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Some of you, especially in USDA Zone 9 where freezing temperatures haven’t occurred yet, you may still have green and partially red tomatoes, clinging to life, in your backyard garden. Will they ripen? And as always, the answer is: it depends.

One listener from Virginia wants to know if that pile of mulch near her maple tree can be moved. Her concern: the roots of the tree have invaded that mulch pile…and, there’s a bunch of suspicious stringy white stuff inside that mulch pile, as well. We start digging into the answer for that one with our favorite retired college horticulture professor, Debbie Flower.

And UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden’s Superintendent Emeritus, Warren Roberts, tells us all about a perennial that’s putting on quite the show right now for many of you: the chrysanthemum. And he explains why you do not want to present a bouquet of mums to your sweetheart. It’s our Plant of the Week!

Podcasting from Barking Dog Studios here in the beautiful Abutilon Jungle in Suburban Purgatory, it’s episode 152 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. 

And we will do it all in just a little over 30 minutes. Don’t hate me for that.

November through January, the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast slows its production schedule. Look for new episodes each Friday.  In February, we will return to twice a week podcasts, on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Pictured:
Unripe "Viva Italia" Roma Tomatoes

Links:
The New Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter
Smart Pots
Dave Wilson Nursery
Chrysanthemums Wikipedia page
Tomato Ripening Chart
BOOK - Tomato Recipes: Stewed, Fried, Green, Cherry, Baked and Lots of Great Recipes for Tomatoes

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fred

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