Cover houseplants when going on vacation

Here are some topics brought up to me at the Springs Preserve.

Houseplant care while vacationing: Cluster plants together and loosely cover with clear plastic bags to reduce evaporation. Keep them out of direct sunlight. If you are going on an extended vacation, place the plants in the shower and have someone water them occasionally.

Snake melon: It is an Armenian cucumber, also known as a snake cucumber. It is perhaps the best slicing cucumber for Las Vegas, and there's no need to peel it. It grows long and fast, but tastes best when it's a foot long. It's actually a variety of melon.

Bitter cucumbers: No one really knows why cucumbers produce bitter fruit, but we assume stress causes it. You'll stay away from bitterness by growing Armenian cucumbers.

Pepper blossom-end-rot: Like tomatoes, eggplants and watermelons, peppers also suffer with blossom-end-rot. The problem goes back to the plant needing calcium at the time of fruit set. It takes water to dissolve calcium from the soil, and if the plant can't get it, then the disease shows up. There is nothing you can do about it except remove the fruit and wait for new peppers to come along.

Exoskeleton bugs climbing trees: Those skeletons belong to cicadas that are coming from the ground. They are hard to kill, and are interested only in mating and laying eggs in twigs. Later, larvae fall to the ground, repeating the cycle by feeding on tree roots for several years.

Best figs for the valley: Black mission is a pear-shaped, purplish-black fig with strawberry-colored flesh inside. Brown turkey is a dark brown to black fruit with watermelon-colored pink flesh, and tastes very good. Kadota has a medium-sized yellowish-green skin with amber flesh with a tinge of pink at the center that is rich tasting. To get the best taste from figs, allow them to fully ripen on the tree or dry them to enjoy later on.

White substance on mock orange: It is cottony cushion scale sucking sap from its stems. You'll find insects underneath waxy scales to protect them. Wash them off or use insecticidal soap until controlled.

Shriveling grapes: Once temperatures climb above 105 degrees, and if they are stressed for water, grapes will wither. Keep ample moisture available to the plant as it matures.

Myoporum dying: If you overwater this fast-growing groundcover and have poor drainage, expect root rot. Water less frequently so the soil dries between irrigations to stop the problem. This also happens to gazanias.

Full sun shrubs: Here is a short list of sun-loving shrubs for hot situations: shiny xylosma, Arizona rosewood, sugar bush, dwarf myrtle, Texas Ranger, cassia, Tecoma stans and all bird of paradise varieties.

Ground covers for slopes: Try acacia redolens, coyote bush, prostrate myoporum and trailing lantana. To water them, remove coffee can bottoms and place above the plants with emitters in cans, so water goes directly to the root ball and stops erosion.

Extending life of pesticide: Go after roaches, crickets, cutworms, scorpions and black widow spiders at night. Spraying wasp nests at night reduces the chance of stings, because of their inactivity. But be careful spraying at night because you can't see as well, and you might spray roaming pets.

Annuals to cool patios: Select blue, white and pastel-colored flowers such as impatiens, begonias, petunias, periwinkles and dusty miller to connote coolness. Snip back straggly growth and fertilize to keep them blooming. Frequent waterings are essential in sunny locations when it's windy for these bloomers.

Husk tomato? It also is called ground cherry, poha berry or strawberry tomato. It produces cherry tomatoes inside a paperlike husk and when ripe, it turns brown and the fruit drops from the plant. It responds the same as tomatoes. Use it like raisins, and put them in pies, jams or dry in sugar.

DELICIOUS MESQUITE TREE MEALS

Looking for a way to spark up your cooking while adding healthier choices into your diet? Try mesquite. Join Laura Eisenberg, horticulturist for the Springs Preserve, and discover many reasons why mesquite is becoming a popular and beneficial dietary supplement. She will teach you the basics of harvesting, grinding and cooking with this traditional early American food. And you'll be able to taste food from bygone days from recipes prepared during class. It's at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at 333 S. Valley View Blvd. Reserve your seat early by calling 822-7786.

Linn Mills writes a garden column each Sunday. You can reach him at linn.mills@springspreserve.org or call him at 822-7754.