Ask the Expert

Our angel wing begonia will not bloom. It's close to 3 feet tall and more than two years old. We've cut it back to stimulate growth and fed it with a blossom-booster fertilizer. What else do we need to do?

KARI STRINGFELLOW

SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA

Try giving your plant more light. It needs bright light to bloom but not strong sun. Hold off on the fertilizer during winter when it's not actively growing. Then from spring to fall, feed it monthly with a blossom-booster fertilizer.

I have a split-leaf philodendron that is 18 years old. The lower leaves have dropped, leaving a very long main stem with foliage at the top. How can I propagate a new plant? KAREN BASS

WILLOW SPRINGS, NORTH CAROLINA

First, make a V-shaped cut ¼ inch deep in the main stalk. Dust the cut with rooting powder, then wrap it with wet sphagnum moss. Next, wrap the sphagnum tightly with clear plastic and tie both ends so that no air or moisture can escape. Roots should begin growing from the cut into the moss in a few weeks. When they fill it, remove the moss, cut the stem below the roots, and pot your new plant. The old plant should leaf out at the top of the cut stem.

Our 20-year-old oleanders look as if they're dying. Leaves and whole branches are turning brown. They get lots of sun and the right amount of water. Can we prune them without causing harm?

SARA HALL

HORSESHOE BAY, TEXAS

Your plants may be afflicted with oleander leaf scorch, a bacterial disease that recently appeared in Texas. There is no cure; sick plants must be destroyed. Your local Cooperative Extension Service agent may be able to confirm this. If leaf scorch isn't the cause, your plants may benefit from renewal pruning. Use loppers or a pruning saw to remove all dead and declining trunks at the base this winter. Also cut one-third of the oldest trunks to the ground. Do this every year for three years. This will encourage vigorous, new growth.

Some maple trees are growing over our deck and driveway, crowding out smaller trees. When and how should I prune them back? TERRI LONG

TULLAHOMA, TENNESSEE

You need to limb up your trees-that is, remove the lower branches to allow more light to reach the ground. But don't prune now, as maples "bleed" sap if pruned in winter. Wait until May. Prune back branches to within ½ inch of the trunk. Don't leave long stubs.

TIP OF THE MONTH

Use a turkey baster to add water to the base of your Christmas tree stand when the water level gets low, so you won't get the gifts and rug wet.

ANNA VICTORIA REICH

ALBUQUERQUE, NM

ACCORDING TO STEVE

Please sit down. You may find the next few moments to be profoundly disturbing. You see, it is only logical when looking through the hyper-festive pages of this magazine to assume that everyone at Southern Living enjoys-nay, lives for-holiday decorating. I mean, what kind of surly, dark-hearted curmudgeon could be so bereft of joy and neighbors to impress that he refuses to spend every waking hour tying bows, hanging wreaths, and sending Christmas letters to friends to demonstrate how much more his family has accomplished this year than theirs? Me, that's who. Decorations just make people want to spend time in your home and get between you and the television. Take this poinsettia I got at the grocery store, for example. It has more glitter than Britney Spears at her senior prom. (She did go to high school, right?) I put it inside a Santa-hat pot a friend gave me. Now people mistakenly think I'm filled with cheer. Hey you, outta the way! The History Channel is on! -STEVE BENDER

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