IN THE GARDEN
Q I have a young redbud tree that a few years ago I transplanted. Since then, I gave it perfect conditions; mostly full sun but some dappled shade for part of the year, plenty of water, etc. This year, it again gave me no flowers. It goes straight to leaves. Is this because of its age, and will it eventually bloom? Or is there a random species of redbuds that don’t bloom at all? I’ll dig it out and replace it if it will never bloom, but I don’t want to wait too much longer. It’s already pretty big.
A I do think it is because of its age. The first three to five years, young redbuds tends to grow fairly rapidly. After that, the growth slows down and they start to bloom, provided they have plenty of sunlight. While the tree is young is the time to get it’s branching structure managed so it has strong crotch angles and a sturdy structure.
Q About four years ago, I planted sweet olive and Green Giant shrubs. The cold weather has taken a toll on the sweet olives as shown in the picture (see reader photo). There is some green at the bottom, so should I cut off all of the remaining dead limbs? Also my Green Giant is dying on one side, but is showing growth on the other side. Any suggestion on what I should do?
A Last year we had some damage on sweet olives, but most of them grew back quite nicely. I am surprised the damage is worse this season. Prune out anything you know for certain is dead — you can lightly scrape some of the bark back on the top of the limbs to test them. Gradually retrain them. As for the Green Giant arborvitae, they will recover more slowly. You have two choices — replace them with something else or prune the dead half and see if the plant can fill in enough to give you a decent shape.
Needle-type evergreens do not bounce back like broad-leaved plants. Replacement buds are usually only where there is green growth.
Q I have several Knock Out roses that I did not prune yet this season. Now I see flowers starting. Have I missed my opportunity? They are really too big where they are.
A While we prefer to prune Knock Out roses before new growth is too far along, you can still prune. It just means you will have fewer flowers. You have some options:
• Prune as much as you want now, and wait for them to rebound and bloom.
• Let them give you your first flush of blooms, and then prune or prune every other branch and enjoy the other blooms.
• When the branches you pruned begin to bloom, prune the other half. Pruning roses in the summer doesn’t hurt the plants, it just gives you fewer flowers for a bit.
• Not pruning at all, which will give you an overly large plant with more woody stems, and fewer blooms over the long run.
Q When I read your column about the white flowering trees on the road to Hot Springs that you said were ornamental pears, I immediately thought of some other blooming
trees near the Victory Bible camp near Carthage on Arkansas 9. They are called Paulownia trees and are very unusual for the area.
A Royal paulownia trees or Paulownia tomentosa have lovely pale purple flowers in large clusters. The trees can grow quite large. After bloom, they produce clusters of seed pods that open in the fall resulting in a lot of new trees. I tend to see colonies of paulownia trees but not as far spreading as the pear trees. While both trees can be pretty in bloom, they can be invasive, and both are weak trees, easily damaged by storms. I get a lot of questions about what this plant is when it is young. The paulownia looks like a giant elephant ear leaf and grows like the beanstalk in “Jack and the Beanstalk” at first.
Retired after 38 years with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Janet Carson ranks among Arkansas’ best known horticulture experts. Her blog is at arkansasonline.com/planitjanet. Write to her at P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203 or email
jcarson@arkansasonline.com