Why did my lettuce plants grow tall, bitter and grow flowers?
— N.G., Woodinville MB: Blame the heat for bolting lettuce. Bolting is a gardener’s term for any leafy plant that gets tired of producing edible foliage and makes a sudden bolt towards the playboy life of reproduction. In a few weeks, when night temperatures begin to fall, you can plant a second crop of lettuce for fall harvest. The flowering rows of lettuce you have now make nice fodder for the compost pile, or you can dig those heads back into the soil. Q: I have noticed that the leaves on my hydrangea plant look fried. They are either totally dark brown and shriveled, or very pale. Also the flowers have very pale blooms. The bush is only 2 years old and I had this problem last year, so I fertilized with whatever chemical it was that was supposed to make the flowers dark blue. I also gave the bush lots of rich compost. I hoped I would escape the faded-flower look this year and have deep-blue or even pink flowers, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen. Please help. — V.A., Fe
