Q. What can I do to improve my annual flowers this year?
A. Good soil, nutrients and regular watering are the 3 main ingredients for healthy flowers.  
Try mixing some mushroom manure in with your soil, or use it as a mulch.  Mix some high-phosphorus fertilizer (phosphorus is the middle number "10" in: 5-10-5) into your flower bed and follow-up with liquid fertilizer such as Peters 20-20-20 or Bloom Booster. 
Keep flower beds watered --- especially new plantings. Morning is the best time to water flowers, evenings are alright -- but the earlier in the evening the better.

Q. The tree I park my car under is dripping sap all over the outside. Why?
A. Sap dripping from trees is usually due to an insect infestation like aphids (plant lice).   The insects excrete excess "honeydew" which drips onto anything below. Honeydew will grow a sooty mold, making the tree branches look blackened. Also associated with aphids are ants, who have a symbiotic relationship with the aphids.  The ants act like farmers, moving the aphids to the best feeding sites (near the growing tips) and in return harvest some of the excess honeydew for their colonies.

Q. Our Magnolia tree has black-colored leaves and some of the branches are losing their leaves. What's wrong with it?
A. This sounds exactly like an insect infestation of Magnolia Scale . A black substance on the leaves indicates the presence of a sucking insect excreting honeydew. Black sooty mold grows on the honeydew giving the leaves a blackened appearance. Bees are attracted to these areas.

Q. I planted a Hydrangea bush 3 years ago and it still hasn't bloomed! Why?
A. More than likely, your Hydrangea is getting trimmed at the wrong time of the year, whether it is by deer browsing or summer pruning. As with most flowering plants, only trim Hydrangeas within one month after they bloom -- that way you won't remove any flower buds.