THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412020102
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Please discuss the planting time and harvesting of elephant garlic. I understand it takes two years for a harvest.
Arnold K. Lindblad Sr., Norfolk
There are several varieties of elephant garlic, but what I have grown is planted in the fall and blooms in the spring. The bloom is like an allium and can be used as a cut flower. Cutting off the bloom before it opens will help your garlic grow into a larger bulb. By July, the small bulb you planted has grown into a larger size, ready for harvest. Dig that one, along with the small bulblets growing under and alongside the larger one. Replant the small bulblets in the fall, and they will grow into large, harvest-size bulbs but often two growing seasons are required.
Once you get elephant garlic, it's a little like kudzu - it stays with you forever and ever. I'm not a garlic fan, but many say that elephant garlic is milder than the kind you buy in a grocery store.
Would you please send me a copy of your list of plants that rabbits don't like? I have enclosed a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Margaret J. Clarke, Virginia Beach
If there is such a list, I hope someone will send it to me. Rabbits are one of the most destructive creatures in a garden. I can cope with squirrels and put up with raccoons, but rabbits won't venture into a trap, they eat at night and multiply like - well, like rabbits. I don't care how many people think little bunnies are cute, they're a menace to those who like to garden. The only plants I suspect they won't eat are poisonous plants such as oleander.
Two sprays that seem to work best are Ro-Pel and Hinder. The problem with these is that after a few rains they are not effective. Some universities recommend mixing Tobasco sauce with Wilt-Pruf and spraying plants rabbits eat. Once a rabbit gets a bite of foliage that burns his tongue, he stays away.
I gave up and built fences around my vegetable and rose gardens. I have a file labeled ``Preventing Rabbit Damage,'' but it has very little in it. If a reader has a list of plants that rabbits won't eat, please send it in.
My first reading of the Sunday paper is the Home and Garden section. Your articles come first. Last summer you mentioned stewartia. I have what a well-known nursery identified as Silky Stewartia, growing wild in the woods by the side of a long driveway. I have been able to root and plant all kinds of seed and have had good luck with everything except this plant. I've tried cuttings, which would stay green for two to four months, but they would not root. The seed won't sprout either.
Do you have any information that can help me? I would love to grow one in my yard. They are beautiful in bloom, but what am I doing wrong that I can't propagate it?
Mrs. Dave P. Jones, Chesapeake
The Silky Stewartia is a native plant and can be found in the woods around Franklin and Suffolk. Experts at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research Center say it is hard to root, so it's best to try to grow it from seed. They say your problem is that the seeds are probably drying out. If you do not let them dry out before planting, they should sprout and grow.
Stewartia is one of our under-used plants, and it is beautiful in bloom, as you say. I encourage everyone to grow more of them, available in many local nurseries.
This is in reference to tomato rot. My heart sinks when I see it. I have been growing vegetables for 20 years in the same spot of my yard.
For the first time this year, I tried putting one cup of dry powdered milk around each tomato plant to help prevent blossom rot. Believe me, it has helped. After the plants had grown to a height of 3 feet, I dug a small trench around each plant, put powdered milk in the trenches and covered them back up. This was to provide the calcium that tomatoes need.
I'm sure this would be hard to do in a field of tomato plants, but I can do it in my small garden. I hope this tip will be something your readers would like to know.
Marsha Dudley, Norfolk
Thanks for the tip. Tomato blossom end rot is often caused by a shortage of calcium. Milk provides calcium for people - and tomatoes. I'd never heard of this idea, but because it worked for you, I'm sure readers will want to try it.
I read with interest the story about ``The Seven Sisters'' rose one Sunday in July. ``The Seven Sisters'' is a rare, pink-blend rose. It also comes in red. I have a large pink bush as well as a red bush. They were beautiful this past spring. I've had mine for years. If Lillian Clewis will contact me at (919) 336-4104, I'll be glad to give her a piece of mine.
Evelyn S. Reynolds, Shawboro, N.C.
Roses are easier to propagate from cuttings than many other plants, so I hope these readers can get together. It shows again that gardeners love to share plants. MEMO: No gardening questions will be taken over the phone. Write to Robert
Stiffler, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, 150 W. Brambleton
Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510. Answers will be published on a space-available
basis at the proper time for their use in the garden. For an earlier
reply, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope. by CNB