FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

Answer: What sort of signs are you seeing on the leaves?  Round or circular holes are likely caused by slugs.  Combat them with Sluggo.  It works great against slugs.  ($3.99 for a 10 oz. container) Irregular, shredded-looking holes are likely caused by earwigs.  Combat them with Bonide’s Eight Garden Dust. ($8.99 for a 1 lb. container). 

One of the best ways to find out what is chewing on your plants is to place damp, rolled up newspapers underneath your hostas at night.  Then, take a flashlight and lift up the newspapers to see what is underneath and crawling out – look for slugs, snails or earwigs as these critters come out to feed at night.

Question: Which perennials do you sell that are deer resistant?

Answer:  First of all, we sell an excellent deer repellant called Bobbex.  It is environmentally friendly and it will not harm deer, pets or plants.  PLUS, it is long lasting, non-burning and it WILL NOT WASH OFF!!

Here’s a list of deer resistant perennials that we sell.  Note, even though these plants are considered deer resistant, deer will eat anything when they are hungry.  However, they do tend to shy away from plants that have a strong aroma or prickly foliage such as many of the following:

·         Achillea (Yarrow)

·         Aconitum (Monkshood)

·         Actaea (Fairy Candles)

·         Aegopodium (Snow-on-the-Mountain)

·         Agastache (Hyssop)

·         Ajuga (Bugleweed)

·         Alchemilla (Lady’s Mantle)

·         Allium (Onion)

·         Amsonia (Bluestar)

·         Aquilegia (Columbine)

·         Artemisia (Sage)

·         Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed)

·         Aster lateriflorus (Aster)

·         Aster oblongifolius (Aster)

·         Aubrieta (Rockcress)

·         Baptisia (Blue False Indigo)

·         Brunnera (Brunnera)

·         Calamintha (Catmint)

·         Campsis radicans (Trumpet Vine)

·         Cerastium  (Snow-in-the Summer)

·         Chelone (Turtle head)

·         Clematis paniculata (Sweet Autumn Clematis)

·         Convallaria (Lily of the Valley)

·         Coreopsis (Tickseed)

·         Dianthus (deer resistant, but bunnies DO eat this)

·         Dicentra (Bleeding Heart)

·         Digitalis (Foxglove)

·         Dracocephalum (Dragonhead)

·         Epimedium (Barrenwort)

·         Eryngium (Sea Holly)

·         Euphorbia (Spurge)

·         Galium odoratum (Sweet Woodruff)

·         Geranium x cantabrigiense (Cranesbill geranium)

·         Geranium macrorrhizum (Bigroot geranium)

·         Geranium sanguineum (Cranesbill geranium)

·         Helenium (Helen’s Flower)

·         Helleborus (Hellebore)

·         Heuchera (Coral Bells)

·         Heucherella (Foamy Bells)

·         Hypericum (St. John’s Wort)

·         Iris

·         Kalimeris (Japanese Aster)

·         Lamiastrum (Yellow Archangel)

·         Lamium (Spotted Nettle)

·         Lavandula (Lavender)

·         Leucanthemum (Shasta Daisy)

·         Liatris (Blazing-star)

·         Ligularia (Ragwort/Golden-ray)

·         Linum (Flax)

·         Lychnis (Campion/Catchfly)

·         Lysimachia (Loosestrife)

·         Monarda (Bee Balm)

·         Nepeta (Catmint)

·         Oenothera (Evening or Missouri Primrose)

·         Opuntia (Prickly Pear Cactus)

·         Origanum (Oregano)

·         Pachysandra (Spurge)

·         Papaver (Poppy)

·         Paeonia (Peony)

·         Perovskia (Russian Sage)

·         Podophyllum (Mayapple)

·         Polemonium (Jacob’s Ladder)

·         Potentilla (Cinquefoil)

·         Pycnanthemum (Virginia Mountain Mint)

·         Pulmonaria (Lungwort)

·         Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan)

·         Salvia (Sage)

·         Scuttelaria (Rainbow Skullcap)

·         Sisyrinchium (Blue-eyed Grass)

·         Solidago (Goldenrod)

·         Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ears)

·         Tanacetum coccineum (Painted Daisy)

·         Teucrium (Germander)

·         Thymus (Thyme)

·         Verbascum (Mullein)

·         Veronica (Speedwell)

·         Vinca minor (Periwinkle)

·         Yucca

Question:  I purchased a tropical palm tree early this year and recently put it outside in the sun.  It appears to be dying (it’s turning yellow).  What can I do to save my palm tree?

Answer:  Start by moving your palm into a full shade area outdoors.  It was the direct sunlight that caused your palm to start turning yellow. Sudden changes in temperature, light and humidity are traumatic to plants. This would happen to any houseplant that is brought outside for the summer.  In the future, if you wish to bring your palm outside for the summer, it needs to be done on a gradual basis.  Start by placing your potted palm in the shade for a couple weeks and gradually moving it into more light.  Your palm will be very happy in a dappled sun/shade location outside.
 

With the warmer summer temperatures and consistent watering, hopefully your palm will recover.  Since your palm is turning yellow, it is going to take a long time for it to fully revive.  If the main stalk stays green, that is a good sign.  If the palm fronds are turning yellow, they will probably turn brown after that; once they turn brown you can cut them off.  It will be a slow process and your palm may take a year to fully recover, grow new palm fronds and look healthy again, but it can be done. 

When you bring your palm back indoors in early September (before nighttime temperatures dip below 45 degrees F) your palm will be stressed out again. This stress is caused by the sudden change in temperature, the dry heat in the house and the lower light levels.  Your palm will have to re-acclimate itself again to your indoor home conditions.  This may mean that although your palm plant may have started to recover over the summer, it may turn yellow again in the house.  A gradual reintroduction to the lower light level indoors is best. Inspect your palm for insects and disease and treat accordingly before bringing your plant back inside.  Anything you can do to add humidity around your palm when it is indoors is a plus.  You can do some misting with a spray bottle, but the best thing to do is to place your potted palm in a shallow tray filled with pebbles and water.  The palm should not be sitting in the water, but should be on the pebbles sitting above the water.  As the water evaporates from the tray, it will add humidity around your palm tree.

Question:  We are interested in planting a rain garden.  Can you help us select native plants that are available in your stores?

Answer: Below is a list of twenty-three true Wisconsin native perennials that we carry that are perfect for creating a rain garden.  

·         Asclepias incarnata (Common Milkweed)

·         Aster puniceus (Purple-stemmed Aster)

·         Caltha palustris (Marsh Marigold - available only in early spring)

·         Chelone glabra (White Turtlehead)

·         Eupatorium maculatum (Joe Pye Weed)

·         Eupatorium perfoliatum (Common Boneset)

·         Filipendula rubra Venusta (Meadowsweet or Queen-of-the-Prairie)

·         Hypericum pyramidatum (St. John’s Wort)

·         Iris versicolor (Larger Blue Flag Iris)

·         Iris virginica shrevei (Virginia Flag Iris)

·         Liatris pycnostachya (Prairie Blazing Star)

·         Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)

·         Lobelia siphilitica (Great Blue Lobelia)

·         Lobelia siphilitica Alba (Great White Lobelia)

·         Monarda fistulosa (Bergamot)

·         Packera aurea (Golden Groundsel)

·         Pycnanthemum virginianum (Virginia Mountain Mint)

·         Solidago ohioensis (Ohio Goldenrod)

·         Solidago riddellii (Riddell’s Goldenrod)

·         Verbena hastata (Blue Vervain)

·         Vernonia fasciculata (Ironweed)

·         Veronicastrum virginicum (Virginia Culver’s Root)

·         Zizia aurea (Divided Golden Alexander)

Answer: It is not recommended to use Preen Mulch Plus around food producing fruit or nut trees, vegetables, herbs, or other food plants. Note, flower seeds will not germinate or reseed while your Preen Mulch Plus is active; wait 6 months from when you applied the Preen if you are planting annual or vegetable seeds. 

Rule of thumb when mulching: Apply a 2" to 3" layer of mulch around perennials. Avoid mulching directly around the stems of plants and trunks of trees. Spread the mulch evenly and avoid compacting or matting it down.

Regarding annuals: the mulch should be placed around and between the plants. Avoid covering your annual plants, and keep the mulch an inch or two away from the plant stems.