Somewhere out there, there must be a Daphne blooming. If not, some garden writer in some unknown gardening publication must have extolled the merits of the plant. How else can I explain the number of questions about the plant I received this week?

Daphne is a sprawling shrub with a wonderful fragrance you will never forget. Its merits stop there. It is difficult to grow. It is very scarce and expensive in the trade because it likes to die.

If you find one, plant it gently where it will spend the rest of its lifetime. They seldom survive a second transplanting. They don't like to be disturbed in any way. Look, smell, but don't touch. If I haven't discouraged you, Carol Mache is the most common cultivar.

Another request this week came in an email that ended "Please help me." This problem concerned a weed running amuck in the writer's lawn. I was told that she had had several professional applications of Roundup with no success.

I was also told that it looked a little like a violet but was not a violet. Not knowing the weed, I was at a loss to help. Roundup is an excellent killer of weeds when absorbed through green tissue. Its weakness is that a few weeds have a waxy leaf cover that interferes with the absorption and effectiveness of roundup. Violets are one of those plants.

My suggestion was to identify the weed. The easiest way to identify a plant would be to take a sample to a professional like the extension service in Lancaster operated by Penn State University.

The second choice is to find a plant or weed identification guide. With these you answer a sequence of questions until you have eliminated all but the villain or friend, whichever is the case. They are kind of fun.

With identification, control can be plotted. If spraying is the choice, one needs to think about the residual effect. With roundup you can spray and plant immediately with no threat to the new plants. Many herbicides have a defined time period before re-planting can safely occur.

One good example is the crabgrass control available for our lawns. You cannot immediately follow most control applications with reseeding. If the chemical stops the crab grass it will also inhibit the germination of desired grass seed.

Switching gears to another common question this week, concerning pruning of the shrubs now flowering. The accepted practice is to prune immediately after the flowers fade. This allows for new growth and the formation of next years' buds in late summer.

As you look at these shrubs don't be afraid to remove some of the oldest stems at ground level. Such action will increase the vigor and performance of the shrub.

Someone told me about his honeysuckle vine that was mutilated during a construction project. His dreaded salvage efforts removed over half the vine. The result is that it is growing back fuller and better than ever.

Finally, I frequently get asked, "can I keep this shrub that says it will get four to six feet tall at four feet?" The answer, of course, is yes, but the better choice is to select a shrub that will not grow past the four-foot mark unless you like that whacked at look.

Questions are fun. They tell me what to write about. Keep them coming.