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Herbaceous perennials

Here are the answers to some commonly asked gardening questions about herbaceous perennials.

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We were given a potted, Hosta earlier this year. It's leaves remained a beautiful green until very recently, they rapidly turned a bright shade of yellow, and some have now begun to rot. Please help if you can. We would love to save it.

Panic not! This is natural. Hostas are deciduous - that is they loose their leaves in autumn. I'm sure it will come up as normal in spring.

The leaves and young stems of my perennial phlox plants are deformed and the leaves are reduced to narrow frills. What's wrong?

Your plants have been affected by phlox eelworm which can be difficult to control.

However, phlox are attacked by an eelworm that invades the stems, so those already present in the plant wouldn't be touched. And there isn't an insecticide available to gardeners that can be used to kill those already present in the stems.

Funnily enough, stem eelworms don't attack the roots and one way to propagate affected plants is to take root cuttings - the new plants will be perfectly healthy.

Root cuttings are normally taken in winter, but it may be worth taking them at any time if you feel the plants are on their way out.

Any new plants bought or propagated should be planted in fresh soil away from the existing clump.

Earlier this year I planted some hostas which although they did not seem to grow a great deal (one did flower) survived until a couple of weeks ago when they all turned brown and died.They are planted in a east facing plot and are in the shade most of the time. Can you suggest why this has happened. I am not sure what type each one was, but I know that one was Hosta sieboldiana 'Frances Williams'.

Don't panic! Hostas are deciduous and drop their leaves at this time of year to come back in full leaf in spring.

It would be worth protecting the crowns of the dormant plants with slug pellets to protect them from attack during the winter.

I have a plant called Phytolacca americana which I bought in a herb garden three or four years ago. Each year it seems to get bigger and is now getting out of hand. Can I take cuttings and start again? If so how do I do this?

Phytolacca is propagated by dividing plants in spring. Simply lift the plant, carefully split the crown into smaller sections each with as many buds as you want - the fewer the buds, the smaller the resulting plant will be - and replant.

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