garden letters

Southern Living, Jul 2004

JULY 2004

Editor's Notebook

If you spend life in a daze, do I have the flower for you-blue daze. Its botanical name is Evolvulus glomeratus, which sounds like some squishy, gross thing that doctors remove during surgery. But believe me, it's not disgusting at all. In fact, it's a tender perennial native to Brazil that most folks grow as an annual. From spring until fall, it smothers its gray-green foliage with blue flowers. The blooms close in the evenings and on cloudy days but open again when it's bright. You can still buy it at many garden centers in July. Growing about 8 inches tall, blue daze trails along the ground, rooting as it goes and forming a thick mat of foliage and blooms. Give it full to partial sun and well-drained soil. Once established, blue daze tolerates drought. Plant it in large sweeps in borders and in hanging baskets and window boxes. Or use blue daze to have fun with your doctor. Next time you see him or her, groan and say, "I haven't been feeling well lately. Do you think it could be my evolvulus?" -STEVE BENDER

What do you do with the long, tall, flowering stems that hostas produce in midsummer? Should you cut them back or leave them?

ROBIN BROOME * FALL BRANCH, TENNESSEE

Those who grow them solely for their beautiful foliage consider the flowers a distraction and often cut them off. Of course, hosta blooms can be cut to bring indoors. Just place the stems in water. But I think the blooms of most hostas are pretty, so I leave them on the plant. After flowers fade, remove the old stems to tidy the plants.

Something is eating holes in the leaves of my cannas, but I can't see what it is. What should I do? HELEN GALLUCCI

TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA

Your cannas are most likely being attacked by leaf roller caterpillars, which are the larvae of a moth. These caterpillars use webbing to roll up the leaves. Then they hide, feed, and pupate inside, causing the leaves to look ragged. To control leaf rollers, cut off and destroy all infested leaves. Do not compost them. Then apply a systemic insecticide to your plants according to label directions. Spray with a product such as Orthene, or use Bayer Advanced Garden 2-in-1 Systemic Rose & Flower Care.

When is the best time for me to trim my oleanders? GINGER AVERY-BUCKNER

PRATTVILLE, ALABAMA

Prune these beautiful evergreen shrubs right after they finish blooming. When the flowers on a branch fade, go ahead and cut it back as far as you want. If you are happy with the plant's size, though, you need only clip out the spent flower stalks before they form seed. This often spurs the production of additional flowers later on.

Your new Southern Living Garden Book is excellent! I noticed it doesn't include a listing for dichondra. Is this because you consider the plant to be a weed?

WARRUN MCDOW

WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA

For those of you who don't know, dichondra is a creeping, vining perennial with thin stems and rounded leaves. Although popular for small lawns on the West Coast, it's not used for that here. One reason is that it doesn't take much wear and tear. Another is that most Southerners consider it a lawn weed. However, a new silver-leaved dichondra called 'Silver Falls' is becoming a favorite addition to hanging baskets and containers. We'll be sure to include it the next time we revise The Southern Living Garden Book.

Tip of the Month

For the best tasting tomatoes, pour a cup of undiluted beer around the base of each plant after it blossoms. Repeat once a week until the tomatoes are ripe. Editor's note: All right, but don't let your tomatoes drive.

SANDRA POLLOCK

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY