specialize in organically grown seed.
Q: I'd like to move some lily bulbs. When is the correct time?
A: Autumn is the best time to transplant lilies. Wait until the leaves and stems turn brown, then dig up the bulbs. (If the stems die down in summer, mark their spot with a label or stake so you can find them in fall.) Cut off the old stems a half-inch above the bulb and replant them immediately about six inches deep in well-drained, well-prepared soil.
Q: The lower stems of some of my tuberous begonias are rotting and breaking off. The tubers are several years old and very large now. Can I save them?
A: Your tuberous begonias have a fungus disease. Stem rot is a common problem with tuberous begonias, usually caused by over-watering or when tubers are planted too deeply. Immediately remove all of the infected stems, thin the remaining foliage, and reduce the amount of water they're getting. If the tubers aren't showing on the soil surface, gently brush the soil away until the tops are visible. If none of this revives them, you may have to start with new tubers.
Q: I cannot get the hang of combining plants. Good combinations seem to happen by chance, but not when I orchestrate them. Do you have some tips that might help?
A: There is no secret to pleasing plant combinations. You'll get better with experience, so keep on trying.
Experts suggest paying more attention to foliage than to flower color because those combinations last longer. Contrasting leaves usually combine well, such as the spiky outlines of yucca or iris with the broad leaves of lambs' ears or the soft mounds of artemisia. Mixing coarse foliage with finely textured plants is another good way to achieve contrast.
Coordinate one or two key elements of a bed or border and repeat them. Color is easy to harmonize, but plant shapes work well, too.
Finally, try to match plants that complement each other. Ornamental grasses, for instance, are cut to the ground in March, which makes them compatible with early spring-flowering bulbs. Perennials that die down in summer, such as bleeding heart and poppy, need companions such as chrysanthemums or asters that will fill the void later.
Q: I have a wisteria vine that escaped into a nearby pine tree. When it bloomed, it was lovely. Will it hurt the tree?
A: It probably won't kill the pine, but by shading the foliage with its rampant growth the pine will lose needles and become thin in some spots. A few branches may even die.
The damage won't be so noticeable in summer, when the wisteria is in leaf, but the branch loss will be very apparent in winter, and may ruin the shape of the evergreen. I'd cut the wisteria out of the pine.
(Lindsay Bond Totten, a horticulturist, writes about gardening for Scripps Howard News Service.)
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