If you’re looking for remodeling ideas, you’ll find them in abundance at this weekend’s 11th Annual Tour of Remodeled Homes, sponsored by the Master Builders Association of Pierce County.

A total of 15 homes will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets are $15 in advance at Harborstone Credit Union or $20 on the day of the tour. Proceeds benefit the Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital Helping Hands Fund.

You can tour as many or as few projects as you wish, in any order. You’ll find a remodeled kitchen in Puyallup, an outdoor living room in Milton, a whole-house remodel in Lakewood and a few kitchen/living room combinations in Tacoma, along with many other projects.

You can get a sneak preview of each remodeling effort, along with details about the project and driving directions to the home, on the tour Web site, www.mba-tour.com.

For more information, call 253-272-2112 or check the tour Web site.

These interestingly shaped tomatoes are called striped romans. I've been stripping them from a plant I have in my tomato patch.

I bought them earlier this year from L'Arche farm. Read Soren Andersen's story on L'Arche in today's TNT.

I always associate roma type tomatoes as being granular and not as tasty as other varieties. That's not the case with these. They are deep red, very flavorful and juicy while still being much more firm than a typical fresh eating variety.

And they are delightfully striped and torpedo shaped. Can't beat that.

This variety will definitely be on my grow-again list.

It pains me to hear my relatives in California talking about their great tomato harvests weeks before mine even have a blush of color.

And it especially hurts to hear locals talk about their harvests long before I'm pulling my fruit off the vine.

One of our designers, Pat McCoid, was rubbing my face in his metaphorical tomato the other day. "I've been harvesting brandywines for weeks," he said while casting me a look of pity and disgust as I whined about my green tomatoes.

It was then that he took charity on me. Pat gave me some advice: cut off all the leaves, needless branches and hopelessly small tomatoes you can. That does three crucial things: The plant's energy is not being diverted to new growth, sun can shine in and you can actually see your tomatoes.

I tried it and viola: my tomatoes have been ripening left and right.

I picked this group this morning. There are sun golds, sweet 100s (both cherries), big brandywines and one striped roman (more on that tomorrow.)

Tomato lovers: get out your pruners.

The first day of fall is Monday, Sept. 22 but you can get an early start on the season Saturday at Point Defiance Park.

The W.W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory is holding a fall plant sale from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Point Defiance greenhouses at 5402 N. Shirley.

Hardy herbs, garden mums, perennials and houseplants will be on sale.

I talked with conservatory manager Mary Anderson today. She said they'll have a wide variety of quality plants on hand. Most of what is on sale is grown specifically for the fall plant sale.

"We actually grow things for the sale that we know people want," Anderson said. But some are excess that were grown for parks.

Some of the houseplants are grown from cuttings taken at the conservatory.

Generally speaking, 3 1/2-inch pots will sell for $3.50 and gallon sized plants are $5, she said.

Proceeds will benefit the Conservatory.

Call 591-5330 for more info.

An interesting story on the McClatchy-Tribune wire today about kids mowing the lawn. What age should they start?

I do most of the yard work (which explains why my yard is so haphazard, haha), but I do pay a neighbor kid (thanks Jake!) to cut the lawn every week. My son is 7. In three years, I imagine he'll be putting Jake out of business.

Your thoughts on how old kids should be when taking over the lawn mowing duties? E-mail a comment or post here:

The story from MCT:

You’re ready for the kids to mow, but are they?

By Brian McTavish
McClatchy Newspapers

Whether seen as a rite of passage or merely a seasonal chore, one thing’s for sure: There’s still time to cut the grass, kids.

But at what age can youngsters safely mow the lawn?

“There are kids mature enough to handle it by 9 or 10,” said lawn disciple Jerry Moore, senior manager of the local Grass Pad Warehouse chain.

Moore’s father taught him to mow at an even earlier age.
“The first season or two, Dad had to start the lawn mower and I had to push it,” he said. “And the next year I had to start it.”

What motivated him to keep mowing?
“It was Economics 101,” Moore said. “If I wanted money in my pocket to buy candy or go see the county fair or take Lulu to the movie, I had to earn it by mowing the lawn.”

Besides being physically able to perform the job, a clear sign of mowing readiness is how a child responsibly maneuvers a bicycle. That’s how Moore decided his two daughters were prepared.

“When they rode their bike and they were poised and confident and cautious — and not just totally fearless of all bodily injury — then I put them on the riding lawn mower,” Moore said.

Learning how to mow isn’t only about the lawn. It can also be a life lesson.

“A parent has the opportunity to instill in the child a sense of pride in completing a task,” he said. “That’s what you have to teach them.”

Do his girls still look forward to the task?

“Well, my girls are now 18 and 21 and in college, and I have relegated myself back to lawn mowing,” Moore said.

“So parents should take advantage. Once your children drive and discover the opposite sex, lawn mowing is a little harder to enforce.”

Another reader with another yard that needs our help. Blog readers, come to our reader's aid.

Says reader with problem yard:

Hello Ms. Kidd, I was hoping you could help me with some ideas on what to plant in a 5x10 shaped flower bed in the corner of my yard! (front and side view pictures attached) Also need some ideas on drought resistant plants for the side of my porch that will not get much rain; the front eves hang way over and while they provide shade for the porch, unfortunately there is not much rain that can get to any plants under the windows.

Pictures here:

If it were my yard, here's what I would do:

* Plant ornamental drought-tolerant grasses on the side of the porch (think black mondo grass, carex, Japanese blood grass and blue fescue). Anchor the bed with a flax plant. Perhaps heuchera, creepy Jenny, some ground covering sedums and a random hosta or two to fill in the spaces.

* In the front garden bed, I'd repeat the ornamental grass theme, and add heuchera to duplicate the color scheme. I'd also layer the plants to give the bed depth. I might even build out the sides of the bed to expand it. As for those blocks along the side of the bed? Ditch 'em, I say.

But that's just me. And, yes, ahem, raising hand and admitting guilt to being ADDICTED to ornamental grasses and heuchera. Guilty as charged.

Tell us what you'd do.

We asked last week what could possibly be stunting Reporter Stacey Mulick's hollyhocks. I, too have the same trouble with mine. But since my neighbors plunked the hollyhocks in my yard (thanks Marc and Esther!), I just accepted the flaws as part of the fun of freebie plants (yes, I'm like a cat lady in my inability to say no to stray plants).

Readers had a few thoughts on how to reverse our sad hollyhocks. I rather like the first suggestion. I think a few well placed large hostas might do the trick at hiding the nasty rust spots. If you can't get rid of it, just hide it. Read on, people:

Jeannette Smith: I have no doubt at all that the brown spots are rust. Hollyhocks are notorious for having rust, this is entirely natural, especially in our warm, damp summers. Forget the rust, you can't stop it. Take off the worst leaves, and plant something of medium height in front of them to hide the rusty leaves. Just enjoy the gorgeous flowers. If the plants made it over last winter, they will be back.

Rita Glenn:I have had Hollyhocks and the problem with holes and spots seems to be common for them. I am not a master-gardener not an horticulturist, but I have observed Hollyhocks for many years. This year we tried a product that is used on Roses for black spot and it seemed to help a little, but did not remove the problem. We have lovely blooms on stalks that are well over 6 feet tall. Hollyhocks will reseed themselves or you can gather the seeds and plant them where you want.

Thoughts? Anyone else? Going once, going twice...

A large, green monster from Japan is invading our state. No, not Godzilla. It's called Japanese knotweed. I know you've seen it, whether you knew what it was or not. TNT reporter Susan Gordon wrote a sobering story about the invasive plant that is taking over riparian areas in the Northwest.

If you missed our story you can read it here.

Here's the scary part: like Scotch broom, Polygonum cuspidatum was imported here as an ornamental.

It's stories like these that make me want to plant nothing but native species in my garden. There are plenty of folks who already do that and I have no quibble with them.

I'm not there yet but I do make sure that the ornamentals I plant aren't invasive. If something gets too thuggish it's out of there.

Having said all that here's the startling sidenote to knotweed. There's a North American native variety that's not only not invasive but much more beautiful than its brutish cousin.

This is Polygonum virginianum 'Painter's palette.' This is the third one I've planted in my garden. They seem to die out after a few years or either I don't take care of them.

I've never seen a shoot, seedling or anything else come off this plant. So, I'm fairly certain it won't take over your garden. It stays small and compact but mostly I grow it because it has the most amazing leaves I've ever seen on a hardy perennial/shrub in the Northwest.

We sometimes report on the setbacks and successes of our green thumb crime reporter Stacey Mullick.

Yesterday, we told about her lupine pest problem. Today, we tell you about her hollyhock dilemma. Here is what Stacey has to say about her hollyhocks:

Can this Hollyhock be saved?

Two years ago, I planted Hollyhock seeds. I started them inside, then transferred them outside once I had some established leaves.

They didn’t do much last summer but wintered through well and reemerged this season. I was pretty pleased that they (and the Sweet Williams I also started from seed last year) came back. All the Sweet Williams had a spectacular season this summer.

As the three Hollyhocks grew taller, I noticed something amiss. Their leaves were dotted with brown spots and dying off. It sort of looks like some type of rust. The stalks have continued to grow and two of the three are blooming decently.

But I am wondering whether the Hollyhocks will return next year and, if they do, what can I do to prevent this problem. Can they be saved? Or should I just pull them out and the end of the season and try something new?

Comment here if you have a thought, or e-mail your solutions to gardenphotos@thenewstribune.com.

We sometimes report about the gardening setbacks and successes of News Tribune crime reporter Stacey Mulick. Today, a lupine quandary from her. Read what she has to say and take a look at the pic of the problem.

Ewwww! That is disgusting! What the #&*(!?!

Those were among my reactions while gardening this weekend when I spotted whatever this is on the lupines in my backyard.

It appears to be some sort of infestation of some sort of white insect.

But I don’t know what it is or why it chose my lupines. The lupines in the front yard are untouched and other plants around the infested lupinrs appear to be fine.

Help! I already took one of the infested lupine to dirt level. And just when it was beginning to bloom!

I’d be most appreciative to anyone who can clue me in on this dilemma.

Take a look at these pics. Know what it is? How to get rid of it? Post a comment here.