Opinion

Dear Neil: Two or three years ago we planted three small Amethyst Falls wisterias at the base of our pergola thinking they would bring cooling shade in the summer. They survived the cold of February 2021 and kept on growing, but when they reached the top of the pergola the plants began dying. What would have caused it, and what can we do to save the plants? If we must replant, should we use Lady Banksia roses?

During the Bicentennial year of 1976, I was a 15-year-old history geek. To be alive for the 200th birthday of our nation, particularly in Philadelphia, where it all began, was intoxicating.

No sooner had Texas Sen. John Cornyn finished taking bows for delivering 15 Republican votes to pass a bipartisan gun safety bill than he began talking up amnesty.

In the book of Genesis the Bible tells of how God created the universe as we know it today in six days. On the seventh day He rested.

National Blueberry Month continues with a delicious cake made with blueberries. When the come in season, they cannot be beat! While they are closely related huckleberries, they are two different berries, each with several subspecies.

Dear Neil: I bought this pecan tree from a tree farm in January. It was dug with a machine, then the root ball was wrapped in burlap and secured in a wire cage. I planted it within three days. Is it just in shock? Can it be saved?

There were a lot of ingredients in the 2010 Republican electoral landslide. Perhaps the most significant was that by raiding $787 billion from Medicare to pay for Obamacare, Democrats gave the “Medicare cuts” club they had used to beat Republicans over the head for decades to their opponents, who then hammered away at them.

I sure could use a vacation about now — but I have no plans to take one this summer. That’s the breaks for self-employed people like me who do not enjoy paid-vacation benefits.

Several years ago some of my friends began attending a Torah study group. They would periodically share some of what they had learned. This began to feed my desire to know more. I also read Kathy Lee Gifford’s book, “The Rock, The Road, and The Rabbi,” which I wrote a book review on for this column.