Question: I planted salmon colored geraniums in a large washtub in the center of my yard, away from my other plants.

Everyday I notice Japanese Beetles on the flowers and leaves - all dead! Are these geraniums toxic to Japanese Beetles and, if so, is it only the salmon colored ones? We have never sprayed any pesticide on them.

Answer:  After mating it is not at all unusual to find dead Japanese Beetles especially the males, at this time of the year. However there are anecdotal reports that some plants like larkspur and some geraniums kill Japanese beetles, but I have never seen a scientific study. Even if these reports are true, I believe the color of the flower is not the cause of the toxicity of the geranium; but the overall genetics may affect it.

Question: About 14 years ago, I purchased a pair of Styrax japonica trees to plant in the gently sloping front yard of my new home. I planted them about 100 feet apart and prepared the ground identically for each of them. They both receive full sun all day. One of the trees grew vigorously, the other did not. At one point, it appeared that something had chewed or cut a ring about 1/8 inch wide in the bark of the less vigorous tree that nearly encircled the trunk. The leaves of this tree would be green in the center but would fade to yellow near the outer margins by the end of the summer. They would fall much earlier than those on the vigorous tree. In spite of this, the tree did flower and bear fruit every year. After several years, the ring healed over and I hoped that this tree would catch up to its brother. Unfortunately, the locusts did serious damage to it last summer. When the tree leafed out this year, the tips of many of the branches were dead. A few branches were dead all the way back to the trunk. After pruning out the dead wood, I was left with a trunk about 4 inches in diameter, several lateral branches without tips and several good undamaged vertical branches. I expected the tree to die but it has started to put out new growth. I have been pruning to limit the new growth to branches that are perpendicular to the old ones and the trunk so that they will be strong. Since S. japonica can be grown as a shrub, I am hoping that this tree has a chance of recovering. I've considered replacing the tree but it's about 18 feet tall. Each year seedlings sprout underneath it from the previous year's fruit. I usually pull them up but this year I left several good ones growing. I thought about cutting down the original tree and allowing one of these seedlings to take its place. Do you think the tree can recover? Should I replace it or allow one of its seedlings to grow? Your thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer: Presuming you don't have borers (for which you need to check both trees), I suspect your problem is the cut ring around the trunk -- probably made by a giant hornet or "cutter bee." The girdling seems to have been deep enough that the tree is not able to outgrow the damage. I doubt that the top of your styrax will ever amount to a first class tree. You have three choices: 1) Cut the styrax to the ground, let it send up shoots from the base and train one to five of these into a single or multiple stemmed tree. The advantage of this method is that the regenerated tree will develop much faster than a seedling because it has the root system of a large tree. The danger is that I have misdiagnosed and your styrax has a root problem. If so the new tree may be no better than the old one. I suggest you call in Bartlett Tree Experts for a second opinion. 2) A surer, but slower option is to let a couple of the seedlings grow and then select the best one to mature. Can you do both; i.e., let the suckers and a seedlings mature then select the best one? 3) Buy a new young six to eight foot tree -- certainly not a 4" specimen.

Question: Hello - I live in central Maryland and would like to know what is the best month for planting pansies this fall. Also, would using compost and Espoma Plant-Tone give them a good start? Would I need to reapply it in the spring? Thanks.

Answer: I doubt you saw a form of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia), an American native. I also doubt that our native mountain laurel would even grow in southern France. So, your local nursery is not correct. There are several plants called laurel. You may have seen English laurel (Prunus laurocerasus,a form of cherry laurel) but more likely, you saw Sweet Bay Laurel, a culinary herb (bay leaf). Sweet Bay Laurel ultimately matures from a shrub into a small tree which grows throughout the Mediterranean region. Sweet Bay Laurel is not winter hardy outdoors in zone 6. It can be grown in zone 6 outdoors in the summer and indoors in the winter. We sell small plants of Sweet Bay Laurel (laurel nobilis) in the herb section of our web site.

Question: I have a climbing rose weaving in and out of an arbor. I want to change arbors. Can I cut back the rose bush to about 2 feet high in order to replace the arbor without damaging the rose bush? Also, do I deadhead the rosebush?

Answer: You can cut down the rose bush to facilitate changing the arbor. Either do it now, immediately, or in the spring (preferred) before the new leaves emerge. I do not recommend cutting back most varieties of climbing roses in late summer or early autumn. Don't expect much bloom, if any, next year.

If you deadhead a rose, on most varieties you will stimulate increased flower production. As dead heading is a stimulative process, never deadhead after the end of August, to encourage the rose to achieve natural dormancy, before the cold weather sets in.

Question: I have two crape myrtles that are very healthy and growing vigorously. They were planted as multiple stemmed trees. One of them develops many, many shoots from the trunk near ground level, and even when I cut them off, they grow back even more aggressively -- any solutions for this? Also, the two crape myrtles trees are getting extremely bushy at the top, to the point that the branches and multiple stems are becoming obscured. Could you provide tips as to how to best trim them?

Answer: To control unwanted suckering on trees and bushes, there is a spray product called Sucker Stopper. It controls suckers emerging from the roots below ground, as well as sprouts coming above ground from trunks and limbs, including the cluster of sprouts that emerge from pruning wounds after limb removal. Sucker Stopper is made by Monterey Lawn and Garden products. It's not easy to find; we can send it to you if you call 1-800-638-6334.