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By Dr. L. Reuven Pasternak

This holiday season, imagine giving a priceless gift that costs nothing. A gift that not only can change lives but can also save them.

That’s the gift of organ donation registration. A simple act of kindness and generosity that can let one live on in others. From heart donations that allow young children to reach adulthood, to kidney transplants that enable recipients to avoid the difficulty of dialysis, to skin grafts that save the lives of burn victims, organ donations have changed the future for many in the most important of ways.

On Oct. 6, Stony Brook Hospital’s Department of Transplantation partnered with LiveOnNY, enlisting a team of volunteers from Stony Brook Medicine and Stony Brook University for a regional organ registration drive event involving close to 100 participating organizations. Our goal that day was to enroll 250 new organ donors. I’m delighted to say we literally quadrupled that number with 1,000 new registrants and earned recognition as the leading transplant center and university for enrollees that day for our region — which includes Long Island, New York City, and towns as far north as Poughkeepsie.

But we’re not stopping there. Stony Brook is committed to continuing to spread the word throughout our community about the importance of organ donation registration. New York still ranks 50th out of 50 states in the percentage of residents enrolled as organ donors. That’s a number that must change. And I know we can change it together.

Just one organ donor can save up to eight lives. Yet, right now, there are more than 10,000 people in New York awaiting an organ donation. Not all of them will get one. In fact, every 15 hours, a New Yorker dies waiting for a lifesaving transplant. And one of the reasons for this is that only 25 percent of the residents of our state are registered organ donors. Nationwide, the average is 47 percent. I know we New Yorkers can do better than this.

Unfortunately, there are many beliefs about organ donation that are simply untrue but that may prevent people from registering. If you are a registered organ donor and end up in a hospital, doctors will do whatever they can to save you. There is no cost associated with being an organ donor. And if you’re concerned that donating organs is not allowed by your faith, you should know that most major religions support organ donation, considering it a profound act of kindness.

With the holidays upon us, why not consider giving the most important and meaningful gift there is? The gift of life. You can find instructions for registering and get answers to questions about organ donation at www.livelongny.org or download a registration form at www.stonybrookmedicine.edu/patientcare/organdonation.

Dr. L. Reuven Pasternak is the chief executive officer at Stony Brook University Hospital and the vice president for Health Systems at Stony Brook Medicine.

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The November tomato flowers and tomatoes in the author's garden — notice fallen leaves in the background. Photo Ellen Barcel

By Ellen Barcel

Late autumn is a great time to access your gardening successes and failures. It’s well into November as I work on this column. My tomato plants have been very weird this year. I’ve grown tomatoes for decades. I’ve never had trouble with tomatoes setting fruit, always having a bountiful crop (except when the tomato blight struck). That is, until this year when I had few blossoms and no fruit.

This was a new experience for me. So, that got me started researching why the fruit would not set. All the information I’ve been able to find gave me some hints, but, none really explained why, now, well into autumn, the plants are setting fruit. Yes, I’ve got at least a half dozen green tomatoes and many more blossoms. And I’ve noticed two other gardeners whose plants were covered in green tomatoes in late October.

So, first some basic information on tomato plants in general. The tomato, which is a member of the nightshade family, was developed in Mesoamerica. Having been developed in such a mild climate, it needs warm weather to grow successfully. While many other plants can be put out in early to midspring, experts recommend not putting your tomato plants out until Mother’s Day (mid-May), although my father always said Memorial Day (the end of May), because they are so tender.

Tomato plants do not need a second plant to provide pollen like, let’s say, a holly bush does. There you need at least one male plant in the area usually for up to four or five female plants. Nor do they have different male and female flowers on the same plant, the way squash does. Look carefully at squash and you’ll notice that the early flowers do not set fruit since they’re the male ones. Then the female flowers open and soon they are the ones to produce fruit.

The tomato flowers contain both the male and female organs in the one flower. Usually a gentle breeze or insects causes the pollen to fall so the flower can pollinate itself. People who grow tomato plants in the house or in a greenhouse must help their plants along, gently shaking the plant or providing a gentle breeze to release the pollen.

Now back to the tomatoes outside. So, why no fruit?

◆ First of all, always keep your plants healthy by providing adequate fertilizer and water. Tomatoes are heavy feeders, and healthy plants are more likely to bear fruit.

◆ When the day temperature goes above 85 to 90 degrees, the pollen is no longer viable. Optimal day temperatures for setting fruit is 70 to 85 degrees.

◆ To set fruit, night temperature should be above 55 but below 75 degrees. If Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate with the adequate temperature range, the plants will not set fruit.

◆ In very humid regions, the pollen may become very sticky. It therefore won’t fall through the flower.

◆ Tomato plants need six to eight hours of full sun. Plant in an area with too much shade and you don’t get fruit.

◆ Tomatoes also need lots of water. If you’ve ever experienced blossom end rot, cracks in the bottom of the fruit, it’s due to the soil drying out. So, while you don’t want to plant the tomatoes in a marshy area, you do want to make sure that they have a consistently moist soil.

◆ Fungal diseases, such as the tomato blight of recent years, can also be a problem.

◆ Determinate plants set fruit early, while indeterminates need to be a bigger plant, so set fruit later in the season. Determinate plants are more compact. They are varieties that reach a certain size and no bigger, such as ‘Bush Early Girl,’ ‘Better Bush,’ ‘Elfin’ and ‘Grand Cherry.’ Indeterminate plants like ‘Big Beef’ and ‘New Girl’ keep growing like a vine. If conditions aren’t right later in the season, you won’t get fruit from indeterminates.

◆ Fertilizer with too high a nitrogen content leads to lush (lots of greenery) plants but not necessarily lots of fruit. Use a more balanced fertilizer, such as one whose label reads 10-10-10.

So, why didn’t my plants set fruit this summer? My guess is that they weren’t getting enough sun and I moved them to a more sheltered area, one without a breeze or insects to release the pollen. Next growing season the plants go back to where I grew them in past years. As to why they’re setting fruit now, my best guess is that we’ve had a very mild autumn, and therefore Mother Nature has provided the right day and night temperatures for fruit to set.

A final note — if you are growing plants from seed, you need to start them six to eight weeks before you plan to put them out. Start late March or early April and in a sunny window. If the plants become very leggy, the stem can be planted deep into the soil outside as roots will develop anywhere along the stem. Putting them outside in a cold frame first helps to harden off the tender plants, but watch the weather. If a cold spell is predicted in early to mid-May, hold off bringing them outside until the weather is warmer. To maximize tomato yield, select early, midseason and late tomato plants.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. Send your gardening questions and/or comments to [email protected]. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

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Purple lunaria flowers. Photo by Ellen Barcel

By Ellen Barcel

One of the reasons I really like perennial plants is because it’s the “plant once, enjoy for many years” form of gardening. Perennials, provided they are adapted to your growing conditions (hardiness zone, fertilizer, soil pH, amount of water, etc.) will return year after year.

But, there is another way of planting once and enjoying for many years — by growing plants that are known for self-seeding. They put out seeds in the late summer and fall, the seeds survive your winter conditions and germinate the next year. Some of these are biennials, which means that the individual plant will grow back a second year in addition to scattering seeds. Some are annuals, with the original plant dying and only the seeds surviving the next year.

If you do decide to plant self-seeding plants, make sure you know what the seedlings look like. While in some cases the seedling looks very much like the mature plant’s leaf, in other cases, it’s hard to tell. You don’t want to accidently pull out a desired plant thinking it’s a weed.

There’s another caution with self-seeders. Because they produce so many seeds, they can become invasive with your flower bed looking very messy. So, you need to be careful in planting them and not be hesitant to “rip out” what grows where you don’t want it.

One of the best self-seeding plants is lunaria (pennies, honesty, money plant). The name comes from Latin, meaning moon-like, which refers to the oval, silvery seedpods that are produced on the plant toward the end of the growing season. While some are annuals or perennials, most commonly found in seed catalogues are biennials.

The flowers are beautiful — white or purple — and appear in spring with seed pods the second year after sowing. They are easy to naturalize if you have a wooded or partly wooded area where the seedlings won’t be disturbed. A mass of these is stunning even from a distance away. The flowers can also be collected and dried for arrangements. Make sure you leave some flower go to seed for next year. Foxglove is another biennial that self-seeds.

Another self-seeder (which is also a perennial) is Echinacea, that is, coneflowers. These beautiful flowers attract birds, which love the seeds. Leave the seed heads on the plants in fall. What’s not eaten will fall to the ground and come spring, more plants will grow.

Other self-seeding annuals include New England asters, coreopsis, feverfew, violets, sweet peas and blue woodruff.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. Send your gardening questions to [email protected]. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

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Large canna leaves are topped with beautiful bright red flowers. Photo by Ellen Barcel

By Ellen Barcel

As you plan your next garden, you might want to consider planting tender bulbs in the spring that will produce beautiful flowers in mid to late summer, a time when there are fewer flowers in bloom. Tender bulbs include gladiolas, calla lilies, caladium, dahlias and cannas.

Some are bulbs, some rhizomes, some tubers and some corms (see my columns of last Jan. 25 and Feb. 5 for details on the botanical differences). What the glads, dahlias etc. all have in common is that they are geophytes, that is, plants with underground storage units, and all need protection from Long Island’s cold winters. The easiest way to do this is to lift them from the garden in the fall, dry them and store them in an unheated shed or garage and then replant them in spring. You could also treat them as annuals, buying new each spring. That’s up to each gardener.

If you find that any of your summer flowering bulbs are affected by disease, such as a fungal disease, it’s best to discard the bulbs and start from scratch next year, unless you have a very special plant you wish to save (use a fungicide then). Do not put diseased plants in your compost pile as you are just saving the disease pathogens for next year.

Large canna leaves are topped with beautiful bright red flowers. Photo by Ellen Barcel
Large canna leaves are topped with beautiful bright red flowers. Photo by Ellen Barcel

Remember that the first year you plant any of the above, they should do extremely well, as they are producing leaves and flowers based on last year’s care, that is, the grower’s care. To make sure that the bulbs, rhizomes etc. do well in future years, you need to water them adequately and provide fertilizer the current growing season. Then next year your bulbs should continue to thrive as well. Mulching them during the summer will help to keep the soil from drying out during periods of little or no rain.

Calla lilies are not true lilies at all. The tender variety are sold in the spring as rhizomes or potted plants. They are natives of South Africa and come in a rainbow of colors. Canna lilies have a very unique shaped flower, which is almost modernist.

They do best in well-drained soil (ideal for Long Island’s sandy soil) and full sun. Store the rhizomes in peat moss over winter. Calla lilies can be grown as houseplants but do need a period of dormancy, so don’t panic if the leaves die down. Let them rest a few months and they should be ready to grow again.

Caladium consists of many hundreds of varieties, including elephant ears. There are many cultivars that have arrowhead-shaped leaves that are six to 18 inches long and filled with stunning colors (green, white, pink and red) and patterns. They are native to the Americas (Central and South America). The wild plants go dormant in the dry season but are only hardy in zone 10. Since they prefer partial shade, they bring color to the shade garden.

Cannas are tropical plants that grow from rhizomes. They are native to the southern part of the United States and through Central and into South America. They’re grown not only for their large showy leaves but also for their beautiful flowers

While the most common varieties of cannas have green or red leaves with bright red flowers, there are other flower colors as well, including pink (‘City of Portland’), yellow (‘King City Gold’ and ‘Yellow Futurity’), coral (‘Tropical Sunrise’) and orange (‘Orange Beauty’ and ‘Wyoming’) to name just a few.

Cannas do best in full sun and in a well-drained soil. Long Island’s sandy soil is just fine, but do remember to water them during periods of drought, like we had this past summer. You can try growing them from seeds, but some varieties are sterile. Canna rhizomes are sold in the spring or you can sometimes find potted plants. While some cannas can be quite large —up to five feet — there are dwarf varieties.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. Send your gardening questions to [email protected]. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

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By Charles L. Robbins

Stony Brook University has long been devoted to fostering diversity and equality. To further our commitment to equality for all people, we recently joined the United Nations Women’s HeForShe solidarity movement as an IMPACT 10x10x10 Champion.

Stony Brook is one of 10 universities around the world — and only two in the United States — that are committing to take bold, game-changing action to achieve gender equality within and beyond their institutions. This work will be done in partnership with UN Women, the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

We will serve as a leader and advocate within the SUNY system and are championing three core areas to drive progress on gender equality:

• Close the gap between men and women — from matriculation to graduation.

• Use Stony Brook University’s Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities to build global understanding of the role of men in achieving gender equality.

• Integrate gender equality into the academic and social experience of Stony Brook University.

As an IMPACT school, we are also committed to developing and implementing a gender sensitization curriculum for students, faculty and staff, including a mandatory orientation for all new students, along with programs that will address gender-based violence. We have agreed to meet frequently with other Impact leaders to measure and report on progress, share best practices and engage other universities to champion this cause.

To that end, we are proud to be hosting the first face-to-face meeting of all 10 IMPACT University Champions, on November 30 and December 1. Representatives from the other nine universities will fly in from across the globe to discuss best practices and ways they can collaborate to drive this movement. President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, will help showcase what Stony Brook has been able to accomplish during the past few months and what we will be doing going forward.

Stony Brook and Georgetown University are the only two American universities selected to be IMPACT schools. The other eight university champions are The University of Hong Kong, University of Leicester, Nagoya University, University of Oxford, Sciences Po, University of São Paulo, University of Waterloo and University of the Witwatersrand. We look forward to welcoming these leading universities to Stony Brook and to working with them to better our communities and ultimately the world.

In 2016, Stony Brook will host two major gender equality events. First, working closely with the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities, we are planning a conference to take place on our campus with representatives from all 64 SUNY campuses.

This conference will focus on gender equality as well as the Affirmative Consent. Second, we will host Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as she discusses equality with President Stanley during a public talk. The HeForShe tour bus will make a stop on campus at that time as well.

Throughout the academic year, Stony Brook will look for ways to champion gender equality on campus and beyond. Learn more about HeForShe and how you can participate in this initiative by visiting www.stonybrook.edu/heforshe.

Charles L. Robbins is the vice provost for undergraduate education and dean of the undergraduate colleges at Stony Brook University.

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By Father Francis Pizzarelli

Since my last column, I’m aware of more than a dozen heroin overdoses in our larger North Shore community. Ten are recovering and two others are not among us any longer. These casualties of this infectious drug are young and old, rich and poor, well-educated and not so well-educated, white, black and Hispanic.

The painful reality is that right here in our wonderful North Shore community, our children and grandchildren are socializing with young men and women who are using heroin. Some of you work with them; some others unknowingly have met them on the supermarket line. This drug is everywhere; many of our young adults have connections who drop the drug off at their homes. It is mind-boggling.

The 10 who are barely recovering need to be in a long-term rehabilitation settings — that is, long-term residential treatment programs that are longer than three months. The access to treatment should be yesterday, not tomorrow, or next week or next month; that might be too late.

Insurance companies should not have the right to sentence your loved ones to death. If treatment is recommended by a licensed professional, one’s insurance company should bend over backward to accommodate that referral and pay without argument that claim.

Last year three young adults died waiting to get into residential treatment because their insurance companies said they had to fail at outpatient treatment first before they would pay for long-term treatment! That approach is not only scandalous, it’s criminal. They did fail at outpatient treatment — they died; three great young adults with so much possibility and potential.

Unfortunately, we do not have enough detox beds and enough long-term treatment beds for the epidemic need before us. Everyone is talking about this crisis, but few are doing anything about it. Our elected officials are deaf and blind to this issue. Only one candidate running for office in our county even made reference to the heroin epidemic in her platform. We don’t need another bill that lacks force, or another photo opportunity that gets lost to the archives of social indifference.

What we need is action today. We need people to step up and speak out and to continue to speak out until enough politicians take notice and are really finally willing to do something about this serious health crisis.

How many more vibrant young lives have to be lost before real action is taken — action that truly makes a difference?

What do concerned citizens and caring parents do? I believe we need to come together and provide mutual support for this lethal health crisis. We need to educate one another about the signs and symptoms. We need to remove the stigma around acknowledging the problem and stop the shame and blame game. We need to just care about the growing number of our young people who are being victimized by this lethal epidemic. We need to create a cooperative spirit within our larger community.

We need to network the religious community, the educational community and the governmental community. They need to work together to create resources that are desperately needed for those who have been infected. We don’t have the time to pass the buck; too many lives are at stake.

Fr. Pizzarelli is the director of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.

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By Elof Carlson

In 2013, South African cave explorers were told of a chamber with what looked like human bones in the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa. The Sotho language uses “naledi” for its word for a star. When a preliminary examination of some of the bones revealed this was a new species of humans, the formal species name naledi was attached to the genus name to give us Homo naledi. 

Over the next two years, three areas within the chamber were excavated, yielding 1,413 bones or bone fragments, 137 isolated teeth, and 53 jawbones with teeth. They belong to 15 different individuals, all of the same species, H. naledi. 

Their brain size is about that of human ancestors who lived two to four million years ago. Their hands and feet are more human-like than ape-like. Their teeth are remarkably human-like. Their torso, shoulders and pelvis, however, are chimpanzee-like. They were small (four to five feet tall) and, most remarkably, they set aside their dead in a special chamber in the cave. Until this find, no other animal but our own species, Homo sapiens, has been known to provide a special resting place for the dead. 

The digging will continue over the next few years, and many more (perhaps dozens) of fossil members of this species will be uncovered and analyzed. It is rare to have human fossils in such abundance. Where these humans fit in the many branched human, ape and monkey family tree will be worked out as these bones are studied by paleontologists and anthropologists in the years to come.

I look forward to the associated findings that will be explored in the cave and in a careful study of the many bones available.

For those who like the scientific description of a human, we are of the order Primates, the suborder Anthropoides, the superfamily Hominoidea, the family Hominidae, the tribe Hominini, the genus Homo and the species sapiens. Replace that last word with naledi and you see how close we are despite being separated, in all likelihood, by some two to four million years.

It has been satisfying to see the many new fossil humans, apes and related ancestors over the four generations I have lived and to reflect on how the ancestral connections are emerging. It is a story that will continue with more surprises as paleontologists continue exploring the places where humans have resided in the distant past.

Pessimists will see the extinction of humans from natural catastrophes, from human neglect of the world we live in or from alien or supernatural invasion. But four million years have passed and yet another connection to that past is revealed. If the average species runs about two million years, our species, Homo sapiens, has a long way to go before it is just a fossil memory.

Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.

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Weeping willow trees are beautiful, graceful deciduous trees. Photo by Ellen Barcel

By Ellen Barcel

Many years ago, I had two absolutely beautiful weeping willow (Salix babylonica) trees. They easily topped my two story house, and then some. I really enjoyed walking underneath the branches, looking out at the world, sort of like looking out through a light green curtain. And they provided beautiful shade.

Then, a really nasty hurricane came along. Down went the first and then the second tree. This happened when other trees — maple, oak and pine — all survived.

What happened? The answer is that weeping willow trees (natives of Asia) are very shallow rooted. When the wind really picked up, the roots couldn’t hold the trees in the wet soil, so down they went. And mine weren’t the only ones I saw down.

Does that mean that you shouldn’t plant weeping willow trees? Not necessarily. If you have an area sheltered from the wind, like a hollow, this might be the ideal location.

There’s another problem with the weeping willow tree. It craves water, so if you really want to plant this fast growing, graceful tree, make sure it’s not near a cesspool, well or in-ground swimming pool, as the roots can head in that direction, doing damage to the concrete.

The weeping willow tree grows well in U.S. Dept. of Agriculture hardiness zones 6 to 8 (Long Island is right in the middle at zone 7). It particularly likes to grow near water, but while the hardiness zones are limited, it does tolerate a wide range of soil pH levels. It’s a great shade tree quickly reaching 30 to 40 feet tall, growing as wide as is tall. Give this one plenty of room.

Another willow, pussy willow, (S. discolor) is native to North America. The deciduous shrub first produces furry catkins (or cat’s feet) in early spring. Many people like to cut branches from this stage of the plant and use them in dried arrangements or to make wreaths. If you do cut branches, do not put them in water or they will progress to the next stage, flowers.

After flowering, this easy to grow plant then produces green leaves. It is definitely grown for the early catkins. Pussy willow grows well in zones 4 through 8 or 9 (depending on variety).

Although most pussy willow plants produce gray catkins, there’s a rare variety (‘Mt. Asama’) that has a burgundy ones. A weeping pussy willow (S. caprea ‘Pendula’) can be grown as a small ornamental tree reaching 6 to 8 feet tall. As most weeping plants, the latter is really nice in winter when snow and ice covers the weeping branches.

Another popular willow that does well on Long Island is the dappled willow (S. integra). Like many other willows, the shrub is fast growing and can easily reach 15 to 20 feet tall and wide. However, if you really like this shrub, it can be pruned to keep it much smaller. In fact, it’s the new branches in spring that have mottled leaves that make it really stand out in the garden.

The dappled willow does well in hardiness zones 4 to 9. It is a native of eastern Asia, including China, Japan and Korea. Like other willows, the flowers are catkins (a cylindrical flower with no obvious petals). The cultivar ‘Hakuro Nishiki’ comes out very pale pink in spring.

Are willows deer resistant? Good question. Some sources say yes and some no, so you’ll have to see what the deer in your area like. However, rabbits do like willows, so you should take whatever precautions you normally take to keep your plants safe from them. While willows, in general, like moist soil, some varieties are somewhat drought tolerant once established. In general they like sun but tolerate light shade, and do well in a wide variety of soil conditions.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. Send your gardening questions to [email protected]. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

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By Matthew Kearns, DVM

Flea allergic dermatitis was something that I used to only warn pet owners about in the summertime. However, with warm spells in the fall and winter, as well as the flea’s ability to set up shop in our homes, we really have a year-round problem.

Before we can address the problems fleas cause and how to treat/prevent them, we must understand the life cycle of the flea. The flea has four stages in its lifecycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

An adult female flea can lay up to 2,000 eggs in a lifetime and eggs will usually hatch in one to six days. Once the eggs hatch, a slender, white, segmented flea larva forms; it looks similar to a maggot but, luckily, is too small to see with the naked eye. These larvae are not blood suckers, but rather feed on organic debris in the environment. The organic debris can be outside — leaves, dirt, etc. — or inside — carpet fibers and fibers from furniture or bedding.

After five to 11 days, the larvae will spin a whitish, loosely spun, silk-like cocoon, where they develop into pupae. The pupal stage, because of the outer cocoon, are very resistant to the environment and insecticides. The pupa is usually fully developed at seven to 14 days. However, the pupa can develop into an adult flea as quickly as a few days, or slowly, for many weeks, up to 180 days, depending on environmental conditions.

Once the adult flea emerges from the cocoon, it immediately starts looking for a host — our dogs and cats — for a blood meal. Fleas find hosts via various stimuli: body heat, movement, and exhaled carbon dioxide. Once a host is found, the flea feeds through a long, slender mouthpart called a proboscis. Before feeding, the flea pumps anticoagulant-containing saliva into the wound to prevent the blood from clotting. It is suspected that the anti-coagulant proteins in the saliva may be responsible for what is called Flea Allergic Dermatitis.

Luckily, fleas do not carry many parasites or organisms that cause significant disease in our pets. The most common parasite associated with fleas, in my experience, is tapeworm. This parasite is significant in younger pets but I will usually take tapeworms, seen on the fur, or in the stool, as a clue that there is an undiagnosed flea infestation in adult dogs and cats. More commonly, fleas lead to FAD.

Now, I understand that any dog or cat that has a flea infestation is going to be itchy. However, dogs or cats with FAD will break out with a rash that is much more severe from very few, or even a single, flea bites. More specifically, cut your pet in half — just kidding!

Actually, make an imaginary line dividing your pet into two halves: toward the head, and toward the tail. If the rash is primarily in the half of your pet towards his or her head, it is probably not FAD. If it is toward the tail, which would include the ventral (lower) abdomen, inguinal (groin), base of tail, and back legs, then one should put FAD at the top of the list.

Previously, we had to not only treat our pets with foul smelling, and even dangerous, shampoos, powders and dips, but also many times expose ourselves to noxious chemicals to treat the environment, like “flea bombs.” More recently, we found that although fleas need a host and will bite humans, they cannot live on us. More specifically, by treating our pets, we can treat the entire environment.

Nowadays, there is a large selection of flea preventatives that are much safer and treat the pet specifically. Some of the older products, and still best advertised, are now available over-the-counter. This is a double edged sword — the products are much safer and readily available without a prescription, but these products are ones in which I personally see significant failure and suspect resistance.

If you are seeing a specific rash that resembles FAD, even if you are using flea preventatives, see your veterinarian to not only get relief for your pet, but also to discuss alternative flea preventatives.

Dr. Kearns has been in practice for 16 years.

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Flowering quince blooms before leaves appear. Photo by Ellen Barcel

By Ellen Barcel

The gardening season is winding down. You’ve probably enjoyed your tomatoes and have started thinking about your herbs and how to preserve them for winter use (you can, of course, bring container grown herbs into the house in a sunny location).

So, it’s hard to think of spring flowers when we’re facing autumn’s mums and winter’s chill. However, it you want a gorgeous, early spring garden, there are certain things you must do now.

◆ Plant your spring flowering bulbs (tulips, daffodils, etc.). They can actually be planted as long as the ground is not frozen.

Fothergilla is a slow grower. Photo by Ellen Barcel
Fothergilla is a slow grower. Photo by Ellen Barcel

◆ Plant your spring flowering trees. These include dogwood, magnolia, flowering cherry, flowering crab apple and redbud.

◆ Plant shrubs that bloom in early spring. If you already have some in the ground, do not, I repeat, do not, prune them in late autumn. You will be removing next spring’s flower buds. Rule of thumb, prune flowering shrubs immediately after they have bloomed so as not to interfere with their bloom cycle.

Probably the earliest shrub to bloom in spring is witch hazel, with its delicate yellow flowers. In a mild winter it may even bloom in February, but March is more likely. Since it is blooming so early, the flowers come out long before the leaves. And, yes, this is the plant from which the astringent witch hazel is made.

Forsythia also blooms before the leaves appear with a mass of yellow flowers. You can even force the flowers in late winter if you see flower buds starting to form. Cut some branches, bring them indoors and put them in a vase with room temperature water. Soon, the vase will be filled with the cheery flowers. Forsythia plants make a great, easy to grow hedge. A fast grower, they can be cut back to make them the height you want.

Witch hazel with its yellow flowers is the earliest bloomer on Long Island. Photo by Ellen Barcel
Witch hazel with its yellow flowers is the earliest bloomer on Long Island. Photo by Ellen Barcel

Flowering quince produces gorgeous red, pink or orange flowers, again, before the leaves appear. The plant can easily reach up to six feet tall, but there are shorter cultivars. A native of China, it is usually grown here for its flowers, not its fruit. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil. Some varieties have thorns while others are thornless. Check the tag or research the cultivar if you either want (as a barrier) or don’t want (around kids) thorns.

The P.J.M. Rhododendron blooms in early spring, usually April, ahead of most rhodies, which tend to come out in May. The pinkish-purple blossoms are born on a relatively slow growing plant that reaches three to six feet in height. An evergreen, it does well in partial shade in hardiness zones 4 to 8. A row of them makes a lovely, relatively low hedge.

Pieris (andromeda) comes out quietly in spring. Most plants available have either white or pink flowers, but ‘Valentine’ has absolutely beautiful burgundy flowers. ‘Valentine’ blooms ahead of the other varieties, frequently before I’ve tidied up the garden in spring.

Fothergilla blooms with lovely white flowers. The slow-growing, deciduous shrub blooms in April to May after the leaves appear. The plant does well in zones 5 to 8.

Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. Send your gardening questions to [email protected]. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.

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