I heard you talking about a natural sugar substitute we can grow but I didn’t catch the name. What was it? – It’s Stevia or sometimes called ‘Sweetleaf’. It’s grown as an annual here – great for containers to be taken inside over the winter – and the leaves, used fresh or dried, can be 10 to hundreds of times sweeter than sugar! Zero glycemic index, no carbs, and no calories – perfect for diabetics looking for a natural sweetener. Use stevia fresh when making a pitcher of tea or lemonade – simply pick 2-3 leaves, bruise them with a spoon, then poor in your liquids and let it sit. You may need to add a leaf of subtract a leaf, so sweeten to taste, the natural way with Stevia.

I want to protect my lawn from grubs. When is the best time to apply a grub preventer? -The best time to apply a grub preventer is in June, and can be applied thru July as well. And make sure it’s a grub preventer, not a grub killer. Grub preventers last around 90 days – grub killers are used later in the season and are a one shot / quick kill.
Couple lawn care reminders; your best defense against weeds, disease and insects is a healthy lawn. A healthy lawn can withstand the attack of 8-10-12 grubs per square foot without showing any damage. So keep that lawn as healthy as you can. And using a sharp lawn mower blade when you mow is another important part of lawn care. Hey, when’s the last time you had your lawn mower blade sharpened?

My peony leaves are silver! What happened and how do I get rid of the silvery stuff?
-That’s powdery mildew and we’ve seen it more and more on peonies the last 2-3 years. At this stage, it’s a matter of cutting off really badly covered leaves, and spraying with a fungicide (labeled for powdery mildew) to get it into check, and protect any new foliage. Next year, you’ll need to start earlier in the year with the fungicides for leaf protection, or monitor closely and as soon as you see any start to appear, start spraying. Be sure to remove and pitch all foliage at the end of the season.

 Some of my onions have started to flower. Should I cut that off? -Always different opinions here, but you may as well leave it be. Once the flower stalk forms, its already in the bulb as well, so cutting it out won’t help. Use those onions first as they usually won’t last as long in storage. If you want to cut it off the stalk, go ahead.