‘gift’ zinnia
zinnia elegans

This heirloom zinnia is the perfect addition to any garden regardless of age. This all-red variety hails from Russia, but has been grown in North America for a long time. To grow ‘Gift’ zinnias in your garden, you can direct-sow the seeds after the last frost. Sow seeds about 1/8 in. deep. After they have sprouted, thin seedlings so plants are 6 to 12 in. apart.

If you’d like a bushy plant, pinch out the center growing tip when there are three or four sets of leaves. This will produce a shorter plant with more flowers. For larger flowers, remove some of the side shoots so the plant focuses its energy on the remaining flower buds.

Unfortunately, powdery mildew is a problem with ‘Gift’ and most other zinnias. Spray plants with a mixture of 1 tablespoon baking soda and liquid dish soap to 1 gallon of water every 10 to 14 days from spring through flowering. The extra effort is worth it to grow this heirloom zinnia.

TYPE Annual SIZE 3 to 4 ft. tall, 1 ft. wide BLOOM Summer to fall LIGHT Full sun SOIL Well-drained PESTS Powdery mildew HARDINESS Annual; Heat: AHS zones 12 to 1

problem solver

Boxwood psyllid
Cacopsylla buxi

IDENTIFICATION – The boxwood psyllid is a small sucking insect that attacks tender young boxwood foliage as it emerges in spring. This stunts the growth of the shoots and causes the leaves to cup or curl and turn yellow. You may also find some white, waxy fibers around the curled leaves. Fortunately, this pest doesn’t usually cause serious damage to the plant.

LIFE CYCLE – In early summer, the adults appear and females begin laying eggs in the bud scales of the boxwoods. The eggs remain in the buds until the following spring when the nymphs emerge and begin feeding on the new growth. They use the curled leaves to conceal themselves while they continue growing and maturing. There is one generation of boxwood psyllid per year.

CONTROL – The damaged shoots and leaves are unsightly and can be pruned off to improve the appearance of the shrub. If the boxwood psyllid returns every year, spray them with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap each time they appear.

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Shepherd’s purse
Capsella bursa-pastoris

IDENTIFICATION – You might be familiar with this annual weed’s triangular, “purseshaped” seed pods that follow its tiny white flowers in winter, spring or summer. They form on 4- to 20-in.-tall stems emerging from a rosette of lobed leaves. Gardeners in frost-free climates may contend with shepherd’s purse almost year-round. In cooler areas, it’s generally a spring annual.

FAVORITE CONDITIONS – Shepherd’s purse doesn’t seem to be picky. Other than an intolerance for shade, it grows almost anywhere, from well-cultivated gardens to weedy fields, across the entire United States and southern Canada.

CONTROL – Hand pull or mow down young plants before they drop their seeds. Or treat with a broadleaf herbicide according to directions on the package whenever the plants are actively growing.

blue bottle lights

Here’s a clever idea for lighting your garden path that uses empty liquor or wine bottles and icicle holiday lights. Collect enough empty colored bottles to line both sides of your path; you can ask a local bar to save bottles for you. Cobalt blue glass gives off a soft blue light, but any color will work.

Dig a trench 6 in. deep and as wide as a single bottle along both sides of the path. Spread about an inch of sand in the bottom of the trench.

Next, take a set of icicle-style holiday lights, slide a single short strand into a bottle and set the bottle upside down into the trench. To stabilize it, pour more sand around it, until you have about 4 in. total. Not only does the sand hold the bottles up, it also helps water drain away from them. Continue in this way down the rest of the path.

After you’ve set all the bottles along your path, pack about 2 in. of soil over the sand and around the bottles. About 5 in. of the lower part of the bottles should be sticking out above the ground. These lights can last for several years or longer depending on how frequently you turn them on.

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Lambsquarters
Chenopodium alba

IDENTIFICATION – This annual weed can grow up to 5 ft. tall if you let it. The stems are grooved with red-pink spots where the leaves attach. New leaves often show pink, maroon or light-green streaks and shading. The underside of the leaf changes to dusty white as it matures.

FAVORITE CONDITIONS – Lambsquarters is adapted for survival. This common summer weed prefers tilled soil in full sun; you will rarely find it growing in your lawn or shady areas. One healthy plant can produce 500,000 seeds that will either germinate with the next rain or wait in the soil for many years. Seeds will even survive composting, so don’t toss plants on the compost if they’ve flowered.

CONTROL – Regular close weeding every three weeks will keep your garden free of lambsquarters. Young plants hoe or pull out easily – you won’t need herbicides to control this pest. So when you pull the tender young seedlings, which taste like spinach, you can enjoy the leaves in your next salad!

grape hyacinth
muscari armeniacum

If you’ve ever planted grape hyacinths in fall, you know that they sprout leaves in just a few weeks after planting. This startles some gardeners the first time; they think they’ve planted them too early and all is lost now. It’s not; that’s just what they do. Grape hyacinth leaves are evergreen, sprouting in the fall and lasting until after their spring flowering.

Because the flowers are small, you’ll get the greatest impact by planting a mass of bulbs. Plant them along a path or front edge of a flower bed; anywhere you can enjoy their sweet fragrance. Grape hyacinths can also be planted in containers with other bulbs or annuals.

TYPE Bulb SIZE 6 to 8 in. tall BLOOM Midspring LIGHT Full sun to part shade SOIL Well-drained PESTS None serious HARDINESS Cold: USDA zones 4 to 8 Heat: AHS zones 8 to 1

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Tarnished plant bug
Lygus lineolaris

IDENTIFICATION – Medium brown and about ¼ in. long, tarnished plant bugs don’t look like garden menaces, but they are. Their favorite meals are vegetable plants, strawberries and other soft fruits. But both adults and nymphs feed on nearly anything, including trees, shrubs and perennials.

Tarnished plant bugs suck the sap from tender, young foliage and flower buds, causing distorted leaves and buds that never open. When they feed on strawberries, the berries are malformed, with tight clusters of seeds at the tips. Because these insects are omnivores, they’ll feed on aphids and other soft-bodies insects, as well as your plants.

LIFE CYCLE – Adults overwinter in leaf litter and weedy areas, and they start to feed and lay eggs in early spring. There are usually two to five generations of tarnished plant bugs per year.

CONTROL – Spotting tarnished plant bugs can be difficult. They hide under leaves, and the adults fly away if you get too close. You can set out white sticky traps (available from garden centers) to see if they’re in your garden, although you won’t be able to trap them all. The best control is to clear away plant litter and weeds in the fall. Spraying your plants with insecticidal soap every couple of weeks will get rid of any immature tarnished plant bugs, since they can’t fly until they’re adults.

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A buildup of dust and grime makes it hard for your house plants to absorb the light they need to stay healthy. Here are a couple of ways to easily and gently clean the leaves of your favorite indoor plants.

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Hemlock wooly adelgids
Adelges tsugae

IDENTIFICATION – Hemlock woolly adelgids are relatively easy to identify because they’re woolly. You will find wooly adelgids on the undersides of hemlock needles and twigs. The white fuzz protects the young from predators. Adelgids feed on the tree sap and, while feeding, inject their toxic saliva into new needles and buds causing them to dry out and fall off. This damage weakens the tree’s health and could lead to the death of a mature tree in three or four years. The hemlock woolly adelgids prefer Eastern hemlocks (Tsuga Canadensis) and Carolina hemlocks (Tsuga caroliniana) which are more prevalent in the eastern United States.

LIFE CYCLE – This pest was accidentally introduced from Japan and China in the 1950s. The hemlock woolly adelgid spends winter as an adult. Females begin laying eggs in late March. The eggs hatch in April. A second generation follows the first, but experiences a short dormancy period during midsummer. The second generation resumes growth and damage in fall.

CONTROL – Healthy trees deal with adelgids best, so keep trees well-watered. Fertilize only after you’ve gotten rid of the pests. They can hitch a ride on anything, so look for adelgids in other yards or the woods, especially from March through June. Insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, applied in early April and again in June, can control adelgids. Chemical sprays like imidacloprid can be used for a heavy infestation. Contact a local tree-care professional to find the best way to treat your trees.

Pruning Gift Set

Felco pruners and sheath, The Pruner’s Bible and a sharpener — the perfect gift for the gardener in your life…

pop starts

In spring, most gardeners have a cluster of newly purchased plants waiting to be set in the ground. Here’s a way to make your new acquisitions an attractive feature until you plant them in containers or in the garden.

Set small, 3-in. pots of plants, like ground covers, into an old wooden soda bottle case. The dividers will keep the plants from tipping over, making them easier to water. Handles on the case also make it easier to carry the plants when you’re ready to plant. In the meantime, the case also makes a charming ornament in the garden for a few weeks at the beginning of the season.

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Multiflora rose
Rosa multiflora

IDENTIFICATION – Multiflora rose has many characteristics of ornamental roses. The fragrant white to pink summer flowers are followed by bright-red rose hips that persist through winter. But this plant is an aggressive shrub with wicked hooked thorns.

A single multiflora plant can grow upwards of 15 ft. tall and produce a million seeds that can last 20 years. It also multiplies by suckers or when its sprawling stems arch down to the ground and take root. Because of its unstoppable growth, it’s illegal to sell multiflora rose in several states. Check with your state’s Department of Natural Resources, or in Canada, with Natural Resources Canada at www.nrcan.gc.ca.

FAVORITE CONDITIONS – Multiflora rose thrives in many conditions, but it prefers full sun and soil with good drainage. It won’t grow in standing water or extremely dry soils. From the 1930s to the 1960s, it was actually distributed in the United States as an ornamental plant and as a “living fence” to help control soil erosion. It soon became an invasive pest, and now multiflora is widespread in the United States and southern Canada. If this plant grows anywhere near your garden, expect to have problems keeping it out!

CONTROL – This weed is tough to get rid of. You can mow young plants, dig them up before they’re established or pull them out by hand – wear gloves because the thorns are sharp. Remove all of the roots, as multiflora can regrow from any left in the soil. For older plants, try cutting or mowing. But be careful – the thorns may puncture mower tires, not to mention your skin! If you choose to brave the thorns, you’ll have to keep at it three to six times each growing season, for two to four years.

Herbicides are a less painful method of control. Late in the season, apply a gylphosate, such as Roundup®, to freshly cut stumps. Spray 2, 4-D or triclopyr when the plant is actively growing in fall. Because the seeds can live for so long in the soil, you’ll have to watch the area and be ready for follow-up treatments.

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bridal wreath spirea
spiraea x vanhouttei

Truly an old-fashioned favorite, this shrub has appeared in many a hedge around an old farmhouse. But with loads of white flower clusters in late spring and exceptional toughness, this is still a great choice.

Even when it’s not flowering, small blue-green leaves on arching branches make a great background planting for perennial beds. You can prune or shear this spirea, but it looks best when it has room to spread out into its natural fountainlike shape. However, if you need to rejuvenate an old, ragged plant, you can cut most of the stems back to the ground and let the plant regrow.

Like most members of the rose family, spirea are susceptible to several diseases, however newer cultivars, like ‘Renaissance’, have improved resistance to disease. At 3 to 4 ft. tall, ‘Pink Ice’ is a shorter spirea with pink, cream and green variegation and light pink flowers. These and other cultivars are available from specialty nurseries or mail-order catalogs.

TYPE Shrub SIZE 6 to 8 ft. tall, 8 to 10 ft. wide BLOOM Late spring LIGHT Full sun to part shade SOIL Adapts to most soil types PESTS Occasional powdery mildew HARDINESS Cold: USDA zones 3 to 9 Heat: AHS zones 8 to 1

problem solver

Radish root maggot
Delia planipalpis

IDENTIFICATION – The radish root maggot can be a particularly rude pest in the vegetable garden. These pale larvae tunnel through the root flesh of many root crops, leaving unsightly, slimy brown trails. Members of the mustard family, including radish and turnip, are most often affected. This damage isn’t visible until the crop is harvested and prepared. Wilting of the foliage may be seen before harvest.

LIFE CYCLE – The radish root maggot is the larval stage of a tiny fly. The adult female fly lays her eggs on the leaves of host plants. The eggs hatch and the larvae then drop to the ground and begin tunneling into the root tissue. They survive winter as pupae that look somewhat like seeds in the soil.

CONTROL – Once your radish or turnip crop has been damaged, there is nothing you can do to save it. At this point, pull all the plants and throw them away. Don’t compost them because the maggots will complete their life cycle in your compost pile and be ready to infest the next crop. The best control is prevention. In the spring after you sow seeds for radish, tent the planting with floating row cover, available at your garden center. Tenting will prevent the adult flies from laying eggs on the leaves. Be sure to cover the entire row and seal the edges with soil or rocks. Keep the radishes covered during the entire growing season. Rotating crops with non-mustard crops like tomatoes, beans, peas or even herbs also helps discourage this pest, as well as many others.

TrenchFoot

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