Q. I would like to know which freestone peaches are best for Las Vegas and are they readily available at our nurseries? A. Generally speaking, the most reliable fruit trees for this area are available from local nurseries. Peaches should state on the plant tag if it is a cling-type or freestone. The trend in home gardening is towards freestone so most peaches and nurseries will carry freestone types.             It can be fun to look at plants from the national retailers but be knowledgeable about what you want and what will work in this climate if you go plant shopping there. Sometimes you can find some real jewels. Sometimes you will find some real challenges as well.             Fruit trees are in limited in quantities this year; worse than past years as the trend toward growing your own food has grown and inventories were sold out early. Nearly any peach will grow here. But the quality of fruit they produce will be different than the same fruit grown in other climates.             There are literally hundreds of varieties to pick from. It is not possible to list them all and tell you which is the best. Rely on knowledgeable staff. Stay with standard size or so-called “semi dwarf” types if you are growing them in the ground.             Big trees are not always the best. Select trees that are moderate in size and have branches growing from the trunks in many different directions and at locations along the trunk 30 inches from the top of the container or lower.             Select miniature or genetic dwarf peach if you are growing them in a container. Generally speaking, full-sized trees have better quality fruit than miniatures or genetic dwarf. For a start you can look at my recommended tree list by clicking here

Q. What is the ideal climate for almond tree. How can we give cooling to an almond planted outside. It is because if I take the almond plant  to India Kerala. Thank you for your time and effort. A. The tree will cool itself if it had water applied to the soil regularly. At air temperatures of 45C, plants will cool themselves to about 35C if the soil is kept moist. Almond originates from Central Asia where temperatures can reach 40+C at daytime extremes. We have had almonds growing successfully at 48 to 50C in the Mojave Desert. I don’t think you will have a problem with summer temperatures. The cooling you might need is for winter chilling hours because I think in Kerala you may not have enough winter chilling hours. Select an almond with the lowest winter chilling requirement. Almonds have a chilling requirement of around 300 to 500 hours of temperatures below 7C. Read more about chilling requirement below. http://www.davewilson.com/product-information-general/special-topics/fruit-tree-chilling-requirement It is worth trying and let me know how it does for you.

Q.  My phlomis plants have leaves that have died and some have yellow with brown tips. Should I cut it down in February? Should I increase the water? Do I just leave it alone? What causes the edge of the leaves to dry up? A.  Commonly, this plant is called Jerusalem sage.  It grows like a weed in the Mediterranean region and has become somewhat of a pest in parts of England where it escaped from gardens and become a “weed”.              Judging from the pictures you sent, the newest growth looks great!  It’s some of the older growth which has yellowed or turned brown.  Cut the plant back to the ground just like you would lantana, and let it grow again.  It will. Want to see what it looks like?             Even though it has started to grow, you can do it now.  Next year cut it back in January just before it starts to grow.  Apply compost to the top of the soil around it in a 12-inch ring, 1 inch deep, to improve growth, color and flowering.  If it’s growing in rock, apply compost on top of the rock and wash it in with a hose.             If a plant is going to be a weed it might as well be pretty and taste good!  This is both. Most people grow it as an ornamental because of its yellow flowers.  But it’s in the same family of plants as mint and basil so it smells and tastes good.  Use the leaves as a substitute for common sage; pull off fresh leaves, let them dry, put them in a plastic bag for storage and crush them directly when preparing stuffing or cooking meat.             Our climate is not Mediterranean and our soils are worse than Mediterranean soils.  Grow Jerusalem sage as you would any other perennial vegetable or herb in our desert climate and soils.  Do not plant in locations where there is intense temperatures and mix compost into the soil at the time of planting in a ratio of 1 to 1.               My guess is the damage to the leaves is old, from winter cold temperatures and some watering problems perhaps.  Avoid growing it on the south and west sides in intense hot locations.  Water and fertilize as you would any other perennial vegetable or herb.  Pinch new growth for a fuller canopy and harvest young leaves for more intense flavor and aroma.

Q. I was advised to spray my nectarines and peaches with a garden pesticide containing pyrethrum to kill thrips. Would you still eat the fruit once this chemical has been applied? And if I spray it, will the fruit not be deformed? Thrip damage to netarine. A. If the label for this pesticide does not have fruit trees or gardens on the label, then it should not be used for that purpose. This is a legal response, not a technical response to your question.             Nectarines, not peaches, are deformed and scarred mostly because of the feeding damage on the skin of the fruit by Western flower thrips. These insects are tiny but when there are hundreds of them all feeding on the skin of one nectarine, they rip and tear at this so badly that the fruit becomes deformed and scarred horribly. Killing off the thrips prevents fruit deformity and scarring.             Strangely enough, thrips damage does not occur on peaches so they will not have to be sprayed. Evidently the hair on the peach skin is enough to interfere with the feeding damage by these extremely small, flying insects.             By the way, thrips are so primitive they don’t have wings like most insects. They have “sticks” that come out of their body with hairs on them. They are very poor flyers and can’t travel very far. /Thrip. Not my picture but don’t remember where I got it.             On the label of the pesticide it tells you how many days you must wait before picking fruit. This is called the “Re-Entry Period” or “Days before Harvest”. Years ago I had to find out if the damage was because of thrips so I put this fine mesh insect netting around an apricot tree. The fruit was not damaged. It was due to thrips.             There is a lot of science that goes into that label. It’s not guesswork. It does not mean that the pesticide is totally gone. It means that a reasonable amount of the pesticide has been degraded by our weather and the EPA has deemed it “safe to eat” if the fruit is washed before eating.             As far as the insecticide goes, it is called a synthetic pyrethroid and does a good job killing most insects including those in the home. However, on thrips it does not do a great job. Spinosad is much better to use and organic to boot. Doesn’t say it in the common name but this contains spinosad.             But Spinosad is lethal to bees so spray only when there are no flowers present in the tree or beneath it and bees have gone home for the day. This will be at dusk. Rotate this spray with Neem oil and soap sprays.

Q. I would like to know why coconut trees are not bearing coconuts in Qatar. A. Probably it is not old enough. Given proper care and growing conditions, coconut palms produce their first fruit in six to ten years, taking 15 – 20 years to reach peak production. It will take longer if it is in poor health or stressed. Some coconut palms require cross pollination from another tree.             On fertile soil, a tall coconut palm tree can yield up to 75 fruits per year, but more often yield less than 30 mainly due to poor management and fertilizer practices. I don’t think high temperatures of Qatar will be a problem for tree survival but low temperatures will. Refrigerator temperatures for long periods of time outside may discourage coconut production.             Your coconut palm will have difficulty with new growth during dry weather. The fronds may have trouble opening so if they do, hose them down with water. The fronds will also brown or scorch on the tips, more so than in tropical humid climates. They may not look the best.             If your temperatures get much below 10° C (refrigerator temperature) and stay there for a while they may not produce fruit. Also, some coconut palms may require cross pollination to set fruit much like corn does. Some of the specialty coconut palm trees, particularly the dwarf types, are thought to be self-fertile and may set fruit on their own. Dwarf coconut palm in plastic container             Coconut palm roots are very similar to grass roots except bigger. A large container is needed if container grown because they need to support themselves as they get taller and require a large enough area to grow this root system. Under natural rainfall, these roots could spread perhaps 30 feet from the trunk.             They like water but do not keep the soil around them constantly wet. Keeping the fruit continuously wet works for germination of the seed but not once they start growing.             So, in short, protect it if temperatures drop close to refrigerator temperature and keep it as close to 50 or 55° as you can during these cold periods. Summer temperatures shouldn’t be a problem unless it’s setting fruit during these temperatures. It will probably drop fruit. The fronds may not look the best due to high temperatures, low humidity, and wind.

Q. I have a five-foot Yucca tree that I cannot get to be disease free after two years of trying.  I have tried several insecticides and fungicides. I hope you can identify the problem from the picture. A. The Yucca leaves are scorching or turning brownish white in the middle, at the bend where the leaf is curving down. This is not a problem you can correct by treating with insecticides or fungicides.             This is an ornamental Yucca called Spanish dagger with flat leaves coming from the trunk and curving slightly downward. You would think that yuccas would be a plant not requiring much care in the Mojave Desert. Well, this one does. It is native to coastal Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.             This is a cultural management problem. It should be addressed by transplanting it to a new, protected location and adding amendments the soil at the time of planting. Water it more like a palm tree than a cactus.             Although classified as a disease, it is not caused by anything biological so pesticides won’t do any good. This problem is more correctly classified as “leaf scorch”. It is a soil/planting location/water management problem.             Don’t plant this Yucca like you would yuccas that grow easily in desert environments. This particular Yucca prefers protection from the hot, late afternoon sun and grown in richer soils, soils amended with compost at the time of planting, and not surrounded by rock mulch.             What to do now? Move it to a new location which gives it protection from direct, late afternoon sun. If it is surrounded by rock mulch, get rid of it. With a posthole digger or soil auger make several vertical chimneys in the soil about two feet deep and 18 inches from the trunk. Pack these vertical chimneys with compost and then soak them with water.             Water this plant like a normal landscape plant with good drainage and make sure it is watered on four different sides with enough water each time to percolate 18 inches deep. 

Q. I have a rose bush that did well for years but now it only produces small white roses. What happened? A. The top of your rose bush died but the rootstock survived. Two different plants are combined into one plant through a propagation technique called budding. The top of the plant is desired for its beautiful flowers. The rootstock is selected for a variety of reasons but performs better in soils than the top of the plant if it had roots.             All rose bushes available commercially are grown on rootstocks. These rootstocks are also roses but their flowers are a different color and size than the rose you selected. In your particular case, the rootstock was perhaps Rosa odorata, a rose that produces small white flowers.             If you don’t like the plant then remove it and replace it with a variety that grows well in our hot, desert climate. On the website of Weeks Roses, they publish a list of roses by flower color and rose type that perform well in our hot desert. Or talk to some neighbors who love roses and know what they planted. Roses for the Desert Southwest             Be careful when pruning roses. Prune them in January but do not cut them back too short. Pruning roses short cause the rootstock to grow vigorously and send up suckers that could dominate an overly pruned rose bush. And remove all suckers coming from the rootstock.             I noticed in your picture that your roses were surrounded by rock mulch. No, no, no. Roses do not like rock mulch. Get rid of the rock and lay down some compost and cover the compost with three inches of wood chip mulch instead. They will be much happier. 

Q. Our cape honeysuckle has done well, even bloomed during the past winters. But this time of year it always stops blooming. Is there something I should be doing or not doing to keep it flowering through the summer? Its winter for cryin out loud. Why are you in bloom, ag shame? A. Cape honeysuckle is from South Africa, below the equator, so it’s bloom time is the opposite of ours; blooms in the winter and not during the summer. Another plant from South Africa, African sumac, does the same thing. No flowers now. Must be spring or jost sommer.             Cape honeysuckle is a great plant for the dry desert because it is not as invasive here as it can be in wet climates. The only drawback is it being winter tender at temperatures around 25 degrees F.             Watch for freezing damage during particularly cold winters or in cold landscape microclimates. Much like Bougainvillea, if the base is protected with mulch during the winter it will grow back again from the protected base.

Q. We planted a bare root tree Blenheim apricot earlier this year and it’s put out these pink leaves in the spring. Is that a sign that it will flower or fruit or that we are watering too much?  New growth that is red on some varieties of apricot like Blenheim (Royal) A. No, that’s a typical color of new growth for some apricots. It doesn’t indicate anything except new, juvenile growth.             Fertilize it once a year in January. Compost is best. If you use woodchip mulch on the soil surface beneath the tree, you can get by with using mineral fertilizers. Otherwise, use compost as a combination fertilizer and for soil improvement.             Make sure the tree is getting enough water. Lots of new growth in the spring is a good indicator that it is. A new tree like that should get at least 5 gallons of water every time you irrigate it. Slowly work your way up to 30 gallons by the time it’s is 5 to 6 years old. Blenheim is a good apricot in our climate and I’m sure you will enjoy it if you like apricots.

Q. I have never had a problem with pests on my little leaf Cordia plant before. I found a small round liquid balls on the edge of the leaf. What am I dealing with here?  Guttational water from Cordia. A. Great pictures and they help a lot. It’s nothing to worry about but it’s very interesting so I want to talk about it.             I am taking an educated guess that this is water released from small openings on the leaf edges called hydathodes. The release of excess water from inside the plant is called guttation. Guttation is normal and it happens under certain conditions.             . Basically, small plants can push a lot of water inside them through a mechanism called root pressure. Root pressure takes water from the surrounding soil, if there’s plenty of it, and pushes it inside the plant.             Sometimes the water pressure inside the plant can be so great that it needs to release some of this excess water. Many plants have specialized openings on leaf edges called hydathodes and this is where the water comes out. Technically, the process of taking excess water inside the plant and releasing it through hydathodes is called guttation. Whipping the greens for the US Open. from https://golfcontentnetwork.com/news/u-s-open/u-s-open-theres-nothing-quite-like-oakmont/              It can happen on grasses a lot. Golf course superintendents are concerned about this phenomenon because the water coming from the plant is full of sugars. It can be a rich breeding ground for grass diseases. If this water rich with sugars stays on the leaf surface for several hours, disease problems can be a reality.             Superintendents, years ago, used bamboo poles to “whip the greens” and remove this excess water from the leaf blades. It was thought by doing this the water was removed from the leaves and disease problems were reduced as well. Most now use a quick pulse of irrigation water instead.             So, what does this have to do with you and your little leaf Cordia? If this is guttational water, the plant is telling you not to water so often. The soil is full of water. Make sure you give it a “rest period” without water before the next irrigation. Other than that, nothing to worry about.