Chinese Abelia (Abelia chinensis)
A Beautiful and Underused Shrub for the
Butterfly Garden In 1816 while in China, Clarke Abel, a surgeon and naturalist, collected specimens and seeds of the plant that carries his name--now known as Abelia chinensis. Despite a shipwreck and an attack by pirates on the way back to his home in Britain, causing him to lose all of his specimens, Abel still managed to successfully establish the Chinese Abelia. Fortunately, he had left some specimens with an acquaintance in China who was kind enough to return them to him, enabling us to have the Chinese Abelia that we know today.
Clusters of White Flowers All Summer
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August
18, 2005
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Garden Club Frequently Asked
Questions Question: I planted an Endless Summer Hydrangea this spring in a spot that gets sun until early afternoon. I know you suggested morning sun and afternoon shade, but I don't have that exact location in my garden. Every afternoon my hydrangea wilts, but the leaves stand up by the following morning. Will my hydrangea survive? Is there anything I can do?Answer: Once your hydrangea is established and has rooted well into the soil, I believe the wilting will stop. This presumes: 1. The hydrangea does not have root competition from other trees and shrubs. 2. The soil is somewhat water retentive. You can increase the water retention capability of your soil by adding compost and water-holding polymers such as Soil Moist to the planting mix. If you have not already done this, I suggest you dig up your hydrangea, reprepare the soil and replant. While you are about it, breaking up the root ball with your fingers, adding Myke and spraying the leaves with Messenger will all help. Be sure to keep your hydrangea adequately moist until it roots in. When watering, add SeaMate to the water.Question: I know you recommend Horticultural Oil often as an insecticide. With the shortage of petroleum, is there an alternative? Answer: You are correct, Horticultural Oil is derived from petroleum. However, there is an organic insecticide and fungicide that works comparably to petroleum-based horticultural oil. The product is called Organocide and the active ingredient is sesame oil. Question: I got your Lawn Care program by e-mail and I found it very helpful. It answered lots of my questions. But I still have one. I am determined to get these weeds out of my lawn this fall. Shouldn't I wait to apply fertilizer until the weeds are all gone? Answer: No, the fertilizer will keep the weeds actively growing. Lush, actively growing weeds are much more susceptible to control from lawn herbicides. Starving, unfertilized weeds are essentially dormant and resistant to lawn weed killers. Question: Once I get my lawn ready for re-seeding, which do I apply first, the fertilizer or the grass seed? Answer: If you are using the fertilizers we recommend such as Turf Trust or Espoma 100% Organic Lawn Food, it doesn't matter; either order is fine. Most people feed before they seed.Incidentally, we find that both products work fine as "starter fertilizers"; you don't need to buy a separate starter fertilizer. However, if you are tilling up the lawn and starting over, use a double strength application of fertilizer tilled into the soil before you seed. Or till in a single strength application and apply the other half on the top of the leveled soil before or after you seed. Question: What is the ideal acidity level for lawn grass and when do I lime? Answer: The ideal PH is about 6.5. There are two schools of thought on the proper time to lime. The vast majority says anytime the ground is not frozen. A small minority says never lime within 5 weeks before or after fertilizing, because the lime will make some of the fertilizer vaporize. Thus, in an abundance of caution, if you are going to fertilize at the end of August or early September and again at the end of November, you would hit it just right if you limed around October 10th. Another good window of opportunity would be the end of April or early May presuming the rains are still good and you are not going to make a half strength spring fertilization. This latter can sometimes be hard to predict so I think October 10th is still the best time. Lime translocates very slowly into the soil, so if you are tilling up a new lawn, core aerating or making a really good seed bed with a power rake, I would lime, without regard to fertilization-----before the core aeration or the tilling or just after the thatch has been raked up and the soil leveled, working the lime well into the de-thatched seed bed. You can get a free soil test if you bring a plastic bag filled with soil to Carroll Gardens. Question: Hi Alan, I listen all the time to your garden show, and I think you mentioned feeding irises with Bulb-Tone. I am in the process of dividing and replanting a lot of my irises. When and how often would I feed them or do they even need it? I am preparing beds now and want to incorporate the fertilizer at the same time and till it in, if I can feed now. Any additional information about irises you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much. Answer: I presume you have bearded irises - the most popular irises. Mix the Bulb-Tone in with the soil at planting and then feed again early every spring. If the soil is heavy, mix Chesapeake Blue crab compost in with the soil. When the iris are out of the ground, cut back the foliage by half. Check the tubers for borers. Any tubers with borers should be soaked overnight (no longer) in water to which old-fashioned chlorine household bleach has been added - 1 cup of bleach to one gallon of water. Be sure the solution just covers the tubers. Allow the soaked tubers to dry thoroughly before they are re-planted. Remember to plant the iris tubers, about 8 inches apart, like a duck sits on water - with the tuber half exposed. Do not mulch heavily, if at all. Apply Weed Screen Granular Weed Preventer before you mulch and then again in the spring. Question: I'm a faithful reader of your weekly newsletters. However, I'm still somewhat confused about grub products. I applied Merit in mid-June. Should that keep me grub-free for the entire season? Can you explain the differences between Merit, Mach 2 and Dylox? I just started following your Lawn Care routine this year but my lawn already looks better than ever! Thanks! Answer: Properly applied in mid-June, Merit should keep your lawn grub free this fall and next spring. Merit and Mach 2 are long-lasting grub preventers. They kill only very young grubs as they hatch. I prefer Mach 2 because it also kills another very damaging common insect - sod webworm. Also Mach 2 can be applied over a much longer period, until mid-August, after folks have seen just how bad July's beetle infestation was. Dylox is an almost instantaneous grub killer that kills all grubs in the lawn at one time. It is for folks that didn't apply a grub preventer - you don't need both. Dylox kills mature grubs as well as young ones. Because Dylox has no residual effect on grubs that haven't hatched yet, to get all of the season's grubs, it needs to be applied after September 1st, but before the grubs have gone too deep in late October, the sooner the better, before the grubs eat the lawn roots. Dylox can also be applied in spring once the grubs start to come near to the surface. Of all the options, I prefer Dylox applied in early September. The problem is most people procrastinate until they see the grub damage. Dylox will still work then, but by then you also have a lawn restoration job.
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