My Fuji tree is infected with Cherry Bark Tortrix. Can the branches, leaves, and bark be used as mulch? What should be done with the wood? Can it be stored, and burned in our fireplace?
The leaves and branches can be mulched. The wood can be used, but it is a good idea to strip the logs of the bark and store the wood barkless. Removing the bark will destroy most of the caterpillars in the process. The wood is easier to chop when the bark has been removed, too! If you cannot remove the bark, use a mallet to tap the bark where ever you see galleries. This will most likely squash the caterpillars that are still in the wood.
I have a question about the common jasmine plant. Can it be planted in a pot and left on the patio all year round? It will be attached to a fixed trellis. What should we do to protect the plant in the winter?
We live in Langley BC, so our weather is quite similar to yours.
The American Horticulture Society’s A to Z Plant Encyclopedia reports that Common Jasmine (Jasminum officinale) is only hardy to zone 9. (Seattle is zone 8, Langley may be a touch cooler)
However, local author (I believe she lives in BC) Christine Allen reports that Jasminum officinale, also known as poet’s jasmine, is hardy in our climate if protected from cold, drying winter winds. I think if you move your pot against a wall out of the wind you should be ok.
I am trying to find the proper soil pH for growing Leycesteria ‘Red Shuttle’. I am hoping to plant it in partial shade next to rhododendrons (acidic soil). How will it do?
Leycesteria ‘Red Shuttle’ is the formosa species and should do well in any fertile soil, provided it is not highly alkaline (according to The Plant Care Manual by Stefan Buczacki (Crown Publishers, 1993).
Plants That Merit Attention, Vol. 2, Shrubs, (by the Garden Club of America, 1984, p. 172) states:
Needs sun for best bract and fruit color; prefers rich, moist loam; tolerates wind, drought, and air pollution…A handsome woodland shrub best in natural setting or shrub border. Needs sun for best flower and fruit color. May be pruned in spring. Partial dieback in winter not unusual; shrub rejuvenates the following growing season, often growing back successfully from roots….
Trees and Shrubs for Pacific Northwest Gardens (by
J. Grant, 1990, p. 239) states:
…This shrub is easily grown in any good garden soil in full sun but prefers a rich, moist loam. It may achieve a height of as much as 15 ft. in a sheltered position. The rootstock is perfectly hardy, but the top is occasionally cut to the ground in exceptionally severe winters. If pruned almost to the ground every year, which is one method of treatment, it will send up lusty 6-ft. shoots and flower freely during the latter part of the summer….
What causes my chrysanthemums to do the big flop? One even came out of the ground! We have had a lot of rain lately, and it seems like a lot of plants did the big floppy, from roses to sedum, and now the mums. Is it all weather-related?
Yes, certainly the weather contributes to the big flop. Certain perennials just can’t stand up to heavy mist and rain.
Some gardeners stake their flop-prone plants before they flop over, while others dig them up and grow things that don’t flop.
You can prune perennials to help prevent flop. Typically you cut a perennial back by 1/3 a few months before it flowers. This causes the plant to branch out, producing a bushier, shorter, less floppy plant. In The Well-Tended Perennial Garden (Tracy DiSabato-Aust, 1998), the author suggests that staking be done early: …after the first flush of growth but before full growth. The stems need to be sturdy, and flower buds should not be formed yet…[stake] without adulterating the normal habit of the plants. Follow the natural line of the stem. (p.63)
Will the evergreen magnolia, Michelia wilsonii, grow in Danville, CA?
It is suitable for your area in Danville (according to the Sunset Western Garden Book). As far as surviving the full sun in your hottest summers, you might want to check with a local nursery about that to be quite sure. The Sunset book says it needs partial shade in the hottest climates [that it grows in], and your Sunset zone appears to be 9, which suggests it has high summer temperatures. It may need to be planted where it will get partial shade.
I have some white pumpkins and I want to save the seeds and plant them next year. What should I do?
There are several varieties of white pumpkins, the most common being Cucurbita maxima ‘Lumina.’
Quoting from The American Horticultural Society’s Plant Propagation (ed. by A. Toogood, 1999, p. 300):
Leave ripe pumpkins for at least three weeks in a sunny, airy place at about 70 F to allow the seeds to mature. When the pumpkin starts to soften, cut it in half and flick out the seeds with a knife. If needed, wash off any flesh, then dry on paper towels before storing….The seeds remain viable for 5–10 years.
And quoting from Seed to Seed (by S. Ashworth, 2002, p. 29):
Home-saved seeds will retain maximum vigor when thoroughly dried and stored in a moisture-proof container…The two greatest enemies of stored seeds are high temperature and high moisture. Seeds that are stored at fluctuating temperature and moisture levels will quickly lose their ability to germinate…
When and how do I prune my lavatera tree? We used to think this plant was a bush!
Lavatera does tend to grow vigorously, and can get quite woody. You can cut a third off the top of each stem in late autumn, and then in mid-spring finish your pruning by cutting all the previous year’s growth to about 6 inches from the ground. Hard pruning will encourage flowering, and keep the plant more compact. New shoots may be slow to appear (may not happen until early summer).
In my experience, a small start of Lavatera turned into an 8 foot tree in one year, and because it was in a spot where a tree was not desirable, I took a cutting, then dug up the plant, and started afresh–but this may be an extreme solution to the problem!
My neighbor says his Deodar cedar tree is bisexual, and it’s the male cones that are making so much pollen this October. He seemed to be saying this was unusual, and that not all cedar trees were like this, with both male and female cones. What’s the story?
Cedrus deodara is monoecious, which means that an individual tree will bear separate and unisexual male and female flowers. If the tree had bisexual flowers, each flower would be ‘complete’ and ‘perfect,’ that is, with male stamens and female pistil in each flower. So it’s clearer to call the tree monoecious than to say it is bisexual. According to Wayne’s Word: An Online Textbook of Natural History, “about 90 percent of all flowering plants have bisexual flowers with both male (stamen) and female (pistil) sex organs. The remaining 10 percent have unisexual male and female flowers on the same plant (monoecious species) or male and female flowers on separate plants (dioecious species).”
Most conifers (like true cedar) are monoecious. The male pollen cones are 2 to 3 inches long by October, and are found in great number on the lower parts of the tree. Female flowers are tiny, and usually found high up in the tree. Female seed cones take two years to mature. You might wonder how pollination can take place if the female flowers are up high and the pollen is down low. Conifer pollen is wind-dispersed, so it might seem arduous for it to reach the female flowers up above. However, if you consider the geographic origins of the true cedars, you will notice that Deodar cedar is also called Himalayan cedar and like the cedar of Lebanon (C. libani) and the Atlas cedar (C. atlantica), its native range is mountainous. Imagine cedars growing on a sloping mountainside, and you can easily picture the pollen drifting downward to female flowers on the trees below.
I had a fig tree that fell over due to fast growth after prolonged heavy rains. Some of the wood has been saved, and is seasoning, for possible use in smoking meats and/or conditioning of home-brewed beer. Are there potential toxins I should be concerned about? What flavors and/or aromas might I expect?
None other than the New York Times has an article by Florence Fabricant (May 23, 2001) about the aromatic properties of fig wood (including using it to flavor meats):
Excerpt:
“Chefs love hardwoods for grilling. Fig wood, which burns hot and fast and sends a heady, almost sweetly floral aroma into the air, is the latest one gaining their favor.”
Pascal Baudar’s book, The Wildcrafting Brewer (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018), has a section on the use of bark and wood in making beer. He suggests using wood chips, toasted and added to fermenting beer (or soda, or mead). Fig is among the woods he recommends for its “mild and nutty qualities.” (Other wood chips he mentions as worthy additions are manzanita, maple, mesquite, olive, white ash, and yellow birch).
The only toxicity I can think of would be the sap (latex) that is in the leaves, stems, and unripe fruit, and can cause skin irritation. Here is additional information from Purdue University’s New Crop Resource Online.
I’m looking for detailed information on how well Pacific wax myrtle (Morella aka Myrica californica) performs in northwestern Washington. Also, when is the best time to prune this shrub for renovation?
Morella californica is native to the Pacific Northwest (including the southern part of the Washington coast), and is generally recommended for planting in our area. It’s very fast-growing during the first 10 years after planting, and is tolerant of drought, wind, and salt spray. It’s also tolerant of varying soil conditions, and takes well to pruning.
However, during the past decade, it’s been found to be susceptible to a leaf-blight disease, Phytophthora taxon morella. Many Phytophthora species are primarily root-rot diseases, but this one is a foliar disease. It’s important to remove affected growth and clean up fallen leaves. New leaves produced in late fall and winter are very susceptible, so pruning should be done in spring. Infections tend to fall off as the weather warms. In the past, California wax myrtle was considered both sun and shade-tolerant, but plants growing in shady conditions are more susceptible to this disease than plants growing in open conditions.