Q I was reading in your book In The Garden that plants can be stored in crawl spaces during the winter to protect them from low temperatures. I have a really pretty bougainvillea in a hanging pot in my backyard but am not sure how to preserve it through the winter. I do not have a garage and really do not have a good place indoors for it. Is this a plant that could survive in a crawl space during the winter?
A Yes, your bougainvillea should survive in the crawl space. It will not be a gorgeous plant when you bring it back out next spring, but it should be alive. For now, monitor the weather. Make sure the plant is moved before a frost. You want the soil to be moist but not water-logged. Don't cut it back as it will die back in storage. Next spring, bring it back out, repot it and cut it back hard, then start watering. The plant should begin to regrow and, with added fertilizer, bloom. Tropical plants bloom on new growth, so the key to good blooming is good new growth.
Q I would like to know the name of this plant. I call it my mountain bush as we got it off some land we own way out in the country. It has these round seed pods that are pretty pink in color, and then all of a sudden they were bursting open with round seed pods. I took some seeds and a runner or two and transplanted them to my yard. It has grown but is a tad spindly; but it bloomed and set more seed pods. I would love to know what it really is so I can know more about growing it and possibly sharing it with friends.
A The plant in question has many interesting common names from strawberry bush to hearts-a-bursting. Euonymus americanus is the Latin name. It is a midsize, open-growing native shrub found in moist woodlands. The flowers are fairly small and inconsequential in late spring to early summer. The pink, rough husks are pretty, but when the bright orange-to-red seeds pop out, they are stunning.
Q I replaced some azaleas with spirea across the front of my house facing northwest, about four years ago. Each summer small black spots have appeared, and in July and August most all the leaves fall off. Some new ones come back, but from that time on, it looks like a skeleton. I sprayed several times before with a fungicide, but the spots started showing up and still it happened. The nursery said they needed nutrients and so while spraying fungicide I also put down fertilizer two to three times. It seemed to slow down the spots and the plants really grew, but the problem just happened at a later time in the summer and the end results were still the same. Any ideas why the black spots and why the leaves fall off about the same time each summer?
A I am assuming you have summer-blooming spireas instead of spring-only bloomers. I have never had any problems with diseases on spirea. While spirea is in the rose family and could be susceptible to several leaf-spotting diseases, we usually don't see them. But since you are having problems, here are some strategies. Practice good sanitation this fall. Rake up and dispose of all the leaves around the plants after they have all fallen. Spray with a dormant oil to try to smother any overwintering fungal organisms. Make sure the area where they are planted is not getting too much water. Spirea are fairly drought-tolerant. You could do one preventive fungicide spray as they are leafing out, but no more. If the leaf spots appear again next year, the minute you spot them, take a sample in to your local county extension office so they can send it to our disease diagnostic lab. The lab can pinpoint which fungus you are dealing with. I do not think this is a nutritional problem. Spirea are fairly tolerant of a wide range of well-drained soils and not too particular about nutrition.
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 11/19/2016