Q I have a nice garden with lots of flowering plants, all the right ones to attract bees and butterflies. But this year I have hardly seen more than a couple of butterflies all summer, which seems very odd. Is there a particular lack of butterflies in the area this year?
A I had not given it much thought until you asked the question, but I would have to agree with you. I have tons of milkweed and have seen very little butterfly or caterpillar activity this summer. I did see a black swallowtail this weekend, but even my parsley and fennel have not been eaten by caterpillars. I will try to investigate and see what others think. The cooler, later spring would have delayed their arrival, but not this late in the season. Good question.
Q Several of my potted patio plants are full of ants. How do I get rid of them and are they killing the plants?
A Rarely will ants kill a plant. If they have built a large enough colony, they can displace roots and soil and make it hard to keep the plants watered. They may have decided to nest in the soil, or you may have insects such as aphids on your leaves that they are farming for the honeydew. In any event, I would first try flooding them. Just run the hose to flush the soil, and they should go. You can also put the saucer back underneath the pot temporarily and keep it full of water as ants won't swim through.
Q I live in Hot Springs. I hired someone to "brush hog" my backyard and they used a blade instead and took everything down to the dirt. Now I have a large area on which I need to put down some type of ground cover. Do you have a suggestion that would grow in part sun and full sun without irrigation? It would be separated from my lawn by a dry creek bed, and it backs up the woods so I'm not too worried about it getting into my landscaping. Also, it is a very large area.
A While I am sure the yard looks totally bare for the moment, I seriously doubt the weeds and plants that were there are gone. Scraping grass and weeds takes off the top, but does not kill the roots. You still should have plenty of viable roots, and within days of a rain you should start seeing plants beginning to sprout. If you merely throw down a ground cover, you'll wind up with a mess of weeds in it, especially in a large area with no irrigation. What about laying down some newspaper and/or cardboard and then covering that with mulch? This could help to prevent some of the weedy regrowth and will look attractive. If you want to start small, plant a ground cover like sedum in one area, and over time expand the planting. You want to be careful about invasive plants, even though you aren't worried about the landscape beds. You don't want an aggressive invader moving into the wooded area behind you.
Q Several years ago, my son gave me a Knockout rose bush that was in the shape of a small tree. It has a "trunk" that is a couple of feet long. New canes come out of the top of this "trunk" and I noticed it resembles what should be the crown, which normally would be at or just above soil level.
Should I replant this so the crown is lower? I need to adjust it anyway because the bush is leaning over and the "trunk" is at an angle.
A Your rose was topiaried or tree-formed. You can't just bury it at the juncture of where it is branching -- it would die. The true crown of the plant -- where the roots go down and the stem goes up -- is at the soil line. You can cut it off close to the soil line next spring and let it all start growing and branching from down low, and then retrain it into a bush; or you could manage it as the tree-formed plant, pruning the top part back by two-thirds before growth begins.
Q I started my tomato plants from seed. I have three plants of a cherry tomato variety in big pots. One of the plants has leaves that look good until you get to the very tips, and then they look a little droopy at all times, regardless of when they get watered. Any thoughts? I thought it might be some kind of wilt, but doesn't that usually kill the whole plant?
A Some plants just have curled leaves all season. Leaf roll (curling of the leaflets) is a physiological condition that can occur more commonly when plants are trained or pruned. Stress can also cause leaf rolling. As long as the leaves are green and you see no spots or yellowing, I wouldn't worry.
Janet B. 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 email her at
jcarson@arkansasonline.com
HomeStyle on 08/08/2015