Ed Hume Answers Your Gardening Questions
Ed Hume cannot answer all of the garden questions he receives, but questions
of general interest will be answered here every month. Email your questions
to HumeSeeds@aol.com. Please
note: we do not accept attachments.
Before submitting a question, be sure to check the index
of previous questions and answers or search our
site using key words. Many questions have already been answered
here on the site.
Other August Links
 I have planted gladiola bulbs
2 years in a row in decent soil, direct sun, fertilizer and lots of
watering.Planted at end of May. NO FLOWERS!!! What's up with that? No blips
anywhere to be seen----what to do? I love glads and am again disappointed!
 They will not bloom the first
year or two if the corms are too small. Otherwise they should bloom. If too
much nitrogen is used to feed them, it could cause the bulbs to go to leaves
instead of flowers.
We need to know about how
to grow these beautiful double pink poppies from seeds. Do we plant them
now or wait until spring. I live in Northwest Washington State. I love these
beautiful flowers and would like to know how to get them started in my garden.
Double Pink poppies. What
kind? If you are talking about the large Oriental poppies, they are perennial
and they grow the first year, but do not flower until the second year. Save
the seed from the variety you are talking about, then start the seed indoors
in February or outdoors in May. They should flower the following year for
you.
We have four lovely heather
plants in a center circular garden planted with heather. The soil was well
prepared and has good drainage. All four heather plants are in their second
summer. They flowered very well and, like last summer, we pruned the dead
flowers. Everything was doing very well until this July-August when two of
the plants started to have many branches die out and brown. We also have
two other heater located elsewhere and they are doing well in their third
summer. Is there some fungus? We had a rainy summer in the northeast but
the other plants are doing well the ground drains well. Any thoughts?
My guess would be root rot,
as one branch dies at a time when this occurs. Some varieties are more
susceptible then others. You can take one of the dead plants into a nursery
or garden center and have the 'Certified Nursery-person' on staff make an
on-the-spot diagnosis. That's better then me guessing!
How do I get a snowball bush
to bloomm if it is not flowering?
Try feeding your snowball
bush with 0-10-10 fertilizer. Alaska Fish makes a product called Mor' Bloom
which is 0-10-10. Feed with it right now (August) again in September and
again in March.
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