• Daffodils make lovely cut flowers, but be a little careful about mixing them with others in a vase. The cut ends of daffodils exude a sap that causes other cut flowers to wither. To prevent this, let daffodils sit in a bucket or vase by themselves for a few hours. Then recut the stems and put them in fresh water along with other flowers.
• If you haven’t done it already, go ahead and prune your summer-flowering spireas (Spiraea x bumalda and Spiraea
japonica hybrids). They bloom on new wood, so it’s OK to prune them aggressively. The easiest way is just to grab a handful of stems and bunch them together like a ponytail. Then just cut them all off to about 8 to 12 in. tall. This leads to well-shaped shrubs in a few weeks.
• When you’re planting trees and shrubs, don’t amend the soil with compost, even if your soil is poor. You’ll create a basin of good soil in the middle of poor soil, and the tree roots will start to circle. It’s better to dig a bigger hole than you think you need, but refill it with the original soil.
• When you do plant trees, make sure you’re putting them in the ground at the same level they were growing in the pot. In clay soil, you will even want them to sit a little “high” in the planting hole. (Just slope soil up to the edge to make sure the sides of the root ball are covered). Planting a tree with the root ball too deep will kill it.
Stephanie Bruner is a freelance writer from Des Moines who has a degree in horticulture.