Question: We would like to use chrysanthemums in our landscape but notice they do not stay in flower that long. How can we make them last longer?
Answer: Stretch the time chrysanthemums, also called mums, last in the landscape by purchasing plants with relatively tight buds. The wider the flowers are open, the shorter the display life in the home or landscape. Also, pick the cooler time of the year to add the plants to patios and landscape beds. While quite pretty, filling a bed with mums is probably not cost effective. After a month or so they usually need replacing, especially during the warmer months. After flowering the mums can be cut back to remove faded blooms and the plants should flower again but not as well as when the plants were purchased.
Q. A weed with shiny narrow leaves grows mainly in a mulched area of my garden. The plants are connected underground and have a branched brownish flowerhead. Do I need to keep pulling them up to obtain control?
A. Come join me in digging and pulling the purple nutsedge plants from my vegetable garden. You have done a great job describing these weeds which are also pictured in email photos. Individual plants grow from nutlets that send out underground shoots to form other plants. Often the sedge plants consist of several connected to each other. So pulling out one only gets that plant and the others continue growth. Digging and pulling them out of the garden and mulched areas is one way to obtain control. It's the only way to effectively remove the plant in edible plantings like vegetable gardens. In a mulched area a nonselective weed control product could be used. Some can also be used near ornamental plants following label instructions. Nutsedge controls are also available from garden centers to use in most lawns. If needed, check for your lawn type and best use information.
Q. I have a ficus tree that has been planted in the ground for over six years. It started losing leaves at a rapid rate and now only has minimal growth on the side closest to the wall of my house and at the crown. Can it be saved?
A. Regretfully this description of your tree does not give me a good feeling. It sounds like there is a trunk or root problem and the tree is now in decline. Your email mentioned this is also a very important tree to you. Possibly you could try taking a few 8- to 10-inch cuttings and rooting them in containers of potting soil. Keep the cuttings moist and in a shady location. Otherwise cut out any dead and give your tree normal care to see if it can recover.
Plant Doctor: It's not too late to add sunflowers to your gardens
Q. This is my first time for a fall garden and I would like to grow sweet potatoes, corn, lettuce, onions and tomatoes. Is this the proper time for these plantings?
A. Remove the sweet potatoes, corn and tomatoes from your list of fall through winter plantings. These are warm season vegetables and we have just entered the cooler months. But don't let this keep you from planting a fall garden. There are many good vegetables to grow including the lettuce and onions on your list plus broccoli, carrots, collards, beets and cabbage. Actually there are more vegetables and herbs for the garden during the cooler months than any other time of the year. Contact your local University of Florida Extension office for a free copy of its Vegetable Gardening Guide that lists all the crops with planting times for a year.
Q. We are new arrivals from the north. Are there trees we can plant to give fall color?
A. Central Florida's fall weather arrives during November and December and so does most of the available leaf color. It's not as dynamic as you probably enjoyed from northern landscapes. Some trees with reasonable fall color include the bald cypress, crape myrtle, dogwood, persimmon, red bud, red maple, river birch Shumard oak, sweetgum, sycamore and winged elm. Learn about the trees before planting as they may have specific site requirements for best growth. Also note the expected size to make sure there is room in your landscape for trees.
Q. Leaves on my white bird of paradise have a series of small holes evenly spaced across the surface. What makes these so uniform in the leaves?
A. Remember making snowflakes or maybe a string of paper dolls by folding paper and then making cuts to determine the shapes. When unfolded the holes or shapes were in a series and looked much like the other. Well, this is what a beetle, caterpillar or similar insect is up to. When the leave was folded, the insect started chewing. When the leaf unfolded it had produced a series of uniform holes. Kind of neat! By the time you notice the damage the insect is long gone. Some damage like this has to be tolerated. If lots of constant feeding activity is noted a general insecticide for foliage plants could be applied following label instructions -- but is normally not needed.
Q. A large worm is feeding on our tomato plants. We picked a few off but more appear. Is there a better control?
A. Large critters often the size of a pointer finger are the larvae of the hawk moth, a type of sphinx moth that is also called a horn worm. The name comes from a hornlike structure on the posterior end of the larvae. They have a lookalike relative called the tobacco horn worm. Horn worms are heavy feeders and when large can consume a stem or more of tomato foliage in a day. They can be hard to see as they blend in well with the tomato foliage. Still, patiently looking for the horn worms and picking them off the plants is one of the best controls. If too numerous to pick off the plants, natural controls of Thuricide and spinosad-containing insecticides can be applied. Follow label instructions for proper application and repeat sprays when needed.