THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412160106
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G4 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GARDENING
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Your advice to D.R. Burgoyne of Chesapeake one Sunday in August disappointed me. A single mushroom popping out of the earth, a group of mushrooms or - amazingly - a ring of mushrooms can be viewed as a happy surprise. Another reminder of the wonders of creation. As I was walking our dog recently, I was delighted to see numerous and different mushrooms and toadstools. A large expanse of a single kind of grass is unnatural and environmentally expensive. There are sound ways of landscaping that don't require poisons or continuing investments of chunks of time and gallons of water. Next time you might congratulate another reader on his good fortune and share your favorite recipe for mushroom soup.
Julia Hebner, Virginia Beach
D.R. Burgoyne had written about mushrooms growing all over his lawn. I suggested he lime it well this fall and dig up where most of them were growing, to try to find an old log or some other organic matter. Mushrooms grow on organic matter, which usually means there is something organic under the surface where you see mushrooms growing.
I continue to be amazed at the wonders of nature, but I've never been fascinated by mushrooms. Maybe it's because I don't like mushroom soup. I continue to encourage gardeners to eliminate large, expensive lawns and replace them with ground covers or native plants. But if you like mushrooms, that's certainly the privilege of any gardener.
One of your columns in June had a paragraph about best all-time climbing roses. You named ``New Dawn'' as one of the best. I've been trying for years to locate this rose. Local nurseries and feed and seed stores that sell rose bushes, do not stock it. When asked why, they tell me no one wants it, that rose growers use it for grafting or they've never heard of it. None of them seemed interested in trying to locate one for me. Please tell me where I can get a ``New Dawn'' locally or where I can order one.
Olga Motley, Portsmouth
The truth is that retail outlets can only offer what large rose growers, such as Jackson & Perkins, grow and offer to the retail trade. They grow what make them the most money, usually the All-America selections, which in many instances, are lousy roses. It has been next to impossible to find a good Peace rose, because the patents have expired and the growers couldn't make money on it. So they quit growing it, along with Crimson Glory and Chrysler Imperial, some of the best roses of all time.
Why don't you try Wedgewood Garden Center. They specialize in roses and might be able to get one for you if they don't carry it. In case they don't have it, I called the headquarters for the Mailorder Association of Nurserymen and they say it is carried by Lloyd Brace at The Roseraie at Bayfields, P.O. Box R (Z), Waldoboro, Maine 04572. He has it in pots now and can ship, although it would cost more to ship the container. In 30 days, he can ship it bare root. Interested readers can talk to him at (207) 832-6330. For a catalog of his roses, send a stamped addressed envelope, or for $5 you can get a narrated video of the roses he grows.
For a complete listing of mail-order nurseries, send $1 to MAN, 8683 Doves Fly Way, Laurel, Md. 30723-1211. The booklet contains $35 worth of coupons.
Please send me instructions on what to do for blackspot on roses. Also I need information on how to find the book you mentioned as a ``must'' for landscape architects.
Helen N. Singleton, Norfolk
For blackspot on roses, most gardeners spray every 10 days with Funginex, a fungicide available in garden centers. If you garden organically, you can use 1 tablespoon of baking soda per gallon of water. Adding liquid soap helps the spray stick to leaves.
The book I think you are referring to, which I described as a ``must'' for all gardeners, not particularly landscape architects, is ``Taylor's Master Guide to Gardening.'' Publisher is Houghton Mifflin. Cost is $60, and the Norfolk Botanical Garden Shop should have it. Call 441-5933. Other local bookstores may also have it or be able to order it for you.
``Bravo Zulu'' on your column and articles! As my wife and I go on our morning walks, we see from time to time old garden hose set out for trash pickup. In the interest of ecology and recycling, how about an article on donating old garden hose to the garden centers. They would be happy to get them for use in staking up newly planted trees.
Bob Giles, former Norfolk Botanical Garden Society board member, Virginia Beach
If you can name the garden centers willing to take old garden hose, I'll be glad to publish them. Meanwhile, thanks to your suggestion, I will contact hose manufacturers to ask their ideas on how to recycle or dispose of old hose. by CNB