In the Garden with Janet B. Carson
November 14, 2009
The following picture was taken on November 2 on the North side of my sun room
in my back yard. I don't recall hydrangeas blooming this late.
Is the plant one of the Endless Summer or re-blooming types? If so, that
might make more sense. Otherwise, it is just a fluke. It has been an unusual
year. Just this week I also saw gardenias in bloom, bearded iris and a few
scattered blooms on a tulip magnolia! Enjoy and cut it for longer enjoyment
indoors before a frost. Read on . . .
I have several forsythia bushes around my home in northwest Arkansas, (Madison
Co.) but only one that is now blooming.....well, it really is just about
finished blooming; AND the foliage is a beautiful burgundy color. That coupled
with the yellow blooms and the burgundy leaves make for a very pretty sight.
Is this unusual? I am 77 years old and have never seen forsythia like
this, let alone blooming this time of year, in my lifetime.
Forsythia often turns a nice reddish bronze before the foliage falls off.
Blooms in the fall are a bit unusual on forsythias, but have been known to
happen in fluctuating years. Forsythia set its flower buds in August and
early Sept. All the wet weather, had them set a lot of buds. Then it got
cool and then it turned warm again. Some of our plants are confused as to
what season they are in. Hopefully, it is only a portion of the flowers that
are in bloom now, and you will still have a good display next spring. For
now, enjoy the show.
We've had some clematis for a number of years. This year they did not bloom
much, which I am blaming on the rain, and the leaves either dried up on the vine
or fell off. Is it beneficial to cut the vines back each year (we
haven't)?
The key to pruning clematis is to know when they bloom. Some varieties only
bloom in the spring, and flower buds are set now--so pruning would remove
your flower buds and you won't have any blooms. Other clematis varieties
bloom in the summer on new wood, and they can be cut back hard every year in
the fall or early spring and still produce flowers on the growth they put on
in the spring and early summer. Fall blooming clematis are the toughest of
all and can be pruned as needed through June. After that, leave them alone
to set flower buds.
We just moved some houseplants in from being on a shaded patio for most of the
summer and the leaves are turning yellow and it seems that the leaf tips turn
brown. What would be the likely cause of this and what step can we take to
prevent this?
If you just moved the plant inside the past couple of weeks, yellowing is
not unusual. The plants are acclimating to the conditions indoors. It got
pretty cool in October at night, and the plants got used to cool nights and
warm days. They had loads of humidity and rainfall, plus bright light. Now
they are inside in a heated house with a pretty static temperature, no
humidity and low light. They have to get used to these conditions. In a few
weeks, the yellowing and dropping leaves will stop, but they won't grow in
leaps and bounds. Cut back on how much water you give them indoors and keep
them going until spring, when they can be moved back outdoors.
We were at the Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista this weekend and they had
some beautiful shrubs about 4' tall, a very pretty silky like leaf, would almost
lay flat like a fern or very soft pine needles, very pretty green color, would
almost make you think it was an artificial plant, I took a small piece to the
nursery in Bella Vista and they said it was a yew but did not know what
kind. We live in Benton and would love to know what they are, as they were
growing in the shade and we have areas that we would like to put them.
There are several plants with the common name of yew. In NW Arkansas, you
saw one of the species of Taxus. You will see some here in central
Arkansas, but they aren't as happy in central or southern Arkansas with our
heat and humidity. A more southern friendly yew is the plum yew--
Cephalotaxus. While not as formal in growth habit, it thrives in our
heat and loves shade. An even more southern loving "yew" is Podocarpus.
Hope this helps.
If you would like to see all of the Q& A's that Janet writes
they are archived in the
Reference Desk
section.
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