If you have a question about gardening in the Birmingham area, ask John. John Floyd has been gardening–and learning about gardening–for more than 30 years. In addition to his day-to-day experience in the garden, John has degrees in horticulture, plant taxonomy, and plant physiology from Auburn and Clemson Universities and was Editor-in-Chief of Southern Living.
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I am not sure. Certainly bees are attracted to clover in flower but that is a question for an entomologist-jaf
Sugar snaps, onions, greens and cole crops plant any time. I usually wait on seeding lettuce and spinach until the first of march.
The Library at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens has a local seed exchange program and would love for you to participate. Got to the Library and ask for Hope Long and she will be glad to help you.
Early to mid-march as the weather warms but before bloom and new foliage appears.
In you case- I would use the granular Bayer Tree and Shrub product that says lace wing control on label. I am sure the bigger hardware stores carry it.
My quick guess is you accidently let it get a bit dry. It should be ok if it blooms and start trying to put out a few leaves if it is in sun.
Of course you can cut it back, but don’t cut to the ground as I have lost mine cutting it back too much.
Any time between now and the first week of January.
Endless Summer should be pruned immediately after flower if you want to have flowers next year as they bloom on old wood. In the case of limelight the time to prune is in the late winter as these produce flowers on new growth.. As for daffodils and tulips you can purchase them now and refrigerate them until planting. I have waited as long as the first week of January but for me anytime after Thanksgiving is good for the metro area.
If you move them this winter say late December or early Jauuary you might not miss their late winter blooms. At transplanting I would remove all the old or ugly leaves. It is one of my favorites
There are several answers to your question. If the plants are the size you want them then remove the long new shoots at the point of origin on the plant. If the plants are still not the size you desire you have two options this time of the year. You can cut these shoots off(at the point they sprouted from another limb) or you can leave them alone and this will help the eleagnus continue to enlarge in size. Even if you want the plant to get bigger I like to remove the late summer and early fall shoots that appear where the plant will look better in winter and allow the spring shoots to give me more size. So as you can see it depends on what you want the plant to do but one thing is for sure you can count them to shoot up new stems every year.
I wish that was unusual but it happens so much especially when we have a wet period followed by a dry period. This is especially true with trees that have grown well for years and seem to be the perfect tree. I have seen this over and over all across the metro area and in fact the same thing happened in my yard. Excellent replacements include Mary Neil hollies and Nellie R. Stevens hollies but there is not a match tree to your cypress trees that I can guarantee will not have the same problem
Yes, but I would wait until early spring right before they start putting out new leaves.
Right now, it is probably too late in the season. In early spring I suggest you treat with Bayer Three-in-One Tree and Shrub that you apply around the plant for general all season control.If want to treat now please call Dr Jacobi at the Hanna Center at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for his specific recommendation at this time of the year as I have no idea.
They are called growth retardants but there is not one that works for all plants. If you want to use one I suggest you check with Dr Jacobi at the Hanna Center at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
My maple tree has splits in the bark. Should I be doing something.
If the bark is splitting no worry. If the trunk or limbs are splitting send me images of the problem or have a professional give you an opnion.
Greetings John, My beautiful Peace lillies have an infestation of a scaly type of insect…aphids…I attempted to eradicate them by cleansing the stems and leaves with a damp paper towel and then followed up with a banana peel. As a deterrent, I would break off pieces of the peel and place around the top of the dirt. This seemed to work for a little while, but then I notice some of the leaves begin to grow limp and then turn yellow and I just cut them off. I would appreciate any suggestion and I really prefer the “Natural” remedy, but am open to whatever help you can offer. Thank you.
Safer’s Insecticidal Soap should work. It is safe and organic. Follow label directions carefully.
Thanks, John. Looks like I need to do a little butt gardening.
I thhugot finding this would be so arduous but it’s a breeze!
thank you for replying re: fertilizing my various hydrangea types. I’m going to purchase the 15-0-15 you suggested and I plan to put some, dry, around the base of each plant. Some are very mature–the latest additions were planted in October, 2014. OK to treat all one time either now or very early summer? Thanks again.
absolutely
Got it! Happy Summer! n
So happy to discover this website!
We try to put up something new everyday. Thanks-john
I transplanted some daffodils several years ago from my family home in Grove Hill, AL. The blooms do not seem as bright and yellow as they did in their previous environment. Is there a food they need to be more colorful and not so pale yellow? The foliage looks great; only the flowers are not as bright.
It might be several things, but usually the depth of color is pretty constant. Once they finish blooming, I would give them a bit of fertilizer. There are products especially for bulbs, but an all-purpose fertilizer like 15-0-15 (which is what most of us need to use in this area) can be sprinkled throughout the foliage. Also, if the bulbs you dug were in a sunny spot, and yours are in shade, that might affect the color somewhat. Other than that, I really do not have any ideas. Let’s hope next year the color will be brighter and clearer.