Plant

I used to have dozens of monarch butterflies in my garden — now almost none. How can I attract them again? Research showed that the precipitous decline in monarchs a couple of years ago was mainly because of extreme weather, illegal logging in Mexico and herbicide use, which have almost wiped out the food source of monarchs — milkweed. We can't counter the first two causes but we can plant milkweed or ornamentals in the milkweed family such as butterfly weed. Without a food source for monarch caterpillars to eat, there can be no monarchs.

It's deja vu at Sparrows Point. The Baltimore County plant once again faces wholesale layoffs and a possible sale. The same story has played out every couple of years for the past decade at the steel plant, whose future remains in limbo. The revolving pattern of new owners and layoffs that began when longtime owner Bethlehem Steel declared bankruptcy in 2001 leaves some questioning how much more the Sparrows Point plant can take and remain viable. "How many lives does a mill have?"

Hundreds of people lined up on sun-drenched asphalt Saturday to see if they could get regular payouts, in the form of paychecks, from the new Maryland Live! Casino, a slots casino scheduled to open at Arundel Mills mall in about three months. "I hope I get lucky enough to get a position," said Mark Ellison, who's from West Baltimore. "They want people who are willing to go the extra mile so customers come in and enjoy spending their money. " The operators of what will be the state's largest casino hosted a job fair Saturday with the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp.

The owner of the financially ailing Sparrows Point steel plant is idling operations there, warning 1,975 workers Thursday that they would be laid off starting next month. The news, the latest casting doubt on the future of the Baltimore County facility, came as RG Steel is shopping the steel mill and its other assets to potential buyers. RG Steel informed the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations that layoffs would begin June 4 and continue through June 18. The state said the company would be laying off 1,714 hourly and 261 salaried workers, losses that would be a significant blow to the economy.

The deal to sell Parks Sausage Co.'s Park Heights plant to a Philadelphia deli meat manufacturer is less than a week away from being signed, Parks majority owner Franco Harris said last night.The plant is scheduled to close this weekend. The price of the sale to Dietz & Watson, a privately owned company that employs about 500 and has more than $100 million in annual sales, was not disclosed.Harris, a Hall of Fame running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers, said that in the short term, the sale of the 133,000-square-foot factory on Reisterstown Road would mean the loss of 35 to 45 jobs.

With her smooth, glowing complexion, Lynne Bonner Redd looks younger than her 46 years. Ask her secret, and she'll tell you it's not a nip or tuck. It's simply aloe. "Aloe is part of my overall health and beauty philosophy," says the Pikesville resident, who typically keeps an aloe plant handy for cuts and mild burns. She also purchases packaged aloe products at stores such as Whole Foods Market. "I buy aloe liquid by the gallon, keep it in the fridge and drink a few ounces cold. It tastes like fizzy water," she says.

Question: These end-of- season plant sales look great, but I'm worried about timing. How late can I plant? Question: As long as the ground isn't frozen, you can put in containerized or ball-and-burlapped plants. Fruit trees would be an exception.

W.R. Grace & Co. has opened a new manufacturing facility in Vietnam as part of its strategy to expand in emerging markets. The new facility was opened by the company's construction products division in the city of Hai Duong, near Hanoi. Grace celebrated the grand opening of the plant Wednesday. The 30,000-square-foot facility will manufacture cement additives and concrete admixtures. It will also house a sales and technical service office and a quality-control lab. Columbia-based Grace has also recently opened manufacturing plants in Chongqing, China, and Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Regarding your article about the proposed waste-to-energy plant in South Baltimore, I don't think it's a good idea to have another such plant in the area since there is already such a high concentration of pollution there ("Delay sought for trash-burning power plant in Fairfield," Jan. 9). If we are trying to reduce pollutants in the air, all a new plant would do is discourage recycling and make it even harder to build other "green" energy projects. That's a step backward, not forward.

Alcoa Inc. says it will dismantle the Eastalco Works aluminum smelting complex near Frederick that ceased production in 2005. The Pittsburgh-based company says it has no plans for the 2,000-acre property about five miles south of Frederick. A spokesman says the ground will be tested for hazardous materials and chemicals. More than 600 workers were laid off when Alcoa idled the plant in December 2005, citing high electricity costs. Some local lawmakers have suggested offering the site for a federal diplomatic security training center that has met resistance at a proposed location in Queen Anne's County.

The leaves on my azaleas are turning white. They look dirty underneath, too. How can I stop this? Your azaleas are infested with lace bugs. These ubiquitous insects insert their mouth parts into leaf undersides and suck out the chlorophyll. Each piercing makes a pale spot, known as stippling, and eventually the entire leaf can turn yellow and fall off. The black dots under the leaves are fecal spots. Lace bugs themselves are hard to see because they have translucent "lacy" wings.

 Candy retailer The Best of Luck Candy & Gifts has moved to larger quarters at Power Plant in downtown Baltimore, next to Phillips Seafood. The Inner Harbor store, which specializes in bulk and nostalgia candy, gift baskets and custom favors, is double the size of the former location in Harbor East, with entrances on Pratt Street and the Power Plant promenade.  Besides candy such as Blow Pops, Pop Rocks and Charleston Chews, the store sells...

 Candy retailer The Best of Luck Candy & Gifts has moved to larger quarters at Power Plant in downtown Baltimore, next to Phillips Seafood. The Inner Harbor store, which specializes in bulk and nostalgia candy, gift baskets and custom favors, is double the size of the former location in Harbor East, with entrances on Pratt Street and the Power Plant promenade.  Besides candy such as Blow Pops, Pop Rocks and Charleston Chews, the store sells...

The struggling Sparrows Point steel mill could be sold within the next six months, mill owner RG Steel said Monday. "We're not going to be specific at this time," said Bette Kovach, an RG Steel spokeswoman, as she confirmed comments by two company executives that potential buyers were eyeing the Baltimore County plant, as well as others owned by the firm. Speaking last week to the Baltimore chapter of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries, Jerry Nelson, RG Steel's chief commercial officer, said that "people have expressed interest" in acquiring some RG Steel plants and that "I think it's safe to say everything is on the table.

Water samples from two treatment plants in Baltimore beat out samples from plants in Washington, D.C., and Delaware last week in an annual taste test, according to the city's Department of Public Works. The "Water Taste Challenge" is held each year at the joint spring meeting of the Chesapeake Water Environmental Association and the Chesapeake Section of the American Water Works Association. This year's meeting was held May 11 at Six Flags America in Bowie. Public works departments from Baltimore, Washington and Delaware competed in the taste competition.

I used to have dozens of monarch butterflies in my garden — now almost none. How can I attract them again? Research showed that the precipitous decline in monarchs a couple of years ago was mainly because of extreme weather, illegal logging in Mexico and herbicide use, which have almost wiped out the food source of monarchs — milkweed. We can't counter the first two causes but we can plant milkweed or ornamentals in the milkweed family such as butterfly weed. Without a food source for monarch caterpillars to eat, there can be no monarchs.

General Motors Corp. expects to break ground Tuesday on a new electric motor manufacturing plant in White Marsh that will cost about $246 million and create 190 jobs as the company ramps up production of electric and hybrid vehicles in the coming years. Federal and state officials, including Gov. Martin O'Malley, are expected to participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for a plant that will be the country's first electric motor plant owned by a major automaker. The new plant, which is being built with GM, state and federal funding, will be part of GM's powertrain division at White Marsh.

Stevenson University has bought the Shire Pharmaceuticals plant next door to its Owings Mills campus, a $10.5 million deal that a school official said will expand the grounds by a third and help meet the goal of increasing full-time student enrollment to 4,000 in the next two years. "It was just a great opportunity we couldn't pass up," Tim Campbell, Stevenson's executive vice president for financial affairs and chief financial officer, said of the sale that closed Tuesday, expanding the campus in northwestern Baltimore County from 74 to 102 acres.

Police in Howard County say they busted a marijuana growing operation at a house in Laurel, seizing 341 plants that authorities estimate could yield 170 pounds of pot worth more than a half million dollars. Police charged Manoj Unni, 30, of the 9300 block of Cross Timbers Court, with several drug counts. Police said they searched the house on Wednesday and found the alleged growing operation in the basement, with "sophisticated growing equipment. " Police said they found "high-intensity lights, a dehumidifier, air filters, water pumping systems, lighting timers, a CO2 system and a ventilation system.

B'more Green generally stays away from touting commercial products or companies, largely because we lack the time or resources to vet them.  But my green-thumbed colleague Susan Reimer passed this along, and it seemed too worthwhile to ignore: Nature Hills Nursery , which claims to be the largest online nursery and garden center in the nation, is offering to award a total of $4,500 in plants, shrubs and trees to four noteworthy community gardening...