Question: In our area the weather has been unseasonably warm and I was going to take advantage of it by spraying my roses, peach trees and grape vines with lime sulphur to prevent funguses next year. When I went to the garden center, the only lime sulphur I could find was mixed with horticultural oil. Is this okay to use? My garden center believes that lime sulphur is no longer made as a separate product.

Answer: You are wise to take advantage of a warm winter day to spray dormant plants. Horticultural oil especially must not freeze and lime sulphur should not be applied once the leaf or flower buds start to unfurl. Bonide still makes straight lime sulphur and I suspect a couple of other companies do as well. Some people feel that the combination product is slightly less effective than applying the horticultural oil and lime sulphur separately spaced by several weeks. But I have always had perfectly satisfactory results with the combination product.

Question: I started several Amaryllis bulbs a few weeks ago and they are all sprouting buds. They look like they are going to bloom in a week or two. Some varieties have nice leaves that came up before the buds, but on others there still are no leaves. Did I do something wrong?

Question: Branches on my holly trees have started to turn brown and die. The bark doesn't look right. It seems as if it has been wounded. What should I do?

Answer: Evergreens often die slowly after being wounded; so it's probable that the damage occurred earlier. There is nothing you can do now except to cut out the dead parts. I'll bet this summer's cicadas were the culprits that wounded your hollies. I have seen this on several samples that came into the garden center.

Question: Little black bugs are flying all around my house plants. They seem to be coming from the soil. They fly quite a distance and they are quite annoying.

Answer: I suspect you have fungus gnats. They usually occur on plants that are too wet. I suggest you let the plants dry out thoroughly; almost to the point of wilting. Thereafter cut back the frequency and the amount of water. A thin top dressing of fine sand on each pot will prevent the fungus gnats from re-entering the soil to lay eggs. If you need immediate control, drench the soil with Black Leaf 40 insecticide. Each plant drenched with Black Leaf 40 should be set out of doors for at least 8 hours, provided the day is warm enough. Or, preferably place each plant in a sealed plastic bag for a day or two.