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Caring for Daffodils

Fran asks TheGardenlady the following question:

My mother gave me a (small) pot of gorgeous and very leggy daffodils to take to my office. They have really brightened up my desk, but I am worried that I might have killed them. A few leaves are turning yellow/brown at the tip, and several new flower buds did not bloom, but turned brown and shriveled. I have been good about watering the plant and caring for it. Does it want more sunlight? Do office environments generally kill flowers like daffodils? Thank
you so much for any help you can give!                                                 

Not knowing about the culture of the bulbs before they were brought to you, nor seeing the plant’s condition, I cannot say much about the cause of their dying in your office.  Bulbs that were forced needed good, fertile soil as well as fertilizer in the soil when they were starting to send up shoots in order to have healthy flowers.

When the bulbs are in flower indoors they need a lot of  bright light, some say sunny spot or artificial lights to grow  properly and not leggy.  Office lights can be good for flowers if they are close enough to give light during the day and are shut off at night. Daffodils don’t want light 24 hours.

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Growing Roses in the Garden

Joe asks TheGardenLady the following question:

I would like to try to grow roses in my garden. I’ve heard some varieties are very difficult to grow. Can you recommend a variety that is fairly easy and what suggestions you may have to make them look their best?                                                    

Many roses are high maintenance. They generally want a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight. They like nice loamy soil – use your compost for best results. Roses want water, but the soil should have good drainage. And to avoid diseases, try not to do overhead watering. Water the roots not the leaves.  Roses like to be fed nutrients that might be missing in the soil. Roses get diseases – they like good air circulation, need pruning and need spraying for diseases. They attract insects like the Japanese beetle. And deer love to eat roses in spite of their thorns.

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Hostas: Plants that Need Little Sun

Joshua wrote:

I need a good, medium sized shade plant for a corner that receives very little sun. Any recommendations?

When you have a corner of your yard that does not receive much sun,
consider the Hosta – see pic. There are so many different leaf sizes, variations
in colors, textures and shapes in the Hosta family that you will have fun choosing a favorite. And you might even get them to bloom for you.
One shade garden I will be touring this summer has over 2000 varieties planted.

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What’s In a Name?

The GardenLady received the following question from a Mr. Lima: 

I have a friend named Glaucia. I heard a few days ago about a flower with this same name.  Can you help me find something about this flower, perhaps an internet web site, even a link… Please!! I´ll be very happy if I can show my friend the flower with her name!!

Because Valentine’s Day is coming, TheGardenLady would like to help find a romantic link between a flower and a name.

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Encroaching Lawns

I received this question from Rosita:

Cuento con un pequeño jardina frente a la casa como hacer una guarda
protectora para el cesped?

The Garden Lady was told that Rosita is asking for a way to protect
her lawn from encroaching into her garden. This can be a big job but
the end results will look very professional.

The Garden Lady thinks the simplest method yet a very attractive
solution is to use a manual or power edger and just cut a clean edge
between the lawn and the garden.

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Plants in Crystal Pots

I received the following question from Sol:

How can I conserve mini plants in crystal pots?

Your question is not quite clear. Do you wish to plant miniature plants in crystal pots that have no drainage holes? What plants do you want to plant- miniature African violets, cacti, alpines?

Remember plants do best when you can put them into an environment that is closest to their indigenous environment. Most plants do not like to sit in water. They want the water to drain through the soil. So it is best to keep the plants in pots with drainage holes.

The Garden Lady’s suggestion would be to fill the crystal pot with glass beads, marbles or pretty pebbles. Then sink a miniature plant, in its own pot, in the center of the crystal pot. That way the pot that the plant is in will be hidden by the surrounding glass beads or whatever you chose to use, but the plant will appear to be planted in the crystal pot. Then when you water the plant, the water can seep through its own pot and settle in the bottom of the crystal pot. If the mini plant you are referring to likes humidity this water in the bottom of the crystal pot will keep the humidity level up.

Remember that as you water and feed any plant, excess minerals will leach out. These minerals can cause a hard film to form on the surface of the pot. Do you want this to happen to your good crystal? By leaving the plant in its own pot, you can easily remove it from the crystal pot and clean the crystal before the pot gets this build up of minerals.

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Killing Parasite Vines

I received this question from Ms. Frye:

I need to know how to kill a parisite vine.  It has elongated,
heart shaped leaves, no blooms.  It has all but ruined my miniture
rose bush and my hydrangia. I try to pull it up by the roots, but it
is very fast growing and aggressive.

For the Garden Lady to identify a plant or a weed, a reader must send
in a clear, close up photo or a few photos of the plant in question .

There are many invasive plants with heart shaped leaves (see here and here).
Without seeing the plant, the Garden Lady would just be guessing what
the plant is.

When I first read your question The Garden Lady thought you were
speaking of one of the most invasive plants with heart shaped leaves,
Japanese Knotweed.  But the Japanese Knotweed does have flowers.  

If you live in the US , take a good sized sample of the weed in
question to your local Master Gardener Office where they will identify
the plant and give suggestions to get rid of the weed.

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Pansies

The Garden Lady is really upset with herself. As I drive around town and see how lovely the pansies are that people had planted this fall, the Garden Lady wishes that she had planted them.

Are readers aware that pansies are lovers of cool nights and slightly warmer days? See here. In the past this had described the early spring when pansies were planted. The pansies planted in the spring would bloom their heads off
until the weather became warmer and other flowering plants bloomed. They are especially pretty in window boxes in New England where the spring weather stayed cool longer. But when the weather got hot, the pansies would die.

Then it was discovered that if people planted pansies in the fall, they would bloom twice. They would first bloom in the Fall when they were planted. They would go dormant in the winter. And then those fall planted pansies would bloom a second time in the early spring. The cool nights and those slightly warmer days were perfect for the pansies’ need. It is really heat that kills them not cold.

Well, with this warming winter trend, those people smart enough to plant the pansies in the fall are enjoying an extended bloom period of those fall planted pansies. It has been cool enough to meet the pansies need for a longer period yet not too cold nor too hot (see here). So the Garden Lady regrets that she didn’t plant pansies this fall.

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Plants that even children can take care of

I received a great question from Matt about plants that children can care for.  He wrote,

My kids (7 & 10) are showing a natural interest in raising their own plant or tree (similar to their interest in having an ant farm or collecting caterpillars) and I was hoping you could tell me of some plants that are fairly
robust and generally easy to care for – in other words, plants that would be ideal for a child to care for .

What an exciting question! The fact that the children are expressing the interest in growing plants tells me that raising plants will be a really meaningful project for them and could become a lifetime interest. Raising plants is a very popular hobby for people of all ages- starting  from early childhood.

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