Pahls

Dear Dee:    About 5 years ago, I purchased an AUNT DEE WISTERIA from Pahl’s, it did wonderful, then we sold our home.  I’d like to purchase another one for our new home.  Do you still carry them?  I drive by our old home, and can see the Wisteria from the road and it is [...]

I have put in 2 Beautiful Mandarin Honeysuckle plants in one of my gardens. I live in the west suburbs of Illinois.  When I do my “winterizing”, should I cut them down?  Or, do I leave the stems on the trelis?  Please, if you could, an e-mail on this would be helpful.  The plants are [...]

I have several Hibiscus plants that my mother bought for me last year. They have spent the winter in a spare bedroom because I have no room for them. I do give them water but they really don’t look that good. What chance will they come back this summer even with some good fertilizer?  Dear [...]

Question: I have a Manettia bicolor plant. The plant has brown on the leaves. Any suggestions as to what, if anything, I am doing wrong? The plant is just starting to lower again. Is it supposed to flower all year long? Thanks! Rhonda Dear Rhonda, The Manettia bicolor is a tropical vine.  Also known as [...]

I bought a Alice Dupont Mandevilla last year…by season end it was absolutely beautiful. I was told by a fellow gardener to spray it with a pesticide before bringing it in. I did. As the days went by, the leaves dropped off – totally. I kept it at the east window -a couple months ago [...]

Dear Dee, Our crab apple trees in our front yard have spots on the leaves and they are now falling off of the tree. The berries are also out on the tree which I thought come out in the fall. I read on the Apple Valley website that this could be apple scab? Is there [...]

Dear Dee, What can I do when I will be planting trees and shrubs in a mostly clay area? Chris Clay Dear Chris Clay, My best advise to you is dig the hole not only deep enough but wide enough also. After this is accomplished add some soil conditioner, peat moss, and also incorporate some [...]

Dear Dee, My husband planted a Princeton Gold maple last May. So far this year it hasn’t budded. Do you think it has died? Mary Dear Mary, Check and see if the tips are still bendable, if they break off then most likely the tree is dead, but bring us a sample of the tree in question.  About a six inch [...]

Dear Dee:    We just purchased a River Birch from Pahl’s and had it delivered and planted in early August.  The river birch leaves have since yellowed and begun falling off the tree.  The branches look healthy, and there are still some green leaves, but of course, we’re concerned about the health of the tree [...]

We planted a Royal Red Maple tree in late May. We followed the planting directions and have been watering it 2-3 times per week. We live just west of Chicago (zone 5) and have soil that is very full of clay. Our tree’s leaves quickly began to brown and it has dropped some leaves. At first we thought it [...]