Garden Tip of the Week: Feed fruit trees this month

May is the month when most fruit trees are fed for the second time of the year. Use a citrus special fertilizer as it has additional nutrients that support fruit development. An 8-0-8 or 10-0-10 fertilizer can be used on most fruit trees.

The faithful can bear good fruit

BY THE REV. ALAN BAUGHCUM Special to Worship God’s prophets and Jesus often spoke in agricultural metaphors. Most of us no longer farm for a living but many of us work on spring clean-ups. Here are some lessons for our faith lives from my own experience this week in spring-cleaning. read more

It's going to be a long wait to make your own guacamole

The Plant Doctor's prognosis: Avocado tree will take 5 to 7 years to recover from cold damage Q. Cold weather damaged our 7-year-old avocado tree two years in a row and it is starting back from the ground. Will this tree that was grown from a seed still need seven or more years to produce fruits?

Joshua Siskin: Coffee, trumpets and other delights

I had never seen a coffee plant produce fruit in the Valley until being confronted with a robust specimen thriving in a container on Jerry Esten's shaded patio. The plant is bedecked with a plenitude of coffee cherries, or fruit, which, although green, will eventually turn red, each containing two coffee beans, or seeds.

Garden detective: Orange tree has few oranges

I have an orange tree that has produced a good crop every year, and last season was the best. But this season, the tree had very few blossoms.