Extension News

Ask the ISU Extension Gardening Experts

3/6/2008

How should I care for my Easter lily? 
In the home, Easter lilies prefer daytime temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit with slightly cooler night temperatures.  Avoid drafty locations. Place the Easter lily in bright light, but out of direct sunlight. 

If the pot is wrapped in decorative foil, punch a hole in the foil at the bottom of the pot for water drainage and place a saucer underneath the pot. Water the Easter lily when the soil surface becomes dry to the touch. Water the plant thoroughly until water flows out the bottom of the pot. Discard the excess water that drains into the saucer. Today, many florists use molded plastic pot covers.  When watering these plants, carefully remove the Easter lily from the pot covering, water the plant in the sink, then drop it back into the molded pot cover. 
 
As the flowers open, remove the yellow anthers before the pollen starts to shed. Removal of the anthers prolongs the life of the flower and prevents the pollen from staining the white petals. 
 
Remove the flowers as they wither. After flowering, the Easter lily can be discarded or saved and planted outdoors in the perennial garden. 

How do the various types of peas differ? 
There are three main types of peas. The garden pea is grown for shelling. Snow and snap peas are edible podded peas. 

The garden or English pea has been widely grown for years.  Garden peas are harvested when the pods are well-filled and the seeds are sweet and tender.  (The seeds in over-mature pods will be hard and starchy.)  The pods of garden peas are not edible. 
 
Snow peas (sugar peas) are harvested when the pods are long and thin, just as the seeds begin to develop. Young pods are tender, stringless and may be stir-fried in Chinese dishes, steamed or cooked like snap beans. If the seeds are allowed to develop fully, they may be shelled and used like garden peas. 
 
Snap peas are best picked when the seeds are nearly full size.  The pod walls are thick, fleshy, and crunchy. Snap peas may be eaten raw in salads, snapped and cooked like snap beans or shelled for garden peas. They also freeze very well. 

Rabbits have damaged several trees and shrubs in my yard.  Can I do anything to save them? 
The deep snow and prolonged period of snowcover have posed serious problems for rabbits this winter. Denied access to food on the ground, rabbits have fed extensively on unprotected trees and shrubs in windbreaks, home orchards, and landscape plantings.

Rabbits have gnawed off the bark on many young, thin-barked, deciduous trees. Damage has been most extensive on crabapples, apples, serviceberries, plums, cherries, willows, and honeylocust. On many trees, the bark has been removed completely around the trunk, effectively girdling them. Rabbits have also fed on deciduous shrubs.  Extensive damage has been observed on winged euonymus (burning bush), sumacs, dogwoods, cotoneasters, viburnums, roses and spireas.  The rabbits have debarked large stems and snipped off small twigs. 

Trees that have been completely girdled have essentially been destroyed. Wrapping the trunk or applying pruning paint to the damaged area will not save the tree.  Most affected trees will sucker from the base. However, since most fruit and ornamental trees are propagated by grafting, suckers which originate from the rootstock will not produce a desirable tree.

Many deciduous shrubs have the ability to produce new shoots or suckers at their base.  Because of this ability, many severely damaged deciduous shrubs will eventually recover.  (Some shrubs may require several years to fully recover.)  Girdled stems should be cut off just below the feeding injury. 

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Contacts :

Richard Jauron, Horticulture, (515) 294-1871, rjauron@iastate.edu

Jean McGuire, Extension Communications and Marketing, (515) 294-7033, jmcguire@iastate.edu