Frequently asked gardening questions

By Melanie Mathieson
Gardening Guru

This column will cover some of the questions I have been frequently asked by the public. You also, may have been wondering about some of these questions yourself. Gardeners should never be shy about asking each other for information or advice as this is how we learn and become more skilled.
Why are radishes so hot one year and mild other years?
When radishes are exposed to hot and dry conditions their flesh takes on a stronger flavour and a more intense heat. I recommend that you sow radish seeds early in the spring and harvest before we get the really hot dry conditions in July. Sow another crop around mid-August and enjoy into the fall. With the moister and cooler conditions you will enjoy milder radishes. I also recommend that during hot conditions that you keep the soil moisture at an even moisture level, as this will help to off set the effects of the hotter weather. Onions are also affected in the same way and although hot peppers love intense heat the dry conditions will also make the peppers hotter.
I think that my neighbour and I have the same plant in our garden but she swears that they are the not same plant because they have different names on the tag. We bought them at different places and two years apart. Who is right?
A common problem with plants is that even the same plant can have multiple names. Scientists and nursery growers use the Latin name given to a plant in order to eliminate any question about which plant they are talking about. Many plants for the garden are hybridized to create new species with favourable and appealing characteristics. Along with Latin names plants have common names and sometimes the same plant can have more than one common name. This can be very confusing for gardeners because they think they have different plants based on the name alone. It is always wise to check a couple of reference books to see if the common name(s) is listed for the plant in question. Two gardeners can have a plant from the same family (hostas, irises, petunias, roses etc.) and both look almost identical to the human eye but can have a different name. This is usually because they are a hybrid within the same family. For instance you can have two plants with the same flower colour and the leaves look the same, but one could have been hybridized to have more flowers or a longer bloom time. You and your neighbour could each have a plant from the same family but different hybrids or the exact same plant each tagged with a different common name.
I have some plants (pansies) in my flower bed that keep coming back year after year, but all the books say that they are annuals and have to be replanted every year. Do I have a special perennial version of this plant?
The short answer is no. Many annual flowers when left in the flowerbed until late fall will produce seed that falls on the soil. If the flowerbed soil is left alone or only disturbed slightly the following spring, these seeds come to life and produce new plants. This does not make the plant a perennial. This is just a plant that has self-seeded and produced new plants the following season. Many plants such as annual poppies, pansies, violets (Johnny jump-ups), annual alyssum, annual phlox, zinnias, hollyhocks are all common annuals that some people think are perennial because they come back each year, when in reality it is last fall’s seeds that have produced new plants.
Can I go to the bush and dig up a plant or tree that I like and bring it home and plant it in my yard or garden?
I always recommend to all gardeners to never do this and there is more than one reason why. The first and most important reason is that many plants are protected species and it is against provincial law to remove these plants from their natural habitat. Imagine if every gardener went to the forest to gather the plants that they want for their flowerbed every time they wanted a plant. Over time the forest would be stripped of all of the plants and eventually many of these plants would go extinct.
That is why wild plants are protected by provincial law. Also keep in mind that if you dig a plant or tree from the bush it is very hard to replicate the habitat that plant is used to in your own garden and the plant will most likely die.
Many plants growing under the canopy of a forest of trees do not survive in the bright sun of a flowerbed. You can also bring a disease that is present in the soil of the forest home to your own garden. Many wild species are just that wild, which often means that symmetrical growth and premium aesthetics are not the main priority of wild plants. Our nursery growers have worked very hard for decades developing plants that originated in the wild but will now thrive in your garden. These nursery hybrids have the very best characteristics for growth, looks and form and perform and look better in your garden than any wild plant from the bush. For the best garden you should always make a point to buy high quality nursery stock.
I have window boxes in front of my windows planted with annual flowers. I have tried many different types of flowers for full sun because my window faces south. Each year after a few weeks the plants turn brown and brittle and are all dried up even though I water them everyday. What is wrong?
I think many gardeners may have this problem and the solution is simple but it hasn’t even occurred to the gardener. When you have planters right up against your windows that get strong sun throughout the day not only are your plants exposed to the sun shining on your plants but the sun reflected back onto the plants from the windows.
Remember how we tried to burn paper or ants on the sidewalk as kids with a magnifying glass? Well the sun reflecting off of your windows onto your plants is doing the same thing. To solve the problem you need to move the planters away from the windows.
The plants can still be in the full sun but far enough from the windows that the sun doesn’t reflect back onto the planters. When I designed the garden by the hospital entrance this was a big concern for part of the garden. I had to plant plants that could withstand the reflection from the windows and endure the full sun all day. The plants I chose (purple sand cherry and dragon’s blood sedum{stonecrop}) have successfully withstood these dire conditions and but also screen the plants in front of them from the intense heat and reflection caused by the window.
I hope you have found these answers to these frequently asked questions helpful. I will try to feature more columns like this in the future. Who knows maybe you’ll see your question in print sometime soon.