QUESTION: We have an annual argument about the coral bells in our front garden. I leave the foliage on all winter (there's nothing else in the front otherwise), but my mother prefers everything cut back to the ground.

ANSWER: I have never cut back the foliage of coral bells, and that habit predates my gradual conversion to erring on the leave-the-foliage-on side. Until the most brutal part of winter sets in, the plants look rather presentable, and I find them more interesting than soil. Tracy DiSabato-Aust does not recommend cutting back the foliage, either, and she is the author of The Well-Tended Perennial Garden. (For all the constant trimming and cutting she recommends, her nickname in horticultural circles is Tracy Scissorhands.)

However, since both of you have had success with your different approaches, perhaps you should have a friendly contest to decide who prevails. Who can quickly say the aforementioned author's name the most times without misspeaking?

Send your gardening questions to Michael Martin Mills, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Box 8263, Philadelphia, PA 19101, or send e-mail to: Millsm@phillynews.com

KRT News Service