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| Q. There's white stuff all over my plants! |
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A. It's powdery mildew, caused by dry foliage
and high humidity. It especially loves crape myrtle, roses, and
pavonia (rock rose). You can control it with potassium bicarbonate,
now sold as a product called Remedy. Or you can apply Neem oil.
Really, though, they are short-term solutions, and if
you have this problem every year, you may want to pull out the plant.
The new varieties of crape myrtle aren't susceptible to this fungus.
Many roses, especially the antiques, won't suffer.
So, rather than get on a treadmill of products-even organic ones-you
may want to look at replacements.
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<<view past Questions of the Week |
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 Plumbago
(Plumbago auiculata) This perennial is a wonderful summer
plant! Although in spring we have many flowers with pale blue colors,
it's harder in summer to find that soothing, cooling color.
Plumbago flowers like crazy until frost. It can take full sun,
with afternoon shade best or partial shade. It's not a water hog,
and doesn't need fertilizer to perform beautifully. There's also
a white variety.
Linda Lehmusvirta, producer of Central Texas Gardener, has
the blue and white side-by-side, edged with purple trailing lantana,
and in August, when many plants are dormant, these guys provide
daily refreshment! It is often an outstanding plant with a nice
cascading form 2-3' high. It looks great spilling over rocks or
edging a border, though Lehmusvirta's white is so large and full
that it is a background plant.
Along with the blue and the purple lantana, Lehmusvirta planted
Salvia leucantha in that area, and when it blooms in fall, it's
a beautiful sight! In harsh winters, you can lose them, though the
producer's plants have made it through the past two years of freezes
without a problem, and one of KLRU-TV's camera operators reports
that hers are "seeding out all over the place."
These perennials will die back with the first hard freeze, but
will be back in full force when the temperature warms. They are
more susceptible to death by freeze if you wait until fall to plant
them. Do it now and get them established (and they grow fast), so
they can withstand whatever comes our way next winter.
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<<view past Plants Of The Week |
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Yikes, it's insect season! Most insects are actually beneficial,
and if you don't mess with things too much, it'll all work out in
the end. One that you shouldn't ignore, however, is the Genista caterpillar,
a webworm that loves mountain laurels. They can defoliate a young
plant, and will destroy next year's flowers that are emerging now.
Keep an eye on your mountain laurels! Apply a spray solution of BT
(bacillus thurigiensis). One application usually does the trick. Or,
if the plant is very large, you can prune out the branches. Producer
Linda Lehmusvirta says that this is one of the few caterpillars she
will go after with BT, after almost losing a young plant, and severe
damage to an older tree.
Most caterpillars live a happy, undisturbed life in her garden, as
do all the insects, but not these guys! You can still plant summer
vegetables like okra and Malabar spinach. John Dromgoole has grown
Malabar up a huge tower for an outstanding ornament, along with tasty
eating. |
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