4 - Wednesday, February 1, 1989 — Capilano Chronicle

YOUR GARDENING QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Sorry — it’s too late to plant crocuses

The Root of the Matter is a new column in which horticulturist Geoff
Tobiasson will answer a wide range of gardening questions. Send your
questions to The Root of the Matter, Capilano Chronicle, 1139 Lonsdale
Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4. Please include your name and tele-
Phone number.

Q: IS IT too late to plant my spring bulbs? I particularly

want to plant crocuses and snowdrops.

A: Yes. In particular, crocuses
and snowdrops. You may get away

with dates-as late as the end of -

January for some of the larger,
later flowering varieties of tulips
and narcissi, but small, early
flowering buibs such as crocus do
not stand much chance at produc-
ing much flower this year.

Plant them anyway. If they have

not dried out entirely, you may get :

_ something from them next year, It
“ is best to get fall bulbs in. the
ground by the middle of
November.

Q: What should I do with my
Christmas poinsettias to keep them
alive year round and have them
bleom again next year?’

‘Az: Cut their little heads off.
“. Cruel-_as it sounds, this is the best

advice. The red bract, which most

assume to be the flower, is not.
“=. The true flowers are the little,
_ fuzzy, yellow buds in the centre;
they. are © only seen when the plants

THE ROOT

OF THE
MATTER

are fresh and have, no doubt, long
_ Since dropped off.

., If you leave the bract on now
you will only jeopardize the
development of new growth. Better
to remove it by cutting the plant
back by half, to one-cighth inch
above an outward facing bud.

This will encourage the start of «

new growth on 2 bushier, well-

shaped plant. Keep the plant bare-
ly moist in a bright window.

-After seeing the beginnings of
this new growth, start adding a lit-
tie fertilizer, -

Continue care until next fall
when the plant will stop growing.

At this time . (mid-September)
reduce watering and feeding to a
minimum and keep the plant in a

“GEOFF TOBIASSON

totally darkened area for 16 hours.
This should last for six to eight
weeks.

Having done this, the plant
should have set bud for next year’s
flowers which will begin to emerge
shortly thereafter. You can now
increase water and fertilizer until

after the blooms (fuzzy, yellow -

things) have died.

Gardeners are gearing up
for the spring season now

SSGAPILANO gardeners are ready- :

ing themselves for another season
cacy of planting and pruning.

an active group, involved :

with fi ad trips, organization of the.
local. garden’ isonet and various *

~ however. :
_Mesibersip i is kept to about 25°.

a . because the club meets in
‘people's homes. There is a waiting

:, list to get into pe 1e club, which can ..

a8 "The club has considered meeting
ina larger. facility to allow fora

larger membership, but the. idea ©

ering: slurred speech, stumbling

, Jand drowsiness atter cold exposure
are indications of hypothermia. Con-
dition is severe when shivering stops.

‘|Unconsciousness and stopped breath- | °

ng may fofiow. Remove gently to
er. Movemen Frough handling

” lV elothing:. wrap iv warm: covers ©
, | Rewarm neck. chest, abdomen and

, {groin — but not extremities. Apply | --

_: {direct body heat or safe heating de-
.: Ivices: © Give. warm. drinks if. con-|/
scious © Monitor breathing: give arti-

“>. Hicial respiration if needed © Call for

ical aid or transport gently. ~

- gardens .and- -yards,”*

The club would be more than
willing’ to help another. gardening
_\ club get started in the area, how-

__ ever, Relhouse added.
“» The Delbrook Garden Club has

several 15-year “or more members,
who provide the knowledge that
only comes with experience.

4 Belhouse has seen a great leap in
interest from - younger people,

“Perhaps it’s the opportunity to
ee tec pring.& chance to

although cub meetings are not

that much different now than they

“were 20 or 30 years ago, there have
been: some developments that
members keep abreast of and ex-
change information about. :

“There is somewhat of a trend
towards easier maintenance
noted

Belhouse. :
~ Interest in gardening is also

reflected in the number of courses’ °§

being offered locally | by Roy Jon-

nson and Ingeborg .Day, who is
teaching . several’ workshops:

the North Vancouver Rec-

reation. Department in the 5

Delbrook Recreation Centre Alder
Room, -

. The Gardener's Calendar Year is
being taught by Day, Feb. 4, 9:30
a.m. to 1:30 p.m.,. followed by
Rock Gardens Oriental Style, Feb.
11, 9 a.m. to:12 noon. —

Springtime’ Pruning will be the

“subject of a talk given by Day, 9

a.m. to 12 noon, Feb. 25.

987-PLAY for information on how »

to register.”

Anyone interested in contacting
the Capilano - Flower °
Club, which meets regularly in the
Capilano library, may call Mavis
Shulz at 921-7907. .

Q: What do I do with overgrown
houseplants which I would like to
keep but not have grow any larger?

A: For starters, do not put them
in a larger pot. Multi-stemmed
plants such as Weeping Figs and
Hawaiian Umbrella Trees can be

nerable to root rot.

Sterile tools and careful con-
sideration as to where to make
your Cuts are especially important.

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cut back to maintain controls on
size. But eventually, you must
begin root-pruning your plants.

it stands to reason that if you
were to cut back the roots of a
plant, you would stunt its growth.
This is one of the principles in
bonsai or the Japanese art of
dwarf trees.

If you follow the rule of thumb,
cutting back 20 per cent of the top
growth with 20 per cent of the
root, you will find it easy to main-
tain size. .

Be sure to use sharp, freshly
sterilized tools on each plant so as
to prevent the occurrence: and
spread of diseases like root rot. -

All of this holds true with
single-stemmed plants such as the
yucca, dracaena, and dieffen-
bachia as well.

The plant will look rather
strange in its headless state, but
new growth will arrive in time.

More important, these plants
generally have larger, thicker tap

“roots and as such are. more. dif-

ficult to root prune and more vul-.

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