The Grapevine (Oct. 4)

Rather than simmering canning-jar lids in a pan of water while preparing a canning recipe, just wash the lids and use them at room temperature. That’s the latest advice from Jarden, the maker of Ball canning jars. Washing the lids works just as well as heating the lids, Theresa Loe of Living Homegrown recently confirmed.

Jarden also says that canning jars no longer have to be sanitized in boiling water for 10 minutes before use. As long as the recipe requires processing in the boiling water for at least five minutes, the jars, bands and lids can just be washed in hot, soapy water, then rinsed and dried, according to food preservation specialist Cathy Barrow in the Washington Post.

Seattle Times

Talking daffodils

Margie Roehr of the Wichita Daffodil Society will be at Botanica on Wednesday to talk about landscaping with daffodils, with an emphasis on planting those that perennialize, or come back year after year. Bulbs will be for sale at the lecture, including four varieties considered to be the best perennializers.

Roehr’s lunchtime lecture, at 12:15, is included in Botanica admission. Any bulbs not sold at the lecture will be available at the society’s Oct. 18 sale at Botanica. It will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., or until sell-out. Shop early for best selection.

In bloom at Botanica

White cat’s whiskers (Orthosiphon stamineus), in a pot outside the Project Beauty Shakespearean Garden.

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 9:56 AM with the headline "The Grapevine (Oct. 4)."