Neil Sperry's Mailbag

DEAR NEIL: What kind of invasive native vine looks like wisteria but never blooms? It has grown in under our shingles and is causing a real problem. We just moved into this house a few months ago. More importantly, how can I kill it? Round Up and brush killers haven 't touched it.

That sounds like our native trumpetvine. It does everything you described and a lot more. Regardless of what specific vine it is, you'll want to use a broadleafed weed killer containing 2, 4-d.

You'll have to apply it to active, really vigorous shoots for it to give good results. Spring applications will probably be better.

DEAR NEIL: What can I do to keep squirrels from eating my pecans before I can get them?

That's the oldest question in the pecan grower's handbook, yet there still is no good answer. You can put sheet metal collars in place temporarily around the trunks in late summer and fall.

They'll need to be 30 to 36 inches high and you'll have to be sure there are no squirrels in the trees already. You can't have the trees touching other trees, and you can't have power lines running into their canopies. Humane traps might work, but there always seem to be plenty of additional squirrels. Don't harm the squirrels.

You probably have plenty of pecans for everyone.

DEAR NEIL: How soon can we harvest persimmons from our tree? We enjoy them, but the birds are getting them first.

Persimmons are one fruit that you don't want to harvest early.

Their "pucker power" is immense until they have ripened. That's generally after the first killing freeze.

Buy a tree net from the nursery or hardware store and drape it loosely over the tree. They're lightweight, inexpensive and reusable year-after-year.

DEAR NEIL: My elephant ear plants have developed large, yellow blooms that look like those on a calla lily. Is that normal? What should I do with them?

Elephant ears and their cousins caladiums are members of the arum plant family. Your comparison to calla lilies is right on target. Philodendrons, Chinese evergreens and peace lilies are also in that family.

Elephant ears don't flower as often as some of the other members but it isn't unheard of.


Have a question you'd like Neil to consider? Mail it to him in care of this newspaper or e-mail him at mailbag@sperry-gardens.com. Neil regrets that he cannot reply to questions individually.

Neil Sperry
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