Published June 23, 2005

Welcome to the first edition of the Jolly Green Goddess, who aspires to being a great gardener despite the elements, despite other time commitments, and despite bugs that seem to come in plant containers, no matter where we buy them. We shall overcome, someday! Together.

Actually, I much prefer to ìprimpî my garden to dusting and vacuuming our house,so the garden looks great, and the house looks not as great. But who cares? The garden makes me happier. And I love to cheer up neighbors and passersby with bright flowers and our well known non-fruit bearing Japanese flowering cherry tree in front.

Since we built our home twenty years ago I have tried to plant to have something blooming at all times and seem to have reached that goal. In the '80s Jerry commuted to Washington,D.C.a lot for clients,so I had plenty of time to read Sunsetís Western Garden Book and bug local nurseries for tips when Erin and Mack were in school. Even then, pursuit of plants and flowers was much more fun than pursuit of dust mites.

Natch, I made lots of mistakes: I wish I had planted all English Laurels or white oleanders along the driveway but planted English Laurels and pink oleanders against a fence facing neighbors so they would have to look at our side fence even before the fence was built. I knew then-neighbor Paula Lely liked blue and pink, so I tried to please her. We even had the fence built an extra five feet inside our property line to allow the plants to fully grow so that the Lelys could see greenery instead of a wooden wall.

I planted un-patented roses along the south side of the house before the external siding was even nailed to the uprights, so determined was I to create color. I didnít even know there was a difference between patented and unpatented roses and that shrubs would grow up to shade the roses. All I wanted was quick and permanent cheer. All of those ìbumî roses are still alive, with personality quirks intact, but then so am I.

I have learned a lot since our days in Mill Valley where I managed to kill two baby redwood trees given to us by Lady Bird Johnson, and had former California Governor and current Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's mother, Bernice Brown, tell me that I would be lucky to grow radishes and carrots in that climate. And she was right.

Gardening is a great escape. No matter whether you take care of one geranium in a pot or 1,000 acres of vineyard, growing things is like creating another kind of baby. You plant seeds in dirt, fertilize the garden,water it to grow, and then it gives birth to flowers,fruit,or vegetables. At least for a little while you give and get pleasure.

I spend a whole lot of time talking to our roses and tomato plants. And it really helps both them and me. We need real relationships with plants,both at home and in the universe. Iím not spacey about this, just realistic.

So here we go on a plant adventure together. As we continue to work on our veggie gardens, the Jolly Green Goddess will guide you through veggie and flower care year round and answer your questions on plant problems.

This weekís plant tips: The Jolly Green Goddess: Claudiaís Perennial Nursery on Second Street West and the bike path and across from Vellaís Cheese suddenly is giving 100 percent of sales to Pets Lifeline. If you need perennials or are a Pets Lifeline fan, or just like what they do, skedaddle over to Claudiaís Thursday-Sunday to make a contribution and please yourself. Thank you, Claudia!

The Jolly Green Goddess: If you planted your first lettuce of the season when I did, you may find that even without extreme heat in what is apparently known as this ìsummer,î your lettuce is ìbolting,î as M.F.K. Fisher referred to it and others call it today. That means that it shoots up tall with almost more stem than leaves,and the leaves donít get very big. Most ìauthoritiesîtell you when harvesting to first cut the outside leaves, but if you do this too soon, you end up with even more of a bolt than normal.

When this bolting process starts, I cut the stem off just above the second layer of early leaves, which gives us all the lettuce upward on the stem to eat, and then magic happens. Donít desert the lettuce. Keep watering it, and new lettuce leaves will appear like a whole new head.

If you want to plant lettuce now, put it in a mostly shady place. The summer heat, if it ever arrives, will take care of growth. Hope I didnít offend the weather gods and goddesses with that reference to summer heat!

My rose leaves are turning yellow and have black spots. What did I do wrong and what do I do right? The Jolly Green Goddess and Sonoma Mission Gardens: Nothing and nothing! Blackspot is usually from too much moisture, this year from our seemingly never-ending rain. If you really feel money, spray with Neemoil, which is organic. Or you can do what I do: wait until the rain stops and keep track of your watering, spray the leaves off the plant with water from a hose, pick them up, and throw them away.

My “Giant Belgium” tomato plant has leaves that are shriveling up and turning brown. What do I do? The Jolly Green Goddess and Sonoma Mission Gardens: Probably this early blight is caused by our overabundant rain this year, or you can be watering too much. My tendency was to water a sick looking plant more to make it better. But uh-uh. Don’t do it. Remove the dead and dying stuff, clear around the bottom of the plant,and fertilize it so that it can put out new healthy leaves.

Send in your plant questions to the Jolly Green Goddess at hilltopub@aol.com. or call (707) 938-8110. And we thank Sonoma Mission Gardens for all their help and guidance. I will try to give both commercial and organic remedie to each problem.

—Kathleen Hill is co-author of Sonoma Valley-The Secret Wine Country and Napa Valley-Land of Golden Vines. Kathleen and Gerald Hill host two shows at 5 p.m. on KSVY- 91.3 FM Mondays and Thursdays.