Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
April is a good month to plant a bed of geraniums. Geraniums are easily grown, will tolerate a range of conditions and, when massed together, make a colorful impact in the landscape. Choose a well-drained area and mix several inches of compost or peat moss into the top 6 inches of soil. Allow ample space, about 15 inches, for the plants to grow; water and fertilize regularly.
Herbaceous perennials can provide color in your landscape every season. Once established, they require less maintenance than annuals and have the advantage of being a permanent part of a landscape. Perennials work best when planted in masses for maximum color effect.
Evergreen shrubs provide a beautiful backdrop for large drifts or clumps of herbaceous perennials; agapanthus, verbena, lantana, blue daze and daylily are a few to try.
Gerbera is another perennial favorite that grows to about 12 to 18 inches; it makes a good bedding and cut flower plant. Gerberas are prone to powdery mildew, a fungus that occurs when plants have been exposed to prolonged wetness during humid weather. Spray infected plants with Daconil 2787.
Cut pests down to scale
* Magnolia scale is common on the trees in this area. The adults, about one-half inch in diameter, are covered with a waxy secretion that gives them a white, dusty appearance. Infected trees have reduced vigor and poor growth. The foliage and twigs may also be covered with a black fungus called sooty mold that forms on the honeydew secreted by the scales.
Immature scales overwinter on twigs. Spray small trees with horticultural oil. Contact a commercial pest control company for effective treatment of large trees.
* Gardenias should be in full bloom now, so keep a lookout for diseases and insects that spoil the flowers and foliage, such as aphids, thrips, whiteflies and scale insects.
* Watch for cottony cushion scale on pittosporum, and be prepared to treat at its first appearance. Cottony cushion is a soft scale, and the waxy covering they secrete is not attached to their bodies. Sooty mold on the stems and leaves is a good indication of a scale infestation. Malathion and horticultural oil emulsion offer good control of this pest.
* Be on the watch for chinch bugs. Infested lawns exhibit patches of dead strawlike grass where the bugs have been feeding. Look into the grass mat bordering the dead areas for the tiny black-and-white, winged sucking insects. Young chinch bugs, about the size of a pinhead, are red. Control with a product containing bifenthrin or Orthene.
Oak-leaf zapper
One of the most common leaf diseases in Florida is oak leaf blister (Taphrina caerulesscens). During cool, wet springs it may become epidemic and infect almost every leaf on a tree.
Other than some slight loss of growth and excessive leaf drop, the tree itself receives little damage. Live, water and laurel oaks seem particularly susceptible to this disease. Any successful treatment should have started when new growth began in February.
Fruit of the vine first-aid
If your grapevines didn't produce well last year, it's a good idea to have the soil pH tested. Grapes grow best in a slightly acid soil, with a pH of 5.2 to 6.0.
Some varieties are self-sterile and need another variety for pollination. Black rot and bitter rot are fruit diseases that cause damage if the vines are not sprayed. The bloom-time spray is especially important. Use CP Basic Copper TS 53 or Topcrop F 29. One of these sprays should be used every 10 to 14 days, or as needed, until one week before harvest.
If caterpillars and aphids become a problem, a mixture of Malathion for aphid control and sevin orthuricide for caterpillars (added the fungicide), can save you the trouble of spraying twice. Organic gardeners can use oil and soap sprays.
Keep garden fruitful
* It is time for the citrus postbloom spray. This should be done before the fruits are three-quarter inch in diameter. Use malathion for aphids, whiteflies and scales. Neutral copper can be added to the malathion mix to aid in scab, melanose and greasy spot control.
* Fruits that are ripe this month include bananas, Barbados cherry, blackberries, custard apples, eugenias, loquat, nectarines, peaches, raspberries, star apples and tropical apricots.
Return of the cicadas
Cicadas, also known as "17-year locusts," are neither locusts, nor do they appear every 17 years. They show up yearly, are 11/2 to 2 inches long, and are relatives of leafhoppers, aphids, scale and other sucking insects. They use their beak to suck juice from tree limbs or trunks, but their feeding damages the plant very little.
Young cicadas, known as nymphs, live in the soil and feed on the juices of plant roots. When fully grown, the nymphs emerge and grab a nearby tree trunk and split the nymphal skin.
Control is difficult; tolerance is suggested.
Cocky with good reason
Commonly called cockscomb, the crested celosia grows well in the summer and can be planted by seed or as bedding plants. Seeds germinate in a week and plants will bloom in about two months.
There are dwarf or tall varieties, and they come in pink, purple, orange, yellow and red. The large crested varieties have 6- to 10-inch flower heads. Plumed varieties, called "princess feathers," are spectacular in form and provide dramatic garden color as well as unusual cut flowers. They can be dried or used in arrangements.
Beautiful and delicious
Sweet potato plants not only make a delicious vegetable, but are attractive ground cover. They are a long-season crop, so they need to be fed during the growing period. Use a 5-10-10 or similar fertilizer every five or six weeks.
The time to trim
Prune leggy, overgrown azalea plants once the flowers are gone. Pruning encourages new growth, making a stronger and fuller plant. Prune azaleas several times during the early summer but stop around July to allow time for flower wood to form.
If other spring-flowering shrubs and trees are finished blooming, they should be pruned now. Vines should also be cut back to help keep them in bounds. Hibiscus, which blooms almost year-round, should be pruned periodically to control growth.
Plants with plumes
The fountainlike form and feathery plumes of pampas grass (Cortaderiaselloana) make it one of the most striking ornamental grasses for landscape use. It adapts to various soils but prefers well-drained, sandy soil. Shade-grown pampas grass tends to be stunted and poorly formed and will not grow well if overwatered.
When you purchase a pampas grass plant, look for container-grown specimens with numerous young shoots coming up from the base of the central plant. Pampas grass can be propagated by division or started from seeds. There are male and female plants. (The plumes of the male plant are not as showy.)
Multiply your cannas
Canna clumps that have been in the ground for three or four years should be divided now. Take a sharp knife, cut the rootstock into sections; be careful to include a growth bud on each section.
Plant the sections in a well-prepared rich soil about 3 to 5 inches deep, spacing them 15 to 20 inches apart. Remember, cannas massed in one color give the best effect.
Keep cannas producing by cutting the part of the stem that bloomed just below the flowers after they have withered. Usually a second flower shoot, growing from the node just below the terminal flower, will be halfway in bloom. Do this after each group of flowers withers. Water generously throughout the growing season.
The weed of the month
Cupid's shaving brush or tassel-flower is prevalent in the area this time of year. An annual weed with crimson or bright scarlet flower heads on long stalks, this plant produces by seed and is found in open areas, lawns and other moist, disturbed areas.
Compiled by Pamela Brown and Nancy R. Volmar of the Pinellas County Extension/Florida Botanical Gardens. If you have questions, call them at (727) 582-2100.