Question:   Are bluebonnets deer resistant?  I have a choice of planting bluebonnet seeds now or planting plants (4" pots) now.  Which will result in the better plant?  I assume the plants will die back, but will the roots be stronger when they are come up in the spring?

Answer:  They are somewhat deer resistant but not deer proof.  It depends on how hungry your deer are.  I recommend that you plant the bluebonnet seeds, as deer are very adept at finding newly installed plants and will most certainly give them a try.  Bluebonnet plants do not die back in the winter.  They remain as small rosettes and then they growing to their mature size in the early spring.

Question:  Are yellow jacket’s beneficial?  I have some that insist on making a home and I don't want to kill them if they are beneficial.

Answer:  I assume you are talking about the paper wasps that build their nests under the house eaves or other protected areas which is where they lay their eggs.  An egg is laid in each of these cells and before it is sealed off, the wasps fill it with insects and spiders that they collect as food for the larva when it hatches.  The wasps are quite beneficial and will usually ignore you if you ignore them.  If the wasps are in an area where you are constantly upsetting them with your comings and goings, you can kill them with a solution of soapy water that you spray on them (after dark is the best time).

Question:  I have Bermudagrass, Tiff-419, in my yard for about five years and have never been happy with it.  I want to switch to St. Augustinegrass due to having a lot of shady areas.  I was wondering what you thought about "Palmetto," or is there another hybrid you would recommend?  Also, can you plant St. Augustinegrass over the Bermudagrass?

Answer:  The St. Augustinegrass that is best suited for this area is Floratam.  Unless you are willing to have a hybrid lawn of St. Augustine and Bermuda, you must kill the Bermudagrass before you put in the St. Augustine sod.  This can be done with one of the glyphosate herbicides.  Spray the herbicide on the Bermudagrass to kill it, and then rake out all of the dead material.  Leave it alone for a couple of weeks and then respray any Bermudagrass that you didn't get the first time.  Then you can lay the sod.  I recommend that you wait until next spring to do this.

Question:  Our large sage has developed white "lumps" or scale on numerous branches. Some branches have actually turned black and appear dead.  Is there any way to help this beautiful shrub?  Should we cut it back?  We don't want to lose it.

Answer:  If in fact, your Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) has scale insects, the best treatment is to spray it with one of the horticultural oils mixed with an insecticide containing acephate.  The oil will suffocate the adult scale and the acephate will kill any crawling nymphs.  If you mash some of those lumps and 'blood and guts' comes out, they are insects and most likely scale.  There is a possibility that they are mealy bugs but the above treatment would kill them also.

Special Thanks to Forrest W. Appleton, the http://www.PLANTanswers.com “Answer Man” and all the Master Gardeners of the “Hotline” in support of the weekly gardening questions and answers.

Remember, Learn and Have Fun!

David Rodriguez is the County Extension Agent-Horticulture for Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Bexar County.  To get questions like these answered, call the Bexar County Master Gardeners Hotline at (210) 467-6575, e-mail questions to mg-bexar@tamu.edu, or visit our County Extension website at:  http://bexar-tx.tamu.edu.

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