If you like cooking with garlic, here's how you can grown your own

Q. I love to cook with garlic. Can I grow my own? N.P., Willard, Mo.

Answered by Missy Sanford, Master Gardener of Greene County

Garlic is grown from cloves planted in the fall, late September or early October.

Begin by preparing an out-of-the-way section to plant the cloves so you do not disturb the garlic when doing spring work.

Crack the garlic head apart by hand and separate the cloves. Plant the cloves root end down (pointy tip up). Plant them two to three inches apart and one inch deep in soil rich in organic matter with good drainage. Each clove will produce a head of garlic.

Cover the row with a thick layer of straw to prolong warm soil temperatures. The cloves will overwinter and put on some growth. Growth resumes in early spring.

You can fertilize in the spring, but no later than May 15. If we are not getting regular rains, water one inch per week during the growing season.

Harvest the heads when the leaves die in the summer, usually in mid-June to July.

Before storing, garlic needs to cure with the top growth still attached. Spread the harvested garlic heads or bulbs on newspapers or wire racks in a well-ventilated place out of direct sunlight for two to three weeks or until skins are papery.

Trim off the roots and stalks then store in net bags in an area with low humidity and cool (but not cold) temperatures. Save some to replant the next year.

Q. I do not have much to look at in my gardens this time of year. Do you have any suggestions other than mums? -- P.H., Nixa, Mo.

Answered by Mark Bernskoetter, Master Gardener of Greene County.

Try native wildflowers like yellow goldenrod (which come in many shapes and styles of blooms) or asters (which come in various shades of purple and pink). Other options are a late crop of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus is the native variety), Amsonia (Arkansas blue star) and the shrub Joe Pye Weed.

These create interest not only with attractive flowers but also an incredible variety of native butterflies, moths and other insects that feed on them.

There are lots of cultivars to try. Consider shrubs like burning bush, nandina, and spirea, mixed in with a few evergreens to create an interesting mix of colors.

Ornamental grasses provide nice tones to the fall landscape. I like native Little Blue Stem and cultivars of miscanthus (maiden hair grass), pennisetum and Dallas Blues. Grasses come in a great variety of sizes, textures, shapes, and fall colors.

Q. My impatiens this summer were beautiful, but within just a few days in mid-September, they lost almost all their leaves. B.T. In Rogersville

Answered by Mark Bernskoetter, Master Gardener of Greene County.

We had a wet summer, followed by a dry September. What you describe sounds like drought damage.

Impatiens like lots of water. They got spoiled with our frequent summer rains.

When it turned dry, they reacted by dropping their leaves because they would otherwise lose moisture through the leaves on hot, sunny, or windy days.

Readers can pose questions or get more information by calling 417-881-8909 and talking to one of the trained volunteers staffing the Mas­ter Gardener Hotline at the University of Missouri Exten­sion Center in Greene County located inside the Botanical Center, 2400 S. Scenic Ave., Springfield, MO 65807.