Ranunculus (Persian buttercup)

Brilliantly colored flowers are ranunculus' chief attraction, and they are indeed special. They most often come in multiple layers of delicate, crepe-paper-thin petals, looking like an origami masterwork.

These lovely flowers make great container plants as well as bedding plants. They make wonderful cut flowers too.

Roses must be pruned every year to maintain vigorous growth and to keep them flowering well. The best time to prune is while they are dormant.

Steps in pruning your roses:

• Think about each cut before you make it. All cuts should be at an angle and just above a bud that is facing away from the center of the bush.
• Remove dead branches and canes.
• Remove old canes that produce only twiggy growth. If your bush is old and has only these old canes, save three or four and cut those back to 3 feet.
• The height to cut your canes back depends on the type of flowers you want. If you want the long stems for cutting, cut your canes back to 3 feet. If you want profuse flowers, but you're not concerned about stem length, cut the canes back one third.
• Remove all branches that are thinner than a pencil.
• Pull off all remaining leaves, rake up all debris, and put it in the trash. Do not use this for your compost pile, as there may be overwintering insects and/or diseases.
• Spray the pruned bush with dormant oil spray.

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How much sun can shade plants tolerate and how much shade can sun plants tolerate?

Answer:

Many plant failures can be linked to improper planting locations. In general, most sun plants need at least 5-6 hours of full sun per day during the growing season. It doesn't matter when they get shade as long as they receive those hours of sunlight. Any less, and the plants will most likely show little growth or vigor, have fewer or no blooms and have a thin spindly appearance.

Most shade plants can handle morning sun (before 11 a.m.) and late afternoon sun (after 5 p.m.)--but no direct sunlight between those hours.

Shade plants that are exposed to direct sunlight for more than 20-30 minutes during these midday hours will generally burn, with the leaves exhibiting leaf scorch spots or burning completely brown. If you have a plant that you discover is in the wrong location, wait until the early evening hours to transplant to a more appropriate spot.