Q: I have a plant that is blooming right now with a blue/purple flower. I don't remember where I got it or from whom. It has leaves that look like a lily, almost like a very long blade of grass, with a single flower at the top. I'm not sure if it's a weed or a plant I should keep. I've got them mixed in with mature day lilies. Should I move them to keep them separate until they mature themselves?
A: It's a tradescantia — fence it in now while there's still time, or yours will be as big as mine! Common names for it are spiderwort, Blue Jacket, Sweet Kate and — my favorite name — Cow Slobber, for the viscous liquid that seeps from any broken stem. It is closely related to a vining houseplant you may know as Wandering Jew.
They range in color from blue to purples to pinks and sometimes white, but the intense blue is the most popular. They are classified as a weed by most gardeners, but they can be bought for about $8 a plant from many mail-order nurseries. They sometimes creep into other pots at the grower and then are unknowingly moved into your garden.
I found my first one in the local dump many years ago and was attracted by the brilliant blue flowers, so I returned later that day with a pot and shovel. From that one little plant, my tradescantia grew and grew and invaded the entire garden. We hack it out every summer, or it would probably invade the lawn, the house and garage, too. You'll be tempted to pick the intense blue flowers — do it, but keep in mind the blooms last just a day.
It grows in moist, partially sunny places and requires no feeding, so it will think it's in heaven in your garden. You'll give it food and sun and water — what more could a tradescantia want? Incidentally, the plant is resistant to Round-Up, so don't let weeding get too far ahead of you.
It multiplies by division or seed. Simple cuttings root in water, but almost any piece of the plant will root. Roots are shallow, so in moist ground it is easy to pull. You might want to try keeping it separate from the lilies, not difficult to do by careful hand weeding after rain or watering. Never fear — you won't kill it all. once it's at home in your garden, you'll have it for a lifetime and beyond.
Q: My Martha Washington geraniums are dying. I bought at a premium price, but I haven't had a single bloom since June. I thought geraniums liked heat and would do well in my window box.
A: Called Martha or Lady Washington or Regal or Pansy Face geraniums, they are generally sold between Easter and Mother's Day, and that should give us a clue: They like cool weather. Days below 70 degrees and nights of 55 degrees are necessary to set buds.
Mostly grown as an annual for early spring bloom and gifts, they are beautiful plants with rippled foliage and ruffled petals of white, pinks and purple with dark markings in the center (which is the source for one of its names, the" pansy face" geranium).
You can enjoy them in the early spring and summer and discard as the days get warmer. once the nights get above the 50s, they stop setting buds.
You can take cuttings for next year or to enjoy as houseplants just as you do with your ordinary geraniums, but be sure you have a cool, very sunny place for them to thrive on the windowsill this winter — a south exposure is fine. Grow lights can also be used. Or be content to grow them as green plants in the midsummer garden or as green houseplants this winter, and when the temperatures begin to drop, the plants should start budding again.
Q: This year, I filled an entire bed with dozens of verbena plants. Now a friend says I have to deadhead them. It'll be a full-time job! I grew a few in a pot a couple of years ago and never deadheaded them, and they did well. I wouldn't deadhead my alyssum. Do I indeed have to deadhead verbena?
A: Bad news for you, but good news for the gorgeous bed of verbena you describe — yes, you should deadhead verbena if you expect them to be beautiful all summer. Think of all the work you've gone to making this display of color. Don't you think it's worth it?
Verbena will re-bloom in two to three weeks after deadheading. In a large bed like yours, you might consider deadheading a third of the plants each week; that way, the workload is reduced and the flowers will always be beautiful.
I know there are other things to do on these beautiful summer days, but you'll be glad you did it, especially as we get into the end of summer.
And yes, the alyssum will re-bloom better with deadheading, too.
Q: I planted new dahlias this year, and they are just beginning to sprout. The leaves, however, are being eaten as soon as they come out of the stalk. I've had problems with earwigs in the past, but that usually happens with blooms and never this early in the season. Could it be something else? If it is earwigs, what would be the best solution?
A: Yes, you certainly could have earwigs, but unless you see them, you might also consider a rabbit, or any one of the other bugs that plague our gardens.
But you seem to have a history of earwigs, so let's concentrate on them.
Earwigs are common bugs, easily recognized by a pair of pincers on their backside, but don't worry — they don't bite. And the old wives' tale that earwigs creep into your ears at night to steal your brain is a hoax, but it makes a good story and it gives the earwig its name.
Their favorite foods include clover, marigolds, clematis, butterfly bush, peonies and, yes, dahlias. They're nocturnal and love to burrow into the deepest, darkest part of a flower or unfurling leaf during the day. They're sometimes inadvertently brought indoors with cut flowers and have been known to pop out from a centerpiece during dinner and scurry across the table!
Soap spray will deter them if you see them, but in the meantime, set some traps. Earwigs are a lot like trapping slugs — saucers of beer will attract them, as will grapefruit rinds. Check them every morning and dispose of the bugs.
Earwigs love to hide in damp, dark places, so rid your garden of mulch, which provides both a dark hiding place and a place for moisture to collect.
For more reliable results, use a nontoxic trap like Slug Saloon. Most slug baits and traps attract earwigs and sow bugs, too.
The cool, moist spring was certainly conducive to earwigs, and you'll see more of them as the weather gets warmer and wetter.
