Will this plant stay alive all winter? I’d love to have a purple plant all winter. Go Purple!
This is purple sage, a fairly hardy herb, both ornamental and tasty for cooking. Its flashy foliage tolerates cold temperatures up to a point. The warmer its micro-climate and the warmer the winter, the longer it will look purple and perky. Eventually, deep freezes will brown foliage and it will go dormant until next spring.
Sometimes I open my dryer door and find crickets. I was advised that installing a screen over the outside dryer vent opening would exclude the crickets, but trapped dryer lint could build up and be a fire hazard. Are there repellents to keep bugs away from the vent?
In the vicinity of the exterior dryer vent opening, remove damp hiding places such as wood piles, mulch, and groundcovers. Install a louvered vent cover that opens outwards when the dryer is blowing out air but closes at other times. You should be able to find one in hardware or home supply stores. We do not recommend using pesticides in this instance.
University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Maryland’s Gardening Experts” to send questions and photos.