Q: I have an azalea bed with at least four different varieties of azaleas. For the past two years, the azaleas all bloomed at different times. Is there any way I can get them to bloom at the same time? — Jim Lade, Cherokee County
A: There is no way. Different species and varieties of azaleas bloom at different times. There are early, mid-spring and late-spring blooming types. Satsuki (literally "fifth month") azaleas bloom in May. Encore and Bloomin' Again azaleas bloom two or three times throughout the year. You can simply enjoy what you have or replace the ones that bloom at the time you don't like.
Q: I recently had a landscape company seed my yard with centipede grass. They scattered wheat straw over it. Now I have a yard of wheat plants rather than centipede grass. — Lee Judge, east Cobb
A: It's time to mow the wheat low to the ground: 2 inches high should be sufficient to kill it. If no lawn fertilizer was applied, you can do it now with a one-half strength application, followed by another similar application in four weeks. Do not use weed control products. They can inhibit the growth of centipede grass seedlings.
Q: Many years ago, in a momentary lapse of reason, I planted garlic chives in my herb garden. Now, I am finding garlic chives popping up all over my new landscape and they are no longer welcome. What can I use to kill these little monsters? — Lesley Giancola, Acworth
A: Yes, garlic chives can be quite the traveler! You have to be persistent with two procedures: First, snip flowers off the plants whenever seen. This keeps them from going to seed, and that is the way they spread most vigorously. Second, buy a water weeder (leevalley.com) and use that to lift clumps of bulbs from the ground. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time getting all of the bulbs from the ground using a trowel. Be persistent, and the garlic chives will be gone by summer's end.
Q: I'm not sure how to determine when figs are ripe. What's a rule of thumb? — Dave Vogelpohl, Forsyth County
A: Brown figs, like 'Celeste' and 'Brown Turkey', are ripe when the fruit turns from yellow to brown. The skin will have little cracks in it, which may seep droplets of sap. More positively, when you see wasps in your fig tree, the figs are ripe!
Q: We are planning an outside wedding for this October. The bride wants sunflowers, and we need to know what type of sunflowers to plant that will bloom during September into October. — Louise Jones, Jonesboro
A: It's really tough to predict the planned emergence of flowers. Sunflowers can take 80 to 120 days to bloom. It all depends on the variety and eventual size. Choose varieties that mature at 2 to 4 feet and plant some every two weeks until late June.
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