Anchorage Daily News

I get this question a lot: "Is it too late to prune a lilac bush? It is blocking our view." The actual answer is that it probably is too late if you don't want to harm your chances of getting flowers next year. This is because lilacs start developing next year's flowers a couple of weeks after this year's produce seeds.

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Garden calendar (8/13/09)

Peonies: Pick off spent flowers. Sweat Peas: Pick the flowers and enjoy them inside. Picking now prevents the plants from going to seed and encourages more flower development.

Lawns: Now is a good time to apply some organic lawn food.

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If a plant is blocking your view, it should be removed or pruned regardless of the impact on flowers or the time of year. The only caveat -- and even then there are exceptions -- is that you don't want to kill the plant.

Next, one of you noted I wrote that potatoes are flowering, but not to harvest until after a hard frost. Ah, but what about those that might have flowered last month, really early? The issue is how do they taste. You can pull a few of them out from the base of the hill which is where you will find the oldest tubers. If you want them starchier and sweeter, leave them be until the weather turns cold, preferably frosty.

A leek grower asked about burying shoots as they grow. The proper way to plant leeks is to set starts into a hole up to five or six inches deep and then fill the hole in as the leek grows. If this wasn't your technique, then you might put an inch or so of soil around and up the base of your plants.

Another reader wants to know if it is too late to plant another crop of lettuce. Of course, that depends on the variety, but there is no reason you shouldn't try for another crop as lettuces can be harvested at any stage of life so if a frost is impending, you will still have a crop. A better idea would be to start seeds in a container which can be moved inside to a sunny window if you want more mature plants than the arrival of frost allows. The only caveat is that nitrates increase in leafy greens when grown indoors with inadequate light during the fall and winter months.

Several readers have asked about sales at local nurseries and wonder if it is too late to plant delphiniums, strawberries and all those plants the nurseries always seem to have toward the end of the season. Are they a good buy? My answer is almost always "Yes," as this is a great time to plant most perennials as well as shrubs and trees.However, if you are in doubt, you should speak with the manager.

Nurseries are not in the business to mislead you, so you will get an honest answer. If you do buy, dip roots into mycorrhizal fungi before you transplant.

To the reader who is new at growing apples and has her first fruits on the tree but wants to know when she should pick, I was always taught that an apple isn't ripe unless the seeds are black. Assuming you don't have some kind of white-seeded variety, you have your answer. Don't forget to apply Plantskydd while you wait as those apples must call to every moose around.

Is it too early to take cuttings from plants for winter use? It is never too early to multiply summer plants into winter fun. But how will your plants look during the remaining weeks of the growing season? If you can judiciously pinch a cutting without detracting, however, this is a great time. You can root and grow the cuttings outdoors to get them established. Put them in pots or other containers. Great candidates include impatiens, regular begonias, coleus and pelargoniums.

Jeff Lowenfels is a member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame. You can reach him at teamingwithmicrobes.com or by calling 274-5297 during "The Garden Party" radio show from 10 a.m. to noon Saturdays on KBYR AM-700.

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