Q. I live in a village in Multan district and my sago palm is not growing well. It is getting withered up. What can I do to make it healthy again?

A. Cycas revoluta/ sago palm/ kungni palm is prone to wind damage. If your palm is exposed to hot/drying winds, which are common in Multan, its previously green fronds will rapidly dry out. If this is the case, you need to move the tree into a wind-sheltered location. Alternatively, sago palms are prone to attack from armoured scale insects. These form a waxy, cream-coloured coating on the leaves which eventually dry out and die. These sap-sucking insects will kill their host plant if left unattended. If these are the culprits for the sad state of your tree, please get back to me for some solutions.

Q. I am looking for some help in planting trees and vines that will do well in Lahore’s weather, in large pots and planters, not in the ground. Flowering and fragrant ones with exposure to full sun would be ideal.

A. Plumbago is one of the prettiest climbers to meet your requirements. It is not fragrant but its ice-blue flowers more than make up for this. Others include Antignon/ Sandwich Island creeper, passion flowers, porana panicolata/ bridal creeper, stephanotis floribunda/ creeping tuberose, rhyncospermum jasminoides, roses, jasmine and the purely annual varieties of ipomea/ morning glory, sweetpeas and Dutchman’s pipes. Trees such Cassia fistula/ Indian laburnum/ amaltas, bottlebrush, lagerstroemia, Chinese limes/lemons, and dwarf varieties of palms including sago palm. You may consider planting some ornamental, non-flowering, shrubs or some with eye-catching foliage. Visit your local nurseries and check around.

All your gardening queries answered here

Q. I would like suggestions for some fast-growing trees, shrubs and flowers to create beauty and shade around my Tharparkar home.

A. Soil and climatic conditions are harsh in your location, but if you have plenty of water for irrigation, the following may, once they are established, perform well. Trees: Melia azadiracta/neem, melia azadarach/ Persian lilac, thespian populnea/ tulip tree and slower growing ficus indica/banyan, ficus infectoria/pakar, ficus religiosa/peepal and tamarindus indica/tamarind/imli. Shrubs: oleander/kaner (remember that this is poisonous), lantana, hibiscus, bougainvillaea, cassia alata, cassia glauca, jatropa, tecoma stans and thivetia nerifolia. For flowers you may want to select some of the most sun-loving succulents but, otherwise, it is best to depend on buying annual or seasonal flowering plants in their respective seasons.

Q. I live in DHA, Karachi, in a location where the soil is very saline. Most of the plants I have tried growing do not survive, with the exception of euphorbia milli and aloe vera, as even four o’clock plants wither away and die. Can you suggest some flowering plants that will endure, even thrive, in such difficult conditions?

A. The tall growing shrub thivetia nerifolia, with yellow, peach or white bell-shaped flowers, is one that immediately comes to mind, and many varieties of agave should do well. To have a beautiful flower bed in your location, make some raised beds, on top of the existing saline soil, preferably at least 2-3 feet in height. Fill these with sweet earth mixed with old, well-rotted, animal manure, then grow a wide range of flowering plants and/or vegetables and herbs in them.

Q. My roses bloom properly, but after two to three days, the flowers are finished and dried out. The dried-up flowers don’t fall off the branches and look unsightly. What is the problem and how to resolve it? I reside fairly close to the sea, in Karachi.

A. The combination of salty sea breeze and high temperatures, for much of the year in Karachi, makes rose-growing quite a challenge. It is normal there for the blooms to fade and dry out very quickly and also perfectly normal for finished blooms to remain on the bush. To keep your rose bushes looking both healthy and tidy, you need to snip off finished flowers on an almost daily basis, throughout their flowering season.

Q. I have lots of shade-tolerant, potted plants on my patio, in Karachi. The patio gets very little sunlight and these plants are happy. I recently added a bougainvillaea to this collection but it is slowly drying up. What should I do?

A. Bougainvillaea needs at least eight hours direct sunshine in order to be at its floriferous best. Having said this, being grown in the shade should not make it wither away. It is more likely because of either over- or under-watering. Once you have resolved the watering issue, the plant should grow but it will not flower in the shade.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer does not respond directly by email. Emails with attachments will not be opened

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 10th, 2022