The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 92

REAL ESTATE Home Design 2G Real Estate 5G Classified 6G Occupancy up: No more free rent Page 5G SUNDAY, MAY 5, 1991 '(ttiri. imnnr? HOME grow? garoo i Jk Weigela substitutes for azalea My wife and I had planned I to put in some azaleas, but V. the only available location vt 4 Robert Johnson Staff Floyd McDonald prunes azaleas in his garden which blooms and climbs around his 100-year-old farmhouse in Fairview. i' I -J4rt. 4 A large Summer Snpw rose was about to burst into pure white bloom, and underneath, the pink dianthus was beginning to flower.

Trees chosen to rise above some of the shade-loving plants include a Japanese bloodgood maple, with a purple palace hukera (actually a coral bell) underneath, placed together because both have red-purple foliage. Nearby, a weeping hemlock in subtle variations of green provided shade and texture. "People think you have to use weeping trees in a Japanese garden, but you can use them almost anywhere," McDonald said. Another delicate look came with a nearby fringe tree so loaded with delicate white blossoms that it had the appearance of smoke. It's unusual, but it's surrounded by pink and white azaleas in bloom now and rhododendrons just short of their peak.

It's just one more interesting combination. "It's no fun to have everything everybody else has," McDonald said. "We do it here, and if it works well in my garden, it might grow in your garden." That, he said, is how he choosers some of the plants he offers to customers in his growing nursery, Tree's Company, located off Highway 100, still in Fairview but a few miles from his home. "People say you can't grow phlox in Tennessee, but I've got phlox that's taller than I am by the end of summer. "The more somebody says you can't do it, the more I want to try," he said.

"If it works for us, then we try it for our customers." While his livelihood is in creating a landscape for customers, he said, "I'm more a landscape gardener than a landscape contractor." At his own home, he has a garden for the sunny side and a By LINDA QUICLEY Staff Writer DT'S tempting to call it Old McDonald's Farm, with four dogs, two pigs, seven horses, geese, ducks and "at least Heats." But Floyd McDonald is young and enthusiastic and the animals have arrived in various ways, unlike the plants, which are there by design McDonald's design. "Some people call it an English garden and some call it a cottage garden," McDonald said. "But I call it my garden." He has made it his own by combining his professional skills as a landscape contractor with his personal love of all things that grow and bloom and wander over the ground and reach for the sky. At his farm in Fairview, he has let his gardens surround the 100-year-old farmhouse he shares with his wife, and a few of the animals, including a Labrador retriever, Kelly, who occasionally rises from her resting place on the wide, screened porch to drag a stuffed toy pig around a bit. It is quintessentially bucolic.

"People who think they want something clipped and manicured come and see my garden and say, 'that's what I want," he said, Although it might appear that It has a mind of its own, McDonald's garden is the result of planning and digging and sweating, as all gardens are. "You can't really have a low-maintenance garden," he said. "Some are easier to care for than others, but if you choose to garden, you have to love it. "Some people feel like they become slaves to their garden. I don't feel like that.

But I love it." Last week, that showed. As one crossed the bridge over the rippling creek to the McDonalds, banks of golden yellow The rich magenta color of pyrethrum daisies is a sure sign that spring's in full swing. receives full sun all day. We have decided to plant weigelas instead, since they are similar in appearance and do vell in sun. Can you tell me if they require an acid soil like azaleas? S.O, Nashville Weigela is a virtually pest-yt? free, flowering shrub that irfU blooms later than the azalea, but earlier than most summer-flowering shrubs.

It does require acid soil, but does best in well-drained soil, like sloping ground or a slight mound. If neither condition can be created, dig out the planting hole and provide a layer of gravel at the bottom with a rich layer of loose soil above it on which to set the root ball. The old-fashioned weigela (W.florida) looks best in groupings, in a shrub border or when planted in masses since its form when not in bloom is not particularly attractive. You will need to prune the weigela back immediately after blooming each year to remove the oldest wood and to force growth of new wood on which the following spring's blooms will appear. Weigela, hardy to Zone 5, will do well here.

It blooms rosy-pink in late May or early June. A red weigela (W. cv. and a white variety (W.floria cv. are also available.

QUESTION: Can my amaryllisbe planted in the garden? I have one I grow indoors. It blooms, dies, sends up foliage which also dies, and then puts up a flower stalk again just like my August lilies. Are these plants related? G.B Madison, Tenn. ANSWER: There are a number of plants that share the common characteristic of sending up straplike foliage early in the season that dies down several weeks later. From this seemingly dormant plant comes a single, leafless stalk on which as many as four blooms can appear.

They differ in color, but are similar in appearance. Result: Mass confusion about their names. The winter blooming amaryllis grown as a houseplant is a member of the Hippeastrum species. It is very tender and can only be grown in the garden in containers which are wintered over indoors. The August lily (aka Resurrection Lily, Naked Lady, Magic Lily and hardy amaryllis) belongs to the Lycoris family and is known to botanists as Lycoris squamigera.

It produces pink flowers in late summer. There is yet another cousin, L. radi-ata (sometimes listed as Amaryllis radiata), that has the same growth habit but blooms in colors from pink to red. Only the L. squamigera is hardy in our area.

The fact that these plants all share similar characteristics with the true amaryllis has led to referring to them all as amaryllises. In reality, the only true amaryllis in the garden is the fragrant belladonna lily (A.belladona). Like its lycoris cousin, it has also been nicknamed the Naked Lady. It is hardy to Zone 5 (minus 10 to minus 20 degrees) so it can be grown outdoors in our area. Protect the bulb with mulch in winter to assure its survival during extreme cold spells.

Garden Tips presents advice from landscape designers and nurserymen specifically reflecting growing conditions in Middle Tennessee. Send questions to Garden Tips, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Deana Deck is a garden columnist for The Tennessean. "Some are easier to care for than others, but if you choose to garden, you have to love it." floyd Mcdonald landscape contractor Exbury azaleas shone among their neighboring plants blood-red Japanese anemone peonies, and the contrasting blues of Japanese roof iris, Siberian iris and agapanthus.

I Turn to PAGE 2G, Column 5 'Volunteer Gardener' home-grown f. i iVt' By SANDY SMITH Staff Writer Gardening can be a power trip. So say Malcolm and Mary Rust, hosts of WDCN-Channel 8's new Volunteer Gardener. "It's a release that cannot be found anywhere else," Malcolm said. "I can be in the office almost choking.

Then I go out in the greenhouse and it's almost like a shot of insulin." "You can't control anything else in your life," Mary said. "But you can control that plant." Well, maybe you can't control the plant, but the Rusts want to teach you how. Volunteer Gardener airs at 2:30 p.m. Saturdays on WDCN-Channel 8 before Victory Gardens. Produced locally, the show focuses on gardening for the Middle Tennessee climate.

"A lot of programs aren't relevant for what's going on here," Malcolm said. "People can come out to their nursery and ask about specific plants that we recommend." The Rusts own three Wayside Garden Centers in Nashville and have been frequent guests on WTVF-Channel 5's Talk of the Town. "We feel that an educated customer is better informed about horticulture in general," Malcolm, a former teacher, said. "There is so much to know. Anything we can do to inform them better will help them have better gardens.

As a result, they will be better customers." "The industry is always changing," Mary said. "Just this spring, they told us to start clipping the metal tags off rose-bushs. They send us information like that and it's our job to pass it on." Business at the garden centers reaches its peak from April-June. "It's impossible to totally educate people in that period" of time," Malcolm said. "Anything we can do through the year, any tidbittof information will help." Volunteer Gardener will air 26 weeks of episodes and will deal with various horticulture topics, including recipes with fresh garden vegetables.

"It's encouraging to see how other people do it," Mary said. "A lot say 'I work and I don't have time to do "A lot of people will look at the beautiful gardens at Cheekwood and say 'I can't do Malcolm said. "But when you see. a wildflower garden in East Nashville, you think, 'If she could do it, so can The Rusts bought Wayside in 1974 as a way to work together. "It really goes back to our roots," Malcolm said.

"We both grew up on small farms in Kentucky. Once you get your hands in dirt, you never get them out." Now their three sons and three daughters-in-law work at Wayside, giving the Rusts freedom to travel to seminars, then pass that information on to Middle Tennesseans. 7J Mary and Malcolm Rust, co-hosts of Channel 8's Volunteer Gardener, say their mission is to educate the public about gardening. DESIGN Ron Packingham HOUSE AND GARDEN Buy bedding plants last before said Phillips BLOOMING THINGS Plan ahead and you can enjoy red, orange, yellow and mixed color tulips next spring. The Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation will sell bulbs from 4-8 p.m.

Friday and from 7 a.m. until all are sold Saturday. The bulbs are removed from park flower beds throughout the city, and are sold each year to reduce storage costs. The sale is at the Two Rivers Greenhouse; enter from Two Rivers Parkway behind McGavock High School. Bulbs are $2.50 per dozen, cash or check only.

Bring a container or paper bag. MEDIA ROOM Green thumbs were sought by Shelley Goldbloom for the new book, Garden Smarts: A Bounty of Tips from America's Best Gardeners (Globe Pequot Press, The author includes ideas from horticulturists, botanists, soil and plant scientists, seed specialists, farmers, commercial growers and home gardeners. They share tips on outwitting frost, weeding, keeping rabbits from munching your lettuce, finding sources for manure (Kricket Krap is one favorite) and rejuvenating bulb and perennial beds. heading home, and protect them until you set them out. Remove by pushing on bottom of flat to release soil and root mass.

Tease plants apart and plant immediately, spacing Builders new ottering in Farmingham Woods is "basically a seven-room house." But a two-story family room viewed from the entrance makes a strong statement: "Once people step inside the door, they are awed by this family room." ON 3G. COLLECTIBLES Clothing talks and the T-shirt with a message is a contemporary replacement for the advertising bandanna. For over 200 years, colorful cloth squares have promoted presidential candidates, political parlies, world's fairs, historic events and tourist attractions. ON 4G. according to label.

Make a hole, pop plant in, go on to next; after six are in place, pour cupful of transplanting soil in each hole, let drain; fill holes and firm soil. PACKINGHAM.