Q:My daughter recently applied hardwood mulch to a foundation planting of shrubs and flowers. An area of the mulch turned a yellowish color, similar to pollen. In a day or two, it changed to a dark brown color and appeared to be wet.

She has two small children and is concerned about their safety when playing near this area. Can you identify it?

Answer: The yellow stuff in your daughter's mulch bed is called slime mold. It is a naturally occurring fungus that grows on decomposing hardwood mulch. It isn't harmful and will spread only to more mulch.

If left alone, it will disappear on its own. To speed up the process, she can soak it down with water; that will make it disappear. Though it's not toxic, I wouldn't let the children play in it.

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Q:In April 2007, some of our ivy beds developed huge dead areas. A few sprigs came back out, but mostly it is filling in slowly from the sides.

 

This spring, the problem started showing up again. The dying leaves look slightly yellowed before falling off. They also have tiny white and dark fuzzy spots on the underside of the leaves.

I don't know if this is part of the cause or a consequence of the illness. I assumed this is a fungal infection. It now threatens all of our ivy in the yard and near the house.

Do you have any idea what is causing the problem, and what we should do about it?

Answer: Several fungal diseases and bacterial diseases can affect English ivy. Normally, they affect a small area, and the surrounding ivy spreads back in for full recovery.

As you know, in older ivy beds, the new growth continues to grow over the top of the existing ivy.

Consequently, layers of decomposing old ivy leaves wind up trapped under the new growth. This is an ideal environment for disease to occur.

Without seeing yours, I don't know which type of disease your ivy might have. You may want to take a sample to a good garden center or to the local Extension Office for identification.

In the meantime, to deal with the spots you have now, I'd suggest running a Weed Eater over the unhealthy ivy and removingall of the leaves. Next, apply a light application of a water-soluble fertilizer to stimulate a little regrowth.

Certainly by that time, you should have a diagnosis of the cause of the problem.

Normally, fungal problems don't affect the roots, and removing the leaves will stimulate the roots to produce new vegetative growth.

The light application of fertilizer will provide some added nutrition for the new foliage.

If your sample is diagnosed as a bacterial problem, there are very few chemical controls for bacterial issues. Having cleaned out the old leaves and stimulated new growth, you may get your beds back on the road to recovery.

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Q:Do you know of a good 12-to-24-inch shrub or perennial that will flower in late June or July? It needs to take full sun and some dry shade. It also needs to look good with creeping phlox at its feet and a pink-flowering dwarf crape myrtle nearby.

 

Answer: Most good garden centers will have someone who can show you plants that will fit the need you've described.

When I'm stuck trying to decide on the right plant for a special place, I frequently call on my friends at garden centers -- particularly those that have Virginia Certified Horticulturists on the staff.

Having described the site as well as you have, you'll find plenty of good choices for this spot. However, the size you describe is hard to fit for a summer blooming shrub.

A favorite of mine that meets your size requirement is dwarf nandina.

Though it doesn't have showy blooms, its great foliage would complement the phlox and the crape myrtle. In addition, it has terrific red foliage all winter.

Of course, there are many perennials that fit the size you've described.

For example, coreopsis, or tickseed, has yellow or orange flowers that would be showy all summer. This one spreads and would reach a height of about 30 inches.

I could probably list 20 or 30 more perennials that would meet your need.

So my advice would be to visit a good garden center or display garden and select something that fits that mental picture you have for your garden.
Richard Nunnally is a freelance writer and speaker as well as host of WCVE's monthly gardening show, "Virginia Home Grown." He can be contacted at tdgarden@comcast.net.