Indian Hawthorne, weiglea, tulips and oleander

Is there anyway to reverse the effects of deseased indian hawthornes? I planted several IH's last summer and a few of the plants have spotted leaves. Here is a pic of what I'm taking about.
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/496000-496999/496700_213_full.jpg

The weiglea was another plant I planted last summer, how hardy are these plants during the winter season. Right now the plant looks pretty beat-up and I'm wondering will the leaves come back.
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/496000-496999/496700_211_full.jpg

I planted several tulip bulbs last season (I can't remember what brand of tulip) Many of the tulips are blooming but there are a couple that appears to be duds. What I mean is that the center where the flower forms has not come out. Will these tulips eventually bloom?

Good tulip
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/496000-496999/496700_215_full.jpg

Possibly bad tulip
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/496000-496999/496700_216_full.jpg

And finally the oleander. When I planted the oleander last summer I knew they do not like cold weather. I planted oleanders back in Florida and I like the growth pattern the the plant itself. So I said, why not give it a try here in NC. For NC standards we had a pretty cold winter season, so of course the oleander also took a hit.
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/496000-496999/496700_210_full.jpg

Unknown to me when I got home today the wife took a pair of clippers to the oleander. Did we do the right thing and can this plant be saved?
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/496000-496999/496700_217_full.jpg

What's your $0.02

 

Entomosporium leaf spot is a big problem for Indian hawthorn. Rainy seasons in spring and fall set the stage for tiny red spots on leaves. These get bigger and form ugly blotches on leaves. Some leaves drop. Improving ventilation around plant so that there is good air movement, watering from below instead of from above is helpful. Practice good sanitation around plant by removing fallen diseased leaves and plant debris. Severe loss of leaves can result in the plant's death. Discourage new growth by withholding fertilizer and pruning during summer. There are fungicides available for controlling entomosporium leaf spot. The disease is difficult to control, especially once plants are severely diseased. Fungicide should be applied when new growth begins in spring and reapplied at 10-14 day intervals until the middle of June. If weather is cool and wet apply every 10 days and every 14 during dry weather. During hot, dry summer fungicide should not be necessary. When rainy season returns in October, 3 or 4 applications can be made.


There are many varieties of weigela, and some varieties are more hardy than others. Some annual dieback and winter injury make annual pruning necessary.

Tulips produce leaves and blooms from food stored in bulbs. Perhaps the 'dud' tulip did not have enough food stored to produce the bloom. Fat tulip bulbs have the most food stored.

Oleanders need to be pruned in early spring because they produce summer blooms on new growth. They can tolerate heavy pruning to remove damage from cold. Pluck off dead blossoms to encourage longer blooming period and snip off the tip of the stem encourage branching. Avoid cutting in late fall because new growth needs to harden off before cold weather arrives. Oleanders like lots of sun and not very wet soil. They can survive down to 15 to 20 °F, but foliage will be damaged. If roots were not damaged by the cold, your oleander should survive. Leaves appear to have spots on them. Perhaps the leaf spot has spread from the indian hawthorne?

Cut oleanders back just above leaf nodes. This forces new growth at the leaf node (joint). Three branches will grow. These should be allowed to grow some and then prune them at joints. This will increase branching and you can have a bushy oleander. The first pruning should be low on the plant to provide the base structure for all future prunings. To get more flowers, you need to promote branching.

 

Don't know if you're aware but Oleander is highly poisonous. It is not reversable either. I would strongly suggest wearing gloves when clipping or handling it. I've heard of several instances in california where pets have chewed on leaves and died.

Be very careful with Oleander.

Jimco

 

My oleander lives again, not the way I would prefer but it lives.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/496000-496999/496700_225_full.jpg

As you can see from the pic, the oleander has decided to start re-growing from the bottom. My next question is, what's the growth rate for an olenader, slow, medium or fast. I don't want to wait too long to enjoy the benifits of it's bloom.

After speaking to a master gardner who works for the county, I've come to find out indian hawthornes are not native plants to my area and they're prone to disease. He did mention that they're some hawthornes that are more resistance then others. I've decided to remove the hawthornes and plant encore azaleas, more specifically autumn starlites.

Another problem child that I have are my gardenias that I planted last summer. The green leaves on the gardenias doesn't appear to be as full as they should and the leaves are turning yellow in some spots. I just did a search on gardenias and I read they thrive in high humid areas and prefer acidic soil. I can control the outdoor humidity so what can I add to the soil to increase it's acidic level?

Thanks for the previous comments/suggstions

 

Hi Candi Man,

I enjoyed looking at your pics. Here's how to change the pH of your soil.
http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/soil_ph.html

In reference to the tulip that appears to not have a flower bud, it appears to be in more shade then the others and that could have something to do with it. Do be sure to allow the foilage to yellow before you remove it so the leaves can feed the bulb for next years blooms.

Here's some bulbs that will return each year, including some tulips.
http://www.bulb.com/templates/dispatcher.asp?page_id=snw_article_public&item=100&tg=public
http://www.theplantexpert.com/springbulbs/Perennial.html

Newt

 

For the yellowing gardenias, consider chlorosis as the cause. Add some iron around the base of the plant, the problems should end.