How to deal with pesky fruit flies

Q. As I am processing the garden’s plums and apples, fruit flies are a significant nuisance. Are there ways of trapping or diverting them from foods that attract them?

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A. I’ve found it helps to schedule each picking when I know I’ll have time to process them. When that is not possible, I arrange the fruit on layers of newspaper in shallow cardboard trays (from the liquor store) and cover the fruit with multiple layers of newspaper to deter fruit flies.

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An effective trap can be made with a shallow layer of apple cider vinegar in a shallow glass jar. Adding a few drops of dish washing liquid enhances the trap’s effectiveness.

A similar trap can be made with fruit in a container covered with vented plastic wrap. The flies enter the holes but usually cannot find their way out. Lemon pieces are a powerful attractant.

Q. What are the big crocus-like flowers that I’ve seen in some gardens late in the summer and in early autumn? Are they a type of giant crocus?

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A. Two crocus type flower bulbs bloom in late summer and early autumn. Confusion arises between them because both are commonly called “autumn crocus” but they are actually unrelated and vary significantly in both flower and corm size. Both are available in garden centres in late summer to early fall.

The oversized crocus-like flowers you have seen are colchicums. The foliage, also large, appears for a short time in spring. ‘The Giant’ is a goblet-shaped classic. ‘Waterlily’ is a fancy double flower. Both are pink.

In time, colchicums spread to form showy clumps of the big flowers. Be aware, though, that all parts of the plant, including the corm, are toxic and are not recommended for gardens with plant-nibbling children or pets.

Fall crocus corms and flowers are small, like those of spring-flowering crocus. ‘Sativus’ is the saffron crocus. ‘Speciosus’ flowers are beautifully veined in violet.