Unique solution to yellow jacket problem

By Nancy Brachey | McClatchy Newspapers • Published August 23, 2008

Question: I found a huge yellow jacket nest in the earth under my biggest/best rosebush. It is right at the spot where the stem enters the ground. We are stumped because we cannot move the rose bush now. Any ideas?

Answer: Since you know the location of the nest, why not try this remedy that a reader told me about a few years ago to deal with these hazardous insects. In the evening, when the yellow jackets have retired to their nest in the ground, cover the entry hole with a large glass jar or bowl, fitting it snugly on the ground. This will trap and kill them. You may be surprised how many there are. Make sure to wait a few days so that all are dead before dealing with the remains. I passed this tip on to other people over the years and they said it worked great. Of course, you have to know where the nest is, and that is not always possible. In such cases, traps that feature a sweet lure will capture yellow jackets.

Q: My Endless Summer hydrangea has plenty of blooms but no color now. Earlier this season, I had plenty of beautiful blue blooms, but now they are just pale green with a lavender tinge. My yard is very shady and most of these blooms are on the side of the plant that gets filtered morning sun. What's my problem, or is this normal?

A: That is a normal maturing of your hydrangea blooms, and nothing to worry about. I find them appealing in late summer. I hope your plants are producing some new growth that will bear flowers later on. The combination of fresh new blue flowers and the older greenish ones should be pretty. But if you don't like the aging blossoms, just snip them off as the newer ones develop.

Q: I have a rose bush that I planted several months ago. I bought it as just the root ball with minimum amount of soil around it and the stems at the top of the root ball had been cut off. After planting the rose everything was green for awhile. One of the trimmed stems started a shoot and it has leaves on it, but suddenly all the stems started turning black. I'm afraid the whole thing will die, but none of my roses has acted like this before. What would turn stems that had been green for months suddenly black? Can I save this rose?

A: It remains to be seen whether this rose will survive. It is likely to have a problem called canker. A range of disease organisms cause this problem, which shows up as you describe in blackened stems. You must cut these stems back to healthy green tissue now and give the plant time to grow out. Your rose will require TLC with good watering and rose fertilizer while attempting this comeback.