GARDENING: Winter has taken its toll on tender plants

This has been a particularly brutal winter for plants compared to what we have had over the past 10 years. Some tender plants have taken a hit, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are gone. Let's take a wait-and-see approach on these for the time being.

We are now beginning our pruning of apples and pears at the orchard. We will be demonstrating apple and pear pruning every Saturday at the orchard from 9 a.m. to noon until the end of the month. Grapes are typically delayed for about one more month. Dormant oils should be applied during a warm day this month and repeated later, either just before bloom or right after it is finished. Never during bloom.

Fertilizer applications should go on as well. We are painting the lower limbs and trunk now with diluted white latex paint right after pruning to help prevent borer attacks. Right now we also are digging out borer infestations with a pocket knife or pruning attacked branches.

If you put on a Thanksgiving application of fertilizer to your tall fescue lawn you can skip a spring application (February and March). We usually get a short January heat wave toward the end of the month for a week or so. If you didn't put down that turkey application of fertilizer, then an application of fertilizer applied during the next two weeks will take advantage of that warm weather -- if we get it. No guarantees.

Sanitation is very important right now. If you haven't cleaned up your weeds, it would be a good time to do it. Insects set up housekeeping in weeds during the cold months and then reinvade your landscape when the leaves and flowers come out. Pulling weeds and composting them is a good way to reduce their populations.

Question: I have some Mexican bird of paradise and it looks like they are dead. I just planted them in September. They looked OK for a while but now the tops are sticks, the leaves are brown and falling off. What is the best stuff to give them so they will bounce back?

What is the best stuff to give all flowering plants so they will bounce back after loosing their flowers and leaves? I recently have sprayed them with Miracle Grow (the blue stuff). I have some orange trumpets, Texas sage and flowering vines. They are all in the same situation.

Answer: I would not do anything to them until about mid-to-late February. You should be aware of several things. First, we had some very low temperatures during December that we have not had for several years and how cold your landscape got will be a consideration in figuring out what to do. For instance, some places in the valley got down into the low 20s, while others did not get that low. I do not know how cold your place got to make any judgments.

Second, there are three plants we call bird of paradise -- Mexican red bird of paradise, Mexican yellow bird of paradise and the African bird of paradise. Both the red Mexican and the African will not take any freezing temperatures. The yellow bird will.

Third, is your landscape microclimate? If these plants were in a location with lots of wind and not protected they will be more damaged than if they were in a protected location such as out of the wind and in a spot that has lots of radiant heat such as a block, brick or stucco wall facing south or west.

Lastly, how were they treated before they entered the winter? If they were mulched and had some piled around their base they may come back from the base. If they were exposed like in a desert rock landscape they may not.

This is the trouble with common plant names. If the Texas sage is what I call a Texas sage it should be fine. It may have just dropped some leaves, which many plants will do when temperatures get too low. Sometimes the difference between a deciduous plant (one that drops its leaves in the winter) and an evergreen plant (one that retains its leaves in the winter) is just a matter of temperature. Warm winters may mean that normally deciduous plants will remain evergreen. Cold winters, normally evergreen plants may be deciduous.

Bottom line. Wait. Continue to water them as dormant landscape plants. That is, once every week to 10 days or more depending on the soil and mulch. When other plants are beginning to put on new leaves, give them two or more weeks. Watch where new leaves are growing on the plant. Prune just above that point. If there is no new growth after one week, remove the plant and replace it.

Q: I chose to plant some birdhouse gourd seeds. I would like to know when I can put my gourd seeds in the ground here in Summerlin. Should I let them soak overnight before planting them? Any other information you can give me on gourd growing would be appreciated.

A: Birdhouse gourds are known by several other names as well, including the bottle gourd. Ancestors of the bottle gourd may be some of the oldest cultivated horticultural crops in the world. Perhaps 8,000 to 12,000 years.

They produced gourds that could be eaten or used as bowls, containers, carved into masks, utensils, musical instruments and all sorts of things. The list is much too long to mention here. The fruits last indefinitely if dried properly. They are now popular for handicraft projects.

If used as a utensil then you would harvest the fruit when the fruit is mature. Frequently, this will be when the vine dies. Protect the fruit from intense sunlight if the vine dies. For more information on this plant, I would recommend going to edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MV069.

You can grow the vine on the ground or trellis it like pole beans. You will have to plant when all danger of frost has passed. I would plant them in hills like squash. It is in the same family as cucumbers, melons and pumpkins, and would be grown the same way. You do not need to soak the seed first, but soaking the seed in warm water overnight will probably reduce the germination time in the ground by a day or so. They are harvested when the skin and flesh are tender.

Fruits are up to 2 to 3 feet long and 3 inches in diameter, light green in color, with a smooth skin if used for cooking. Young fruits are used as a cooked vegetable similar to zucchini. The flesh is white, firm and has an excellent texture and a mild taste. Young shoots and leaves can be cooked, and seeds can be used in soups. Flesh of immature fruits also can be used in making icing for cakes, and the hard skin is sometimes sliced into thin, dry strips for cooking.

Q: I have a question about fountain grass. We went to desert landscaping and planted seven fountain grass plants. They were small at the time but now are huge and very pretty. However, the stalks are starting to bend over and touch the ground. How do you trim the plants? Should I cut them way down or just the stalks that have the pretty part on the ends?

A: If at all possible, I would leave them alone. Once you start pruning out the stems, or culms, which are bending over, you may leave gaps and they may look unnatural.

That being said, if I did remove them I would remove the stems bending too much by taking them down to the ground. If the plants are too dense you could thin out the bunches to give them more room to grow and expand, perhaps removing one-fourth of the plant by thinning just prior to growth in the spring.

I also would be careful how much they are fertilized. Too much nitrogen fertilizer may cause them to bend over like that, which is called lodging. Use a balanced fertilizer, much like a lawn fertilizer, but apply it lightly.

I am starting a new bimonthly electronic newsletter specifically for fruit lovers. This will feature what we are doing at the orchard in more detail. This newsletter will have pictures explaining what and how to do things for your fruit trees. It also will keep you aware when insects or diseases are occurring and how to treat them.

If you don't have access to e-mail, I will have it mailed to you if you request it, however, e-mail is preferred. You can sign up by calling our master gardener help desk at 257-5555 or e-mailing me at morrisr@unce.unr.edu. Both newsletters are free.

Bob Morris is a horticulture specialist with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.