Ask and Answer Flower Questions Archive - Jun 2008

By Geneva Lybeck: How do I open a Bird of Paradise. I got some in a cut flower bouquet and cannot tell how to open them from the instructions?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Actually we did not follow your query.

What do you do by opening the Birds of Paradise flower from a bouquet.?

Please, specify the question.

BY Ariel: What is the information on a golden rod?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Ariel,

The goldenrod is a yellow flowering plant in the Family Asteraceae.

By Sherry: Would you please let me know how often I should water my red poppies? I have them planted in full sun.

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Sherry,

Red Poppies need Average Water Needs. But Water regularly. Make sure do not overwater.

Average water needs implies that water the plant when the top soil dries up.

By Geneva Lybeck: How do I open a Bird of Paradise. I got some in a cut flower bouquet and cannot tell how to open them from the instructions.

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Geneva,

Actually we did not follow your query.

What do you do by opening the Birds of Paradise flower from a bouquet.?

Please, specify the question.

By Cindy Quick: I need to move my iris bed soon as new ditches are going to be dug and they will be destroyed if I don't. They are finished blooming. What is the best way to transplant them this time of year?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Cindy,

Irises can be transplanted in August.

You can transplant Iris 2-3 weeks after finished blooming.

Dig the clump up and pry the rhizomes apart, discarding all shriveled and diseased parts.

Stalks which produced flowers this year will not produce again.

They provide food to the new side shoots which will be next summers bloomers, so be sure to leave these new shoots attached to the mother.

Cut the leaves back to about 6-7 inches.

When replanting, be sure to dig in a good granular bulb food into the soil.

Dig a hole of ample size for root development and mound the soil in the center so that the roots may be spread over the 'saddle'.

Barely cover the rhizomes with soil.

When you plant your irises, make sure the top surface of the rhizome is level with or just slightly below the soil surface.

If you bury the rhizome too deeply, the plant may refuse to flower.

Do NOT mulch directly over the rhizomes.

By Melanie: I was just wondering what I do with my Tiger Lily in the winter?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Melanie,

Tiger Lilies require little attention. Tiger Lilies prefer moist to wet soils.

That's why they grow so well in and near ditches.

Fertilizer is not needed, except in the poorest of soils.

They thrive in most regions of the U.S..

Tiger Lilies do not require winter protection or any wnter care.

If once established, they will thrive and grow year after year.

By Janet: How do I physically obtain the correct pH levels for plants such as New Guinea Impatiens? I have no idea

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Janet,

The soil is tested to measure pH (acidity), soluble salts, and specific major and minor elements. A soil test is designed to extract plant available nutrients for analysis.

This accomplished by using an extracting solution which mimics the root systems in terms extracting nutrients from the soil.

Nowadays, for greenhouse soilless media, the most common extracting solution is distilled water and the standard test is the saturated media extract (SME) method.

In this procedure a paste is formed by mixing the sample with distilled water and, following an equilibration period, the liquid portion is analyzed for its nutrient content. Two other methods are used by some labs - 1:2 dilution and 1:5 dilution. These involve mixing the sample with larger volumes of water then equilibrating, filtering and analyzing the extract. All three are accepted methods, but SME is used by most commercial and many state labs.

By Barbara: I have brought up your site to learn more about statice. From seed I have some plants which I suspect are statice from the look of the picture provided on your site - aside - some of my seeding attempts were labeled, some were not. The statice I planted is labeled LIMONIUM SINUATUM.Your site doesn't mention SINUATUM. Can you advise. My limonium is now about 12" and white flowers.

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Barbara,

Limonium latifolium (syn. Limonium gerberi; Statice latifolia)

Limonium latifolium, and Limonium sinuatum both can be refered as Sea Lavenders.

They are species different.

Yes, it has not been mentioned in our site, thanks for your advice.

By K Sharman: Now that my wall flowers have finished blooming do I pull them out or leave them to grow again?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Sharman,

Wallflowers grow quickly, smell delicious, bloom nonstop and come in so many pretty colors.

Cut out the spent flower stems of perennial wallflowers to produce a second crop

They don't spread, grow too large or need deadheading.

But, You can deadhead Wall flowers as they are perennials.

Cut back and dead-head early flowering perennials to smarten up the garden.

Wallflowers can be pinched out the tips and cut back.

By Diane: How to deadhead salvia flowers?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Diane,

Deadheading means pinching or cutting back old flowers to encourage continuous bloom. You can Cut down the entire bloom plant stalk back in half, for the perennials, like salvias.

You can keep Salvia flowers blooming longer in the summer season by deadheading them when the flowers are spent.

By tyler: i need to know how to start the growing process of mums....not from the seedlings but from the greens

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear tyler,

Select a spot that gets at least six hours of sun a day. Plants that don't get enough sunlight will be tall and leggy and

produce fewer, smaller flowers.

Mums thrive in well-drained soil.

Heavy clay soil should be amended.

If your yard is soggy after the slightest rain, grow mums in raised beds with friable soil for good root growth.

If the soil is too dense, add compost and prepare to a depth of 8-12 inches for best performance.

Mums' roots are shallow, and they don't like competition.

Plant mums about 1 inch deeper than they were in the nursery pot, being careful with the roots as you spread them.

By Brenda Altorf: To get a good feeling about the USA floral industry, which trade fair or events would you advice?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Brenda,

In Miami, World Floral Expo - WFE's conducts its yearly held Trade Show inviting the World Floral Industry to exhibit any floral and/or foliage products ready to be offered for US Floral Consumption.

By Corina: I live in Canada and bought a Gerbera Daisy Well today my son plucked all the petals from it. It is outdoors on my front step. Is this plant finished blooming/growing?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Corina,

If you want the plant to give more blooms, first place it indoors where it gets 6 hours of sulight.

Gerberas cannot stand outdoors. Gerbera plants grown in locations with insufficient light will not flower well.

With little bit of care, you can have beautiful blooms.

Remove spent Gerbera blooms to encourage further flowering.

Remove flower stalks of wilted blooms at the base of the crown.

Remove yellowing leaves, if any, to reduce the possibility of fungus infection.

By sharon: How do you prune gerber daiseys. My daiseys are all cracked at the stem?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear sharon,

Deadhead the spent gerbera daisy flowers by cutting them off close to the crown.

Water the Gerberas regularly, so that they will grow well.

By William: I have just purchased some Agapanthus plants and I am about to put them into larger pots. Do they require and acid soil like Ericacious or an ordinary compost?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear William,

Agapanthus grows well in Sandy Acid soils.

Agapanthus plants are heavy feeders and do not bloom well if undernourished or grown in too shady a location.

By Ann Lewis: The bottom leaves on my Princess Lily are yellowing and then traveling up the stem. Is there a problem?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Ann,

Synonyms of Pricess Lily are Parrot Lily, Parrot Flower, Peruvian Lily, Lily of the Incas,

Alstroemeria psittacina.

When the leaves of Alstroemeria, turn yellow, go on and pick them, as this will encourage new growth.

Alstroemeria perform best when plants receive frequent, fairly heavy watering, because most of the roots are located in the top layer of the soil.

Only when growth is very intensive in the autumn and winter, or when the leaves turn yellow is it better to give less water for a few weeks.

Leaf yellowing is a major problem in Alstroemeria and absence of leaf senescence symptoms is an important quality attribute.

The leaves turn yellow when the plant is under stress. This can be caused by:

Extreme heat or cold

Insufficient water

Insufficient feeding

When this occurs, pull out all the yellow stems, sprinkle a handful of 3:1:5 slow release fertiliser and a layer of compost around the plant and water very well.

By McClain: One of my iris has developed pods where the dead flowers where, what is it and can it be used for anything?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear McClain,

The Iris seed pods contain seeds in them.

They hold seeds in them.

These seed pods have to turn from green to brown before they open to disperse seeds.

By Diane:How to deadhead salvia flowers?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Diane,

Deadheading means pinching or cutting back old flowers to encourage continuous bloom. You can Cut down the entire bloom plant stalk back in half, for the perennials, like salvias.

You can keep Salvia flowers blooming longer in the summer season by deadheading them when the flowers are spent.

By Jane:i have a calla lily -when would i plant it in the ground,now or in the fall?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Jane,

Callas start to bloom around April and May.

Do not transplant now, as it is their bloom time.

Transplant callas in the spring when danger of frost has passed.

During the fall and winter, the leaves may die back.

Divide in the winter.

By Teresa Day:When can I cut off my daffodils? The blooms are now died.

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Teresa,

Daffodils should be fertilized 1-2 times during the growing season: in early spring and again in late spring after the blooms wither.

Deadhead (cut spent blooms) off from the daffodils after flowering.

The removal of the spent flower heads will ensure that energy is directed into bulb improvement and not into producing seeds.

Seeds in daffodils are swollen green round bags just behind where the flower used to be.

Since Daffodil is a perennial, every 5 to 10 years, divide the clumps of bulbs in early summer.

By Cherry Harper:What causes gardenia leaves to yellow? Ours is yellowing from the inside leaves out.

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Cherry,

Yellow leaves (particularly seen in spring): Leaf yellowing in Gardenias and other bushes has generally been attributed to a magnesium deficiency and treated with applications of Epsom salts (sulphate of magnesium) but the plant is probably more in need of an all purpose fertiliser and a good watering.

By Renee: We have a cherry tree that we planted, in full sun, 2 years ago. We have never gotton any blooms any ideas?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Renee

Weeping Cherries prefers full sun to partial shade and does not do well in dry soils.The soil must be moist not dry.

Try add a little of potash, which may help for blooming flowers.

It there is any transplantation, it will take 1-3 years to recover.

If it is palnted more deeply, it will not grow properly.

By Lorrie Hojnacki: I have some Iris rhizomes that are fairly large. what they were...possibly a blue colored variety?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Lorrie,

If your plants are doing well, then have patience, they will bloom next time. There might have some problems during transplanting. Only 60-75% of Iris bloom the first year after planting. Sometimes they need an extra year to become established.

When you plant your irises, make sure the top surface of the rhizome is level with or just slightly below the soil surface. Do NOT mulch directly over the rhizomes. To improve your chances of bloom, add fertilizer and divide large clumps.

Reasons for non-blooming of Irises:-

Lack of full sun, good drainage, lots of space, and quality soil to bloom consistently. Unfavourable weather conditions or late spring frosts can also harm bloom. If you bury the rhizome too deeply, the plant may refuse to flower.

By Delyth: my mother recently had a bouquet delivered to her that had some small square shape white flowers in it.what are these flowers?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Delyth,

Probably your are talking about Baby's breath (Gypsophila elegans) .

They are Four-petaled star-shaped white or occasionally pink blooms form airy essence over fine deep green foliage. They are Good filler for cut flower bouquet/garden.

By Jane: what are the enlongated green pods that are growing on my iris?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Jane,

They are the Iris seed pods containing seeds in them.

These seed pods have to turn from green to brown before they open to disperse seeds.

By Shawn: I have an Angle Wing Begonia that is growing wonderfully but will not bloom.How is it bloom?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Shawn,

Angle Wing Begonias are easy to grow and wonderful houseplants year-round. They need bright light.

Fertilize every month only between April and October with a dilute 20-20-20 mix.

Angle Wing Begonias should be placed in a bright east or west window. Bright light intensifies the leaf colorations and promotes good flower development.

Probably your Angel wing begonia is not receiving sufficient Bright light, due to which the flowering is not seen, and also as there is no proper fertilization, thats causing the excessive growth of the plant.

As you have said, you water it regularly, but Water the plants only when the soil is dry.

By Someone: I live in Michigan and I am trying to find out what type of Irises I have growing?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Sir,Though the literature says that there is a single flower to an Iris stalk, there has been proofs of the flower stalks having 3 flowers, like wild Yellow Iris.

By Amy: "I just bought a Heather plant "Erica Ventricosa", I'm looking on how to care for it in south Ohio?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Amy,

In order to keep heather looking really nice, the plants should be pruned each year immediately after they have finished flowering. For the winter flowering varieties that generally means pruning in late April to mid-May. Prune or shear just below the old spent flowers. Pruning is essential if you want to keep the plants bushy and compact, otherwise they tend to open-up in the center and look rather ragged. The biggest advantage in pruning is that it will result in additional flowers the following year.

By Jeanette: I have a Calla Lily plant and the white on the flowers has faded to just green.What if anything did I do wrong?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Jeanette,

Calla Lily is very good cut flower.

I think your Calla flower is going through its normal progression from normal color to green before it finally fades altogether. There is nothing you can do to restore the color.

By Dennis: I would like to know if is there a flower that represents wisdom or understanding?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Dennis,

Flower representing Wisdom is or understanding is Iris.

Other Flower meanings for Iris - Faith; Wisdom; Valor; Promise; My compliments; Hope; Message

By Noelia: How to get rid of tiny bugs with out damaging my whole gardenia bush. What kind of spray can I use on the flower?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Dear Noelia,

Probably the problem is by thrips, on gardenia blooms. They stay in the centre of the flower and eat the petals.

To avoid thrips, spray a mild insecticide directly into the bloom just before it opens. The thrips are not on the whole plant, so don't spray anywhere except into the center of the soon-to-open bloom. Each bloom gets one spritz of insecticide. If the bloom takes a while to open, you may have to spray a spritz each day to make sure the thrips are gone. Organic gardeners use garlic spray instead of insecticide.

By Ariel: What is golden rod?

Answer By The Flower Expert: The goldenrod is a yellow flowering plant in the Family Asteraceae.

By Morrow: Do I remove faded or wilted lily blossoms by cutting them at the base of the blossom or by simply removing the petals?

Answer By The Flower Expert:When a Lily blooms is spent, you need to remove it from the plant.To deadhead the spent bloom follow the stem to the base of the plant and cut the stems off.

By Nancy: When do I trim or cut down the leaves of Daffodils in Cincinnati, Ohio?

Answer By The Flower Expert: If you have a nice sunny spot in your yard then you can plant them. Just make sure you leave all the leaves and greenery on the bulbs because they need to absorb all the sun they can get in order to rebloom next spring. The greenery will eventually die back after the bulbs have absorbed the energy.

As long as you experience a cold winter then you can put them in the ground and leave them there. If you do not live in an area where it gets cold then can leave them in their container and set them in a sunny location so they can absorb the light energy and then you will to keep them in the refrigerator during the winter months if you want them to bloom again.

Then it should be just fine for you to find a sunny spot in your yard to let them soak up the sun, die back, and then reemerge next Spring.

By Iris: What flower grows fast and dies quickly?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Bamboo plants are the fastest growing plants in the world.

They die soon after flowering.

By Christina: Is Freesia poisonous to cats?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Yes, Freesia flowering plants are dangerous to cats.

Iris, freesia, and other flowers can be dangerous to cats.

By Sam: Can Jasmines do well as a house plant?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Yes, you can do it well as a houseplant.

Sue: A recently planted gardenia bush, has a lot of lower leaves turning yellow. What does it need?

Answer By The Flower Expert: Yellow leaves (particularly seen in spring): Leaf yellowing in Gardenias and other bushes has generally been attributed to a magnesium deficiency and treated with applications of Epsom salts (sulphate of magnesium) but the plant is probably more in need of an all purpose fertiliser and a good watering.

Apply fertiliser in spring when weather begins to warm and yellow leaves begin to show.

By Sondra Howel: Where can I order a book with pictures of various floral designs?

By Webmaster: Mastering the Art of Floral Design by Paula Pryke's is the best book it gives good information and pictures of various floral designs. You can buy them at Amazon. Mastering the Art of Floral Design by Paula Pryke's is the best book it gives good information and pictures of various floral designs.You can also look at these books also The Complete Book of Floral Design and Wedding Bouquets: Over 300 Designs for Every Bride.