In the garden

Q Would you please identify the tiny yellow wildflower that is growing in every field you pass? They appear every spring before farmers plow their fields.

A Those same farmers wish they didn’t have those tiny yellow flowers - which are buttercups. The plants are poisonous to livestock if eaten fresh, so they actually are a “weed” in our fields. They are also considered a wildflower, albeit invasive. The story goes, if you hold a flower under your chin and it reflects yellow, then you like butter. If the sun’s out you will probably like butter, since the shiny flower reflects light well. If it is cloudy, you won’t be considered a butter fan.

Q I have a row of red tip photinia beside my driveway. They were excellent screening bushes several years ago, but now they’ve gotten so tall, all the bushy, leafy growth is way up high, and they are more stalk-like from eye level down. I would like to cut them back so they’ll bush out nearer to the ground and function once again as a screening hedge.

How severely can I cut them back without harming them? Will that accomplish what I want? How long will it take for them to fill back in? What’s the best way to fertilize them?

A Red tip photinia were the main hedge plant in the South for years, but entomosporium leaf spot has been thinning out the population for more than 20 years. The fungal disease speckles leaves with purple to-red spots filled with a gray center. Some existing plants do not have the disease, but that can change. If yours did not have the disease, I would say cut away as much as you want up to half of the plant, since they will fill back in and thicken up nicely. As new growth begins, make sure that the top of the hedges remains a bit narrower than the base to allow sunlight to get to all parts of the plant, ensuring foliage throughout. The downside with a photinia is that rapid,tender new growth (which is encouraged by severe pruning) can be more sensitive to the disease, so be aware of that. If you have any plants with the fungus, you can spread the disease mechanically with your pruning shears; so pay attention to the plants you are pruning.

If disease is not a factor, they will fill back in quickly.

Broadcast a light application of fertilizer around the plants and water it in when you’re finished pruning.

Q I am on the horns of a dilemma. Last fall I planted 100 crocus bulbs in a small garden area of our yard. They bloomed beautifully early this spring, but then came the problem.

I know that I should not cut the foliage back until it begins to die back, but I’ve got white clover that is almost knee high in the area, and it is beginning to be very unsightly. Must I wait until June or so for mowing to protect the crocus? And what should or can I do to prevent this problem from happening next year without destroying the crocus and other bulbs in the area?

A Crocus only need to have green, healthy foliage for six weeks after bloom. If they bloomed early, I would say you have satisfied their foliage requirement and you can mow and cut back the white clover as well. The crocus should come back strong next year, but the clover will too, unless you can get it out of the garden. Once the crocus foliage is truly dead and gone, if you have any lingering clover, you could spot spray with glyphosate (Roundup), but don’t get any on the crocus foliage. Getting the area free of weeds and then mulching can help.

Winter weeds were awful this year.

Q When and how is best to plant zinnia seeds?

A Normally I would say that on May 1 you could scatter seeds in a sunny place in the garden.

But it has been so cool, you might want to wait a couple of weeks. Zinnias grow rapidly from seed, and if the weather is warm enough, you can have flowers in as little as 40 days.

Janet Carson is a horticulture specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Write to her at 2301 S. University Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72204 or e-mail her at

[email protected]

HomeStyle, Pages 33 on 05/04/2013

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