Bleeding Hearts prefer light shade but they will grow in full sun in parts of the country that have cool summers, like northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. They like growing in kind of woodsy areas too, but they don’t like clay or water-logged soils, so moist, rich, well drained soil is the best. And as a rule, they’re pretty insect and disease proof as well.

“Slugs and snails cause problems in my gardens from time to time, particularly my flower beds.  Granted the traditional beer traps and hand picking works out just okay, but do you have any other suggestions?”

I always hate to waste a good beer on those critters too! All kidding aside, try diatomaceous earth or even egg shells around those plants most abused by these pests. Believe it or not, the sharp-edged grains of diatomaceous earth and the egg shells will cut the soft bodies of slugs and snails so they will head off in another direction because of it.  I’d consider doing this already in early May as that’s when they start to appear.

“I’ve owned several flowering cacti over the years and of course they’re flowering when I bring them home. Once the blooms die and fall off it seems I can never get them to flower again. What am I doing wrong?”

Now if you think this through a bit, where do cacti grow wild?  In the desert, which means lots of sun is part of their diet. It sounds like your cacti just aren’t getting enough light. Gradually move them to brighter spots in your house over the winter, building up light exposure. Then this summer put them outside, again graduating exposure to the sun, working up to several hours a day of sunlight. This should activate buds that will bloom.

“Someone told me I could use sheep’s wool for garden mulch. Since I raise sheep I have a good supply. I don’t want to go through all the trouble though if it’s not a good idea, despite my readily available supply. “    

No matter where you get the wool, right off their back or from an old wool blanket, wool mulch is great! Wool is slow to decompose as well, so if you try to compost it you’ll want to cut it up in small pieces and saturate it with a sugar source that will break it down faster. Go for it!

“I have several large peonies in a sunny area of my front yard with no competition from really anything else.  Over the last two years they come up in the spring and start to form buds only to have them turn black and leathery in appearance. Even the stems will turn brown and leathery as well. What’s going on here?  Do I need to dig them out and replace them with new plants?

Hold up! Peonies don’t respond all that well to transplanting and reestablish slowly, so let’s get to the root of the problem – and it’s fixable. It sounds like it is a phytophthora blight that’s affecting your plants. This is less common than botrytis blight, which also affects peonies causing black, soft buds and wilted or soft stems under the buds. Regardless of which blight is causing havoc, they’re both caused by a fungus that overwinters on dead leaves, stems and roots. These diseases usually show up around mid-summer, especially during cool, wet weather. To control this, remove diseased foliage that develops during the growing season and cut the plants right to the ground after a killing frost and destroy the foliage.

“When is the best time to plant cannas?”

Dahlias, gladiolas, tuberous begonias, lilies and cannas should all be planted in May. Gladiolas bulbs may be planted in two week increments until around the first of July to give you a continuous supply of fresh, cut flowers right up until the first frost.

“Since tulips and daffodils are the first spring flowers to break through the earth, when is the best time to divide them after they bloom?”

Break off the wilting blooms as they die off, but continue to feed and care for the plants until the foliage dies back naturally. Daffodils and tulips may be divided and moved when they have finished blooming, but treat them as growing plants being careful with their foliage and roots. Be sure to water them once you’ve transplanted them as well. GG

Do You Have a Question about What’s going on in your garden or greenhouse? Submit your question for Barbara Sue (include your city and state) by contacting us at: phone (563) 557-7571, fax (563) 557-7641 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or write us at Garden and Greenhouse, 6170 Forest Hills Drive, Dubuque, IA 52002. Barbara Sue will do her best to publish your question with an answer in the next available issue.

Barbara Sue Schubert is a human resource professional, free-lance writer and a garden and plant enthusiast from southern Wisconsin. “To me, HR and gardening have a lot in common, both feed my family! Writing, on the other hand, feeds my soul.”