Georgeous tubular flowers attract hummingbirds! This hybrid evergreen shrub is smaller growing and of finer texture than Tecoma stans, which is one of its parents; T. x smithii will eventually grow 8-12 feet tall by as wide. The orange tubular flowers, appearing from summer throught fall, fade with age to pale orange-yellow. Best if planted in full sun and watered occasionally; can tolerate light shade and low water conditions. This large shrub adds cheery orange color to the garden and can also be trained up as a small tree.

Plant with L.G.M. Planting Mix or Dr. Earth Planting Mix, using half planting mix and half existing soil. Use Dr. Earth Bud and Blossom Fertilizer and incorporate into backfill mix. Use again at 6 week intervals during growing season.

'Mona Lavender' is a fast-growing, herbaceous, perennial shrub. It grows 18 to 24 inches tall, forming a lovely, rounded, dense bush.

It has glossy, dark green, leaves with purple undersides and produces six-inch long spikes of lavender blossoms throughout the growing season..

Mona Lavender is ideal for mass plantings in your garden or as a houseplant.

Although a member of the mint family, 'Mona Lavender' does not spread and is easily kept compact by occasionally pinching off the tips of new shoots. Cut off flower stalks when their blooms have faded. If growing in a container, repot your plant into a slightly larger pot in spring.

Food preservation techniques are ways to stop or greatly slow down spoilage while keeping flavor, texture and nutritional value as much as possible. If you don't preserve your food somehow, it will start to spoil soon after it is harvested. The most common ways to preserve food that will keep food safe are canning, freezing and drying.

Other methods that both help preserve food (and also add flavor) include pickling, salting, preserving in syrup or alcohol, and sugar crystalization.

Canning

When thinking about preserving food, most people think of canning. Canning is done by preparing foods, sealing them in sterile cans or jars, and boiling the containers to kill or weaken any remaining bacteria and create a vacuum seal. The two main types of canners are boiling water canners and pressure canners. Each method is best used with particular foods. Pickling and the creation of jams, preserves, and jellies also use canning techniques.

Drying

One of the oldest and most reliable methods for preserving food is drying. Since ancient times people have dried foods to store them for later use. Drying reduces water activity and delays or prevents bacterial growth. Many fruits can be dried; drying is often used to preserve apples, bananas, mangos, papaya, pears, and others. Currants, raisins and sultanas are all types of dried grapes, for example. Drying is also the usual method for preserving cereal grains. Tomatoes are also commonly dried.

Freezing

Another very old method to preserve food is freezing. Many Arctic communities preserved food in holes dug into the ice. Scandinavians preserved fish (especially herrings) this way. Freezing provides long-term storage for strategic food stocks held in case of national emergency in many countries. Some foods, including many raw vegetables, do not freeze well.

This newsletter is not big enough to provide specific information on preserving specific foods - we can only provide an overview of possible techniques. However, there is a lot of online information on the subject. We would recommend checking out the National Center for Home Food Preservation which has specific information on canning (click here), drying (click here) and freezing (click here), as well as other methods such as pickling, fermenting and making jams and jellies (see the menu to the left at any of the previous links).

Thanks to last week's hardy respondents; that was a tough one to research.  But this week's is easier!

This Week's Question:   To what plant family does the Plectranthus belong?

This Week's Prize:   3 gallon Plectranthus

Q: What is West Nile virus?
A. West Nile Virus is a flavivirus commonly found in Africa, West Asia, and the Middle East. It is closely related to the St. Louis encephalitis virus, which is also found in the United States. The virus can infect humans, birds, mosquitoes, horses and some other mammals.

Q. What are West Nile encephalitis, West Nile meningitis and “neuroinvasive disease” and West Nile fever?
A. The most severe type of disease due to a person's being infected with West Nile virus is sometimes called “neuroinvasive disease” because it affects a person’s nervous system. Specific types of neuroinvasive disease include: West Nile encephalitis, West Nile meningitis or West Nile meningoencephalitis. Encephalitis refers to an inflammation of the brain, meningitis is an inflammation of the membrane around the brain and the spinal cord, and meningoencephalitis refers to inflammation of the brain and the membrane surrounding it. West Nile Fever is another type of illness that can occur in people who become infected with the virus. It is characterized by fever, headache, tiredness, aches and sometimes rash. Although the illness can be as short as a few days, even healthy people have been sick for several weeks.