Q: I’ve been growing chives in a pot on the patio for many years. Every year it grows back — but not this year. Why? I watered it, gave it some liquid food to no avail.
Florence, Vancouver
A: When you say you watered your chives, I wonder how frequently that was.
This winter and spring, we had some very strange weather: torrential rain in bursts, but also very long spells of warm, dry weather. The dry spells came in months when we wouldn’t expect them. All this was very tricky for plants in containers.
Containers do dry out frequently and when they do are very hard to re-wet because the dry soil can shrink away from the inner sides of the pot. Then you may drench the dry soil with water and think the plants are having a good drink, not knowing that really the water is running down the soil crack around the inside edges and away.
But it’s an odd problem. Chives have the reputation of being very hardy and healthy: no pests and the only disease is an occasional attack of rust, which only kills them if it’s let go for ages.
Anything with a fat root storage area (bulbs, tubers or taproot) is usually quite resilient even to drought. Chives don’t have the big bulb that other alliums do, but their root does have some storage capability.
It might be useful if you thoroughly dug up and removed the soil from the chives pot. Have a good look for little living creatures or anything that looks unusual. Discard that soil. There may be something to be learned here.
Q: When my mother passed away, I found a box of old seeds from flowers she had grown. Now they would be about 15 years old. Would they be any good or should I just throw them out?
Diane Stiglish, Coquitlam
A: If she kept them in the refrigerator, I’d say they have a chance. But if she kept them in a box at room temperature, they probably wouldn’t germinate.
But I’m going to give you two answers because I think the right one depends on who you are and what your lifestyle is.
If you’re really busy and not super-interested in gardening anyway, my advice would be to scatter the seeds somewhere on soil (so you tried) and leave it at that.
But if you love gardening and have time to give the seeds somewhat better treatment, I’m going to suggest you do what I wish I had done with my father’s seeds.
You might put some topsoil in a big flat, scatter the seeds on it, give them a gentle stir and keep them moist and watched. Sometimes seeds have amazing vibrancy and if something your mother saved did germinate (against all odds, admittedly) you’d probably feel pretty good about it.
Q: My lavender blooms are dying now. Does snipping the dead blossoms give me a second bloom before the end of the summer?
Terry Wong,
South Burnaby
A: Yes, it will. This is because lavender blooms on this year’s stems. It’s best to prune as early as you can so that new stems have time to grow and mature enough for blooms.
Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden questions. Send them to her via [email protected]. It helps you provide the name of your city or region.
