Dear Neil: I ran into this tree with this unusual fruit late last fall. The tree is now bare, but I’ve had no luck in getting it identified so I could buy one myself. The seeds are like olive pits, and the branches looked like they had hooks on them. No one has been able to identify it for me. Help!

A. Beautiful photo of interesting fruit. This is jujube, Ziziphus jujube. It makes a beautiful shrub/small tree/clump/thicket over time. That’s because it sends up root sprouts around the mother plant. It has several interesting features: palmate venation on its leaves, zig-zag twig growth, and fruit that looks like a date, hence the name “Chinese date.” However, the fruit tastes nothing like a date, and so the comparisons stop there. It’s a pretty plant that I would welcome into a landscape if I had room. Here is a link to TAMU information on jujubes. www. aggie-horticulture.tamu

.edu/fruit-nut/factsheets/jujube.

 

ROSE TRIMMING

Dear Neil: When is the best time to trim roses, and how do I do it?

A. All types of bush roses should be pruned back by 50 percent. Timing varies with when new growth normally begins. You want to finish pruning before buds start to swell. That means the first half of February in South and South Central Texas, the middle two weeks of February in Central, East and North Central Texas and the last two weeks of February in far North Texas. Each cut should be made just above a bud that faces out from the center of the plant, to encourage outward growth.

Climbing ro-ses, by comparison, are trimmed after their spring bloom cycle.

They are trim-med mainly to maintain their two-dimensional growth by removing shoots that extend out away from the wall or trellis, also by removing weak or dead canes. You’ll be removing less growth — generally only 30 to 40 percent of the cane growth.

 

Have a question you’d like Neil to consider? Mail it to him in care of this newspaper or e-mail him at mailbag@sperrygardens.com. Neil regrets that he cannot reply to questions individually.