A:  Harvest pumpkins and their winter squash relatives when the rind hardens; you won’t be able to easily dent it with a fingernail. Most pumpkins require more than 100 days to ripen once the flower has been pollinated.

If full ripeness doesn’t happen until sometime in October, that’s okay – the fruits can tolerate a light frost (though the foliage will wither), and harvesting is usually finished by the time we experience heavy frosts or freezes. Pumpkin harvest season tends to peak from late September into October, though depending on your location in Maryland, it could range from mid-September to even early November, according to the state agriculture department.

Cut pumpkins ready for harvesting from the vine, leaving a 4- to 5-inch stem stub as a handle. Be gentle with them so you don’t break the fruit’s skin, which can invite rot. Store harvested pumpkins in a cool, dry location until ready to use for decor, cooking or carving.

To help early-ripened pumpkins resist rot until Halloween, you can discourage microbial growth on the rind by rinsing it with a bleach solution. (One tablespoon of bleach mixed into 16 ounces of water.) Rinse off the bleach with plain water, then dry the rind and store the fruit in an area with good air circulation.

Q:  Lots of late-season flowering native perennials are yellow … not a favorite color of mine. Aside from asters, is there a native plant I can add to my pollinator garden in autumn with another color?

A:  I happen to enjoy yellow, but I too can get a bit weary of so many late-blooming perennials being golden in color. Asters are a great starting point, and a relative of theirs can add to that cooler color palette: I recommend trying ironweed (genus Vernonia). Two species grow wild in Maryland, among the dozen-plus species native east of the Rockies. The most widespread species in Maryland, and much of the Eastern U.S., is New York ironweed (V. noveboracensis).

Both of our local species have intense violet- to fuchsia-purple blooms in late summer or early autumn. On average, flowering peaks in Maryland from mid-August through mid-September.

The catch in adding a New York ironweed to the garden is that it grows very tall, reaching around 5 to 7 feet high by the time it flowers. This makes it a great companion for other tall-maturing perennials like cup/compass plant (Silphium), Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium), various perennial sunflowers (Helianthus), and wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia). If you really want to go all-out, an even taller relative is the aptly-named giant ironweed (Vernonia gigantea), which I’ve seen reach 8 to 10 feet. Planted near an elevated deck, it would be a great viewing height for the pollinators it attracts.

There are shorter-growing cultivars and species native to the Eastern U.S. that are alternatives easier to fit into most gardens. Examples include narrowleaf ironweed (V. lettermanii) and its hybrids. Some have improved resistance to the one or two leaf diseases that New York ironweed can contract, though it’s not a given that an infection would decimate the local natives.

University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Extension” to send questions and photos.

Born in Baltimore, he was the son of Josephine Dixon Johnson, a nurse, and Dr. Robert Wilkinson Johnson III, a plastic surgeon.

As a child he was fascinated by the animals he found on his family’s Brooklandville property.

He went on to graduate from Gilman School and earned a mathematics degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also pursued a doctorate in herpetology from the Johns Hopkins University and taught briefly at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Mr. Johnson became a real estate appraiser and worked for the old Colliers Pinkard and AGM Financial Services.

“Bobby was not simply an appraiser, but a professional who brought an extremely unique analytic capability to the way he tackled assignments that distinguished him within the profession,” said Walter D. “Wally” Pinkard, a friend.

A colleague at AGM, Brian LaChapelle, said: “Bob could read an inches-thick appraisal report as if he were a professor. He was a mathematician first but he was also keen on grammar.”

Mr. Johnson became interested in the ecology of the Jones Falls Valley and the streams within it.

“My father often wore paint covered clothing,” said a daughter, Jesse Randol  “He was a passionate naturalist, conservationist and lover of learning.

Mr. Johnson joined the education department at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and was a co-founder of the Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills.

“Bobby was a force for nature before it was fashionable,” said Brooks Paternotte, the Irvine Center’s director. “He saw the importance of watersheds and how they were important to the ecosystems and health of community.”

He was a past president of the Jones Falls Watershed Association and worked to create Blue Water Baltimore from other smaller organizations and sat on its board.

“That exercise of merging the organizations into Blue Water Baltimore took patience and was no small feat,” said Alice Volpitta, Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper for Blue Water Baltimore. “Bobby was funny, hilarious and kind. The first time I met him in 2014 Bobby was the first one to make me feel like I was at home again. He made me feel welcome at Blue Water.

“It was his dream to have Blue Water Baltimore exist in the first place,” said Ms. Volpitta.

“My father loved sharing the wonder of the natural world with anyone who would listen, hosting frog catching sessions, night walks and nature hikes identifying local trees and plants by their common and scientific names,” said a daughter, Jesse Randol

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 14 in the Vollmer Center at Cylburn Arboretum at 4915 Greenspring Avenue.

Survivors include two daughters, Jesse Randol, of Bedford, New York, and Katherine Johnson, of Timonium; three sons, Marshall Johnson, of Philadelphia, Nicholas Johnson, of Brooklandville, and Thomas Johnson, of Baltimore; two brothers, Pearce Johnson, of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Brock Johnson, of Brooklandville; a sister, Jody Johnson, of Brooklandville; and four grandchildren.

List price: $4,550,000

Year built: 2006

Real estate agent: Pamela Tierney of Coldwell Banker Realty in the Mid-Atlantic

Last sold price/date: For $2,825,000 on July 16, 2018

Property size: 9,038-square-foot home has six bedrooms plus seven full bathrooms and an attached three-car garage on 4.37 acres.

Unique features: This waterfront home overlooking the Severn River has a private pier with three boat lifts, a small sand beach and a heated salt-water swimming pool.

Even when the new owners aren’t enjoying spectacular sunsets over the water from their Adirondack chairs or while sitting around the fire pit, they have their choice of other captivating views: of the small stream and artificial waterfall, or of spring blooms and changing autumn colors from the trails winding through more than 4 acres of forest.

An irrigation system provides easy watering for the landscaped beds, and the exterior stone retaining walls create multiple covered and open dining areas on the patio.

This house was made for entertaining. It has at least three kitchens: the primary kitchen with warm wood cabinets, a statement lighting fixture and a wet/dry bar on the same level; a second kitchen on the veranda with a Wolf range, refrigerator and pool bath; and an outdoor kitchen that includes a built-in grill and dishwasher. There’s even a snack bar just behind the home movie theater.

This home has five gas fireplaces (including one in the primary bedroom), coffered ceilings, and river views.

On warm evenings, stream a film on the outdoor TV sets, with discreet external lighting to add ambience.

Other amenities include a game room, home gym, and an elevator that opens into the three-car garage — ideal for transporting groceries and luggage.

Not only is the garage is heated, but it has a marble floor and includes a charger for an electric vehicle.

A:  Succulents! Brookside Gardens featured succulent container (and in-ground) combos this year that might provide ideas. You probably have the widest array of options for leaf color and growth habit among tender (not cold-hardy) succulents, but their loss over the winter is no different than replanting annuals every year.

One bonus of succulents over widely-grown annuals like petunia, geranium, coleus, and celosia is that they do well with less water and fertilizer. You also can rely more on foliage colors and plant shape for visual interest, without dead-heading spent blooms to keep a container fresh-looking or to encourage reblooming. In that way, they are also lower-maintenance. Any tender succulents that do bloom will add more seasonal appeal. (You could also mix in annual portulaca as an accent if you want neon flower colors.)

Many succulents are fairly easy to propagate. If you didn’t want to bring them inside as-is for the winter (or don’t have the space for their end-of-summer size), you could root leaves or stem cuttings and retain smaller versions of the plants for planting back outside next year. Indoors, they’ll need either a sunny window or bright grow lights.

While tolerant of cramped roots, succulents will do best if given ample pot space, especially if you’re mixing. If you prefer native species you can leave outside all winter, you could try a mix of hardy perennials like prickly-pear (Opuntia humifusa), woodland stonecrop (Sedum ternatum), and Adam’s-needle yucca (Yucca filamentosa). This will offer less foliage color than other succulents, but still provides interesting forms in the thriller-filler-spiller combo popular with container garden design.

Q:  The summer drought did enough damage to my lawn that I need to repair it this fall. Should I get rid of any weeds first, or just focus on seeding?

A:  This may depend on weed species and their abundance. Weeds compete with turfgrass, so get rid of any extensive infestations or particularly aggressive species (like Bermudagrass) first. Summer annual weeds will die once it freezes, but if too numerous, rogue them out by hand or uproot them with a hoe. If needed, you could knock them back with spot-treatments of an organic herbicide. This would kill their current foliage so they are weakened and less of a threat to new turf seedlings, even if they regrow a little.

While certain post-emergent herbicide treatments can selectively target broadleaf weeds within grass, there still can be a lag time between application and when you can safely seed. Bear in mind too that some jurisdictions (Montgomery County, Baltimore City) have restrictions on lawn pesticide use, and herbicides are a type of pesticide. Autumn is the ideal time of year to care for and repair a lawn, so focus on that approach and manage more minor weeds at another time.

If a struggling lawn has become about 50% weeds, it will be simpler (and probably cheaper) to just redo the lawn, a process called renovation. That would involve stripping the weedy sod entirely and either laying new sod or seeding, after any soil preparation is completed. We have multiple lawn care and maintenance web pages that you can explore, focusing on tall fescue since it is the predominant lawn grass used in Maryland. For more information, go to go.umd.edu/lawn.

University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Extension” to send questions and photos.

A:  This can often be the work of an infection or, less commonly, stem-boring insects. Since stem-boring insects in perennials are rarely a cause for concern, I’ll focus on the pathogens.

Sometimes it’s hard to diagnose the cause of wilting since distinctive symptoms identifying the culprit aren’t always visible; there’s a lot of symptom overlap. During summer, heat-loving fungi like southern blight can cause wilting because the pathogen kills the stem tissue close to the soil line, cutting the top growth off from its water supply and causing it to collapse. A wide variety of fungi and fungus-like “water molds” can cause above- or below-ground infections throughout the year, with some prospering in cool conditions while others need heat. Wilting when the soil isn’t dry can be a telltale sign of infection or physical stem or root damage.

To reduce vulnerability to diseases, plant crowns need to get good airflow. Avoid over-mulching, which covers the crown and stem bases; nudge it a few inches away instead so it’s not piled against the stems. High humidity and dew are sometimes enough moisture for fungi to survive and begin infections, but over-watering plants by irrigating too often can make fungal outbreaks more likely.

Mycelium, which is the “body” of a fungus, is sometimes visible as white webbing or threads covering the infected part of the plant, but it’s not always prominent. Any wilting or collapsed stems need to be removed since they will not recover. Prune them off and dispose of the debris; don’t compost it.

One or two wilted stems doesn’t necessarily doom the entire plant patch or garden bed, but keep an eye out for worsening symptoms like more rampant dieback. No fungicides can reverse this damage or eliminate spores from the soil permanently. Nor would you want to attempt chemical soil sterilization, as plenty of beneficial fungi, bacteria, and other organisms inhabit the soil.

If southern blight is responsible, you can dig out and dispose of the affected plant, plus remove a few inches of the surface soil with it. This is not because the plant’s roots are going to also be infected, but because plant regrowth could be infected again by the spores remaining on the soil surface, and you don’t want to give the fungus more fuel for expansion. If you dig out soil but don’t want to throw it out (soil is a precious resource, after all), just bury the layers with potential spore contamination to a depth of 6 inches or so, where the spores should not survive.

Q:  I see what looks like sawdust or fine wood shavings on a couple of my shrub and perennial leaves. I don’t have any deck rails or fencing nearby, so I’m assuming it’s not carpenter bees. Where is it coming from? The plants are not underneath a tree that has borers.

A:  This sounds like the work of stem-boring insects, specifically small stem-nesting bees using stems that are already dead. As it happens, a few of those species are carpenter bees, though a different species from the large ones we notice mainly in spring. Others belong to different bee groups, like plasterer bees. Our Maryland Grows blog post, stem-nesting bees in Maryland, showcases a few species.

Some stem-nesting bees chew their own nest chambers in the stems, while others use hollow stems already move-in ready. A variety of plant species can be used, including hydrangea, perennial hibiscus, and brambles.

If you leave stems uncut during the winter, or only cut them partially down instead of fully removing them, it provides valued habitat for these native pollinators.

University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Extension” to send questions and photos.

List price: $949,900

Year built: 1900

Real estate agent: Mary Vogelpohl, Corner House Realty

Last sold price/date: $145,000 in January 1986

Property size: 3,980-square-foot home has five bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms on 0.84 acres.

Unique features: The Victorian-style home was originally called the Liberty Hall Estate, built in 1900, and views from the outside of its turrets hint that there’s intrigue beyond the exterior. Inside, unique accents abound, from intricate wallpaper to beaming stained glass windows.

The foyer is richly patterned floor to ceiling, and a powder room features a decorated ceramic sink. There are two wood-burning fireplaces, in the formal living room and in the home office and library with pocket doors. The four-level home’s dining room boasts a large crystal chandelier, while an eat-in kitchen includes custom glass-front cabinets and geometric tilework.

A screened-in porch off the kitchen could be the setting for quiet moments or for hosting guests.

Up a large staircase to the second floor, the primary bedroom is tucked inside a turret, with a balcony offering views of lush gardens below — plus a sculpted fountain purchased in New Orleans and brought to the home in 2006. Modern bathrooms have a walk-in shower and a spa jet tub, and a laundry room and walk-in hallway closet are located conveniently close by. The third floor has a loft and additional bedrooms, and an unfinished basement can be used for storage space.

An outdoor shed is modeled after the home behind the property, which was originally a carriage house, and has electricity that could be used for lawn tools or an artist’s studio. Ample parking is available in the circular driveway.

A:  Master Gardener volunteers are a great resource, with local classes, workshops, and demonstration gardens on the grounds of many county Extension offices. You can visit the program’s home page (go.umd.edu/mg) for information that includes a link to area gardens and plant clinic sessions (where you can bring questions to the MGs). The Master Gardener subprogram Grow It Eat It focuses on backyard and community food production using sustainable and affordable practices.

If you plan on attending the Maryland State Fair, which is coming up shortly, be sure to check out the MG Learning Garden on the grounds, stocked with vegetables, herbs, and some plants for pollinators. I visited that garden in early August, and it’s looking great! There are good examples of growing vertically and using support structures to save ground space and make veggies easier to harvest.

In addition to useful techniques, demonstration gardens can also introduce you to new veggies to try. My inspiration from this year’s learning garden crops include red noodle beans (picture a plum-red, one- to two-foot long flexible green bean) and ‘Zephyr’ squash, a cultivar hybridized between summer and winter types that is purportedly resistant to squash vine borer. (Harvest it like a summer squash.)

Q:  I haven’t seen a lot of pollinators this year… butterflies, wasps, bees … all seem to be scarce. What’s going on?

A:  Probably lots of overlapping things: weather, insect-specific disease outbreaks, habitat loss, pesticide use (mosquito and tick sprays included), and a general lack of resources for adult and juvenile insects. I see a lot of residential and commercial landscapes that use the same plants over and over again, to say nothing of expanses of lawn where it’s probably not needed.

As gardeners, we can do our part to support insect biodiversity by including more site-appropriate native plant species in our landscapes and encouraging public spaces (commercial properties and business campuses) to do the same. Instead of planting more of the same overused (or invasive) species like boxwood, arborvitae, barberry, crape myrtle, Japanese maple, euonymus, cherry laurel, yew, and so on, let’s try a wider array of perennials and shrubs.

The more diverse the range of plants grown, the more diverse the insect population we can attract and retain, especially for the insects that are highly specialized and need certain plant resources for their reproduction.

Gardeners with only balcony space and container plants can still make an impact. You might not get to witness all the floral visitors to appreciate them – some pollinate at night, after all, or come and go in just a few minutes – but if leaves get nibbled and flowers set seed, you can presume that at least some insects are benefiting from your efforts. In turn, other plants and animals are benefiting from those pollinators.

I am encouraged by the growing enthusiasm and idea-sharing that happens between gardeners online, particularly regarding native plants, and hopefully by showing our neighbors our successes and sharing plants or seeds, more gardeners can be convinced to reimagine their landscapes in a way that will support our ecosystem.

University of Maryland Extension’s Home and Garden Information Center offers free gardening and pest information at extension.umd.edu/hgic. Click “Ask Extension” to send questions and photos.

List price: $2,450,000

Year built: 1913

Real estate agent: Charlie Hatter, Monument Sotheby’s International Realty

Last sold price/date: $1,030,000 in November 2023

Property size: 8,523-square-foot home has seven bedrooms with five and a half bathrooms on .61 acres.

Unique features: The sprawling Guilford home was originally constructed for a notable contributor to Maryland’s history — John Edwin Greiner, whose engineering firm, J.E. Greiner Company, designed and built the Chesapeake Bay Bridge over 70 years ago.

The house was designed [by Ellicott & Emmart, the architects behind a number of other Baltimore homes and buildings, including St. David’s Episcopal Church in Roland Park and the Woman’s Club of Roland Park. They’re known for fusing Colonial Revival and French Beaux Arts styles.

Now well over a century old, the recently restored and custom-renovated home showcases original accents like refinished hardwood floors, towering white columns and ornate trim.

Past a grand entryway, an updated kitchen has a marble-topped island and Wolf appliances. Doors in the dining and living rooms open to a wrap-around patio off the main floor for indoor-outdoor living. And a secret Murphy door leading to the finished basement can be opened by pulling forward a book on the shelf, as if out of a movie.

Upstairs, a large primary suite is complete with a room that can be made into a generous closet, access to a balcony and an en suite marble-filled bathroom with a free-standing tub and walk-in shower.

Other modern amenities include an elevator, three new HVAC systems and a two-car garage.

The home is a brief stroll from Sherwood Gardens.

The Charm City love story, which began in 2022 when they met at a downtown music festival, led to wedding day at a garden in Northeast Baltimore.

Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays oversaw the surprise ceremony at The Margaret Cleveland Walther Gardens & Nursery followed by a reception.

“Mayor Brandon Scott and Hana were married this afternoon in a small private ceremony with a few dozen close family and friends,” the mayor’s office said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun on Sunday evening, confirming the marriage.

“The Mayor’s Office is thrilled for the newly married couple, and we know the entire City of Baltimore will join us in wishing them congratulations as they celebrate with loved ones at the beginning of this joyous union.”

The two were engaged on Christmas Day, and they welcomed a baby boy named Charm the next day.

The Mayor’s Chief of Staff Marvin James shared a photo on social media of Pugh in a sleeveless, lacy white wedding dress holding hands with Scott in a summery light green suit and white sneakers.

On first Father’s Day with Charm, Mayor Brandon Scott finds ‘endless joy’ in being a dad

James said guests arrived to what they thought was a party but instead turned out to be the couple’s nuptials.

“I was honored to watch my friend marry his best friend in a perfect Baltimore love story,” said Faith Leach, Baltimore’s city administrator, who attended the small ceremony. “I wish the couple a lifetime of happiness and a whole lot of charm.”

It’s been a hot summer and it’s not unusual for a contractor to opt out of undertaking the task of installing central air conditioning in a classic Baltimore rowhouse.

Even when a contractor agrees, the terms might be having the owner move out, gutting the house and then facing a staggering bill.

Charles Village resident David Gray Wright and his wife, Lauren Willford, know the toll. They said yes, it was time for that major upgrade of dreams and time to attend to a repair list, restorations and system upgrades.

They are temporarily residing in a rental down the street as their 1907 porch-front, end-unit rowhome is now in upheaval and reconstruction. Some walls have been removed; there’s routine plaster dust storms and a couple of missing floors.

There’s a $2,000 bill to painstakingly recreate a second-floor exterior door leading to a back porch. All will be historically restored.

They are having the house professionally de-assembled, installing central air and a heat pump, replacing the Thomas Edison-vintage electrical system, upgrading two baths and kitchen and adding a three-season room.

They also love Baltimore and a home that blessedly retained charming woodwork and quirky features, including a knockout, built-in-the-wall wooden ice box. It’s a home built in the Teddy Roosevelt era, entered through a paneled vestibule floored with hexagonal ceramic tiles. The front hall has stained glass windows.

Wright engaged C&H Contractors, a firm whose members know how to take a complicated Baltimore property apart and put it back together. Within the past year C&H did a miraculous restoration of the Ship Caulkers House on Wolfe Street in Fells Point and restored the ballroom in the Clifton Mansion.

This 1907 Guilford Avenue home has plenty going for it. It’s on a corner, has a small side garden, a full rear yard, a garage and a quiet alley that dead ends at the CSX Belt Line railroad. It’s a quiet corner where Charles Village, Harwood and Old Goucher neighborhoods meet.

“I grew up in Homeland and wanted a place that had similar amenities and was as close to downtown as I could get,” said Wright. “I’ve got a garden and trees here, and a garage, and I’m close to The Brewer’s Art and Oriole Park.”

Wright bought the house on March 3, 2003 (3-3-03) for $97,000. He painted its interior and replaced some of the windows and happily resided here 21 years until he and his wife made the big commitment to restore, a decision years in the making.

The estimated cost for the project is four times the purchase price. The work will take another six months, maybe more.

“I’m going to wind up with a house that is more valuable to me than it would be if placed on the real estate market,” he said.

The home now offers a lesson in what building trades could do in 1907.

Topher Murray, one of the C&H restoration specialists, observed that although the original 1907 electric system seems primitive and possibly scary today, it was state of the art at the time.

The restoration of the home has revealed what is called a “knob and tube” electrical system common in building construction. Wires ran through porcelain knobs and tubes.

“Electricity was new then. And I’ve been thinking about the science and the availability of the products, and the system put in this house when it was new is an ingenious solution,” Murray said.

Several badly damaged ceilings had to be repaired for the new air conditioning ducts — the chambers where the air will flow.

In working on the ceilings, the workers found that the actual ceiling height (where the wooden joists are) is considerably higher. This permits the house to gain loft-like storage chambers, but not a full attic.

The renovation also demonstrates the sound construction standards of 1907. There’s a solid brick wall separating the pantry and first-floor bath from the kitchen. Also discovered was a botched construction job in the 1940s that caused a second-floor bath’s floor to sink nearly 2 inches.

So now that the place looks as if a bomb exploded, the owner is actually pleased.

“It’ll be rebuilt to honor the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the past while providing the needed safety,” Wright said. “This house is built like a tank.”