ArcaMax

Q: I have a peach tree that I am worried has a problem. Last spring, I noticed the leaves started curling up and got quite lumpy, for lack of a better term. It is back again this year. I don't see any aphids or other insects in the curled-up leaves. What caused this? Is there a cure for it? Will it affect the fruit?

A: Hopefully you only have ...Read more

Last year I had the opportunity to trial a new daylily and I can tell you it went out in a blaze of glory. This happened for a couple of reasons. The first and foremost is that its name is Blazing Glory and it is making its debut this year as part of the Proven Winners Rainbow Rhythm collection.

This group now consists of 16 varieties and if ...Read more

Q: My amaryllis bulbs bloomed nicely, but now the leaves are breaking off. There are red spots on the leaves and on the sides of the bulb. The red spots are even on bulbs that had white flowers, so I would not expect red coloring on the leaves or bulb. What could be causing this?

A: You are accurately describing a fungus disease called red ...Read more

Sitting on my driveway right now are three Luminary Sunset Coral tall garden phlox, Phlox paniculata. Just saying that color makes me expect a bolt of lightning to strike, and a mysterious voice to say it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature. This variety, still new to most everyone, is so beautiful in color and defies description.

There was a ...Read more

Q: A coworker said that her allergies were acting up because there were so many male trees blooming. I didn't think there were male and female trees. I don't remember what I learned in botany class. Are there male and female trees?

A: There are some tree species with separate male and female plants, but most trees have both male and female ...Read more

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column that stressed you grow containers in a mono culture style and cluster them together to create a garden look, when designing mixed containers. This week we’ll take it up a notch and say keep it ‘"all in the family." To be taxonomically correct, I should say keep it in the genus, but you will easily see what I...Read more

Question: We have a koi and goldfish pond with a few plants in it. We have heard that we should add salt to the pond, but we are unclear about how much is OK, how much is too much, what it does and if it will hurt the plants.

Answer: Let's first cover why you should add salt. The fish's bodies are saltier than the water in the pond. So, water ...Read more