Lots of listener questions today!
Wide-ranging answers keep returning to common themes: beneficial insects -vs- applying poisons, hosing things off -vs- applying poisons, saving bees and other beneficial insects -vs- applying imidacloprid (a neo-nicinoid systemic poison that makes flowers poisonous to pollinators), thwarting phytophthora by watering deeper but less often, and conserving water in this drought year.
Specific discussions about:
plants for a dry front landscape [with LOTS of ideas!];
Colocasia ["elephant ears"] and taro root [for poi] CAN grow here!;
what ethylene gas is and what it does (ripening bananas and apples, strenghtening tree trunks) [including Don's suggestion for some kids' science fair projects!];
spider mites, predatious mites [which are small and red but are not chiggers!], and other beneficial insects;
'What causes leaf burn on maples?'; and
more about phytophthora [a word which traslates as "plant death"].
