DATE: Sunday, November 9, 1997              TAG: 9711080060

SECTION: HOME                    PAGE: G4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Robert Stiffler

                                            LENGTH:  111 lines

CHECK HOUSEPLANTS FOR BUGS BEFORE YOU BRING THEM INSIDE

Don't forget to bring in houseplants that spent the summer outdoors, but check them carefully for bugs. Some folks dip them upside down in a bucket of soapy water to make sure they've killed all the insects. If you do that, hold your hands around the soil so it doesn't tumble out of the pot.

Some plants will drop their leaves for a while but then should acclimate again to living inside. All plants like light, so place them where they get the most possible.

Whether yours spent the summer indoors or out, water them less and fertilize little or none from now to mid-March. The sun is low and the days are short, so many houseplants go into semi-hibernation from now until spring. Don't overwater your plants in the winter. CURING WINTER SQUASH

Pick winter squash and pumpkins when the stem to the vine has dried. They all need curing if they're to be eaten. Put them in a dry area with 65- to 70- degree temperature for two weeks. DISPOSE OF STALKS

Most vegetables have dried down to ugly stalks and vines now, so remove them from your garden. They often harbor diseases and insects. Put them in the garbage, not on a compost pile. CAMELLIAS, IRIS FOR SALE

Drop by the Fred Heutte center this afternoon from 1 to 5, and you can enjoy two garden events. The Tidewater Iris Society and the Virginia Camellia Society will hold a joint meeting and plant sale, in addition to the mini-camellia show that the camellia society is having.

Twice-blooming iris, which bloom in spring and in the fall, will be offered for sale. It's also a good time to get answers to your questions about camellias and iris.

The Fred Heutte Center is at 1000 Botetourt Gardens in Norfolk. The events are free. GARDEN VISITS WORLDWIDE

Expo Garden Tours specialize in garden trips throughout the world. They have a new brochure describing their 1998 tours, featuring more than 200 garden visits to international destinations. For a free copy, call (800) 448-2685, fax (203) 938-0427 or write to 70 Great Oak, Redding, Conn. 08697. A VOTE FOR CORNUS MAS

Jim Small, plant center manager for Greenbrier Farms, wrote to say: ``I was pleased to see your recent article on the Cornus mas, the yellow flowering dogwood. I agree that this is both an under-used and under-rated tree. Its blooms, bloom cycle and resistance to pests and disease make it an excellent, low-maintenance specimen tree. Readers may be interested to know that this tree is available at Greenbrier Farms.''

After decades as a wholesale grower, Greenbrier is now open to the public. They carry more than 550 varieties of trees and shrubs, with more than 750 acres of landscape plants. When Small wrote, they had one large Cornus mas (5 feet high) for $56.44. Greenbrier Farms is at 201 Hickory Road West, Chesapeake. Call 421-2141. FLOWERS DEER DON'T LIKE

Gardeners who have trouble with deer may be interested in Sunset magazine's list of perennials that are ``deer resistant.'' They include coreopsis ``Moonbeam,'' gaura and rudbeckia. Another deer-resistant flower is foxglove, a biennial that will grow for two years. All can planted now. REMOVE DISEASED LEAVES

This is the time of year to clean up your rose bed and destroy diseased leaves. Knock or pick them off the plant and destroy them. It is smart to spray one more time to control disease. Diseases can overwinter on leaves and haunt the rose come spring. NO FAN OF FORCING BULBS

This is the time of year when you once again read about ``forcing bulbs.'' It's easy enough to stick a few paper-white narcissus in a bowl of water. That is, if you don't mind staking them so they don't fall over, and if you enjoy their overwhelming fragrance.

I seldom write about forcing other bulbs such as tulips and hyacinth, because I've tried every method in the book and have yet to produce anything that I wanted anyone to see. If you have a proven record of success, please write and tell others how you do it. TIME FOR PAPER-WHITES

If you do want paper-whites in bloom for Christmas or to give as a gift, plan on six weeks from the time of putting them in a bowl. That means you need to get going by mid-November. I've always kept them in the refrigerator for two weeks after planting.

There are those who claim, and I can't prove or disprove it, that a shot of gin or vodka in the planting water will help them hold their bloom stems stiff and strong. WAY TO FIGHT MOLES

Frankie Horton, who used to operate Horton's Feed & Seed Store in Portsmouth, called to say he's successfully used gopher spurge to keep moles out of his garden. The plant is widely used on the West Coast. It exudes a milky material into the soil for 20 feet around the plant. He warns not to use it around a vegetable garden.

The plant is one of the euphorbias and grows 12 to 18 inches high, with gray-green foliage.

It's not unattractive, but I've found that it is very invasive, because it seeds itself down. The following season you'll have it all over your garden. I decided I could cope with moles as easily as with this invasive plant.

If you choose to use it, seed is sold in mail-order catalogs. SOURCE FOR AMSONIA

I goofed last Sunday when I failed to list White Flower Farm as a source for amsonia, particularly since they furnished the photograph of the plant. They ship amsonia in the spring, and it will be in their 1998 catalog. You can receive the catalog free by calling (800) 503-9624 or write to P.O. Box 50, Litchfield, Conn. 06759.

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