Back from another visit to my brother in Cedar.
He suffers from terrible arthritis. His hands are so crippled that when he points to the west, the end of his finger points north. Never ask him for directions, or when you want to go to Florida you’ll find yourself in Alaska. The poor man groans when he sits down, and groans even more agonizingly when he attempts to rise. It breaks your heart to see and hear him, but he remains amazingly cheerful in spite of the pain.
His garden is still beautiful, although a lot of plants are fading fast.
I was horrified to see that the man who does the gardening had severely trimmed several rhododendrons. To get the tops absolutely even, using a power clipper, he had cut off all but one bud.
Rhodos really need an expert to prune them, but if you do your own, please don’t cut off any fat little buds, they are next year’s flowers.
One thing that covers a lot of the open area on Herb’s property is St. John’s Wort, and even this late there are a few yellow flowers in bloom. Of course it is very invasive, so you need to plant it where it can spread far and wide (on a bank, say) or hem it in with cement paths, or patios.
Talking about invasive plants, I need to apologize for suggesting the planting of bluebells, because they too are very invasive. Mind you, in places where you don’t mind a lot of blue flowers, they look lovely, but a better suggestion is to plant camas bulbs instead. These are glorious as many of you will know from seeing them flowering along Dallas Road in spring.
There were several calls from people wanting to know about picking, and bringing in their tomatoes. Yes. I’d do it now. Once the night temperatures fall to 10 degrees or less, it is time to bring them in.
One suggestion, from a kind reader, and one I used to use some years ago, was to pull up the entire plant and hang it upside-down in a shed or the garage (not above the car unless you want a battle with your irate spouse who objects to squished tomato on the hood).
Over a period of time tomatoes will ripen on the vine. Another possibility is to pick green tomatoes and wrap each one in newspaper (a well-read Peninsula News Review works really well) and put them in a single layer in a cardboard box, placing a thick layer of paper between layers if you have a lot, and store them in a cool, dark spot where rats can’t sample them. (A cupboard in the garage, maybe?).
An alternative might be to make tomato relish or a spicy sauce, or simply store ripe tomatoes in a plastic bag in the freezer. As you need them, rinse them under the hot water tap, and the skins slip off like magic.
Helen Lang has been the Peninsula News Review’s garden columnist for more than 25 years.