Grossmans Garden & Home in Penfield invites you to escape to the tropics.

Grossman is offering a tropical escape complete with heady scents of jasmine, sun-ripened figs and supple palms. The green house will be filled with flowering hibiscus, mandevilla, bougainvillea and more. There will also be food and frozen treats.

The free event will be held Saturday, May 4 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

This week, the Penfield Green Initiative is hosting an informational event to educate homeowners on environmentally safe ways to manage pests.

Whether it’s ants or mice in the kitchen, lawn grubs or mosquitos in the backyard or bed bugs indoors, featured speakers will highlight ways to control these nuisances using alternatives to harsh chemically-based pesticides.

Speakers will include Lynn Braband and Brian Shenaur from the Cornell Cooperative Extension, who are certified educators with the NYS Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program at Cornell University.

IPM is the practice of using the least-toxic solutions to counter pest and pesticide problems.

Laurie Broccolo, owner of Broccolo Garden Center, has worked with IPM since she first went into business 22 years ago.

Apple growers call it a disaster. It’s now clear that the hard freeze back in late March has devastated area orchards and one local grower says this could even impact the world market for apples.

New York State is the nation’s second biggest apple producer after Washington State. Most of the Empire State’s production is in the area and a lot of growers had no crop insurance. With far less fruit to harvest, the question becomes, what will a locally grown apple cost you?

If disappointment and heartache were tears, Marty Schutt would need boxes of tissues.