People are talking about . . .

Azalea leaf gall is being seen now on azalea shrubs and hedges. It is a fungus that shows up about this time most years – some worse than others. High humidity seems to provide the right conditions for its spread.

When you see the pinkish, thickened growths on flowers or leaves, it’s time to act. Once these galls turn white, they are spreading spores to other parts of the plant. Clip off the infected flowers or twigs and throw them out (don’t compost them).

You can also spray to protect new leaves. Use Lilly Miller Microcop or another copper fungicide labeled for leaf gall. If your plant were infected this year, you might want to spray before bloom next year to prevent any problems. Spray again after about three weeks.

I try to be good about clipping off the galls when I see them. This has seemed to keep it restricted to one end of my hedge, most years. There’s not much we can do to reduce the humidity in an Oregon spring.


Here was a case where conventional wisdom and real-world experience just didn’t match. The usual recommendation is to divide rhubarb every four or five years. This allows the gardener to keep the rhubarb plant in bounds – not take over the garden. Dividing will also stimulate new, vigorous growth, plus a dense, crowded plant is hard to keep well-fed and productive.

One caller said she never divides hers and gets loads of rhubarb year after year. Which just goes to show that not much is "one-way and one-way" only in the garden. There are lots of ways to have garden success – every garden is unique.


We also talked about pruning figs. The caller had a tree that had grown with four tall branches and worried that one would break off with the weight of the figs. This could certainly happen. But, this year’s figs grow on branches grown last summer. So, if you prune figs in the winter you risk cutting off wood that was going to bear fruit. Better to prune after the fruit has ripened and gradually shorten the branches a bit each year – eventually producing a “bushier” tree. Of course, any dead or damaged branches should be taken off during the winter.