Q: My mother has a a white iris in her flower bed that bloomed in the spring and then again in September and December! Could you tell me what variety it is? Kelly Peabody, Douglasville
A: Mark Franklin, iris expert at MP Flowers (Birmingham Hwy., Alpharetta), says it could be 'Winter Wonderland' or 'Clouds Adrift' or 'Skating Party.' The Georgia Iris Society (www.gairis.org) has regular sales and shows. Shop around and see what you can find.
Q: My camellia bush has been full of buds in fall for the last two years but none of them open. They eventually all fall off. What can I do? Radio caller
A: An hour after you called, a listener named Kip rang me up to say that an older colleague at Pike Nursery once taught him to watch for camellias that seemed overloaded with buds and to twist off half of them before bloom time. Kip reported that it worked like a charm! My guess is that your camellia simply doesn't have enough energy to support all of the buds at once. Keep an eye on your bush early next fall and try Kip's tip.
Q: My family went on an annual woods trek with my 83-year-old mother to look for what she calls a "hall tree." It is a small prickly bush that we piece together into Styrofoam and adorn with gumdrops to make a festive tree. Do you have any inkling of what plant I'm talking about? Deana Bibb, Sandersville
A: This puzzled me at first. But my friend Arty Schronce, public affairs director for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, writes a weekly email of consumer Q&A's (bit.ly/consumerQs) and I thought he might know. Sure enough, back in 2013, he wrote about folks using gumdrops and the thorns of trifoliate orange, Poncirus trifoliata, to make Christmas decorations. I'll bet that's what you're looking for.
Q: I have a pair of 4-year-old common hydrangeas. I need to know how to overwinter them. Do I need to cover them to protect next year's blooms from frost and hard freeze? Micah Dyson, Cobb County
A: It's generally not necessary in the Atlanta area to do anything special to common hydrangeas in winter. Gene Griffith, co-owner of Wilkerson Mill Gardens (www.hydrangea.com) says they can withstand temperatures between 0 and 10 degrees just fine. However, severe damage can occur if an early warm front in February tricks the flower buds to think it's spring. Freezing temperatures after the buds swell can result in partial or total flower loss. If this situation is in the offing, cover your hydrangeas with lightweight polypropylene frost cloth, anchored to the ground on all sides with stones or firewood.
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