Plant Q & A Texas A&M

Coral vine Q&A


Q. What is the vine with pink flowers that the bees seem to love? It grows over our shed.

A. The vine you are describing is called coral vine, also called queen’s crown. It is a beautiful vine, but it can overwhelm a landscape. The saving grace is that coral vine is cold sensitive. It dies back to the roots every winter.

Q. Tell us about stocks. We usually plant snapdragons and pansies for the winter but have heard good things about stocks.

A. Stocks rate high on my list of favorite winter annuals. The flowers are more pastel colored then snapdragons. Select the tallest stocks you can find, the short ones are less showy. Stocks make good cut flowers, because the flowers are attractive and have a marvelous fragrance.

Q. When can we expect our red oak leaves to fall? We have a cedar elm that is already dropping leaves.

A. It depends on the soil that it is growing in, how much water it has received and how cold it gets. I would be surprised if it drops any leaves before December. Cedar elms use leaf drop as a drought-tolerance mechanism. They don’t fight adverse conditions. They have the attitude that next year will be better.

Q. What insecticide controls stink bugs on tomatoes? We have tried Safer soap and Spinosad without any success.

A. In my experience, carbaryl (Sevin) is the most effective insecticide for controlling stink bugs. They are large, mobile and hard to kill.

Q. We are going to try to grow iris again. What is the trick with them?

A. Irises are very tough and tolerant of drought. Plant them in full sun. What usually kills them is if the soil stays soggy or they are planted too deep. The top of the rhizome should be level with the soil surface in well drained or dry soil.

CALVIN R. Finch, Ph.D. is a Horticulturist and Director of Texas A&M Water Conservation and Technology Center. Do you have a question for him? Write to him at calvin.finch@tamu.edu.



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