Each month we will feature three or four questions from home gardeners that were phoned in to the Cooperative Extension Office or submitted in writing to the newsletter staff. Answers will come from extension service representatives, other Master Gardeners, area nurseries and industries, and commercial growers.

Q. I have never found seeds on my Texas Ranger shrubs or noticed any volunteer seedlings around mature plants. I've never even seen the seeds advertised in seed catalogs. Where can I find Texas Ranger seeds or seedlings?

A. Texas Ranger (Leucophyllum frutescens) seeds are extremely tiny and very difficult to collect and germinate. For this reason, nurseries propagate Texas Ranger from softwood cuttings rather than from seed. Area nurseries carry Texas Ranger shrubs from April to September. You can try rooting a cutting from your established plant.

Q. One California arboretum excludes tomato and potato clippings from its compost piles because these greens, in their fresh form, are poisonous to people. Can solanine really survive composting and be taken up in unhealthful amounts by other vegetables?

A. No, solanine is an alkaloid that breaks down in the soil or in a compost pile. It is not absorbed by other vegetables. The only organic waste materials that should not be added to a compost pile are meat, grease, eggs, cheese, bones (bone meal is okay), and dog or cat manure.

Q. Years ago gardening magazines recommended that colored newsprint not be composted for vegetables or made into newspaper logs for fire place burning. Does colored newsprint still contain toxins?

A. Yes, colored inks contain hazardous chemicals that can leach out into your soil or compost pile. Black newsprint generally is safe for use in gardens as mulch though it adds very little to your soil itself. An informal poll of area printers turned up three who would not recommend burning colored newsprint in fireplaces, and one who does so routinely. Since I was not able to find a definitive answer, it would be best to assume that colored newsprint is hazardous and not to burn it in your fireplace. It is easy enough to separate it from the black newsprint that forms the bulk of your newspaper.

(An interesting note: One of our Master Gardeners has been burning potato peels in her fireplace for years. She says it helps remove deposits from inside her chimney. I wasn't able to verify whether this works - I wasn't even sure who to ask!)