Be careful planting next to black walnut tree

By By Amelia O’Brian / horticulture columnist
April 27, 2003
Dear Gardener: I have a very large black walnut tree in my yard. I am looking for some type of flowering shrub to plant near it. I know that many shrubs will not live near black walnuts. Do you have any suggestions on what to plant?
Dear Reader: Black walnut trees produce a chemical that is toxic to some other plants. Therefore, plant selection is critical when planting near these trees.
Choices of flowering shrubs is pretty limited. Forsythia, deciduous azalea, and rose of Sharon are the best candidates.
You might want to add some perennials in with your shrubs of choice. Good options include ferns, hostas, Solomon's seal, Jacob's ladder, pulmonaria, and astilbe.
Dear Gardener: The new leaves on my Japanese maple have withered and died. I am not sure if it has some type of fungus. New leaves are starting to appear and they look healthy, but so did the others in the beginning.
Dear Reader: This early in the season my guess would be that your Japanese maple was zapped by frost. When it warms up and things start leafing out, it is easy to kill some foliage when a night or two of 32-degree weather comes in.
Dear Gardener: I have a pineapple plant five or six years old. I now have a baby pineapple. I know you can't eat them, but what care does it take. Judy
Dear Judy: I will have to admit I do not know much about pineapples. So, I did a little research and everything I have read says that you can eat your baby pineapple. That is as long as you have not used any type of pesticide on the plant and as long as you have the patience to allow it to ripen on the plant.
The ripening process could take a while six months or longer. You will know that it is ready to eat when it gets a yellowish hue and starts to smell really sweet. If you do not want to eat it, you can always propagate another pineapple plant from it.