Adrienne Cook The Washington Post

Adrienne Cook was here fielding your questions and comments concerning gardening and horticulture.

A self-proclaimed "practical gardener," Cook's love for horticulture stems from her roots, starting with a grandfather who bred day lilies and camellias. An organic gardener, Cook has been putting her heart and soul into the soil for 30 years. In her job as a Post columnist, Cook has been offering "real and simple solutions for basic problems" for the past 20 years. Practicing what she preaches, Cook balances her time between her numerous backyard projects, including a batch of perennials, fruit trees, a cut-flower garden and a burgeoning green house. Currently she is growing apples, cherries, apricots and various berries, but her favorites are the veggies: peas, tomatoes and herbs.

Over the years Cook has contributed her green-thumb knowledge to several publications, including Organic Gardening, Good Housekeeping, Southern Accents and Fine Gardening.

Silver Spring, MD: Dear Ms. Cook:
What is the best way to keep a butterfly bush healthy and attractive? I have 3, and they look unwieldy -messy- because I have let them grow naturally. Should they be pruned for best health, and if so, when?

Thank you!

Elissa C. Lichtenstein

Adrienne Cook: There are different types of butterfly bush; some are more "leggy" than others; others are very dense and bushy. If you have the kind that is gangly and leggy, and gets tall -- some grow to 12 feet or more -- you can make it bushier by cutting it way back after it's bloomed. Wait until November or son, after the leaves have fallen off and there are no blooms left. Then cut it back to about half its height. To make it more natural looking, trim the stems at different heights, so it doesn't look like a crew cut. You can cut some branches back to a few feet from the ground, and leave others longer, even up to five or six feet long. Next spring, new growth will rise up from the base and the shrubb will be bushier and more attractive.

Washington, DC: Good morning!

I have a plant -not sure what kind- that I've sor tof nursed back to health. It sits on the windowsill in my bedroom and I've been giving it Miracle Grow and watering it when its dry, etc. My question: I noticed a couple of weeks ago, that there are some mushroom like creatures that have sprung fromt he soil. I thought it was very weird! I kind of forgot about them, and when I looked the otehr day, the mushroom like creatures were all shriveled up. Does this mean the plant is not healthy, and what should I do??

Adrienne Cook: The plant is growing? I'd guess it's healthy. The mushroom-like creatures may have sprouted when the soil was moist and there was a lot of huditiy and wamrth in the house. They probably shrivelled as the soil surface dried out. It's not a good idea to encourage this, as they could harbor or be signs of fungi that might harm your plant. However, it sounds as though you're doing okay with this unknown plant. So keep it up. Miracle Gro should be used judisciously on a potted house plant, however.

Upper Marlboro, MD: Jack Frost will be arriving soon! Please tell me how to 'winter over' my beautiful geraniums - I'd like to use them again next year, if possible.

Adrienne Cook: Bring them in gradually, starting with night time only, then, after a week or two of that, gradually ad daytime, but try to give them at least a few hours of outdoor time each day, like during the middle of the day. By mid-November, assuming we don't get six inches of snow before then, they'll have to be indoors for good.

Indoors, give them as much light, without direct sun, as possible. Prune them back by one-third their size -- you can start new plants by putting the cuttings in a jar of water until they form roots -- or just discard the cuttings.

Keep them moist but not over watered; don't fertilize them.

By the way, you didn't mention if they were in pots or not. If they aren't, you'll have to dig them up if you want to save them. This can be very tricky since disturbing roots and trasnferring them indoors all at once can be a sever shock. If they are in the ground, odds are that you'll have to readjust your ambitions for them.

Annandale, Virginia: Dear Ms. Cook, I bought several large pots of assorted flowers to place on our patio this Spring. They have all done wonderfully and continue to thrive. How do I preserve them through the winter months, or can I?

-Sincerely, janice king crawford

Adrienne Cook: You didn't say what kind they are. Potted plants that will over winter without protection are all perennils. If you have those, just be sure to lable your containers as to what's in them, for the plants will die back to the ground, but will emerge again in spring. If they are annulas, among those you can plan on seeing through the winter indoors the following varieties: Impatiens, begonias, geraniums, fuschia, coleus. Annuals that do poorly indoors during the winter include marigolds, pertunia, cosmos.

Grosse Pointe Park's : What's the best way to prepare soil and planting garlic? I've double dug my garden and put in a layer of horse manure. Is there anything else I can do?

Adrienne Cook: Perfect! Once the garlic is in, you might want to mulch, but that is not absolutely necessary. Garlic does not seem to be as attractive to burrowing mice as onion bulbs, so mulching, which can attract mice, is certainly an option. Apart from that, you're good to go!

Alexandria, VA: I want to start a herb garden, actually more like a bunch of pots with herbs in them. However I'm not exactly sure how to go about this. What time of year is the best for planting herbs? Does it matter if they are going to be inside or outside? Where is a good place to get seeds for herbs?
Thanks!

Adrienne Cook: The best time is to wait until spring. I say that's the best time, but not the only time. If you want a challenge, try swoing seeds of parsley, basil and cilantro for an indoor winter herb garden. It is a illte difficult becuase ofthe light requirements these plants have -- they need 16-20 hours of strong artificial light (florescent, not regular) -- to do well. Barring that, herbs in pots grown outdoors in spring asn summer is a wonderful project -- I have several myself. There are lots of places to get seeds of herbs, including abunch of catalogues. Go on line -- garden.com, for example -- to get on mailing lists of catalogues. Burpee and Parks are tow of the biggest seed catalgoues but there also are dozens of small herb-oriented seed companies. In January, you see seed packets avialable in stores.

Rockville, MD: 1. I have been getting very poor germination with spinach. 1999 yr. seeds are planted in compost and watered reg. Do you think the compost is too heavy for the seedlings to break through?

2. I read on the USDA website that if you pick tomatoes when they just start turning color & let them ripen in the house, you will have higher yields and the house-ripened tomatoes will have as much flavor as vine ripened. I don't think it's true but it could be because the rain has diluted the flavor and the ones I've been picking unripe have been the ones that have been cracking. What do you think? Thanks

Adrienne Cook: On the spinach, try Melody. Some varieties are difficult germinators; I have had good luck with Melody. It's available from Burpee Seeds, Warminster PA. I don't have their 800 number filed in my memory, but you can get it from directory assistance. Also check on line. They have a website.

On the tomatoes, my personal experience is that vine ripened always tastes better. It's possible that poor growing conditions are contributing to the problems you are having with your tomatoes -- they thrive in well-composted soil with plenty of moisture and mulching. More likley, though, it's the variety. The best tasting tomatoes include Big Beef, Super Beefsteak and Park's Whopper Improved. There are many wonderfully tasting tomatoes in other colors too -- Belgium Pink, German Pink, Golden Girl, Lemon Boy, to name a few.

Winchester, VA: Hello:

Our lawn is heavily infested with dandelions and need some advice on how to get rid of them safely. Please note that we are not slaves to the "our lawn must be perfect" culture many of our neighbors are, and, in fact, we are planning lots of raised bed plots partly to reduce the size of our lawn. However, the dandelions are so numerous and pervasive it's beyond an embarrassment, plus a lot of trouble when it comes to removing them for our garden efforts. We are both opposed to the heavy use of herbicides, especially since we have a couple of bunnies that frequent our yard, and a runoff ditch that is home to frogs. Is there a safe way to rid our lawn of them without harming the local wildlife, or is it a lost cause? Any advice you could offer us would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Adrienne Cook: There are more and more organic herbicides available. These are oil-based and clog the leaves so they can't synthesize the sunlight and progress in their development. Most a re recommended for springtime application. Gardener's Supply Catalogue in Intervale VT (check out their website under same name) has a pre-emergence pesticide for lawns; it is part of a lawn-food mix that is all-organic. One thing you should keep in mind with organic products is that they are often less powerful -- red effective -- than chemicals versions. That's the good news and the bad news: You'll probably have to do more than one application to get to where you are satisfied with the result.

Arlington, Virginia: Can you recommend a good "desk plant" for an office without windows?

Adrienne Cook: Actually, many plants do splendidly under artificial light -- I grow all my seedlings in a window-less basement. Easy and attractive plants include Christmas and Easter cactii, gerbera, spider (one of my personal favorites), Swedish Ivy, kalenchula, ornamental peppers.

Arlington: Is it wrong to chop down a tree because you just plain don't like it? We've got an evergreen -maybe a spruce; I don't know my trees- that blocks a lot of the light to two windows in the living room and some light to an upstairs bedroom. The burglar alarm guy said it was also giving potential thieves a great place to hide. And it appears to have three trunks rather than one central one. Are we committing a crime against nature -or horticulture- to have it removed, or are we being unduly reverential to a plant that's outlived its usefulness?

Adrienne Cook: Before you take the plunge -- or the chain saw -- get a tree expert out to appraise the evergreen. It may have value. After all, growing a tree takes time and there's value just in that. The tree expert might be able to make alternative suggestions. I've had mature trees and shrubs moved, for example, and it was a good ide. Weight the value of the tree against the cot of moving it. If it's very close to the house, however, it may not be movable. A tree person could evaluate that. If it's a fast growing evergreen, consider replacing it with another similar but in a place that will allw light into the window and prevent skulking bruglars. There's no compelling reason to save or cut down a tree except what works for you in the landscape and the pocketbook.

Arlington, VA: In keeping with fall tradition, I recently bought some mums. How can I maximize their lifespan?

Adrienne Cook: There are perennial mums and annual mums; unless you have the horticultural information on the mums you bought, it would be hard to ascertain which variety you have. Firled-grown mums typically are the best for long-term plants. A field-grown perennial mum should be planted in the perennial garden where it can stay permanently. Keep it from getting crowded out by other plants and it will come back year after year. If it gets scraggly, cut it back and it will bush out again. It should be in full sun. Make sure you put a visible plant marker at its base so you don't accidently plant something on top of it when it dies back in the winter. It will come back in the spring.

Prince William County, VA: I would like to plant two perennial gardens.....one will be in the shade in a park like setting and the other in will be in a sunny location. What plants do you suggest?

Adrienne Cook: A lost depends n how much work you want to put into these. A perennial bed, whether sun or shade, typically is most beautiful wehn it is a mix of flower varieties, shrubs and bushes and even small trees. The best idea I've hear to get started comes from White Flower Farms (check out their website under that name, or call them in Litchfield CO to get their incredibly beautiful catalogue). They suggest you plant the entire bed with daffodils and day lilies. The first wave of bloom comes in April and May, the second in June and July and even August. This would be a low-maintenance way to get up and running. It works in both shade and sun; you could refine and change things as you go. Remember, a perennial bed is a long-term investment -- it'll be around long after you're gone.

arlington, VA: There was a recent incident where parents were turned in by their daughter for growing controlled substances. How hard is it to grow that much of the stuff in an urban environment? DO you think homegrown drug gardens are a major concern here in DC?

Adrienne Cook: I wouldn't have the slightest idea if home-grown illegal plants are a problem in D.C. Growing any plant, whether large numbers or small, indoors sucessfully depends entirely on the conditions the gardener provides. With enough lights, adequate mositure, good varieties and viable seed, and regular attention, which includes trasnplanting into larger containers as plants grow, there is almost no limit to what can be accomplished.

Alexandria, VA: You mentioned that the indoor herb garden would need 6-12 hours of flourescent light? Like the kind that's in my office? Could I put a couple of potted herbs in my office? (The lights would be on about 9 or 10 hours a day!) I've been looking for some office plants and useful ones like herbs would be fantastic! Any tips you could offer would be appreciated! Thanks!

Adrienne Cook: Did I say 6-12? That is wrong; they need more like 16-20. Well, not all herbs, but basil and cilantro would. For office herbs, try thyme, which will do fine with 8-10 hours of florescents, or a scented geranium, or rosemary. TIP: Keep a small spray bottle handy and spritz your plant whenever you think of it. Office heat can be excessively dry.

Dupont Circle: What's your favorite kind of plant food? -Do you even use plant food?-

Adrienne Cook: I do and I like fish emulsion best. The only drawback of this is that cats go for it too and they can do a lot of damage to plants that are fed this rich, organic fertilizer. Fish and kelp combined is also a good choice and the cats don't seem as drawn to it. In non-organic plant food, I use Peters. It's easy to use and readily avialbale and I have never had a bad experince with peters. A lot of folks swear by Miracle Gro.

Washington DC: The little mums that I put in the ground last fall are now HUGE -- 3 feet in diameter! When would be a good time to divide-move them?

Adrienne Cook: How lovely! Mark them carefully with stakes and as soon as they show signs of growth in the spring, dig them and divide; you can divide mums antymie during the sooler months of spring. Avoid this task after June 1. Although fall is a good time to be dividing perenniasl, by the time your mums finish blooming it's almost too late to be working in the garden and expecting herbaceous perennials to get establsiehd again before winter.

Arlington, VA: About a year and half ago, my husband and I bought an older house that had bamboo in the front and back yard -where it forms a sort of privacy fence-. We foolishly cut down the bamboo in the front during the spring last year, and it appears that only now are we winning the battle there. Do you have any strategies for attacking the bamboo in our backyard?

Adrienne Cook: Bamboo is one of the most intractable grasses once it gets established. I'm sure you found that out by battling your fron-yard invasion. River Farm, where the American Horticultral Society has its headquarters, a few years ago had a small patch one one end of an open three-acre field; today the field is no longer -- instead it is solid bamboo. I don't have a lot of suggestions for you as to how to fight your bamboo, but I do have a couple of thoughts n getting more information about it. One source is my coleague Charlie Fenyvesi, who will be hosting this chat next Thursday. He has handled this question in the past. Snother option is to take a ride down to River Farm, which is just outside Alexandria on Route 1. Talk to the horticulturalists out there. A third is to go to the Internet. There are hundreds of varieties of bamboo and as many who sell the plants and can advise on how to deal with invasive varieties.

That's all for today folks. Thanks for coming on line and making this a most interesting hour for me!

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