In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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May 14, 2007

Your comments are welcome

Every Monday when I arrive at work I hold my breath for an instant as I log onto my computer to check my email. I always hope that there will be lots of garden questions from readers who have either read one of my stories in the Saturday Home & Garden section or who logged onto the blog to see what’s new in The Bee’s vegetable garden and my garden as well.

I’m happy to say readers have overwhelmed me with questions and comments, and I'm working to answer them all. Questions run the gamut of gardening activities: where to get soil tested, when to harvest garlic, why tomato flowers fall off without setting fruit, where to buy matilija poppies, what to do about moles and gophers, yellow leaves on gardenias, how to prevent sow bugs from eating the strawberries, what’s eating holes in basil leaves, planting willow trees and much, much more.

I want to invite readers who have answers to these questions or who have other valuable information to share to leave their comments online by clicking the word “comments” at the end of this article. If you do that, the blog item will appear again, and this time the selection at the bottom of the page will say “Be the first to add a comment” or, if someone has already started the process, it will say, “Add your comments.” Click on that link, and fire away!

My snail mailbox here at The Bee was jammed full of requests from readers who read the May 12 story about growing giant pumpkins, and answered the offer for free giant pumpkin seeds. What a sight it was to see all of those letters stuffed in the box. Pumpkin seed requests came mainly from Sacramento and surrounding areas, but also from as far away as Minnesota. Reader Paul Williams, who has subscribed to The Bee for 25 years, suggested in the future I offer seeds that don’t require so much space for gardeners who may not have the room to grow giant pumpkins. He suggested giant sunflower seeds. They get tall, but don’t take up a lot of room in the garden. Paul said: “My Bee Home & Garden claim to fame occurred last year (May 27, 2006) when I accurately described the Mystery Melon.” Watch for sunflower seeds next year, Paul!

I’m pleased beyond words that so many people are reading both the Home & Garden section and In the Garden.

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Please use the form below to submit your question. Because there is a 100-word limit for questions, a word counter is located directly beneath the box where you enter the your question.