Lilac

Why do the leaves of my French lilac fold up? It lives outside the garden fence, in full sun, in rocky soil which we have not improved as we did the garden soil. It has small leaves and double dark purple flowers. We do water it regularly.

When a plant folds its leaves, it is defending itself from some kind of stress. In this climate, the common stresses are lack of water and cold weather (usually, but not necessarily, in winter). Your French lilac is probably trying to hang onto as much of its limited water as possible by folding its leaves. By doing so, it exposes only half its leaf surfaces to the drying effects of sun and wind.

Why does this happen to only the one lilac? It is a more delicate member of the family, and touchier about how you care for it. The tough common lilacs are native to eastern Europe, and their descendants are tough. Fancier French lilacs were bred in the 1800s in a French nursery, where the climate is more gentle than ours.

When you have unimproved rocky ground, you can assume that there is excellent drainage. No matter how often you water the lilac, it must gulp a drink quickly, before the water heads down to the local water table. You were quite right in not improving the soil in its planting hole. That is a recipe for later problems. As a bush or tree grows, its roots stay in that pocket of good soil, rather than exploring the wider world of dirt. Winding round and round, and sometimes choking themselves, the roots become less and less healthy.

However, you can improve the water holding capacity of the soil from the top down, without causing roots to circle. Cover the ground around the French lilac with mulch, in a circle half again as big as the diameter of the bush, because roots spread wider than branches. Compost or aged manure would be a perfect mulch since they are already decayed, but any organic material will suffice. Pile the mulch about two inches deep. As it breaks down, add more mulch to keep the layer always two inches thick. Within a few years, the soil will hold water much longer, but even one year will make a difference.

My Early Girl tomatoes are a big disappointment this year. What can I do next year to improve things?

Why don't you try the solution that worked for me? I plant different tomatoes.

Although Early Girl used to be the standard by which all local tomatoes were judged, that is no longer true. Early Girl tomatoes have changed from being early, prolific, and sweet to late, scanty, and sour. Because plants and seeds are living creatures, they change. Some change faster, some more slowly, but they are always in the process of becoming something else. In the case of Early Girl tomatoes, the something else is not as good for eating.

I plant at least one new tomato variety every year as an experiment, always choosing an early type that can tolerate cold nights. Many times the experiment is a failure, but every once in a while a new tomato replaces an old one in my collection. This year I hit the jackpot. My new favorite tomato is Pink Berkeley Tie Dye (and what kind of name is that?). It was the first to ripen in my garden; the tomatoes are big; and the flavor is out of this world. Its appearance is a little strange--reddish brown with green stripes and an occasional yellow blotch. I forgive it the color scheme because of the amazing taste. I have not been as excited about a new tomato in years.

Should I cut some leaves off my tomato plants to get tomatoes to ripen faster?

Leave the leaves. Instead, cut off all the flowers from now on, allowing the plants to concentrate on the small tomatoes that are already growing. They will ripen faster with plenty of leaves to grow them.

Editor's note: Did you enjoy the column? The "Dirty Fingernails" column has been discontinued through the winter but will return if our readers are interested. Please share your thoughts with us: 677-2022 or pathfinder@seeleylake.com.

Master gardener Molly Hackett welcomes reader questions related to gardening, pest management, plants, soils and anything in between. Submit questions to mhackett@centric.net, call 406-961-4614 or mail questions to 1384 Meridian Road, Victor, MT 59875.