Tracey Fitzgibbon

Q: Please recommend a ready to use houseplant spray containing insecticidal soap or pyrethrin that you suggested using to get patio plants ready to move indoors. I have several large geraniums, doing so well this year, that I want to keep them for next year. — D.G., Santa Fe

Q: Earlier this year, you wrote about some lavender cotton (Santolina) plants that were growing near a community mailbox, suggesting cutting them back and offering the plants some water every now and then. We have one that grew quite well and also several purple aster plants. All of these plants have finished blooming, and I wonder if now would be a good time to cut them down for the dormant season? — M.B.T., Albuquerque

Q: My neighbor doesn't keep their vines in check and they are growing through the spaces in the block wall. What can I spray on them to kill the end of the vines so they won't grow any further? When the vines grow, their stems enlarge, making the spaces bigger. Please help. — J.N., Albuquerque

Q : Do you know the dates of the city's green recycle program yet? I'm ready to start raking and storing my bags of fallen leaves. — R.G., Albuquerque

Q: I have read your columns for years, including the ones on Christmas cactus, and enjoy them very much. I must have a "Thanksgiving cactus" since it seems to bloom in early November, and sometimes (again) in the new year.

Dear readers, waking on this past Wednesday morning, after the truly brisk temperatures Albuquerque experienced Tuesday night, I was witness to one of my absolute favorite natural phenomenons that we

Q: While I was looking for a few stocking stuffers for the gardeners in my life at a garden center, I fell in love with a plant called a cyclamen. The blooms remind me of shooting stars or comets, and the leaves look like they are wearing a gray-green spotted leopard print! Such a lovely plant! Trouble is, I don't know how to take care of it! Would you be so kind as to guide me? — L.C., Los Lunas

Q: In our new home we have very little room for a cut Christmas tree. We want one for sure, just don't really have the space. We do own a Norfolk pine tree houseplant that has been growing really well for us for two years now. It sits on a short stool, so it's about four foot tall and easily three feet wide. Our question is, could we hang Christmas lights on it without doing the Norfolk any harm? — J.E.S., Albuquerque

Q: Last weekend, I gave my landscaping a really deep drink of water. A couple of neighbors and several walkers that passed by wondered why I was doing that. I wasn't wrong to give my trees, shrubs and the couple of established roses I have that drink was I?

Q: One of your answers to a gardening question, you mentioned the book "Western Garden Book" which I would like to find. In my search, I found several books with that title. Would you please let me know the exact title and author so I can find the book? — D.S., Albuquerque