If you grow citrus trees in your yard, chances are you will see an occasional Papilio cresphontes hanging out nearby. Also known as the Giant Swallowtail butterfly, they are especially attracted to citrus trees among other plants commonly found in Mediterranean gardens.

Although as caterpillars they like to eat new growth on citrus trees, they rarely become problematic and most gardeners find them an attractive addition to their garden. Planting citrus as well as lantana, golden rod, azalea, bougainvillea, milkweed and honeysuckle, and avoiding using pesticides, will encourage these yellow and black, four to six inch butterflies to visit the garden.

If you are looking at a huge clump of agapanthus in your garden and wondering when to divide them, now is the time! Remember that they actually prefer a crowded root system to bloom well, but if they get too crowded they can push out of the ground and leave no room for soil to hold moisture or they can crack their container. Maybe you just want to divide them and move some new plants to another part of the garden. Either way, November is the best month to do it.

1. Start by cutting back the foliage to about six inches above the ground to make it easier to handle. Once established new growth will fill in quickly.
2. Taking a sharp spade, dig around the root ball about six inches from the outside of the plant. Dig down and under the root ball and lift out of the hole. This may be difficult as they have thick roots. Use a long handled shovel or crow bar for leverage if necessary.
3. Once the plant is out of the ground, begin to separate the individual plants by pulling apart the bulbs. Cut away any damaged roots.
4. Plants can be replanted immediately for best results, about one foot apart in full sun or part shade and rich soil.
5. Keep the plants moist, but not too wet until new growth shows that the plant is well established.

Are you losing too many avocados from your tree before they are ripe due to immature fruit dropping off early?

An avocado tree typically can produce up to about one million flowers but will typically only set about 100 to 200 fruit per tree. Or in other words, 1 fruit in 10,000. Sometimes they will set fruit but then drop them when they are pea to walnut size. Again this is typical. To minimize fruit drop of good, fertilized fruit, avoid stressing the tree. That is, don't under or overwater the tree. There has been research in Israel which suggests that fruit retention is also facilitated when there are other avocado varieties present to provide cross-pollination and that these crossed fruit have a higher tendency to stay on the tree. We also recommend not fertilizing with nitrogen from about April through mid-June, or applying only very low amounts during this time.

If you are dreaming of a beautiful spring garden full of colorful perennials and cool season annuals like foxglove, hollyhock, Iceland poppy, primroses, snapdragons, pansies, and nemesia, now is the time to plant them so they will be established and ready to bloom next spring. If you wait until after the holidays, the weather will be too cold for them to get established and you will have to wait until the warmer days of early spring and then you will only get a few months of bloom from the cool season flowers. Start now and they will take off at the first signs of spring and you will be rewarded with a full and colorful garden bed as soon as the weather warms up.