Black Spots On My Hydrangea

Your garden: Her plan is simple: plant what she likes

Sally Becker started her garden 13 years ago. When she bought her house in August 1998, there were no flowers. She had a pond put in and then added several beds. She eventually removed the pond and reshaped the garden. She added a patio this year and landscaped around it.

She has planted, divided and replanted every plant in her Lexington garden, she said.

Her garden is a hodgepodge of all the flowers she likes.

Here are Becker's gardening tips:

1. Bunnies like lilies — at least mine do. When I first started putting lilies in, one spring I realized that the lilies were nibbled to the ground. I'm pretty sure it's the bunnies, as I have quite a few running around my yard. To keep them from nibbling my plants down, I started cutting off the bottoms of milk cartons and old plastic plant pots and putting them over the new lily plants in the spring. I use staking sticks to keep them where they belong if the wind gets a bit wild. Then, when the lilies are tall enough, I take them off, and now I have beautiful flowers every year.

2. Rooting hydrangeas. I didn't know you could start hydrangea plants, but you can. A friend of my mom's showed me how to lay a limb down on the ground and leave it for a year or two so it would start roots. Then when it's ready to go, take a good shovel and separate the limb from the rest of the hydrangea plant, and move it to a new spot. Be warned though. Hydrangeas grow really slowly, so it will take years for a big full new plant to be there. I have done it three or four times and have nice plants as a result, but it took a while.

3. Cutting back plants. This sounds simple and logical, but I think a lot of people are afraid to do it. When plants have had their due time and start to look bad, it's time to cut them. I just did this before my July 4 party. My spiderworts were looking really tall and falling all over the place. They were still flowering, but they just were too tall and gangly, and they were getting black spots on their leaves. Cutting back makes everything else look better, and it gives other plants that are just coming out more sun and more water and just more space to take up to look beautiful.

It's the same thing with hostas. Cut the spent flowers back and enjoy the beautiful leaves of the plant. Note on hostas: the leaves are really good to cut and use in floral bouquets.

Along these lines, it's OK to cut back leaves on your plants. I do a lot of this to allow people to walk through the path and to allow other flowers to have room to grow and expand. I cut back my orange lilies a lot to allow other plants to get some sun and some water. And besides, it looks better and more kept.

Here a garden, there a garden: Hydrangea fungus

2 Weeks ago, I purchased a new hydrangea. This time I chose an endless summer.  Some of the leaves have begun to turn a sort of silvery color. It doesn't look like powdery mildew. I've been picking them off, keeping the area around it clean, and spraying with a fungicide. I don't like using chemicals in my garden, but sometimes I give in. So far, it hasn't died. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I probably shouldn't have planted it in the same spot as my old one, but darn it all - that's where I want it!

So far my Hydrangea do wonderful, but last year all of us complained about burn during the drought. I'm wondering with this one if that is part of the problem with the intense heat we've all had so early and this is on very young new leaves. Don't lose hope, might just be this year. My Forever and Ever are burning a little but I also have them in too much sun. All the rest of mine take it but not them so will probably dig them up this fall and pass them along. Good luck I live in lake effect country in Central New York where the winters are long and gardening season is short. I ran out of room in my yard for flowers so I began another garden at my grandmother's and another one around my father's pond. They all have different growing conditions and different garden pests. During the long winter I make wreaths for the Christmas season and try to be content with houseplants until I can get outside again.

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