Q I have a ques-tion about the division of the day lilies. When should you divide them? Can I do it now or do I wait until it gets cooler? I live in Cabot.
A Day lilies can be divided in the fall as they are going dormant or in the spring as they are emerging.
Q I have a very healthy, but young, "Jane" magnolia. In the last two weeks, two blossoms have appeared but before they could fully open, the entire blossom turned brown and fell off. What's happening?
A It is not unusual for a spring-blooming plant to set some odd blooms in late summer to early winter, especially if we had an early spring. Jane is one of the early blooming deciduous magnolias and they tend to set their flower buds quite early in the summer for the following year. We typically see these errant blooms when we get a warm spell after a cool spell in the fall -- we get to enjoy a little bonus color. I would assume that something triggered yours to try to bloom, and then the heat and rain took their toll. Wait and see how well they do next spring before you begin to worry.
Q Can you identify this vine for me? It came with the house I just bought and it is not really attractive. It is near the front entry. [The reader emailed a photo.]
A The plant is a clematis. The fluffy things are the seed pods, which I enjoy almost as much as the flowers. Your clematis does look a bit bedraggled, but it is a deciduous vine and will shed its leaves in the fall. Since there are seed pods now and a couple of blooms, you may actually have one of the varieties that bloom twice a year. If you want to shape it up, you can prune it after it blooms in the spring.
Q I have seen trumpet vines in catalogs and finally decided I wanted to give them a try. As you can see, they have really grown. I planted them in late April. This past weekend, one of them dropped nearly every leaf it had and the other one dropped a lot of leaves. Since then, they have both put on new leaves like crazy, and last night I noticed they have one bud each on them. I've tried looking them up online but can't find consistent information on what they need. I am wondering about planting them in the yard. I found conflicting answers on that question, and then I read that they will grow up to 40 feet. Is there anything you can tell me about their care and the blooming cycle I can expect? I don't know if there is something that can be done to encourage blooms but am willing to try whatever may be needed.
A The plants are called Angels trumpet or Brugmansia. They are considered semitropical, but have been overwintering almost statewide. I did not consider them winter-hardy in Northwest Arkansas, but some Master Gardeners have been growing them outside year-round for years. They cut them back and add a bit of extra mulch after the first killing frost. I would hesitate to try to overwinter yours this year, since they have been in a container all season and would not have an extensive root system. If you want to plant them in the ground next year, do so in late April or May, when you move them outdoors. One downside to planting them in the ground is that they will die back to the soil line every fall after a killing frost. But they do grow rapidly the next season and will grow to a height of 5 to 10 feet or more. They will bloom a bit later than if they had started from an already growing plant. I am not sure why yours dropped all of its leaves, but it seems to have rebounded. They usually bloom in late summer to early fall, unless you move the plants in and out, which can extend their bloom period. Do be aware that these plants are poisonous.
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 09/03/2016