Editor's notebook

Southern Living, Oct 2003 by Bender, Steve

Benjamin Franklin was a lucky guy. he could have stewed his brain while trying to discover electricity but instead had a legendary tree named after him. In 1770, the famed botanist John Bartram discovered the tree growing along the banks of Georgia's Altamaha River. Reaching 10 to 20 feet tall, it combines beautiful white flowers in summer and fall with leaves that turn orange and red in autumn. Bartram named it Franklinia alatamaha after his friend gentle Ben. he also collected seeds, from which all of today's Franklin trees are descended. To be honest, they're not the easiest plants to grow, requiring moist, acid, perfectly drained soil containing oodles of organic matter. But a sizable specimen is a testimony to your genius. Most Franklin tree fans are puzzled as to why it totally disappeared from the wild shortly after Bartram chanced upon it. I think the reason is obvious-Ben tied his kite to the tree during a thunderstorm. -STEVE BENDER

I have quite a number of spider lilies coming up but, so far, only one bloom. When can I dig and divide them? Will they grow in containers?

SADIE B. MOODY * COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA

Spider lilies (Lycoris radiata) are great pass-along plants. Once established, they'll multiply and bloom for decades with little care. But they resent disturbance and will often skip a year of blooming when dug and divided. Wait until foliage appears in late fall, and then move them to a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Don't cut back the foliage until it yellows in spring. Yes, you can grow them in containers as long as they remain outdoors.

We have a grasslike weed that has lots of stickers in our Bermuda grass lawn. What is it, and how do we get rid of it?

ALlCETRiPP

PAIGE, TEXAS

The weed in question is a sandbur. It's an annual, meaning that it dies with the frost and then germinates from seed in spring. In lawns, it usually shows up where the soil is sandy and nutrient poor and the grass is thin. To send it packing, first thicken up the lawn by applying a winterizer fertilizer now. Early next spring, apply a product such as Scotts Halts Crabgrass Preventer just as the forsythia, spirea, and other early shrubs are blooming. This will keep sandbur seeds from sprouting. Finally, after the grass greens up, apply a highnitrogen lawn fertilizer, such as 30-3-4.

Tip of the Month

In fall when the temperature drops, I put my pepper plants in pots and bring them indoors to a sunny window. They keep producing, although slowly. The following spring, I put them back outdoors and get a head start on my next pepper crop. SUZANNE BROWN

GOOSE CREEK, SOUTH CAROLINA

I think a fungus is attacking my boxwoods. Sometimes the entire plant dies. Other times, whole sections of the foliage turn brown and die. The soil stays rather wet. What is the problem, and what can I do to Solve it? ANNETTE CROMARTIE

ALBANY, GEORGIA

Heavy, wet soil that contains a lot of clay is at the root of many a boxwood's demise. Poorly drained soil encourages a root rot fungus, for which there is no chemical control. We suggest lifting your boxwoods from the ground this fall and discarding any dead or diseased plants. Add organic matter and coarse gravel to the soil to improve drainage; then replant. Place so that the top inch of the root ball is above the soil surface, and then cover with mulch. If a downspout from the roof directs water into this area, pipe it away.

Tips of the Month are ideas readers say work forthem. We do not test them. Submit tips on a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address to Garden Tips, Southern Living, P.O. Box 523, Birmingham, AL 35201 or by e-mail to southernliving@customersvc.com. For each tip published you will receive $25.