Fruit and Flowers in the Garden

My bergamot is finally blooming! I planted it partly for tea purposes and partly because every book I read mentions how good the flowers are for the bees. The trouble is, in two years of growing, it has failed to flower--until today.

There have been a few ripe sungolds so far. I'm looking forward to the tomato boom!

I call this sunflower the Behemoth. Near as I can tell, the Mammoth sunflowers I grew last year hybridized with someone else's branching sunflower and this gigantic hybrid resulted. It's over 12 feet tall and is going to require an ax to get down once its blooming days are over. It actually had branches up and down almost its entire length, but several of the lower ones have broken off as we've brushed by it to tend other plants.

I mentioned earlier that I was trying wonderberries because they are a strange plant I had never heard of before. The first ones I ate were ok but nothing to write home about. This batch is about three times as big, so I'm hoping they'll be more impressive taste-wise as well.

And, of course, the roses are blooming! Here's Ebb Tide again, showing off.

One very small garden

Spotted today.

Yes, it this tomato plant is growing out of a crack in the sidewalk. It's about a foot and a half tall and it is bearing!

Back to the Garden I Go!

One of the roses in the toughest spot near the road, has actually manged a bloom. This is Cherish; she was an unresearched, Walmart purchase, but so far, she's doing well enough.

This poor cactus had its hanging pot fall down and break in the wind. It has actually survived and even bloomed!

The Peace roses are blooming again!

I had almost given up on growing zinias because they always seemed to get powdery mildew and mope. Here, however, they're doing very well, and I'm going to need more seed packets. They're also great for small vases around the house.

Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control by Jessica Walliser

I love bugs and I love gardening, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that I read books that combine the two. Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control by Jessica Walliser is the best I've read so far. Walliser explains clearly why organic gardening involves not just avoiding pesticides but also inviting bugs to live in your garden. The goal is to create a miniature ecosystem where while the "bad bugs" are never completely gone (there has to be something for the "good bugs" to eat), there is a thriving population of bad-bug predators to keep things in check.

Walliser gives a short introduction about this practice plus several essays on various aspects of insect growth and kind, giving portraits, both verbal and visual, of several of the insects so the gardener can get to know them. There is also a large section on plants that attract beneficials with notes on which specific types they attract—many attract several—together with photographs of the plants. She also includes suggested garden arrangements for folks who want some help planning their beneficial additions.

Two incidental details that made me happy: She answered a long-standing question of mine: Is the nectar of different plants different, or is it just sugar water as some have told me? (Yes, It is different; the Walliser gives several points about where and why). And, she gave me an excuse to keep Feverfew, even though I don't actually use it for anything. Not that I needed an excuse, but it's nice to have one.

Recommended for gardeners, insect lovers, and, especially, insect-haters.

A Garden of Marvels by Ruth Kassinger

A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants by Ruth Kassinger is one of this year's great discoveries. Kassinger expertly weaves together history, botany, and personal experience to create a book that enlivens the garden by enlightening the gardener.

Kassinger starts with the Greeks, talking about the various misunderstandings that began with them (except for Theophrastus, who apparently had a pretty good idea that plants weren't just like animals) and persisted for centuries and moving on through to the present day with studies of plant genetics and cloning. Mixed with these historical and character sketches is information about what this means for the gardener today often framed in discussions of Kassinger's own clearly much-loved garden.

The prose is lively and clear, and Kassinger is good at sharing her interest with others; I will be looking for more of her work. As a side note: after everything I learned about petunia genetics, I am definitely buying some seeds next year. Those plants are crazy strange! I'm tempted to buy a black petunia, also, because the original plant was a one-time miracle and I'm entranced.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys gardening and/or history and/or just plain good writing

Publication Information
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published February 25th 2014 by William Morrow
ISBN 0062048996 (ISBN13: 9780062048998)

Other Reviews, found through Fyrefly's Book Blog Search
Pages of Julia's Blog
A guest post/the book's intro by Ruth Kassinger on Book Club Girl
Did you write a review I should include? Let me know!

In the Garden--Just a note to say hi!

Miss me?

I've been doing a ton of things lately, lots of them quite good things, but I have been away.

In no particular order, I've been

1) Writing for FanboyNation and working on some behind-the-scenes web maintenance, including editing 1,000 posts to allow for better customization on the image display and changing the menu. Also, I've reviewed a number of good books and comic books, discovering Valiant Comics in the process; I love what they're doing with Unity and X-O Manowar, and I'm every bit as curious about Rai as they want me to be. Stop by and take a look.

2) Spending a lot (a lot!) of time playing Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Awakening, both of which I enjoyed thoroughly, though I do have some philosophical issues with story choices and world design that I may or may not end up blogging about. I have started a review, but it keeps sprawling out all over the place and trying to turn itself into other essays, so it's anyone's guess whether I'll actually write it--especially given the above reviews! Short version: Fun, has some unexpected twists and great companions, but also has a truly dark bent, doesn't really keep to the player's compact which, like the detective story promise claims that the case can be solved. Also has one nasty potential triggering moment midway through the Deep Roads that didn't need to be there at all. And, I still do want to play DA II sometime. My current computer's not up to it, though (even some of the DA I fights were a balance between defeating the enemy and defeating it in such a way that my computer didn't crash in the process--lots of pausing), so it will be a while, and by that point, DA III will likely have been out for years.

3) Reading through almost all of Tamora Pierce's work in one tumultuous go. This got started because she wrote a short story in the second Legends of Red Sonja. I love what Gail Simone is doing there--she got a number of fantasy authors to write short stories in an ongoing larger tale.

4) Spring cleaning! I don't know why Spring should especially be a cleaning sort of time, but it's traditional, and I got the bug and reorganized and cleaned the hall closets. It was oddly satisfying, but does mean not blogging.

5) Gardening. It's spring!

Sadly, the world around here is not puddle-wonderful, but we had two days of good, steady rain and it softened the dirt enough and got me busy weeding and clearing and planting. There are even new roses now! The selection includes the researched and cross-referenced careful choice of Yves Piaget, and the "but it's gorgeous!" choice of Dark Night (no scent, but stunning!). Also, there's a Rock & Roll bush in there now, picked on the basis of scent and because one parent is George Burns. I did check the canes for thorns first, though. It is a beautiful rose and I love it, but I'm pretty sure that somewhere back in George Burns' past is a cutting from Sleeping Beauty's hedge.

Also, there are artichokes, lovely Purple Romagne artichokes that have just started blooming.

So--I shall try to review here more often, really I shall! But it's spring, and puddle-wonderful or not, the garden beckons.

This all does mean, though, that the Link Lists are indefinitely suspended. They're great fun, but they are definitely the most time-consuming type of post. Most of the links I would post here are shared on Twitter and Pinterest, though without the commentary.

I leave you with some images from the garden.

Purple Romagna Artichoke. It's beautiful and tasty both. Sadly, it loses its color when cooked.

A Chris Evert Rose. The color is amazing; in real life, it's nearly flourescent. It's got a great scent, too.

I've had several generations of nasturtium in the garden. Every now and again, I buy a new package of seeds when something catches my eye. It's fun to see how they hybridize. This is one of my favorites.

A Double Delight, one of my favorite roses!

Tomato Overload!

Isn't it glorious?

I've pretty much decided not to grow Black Princes or Black Krims next year. They are handsome tomatoes--such a lovely, smooth mahogany--but they're quite bland and a bit grainy. I thought initially that it might be the cooler weather, but heat hasn't improved their flavor.

Incidentally, most of the folks I give tomatoes to have figured this out as well. The lumpy, bumpy Brandywines, Brandy Boys, and Great Whites with their odd cracks and fissures go instantly. The Princes and Krims go--eventually.

And the cherry tomatoes? Need you ask? Sun Cherry and Sun Sugar are instant hits wherever I take them. The Black Cherries don't get given away. In fact, they don't always even make it into the house. There are some advantages to being the gardener!

More Garden Pictures

Because I am crazy about my garden!

Red Gold Cherry tomatoes ripening. With this recent burst of hot weather, I've got a lot to gather.

You know how you're supposed to let the beans use the sunflowers for support? This flower has been swallowed up! Fortunately for both, there's a nice, sturdy trellis behind them.

Garden goodness: Tomatoes

So far, seven of the eight varieties we planted have produced tasty ripe fruit. Now we have the rest of the summer to spend a) Running around finding neighbors who want tomatoes₍₁₎ and b)Deciding which varieties to grow next year and which ones to give up on. The verdict so far:

The cherry tomatoes:

1) Black cherry: Yum. Rich, complex, and earthy. Definitely a keeper.

2) Sun cherry: Sweet, sweet, sweet, but with a nice tang to make it refreshing as well.

3) Sun sugar: Also sweet. Allegedly, it's even sweeter than the Sungold, but I'm not sure I can tell the relative difference between the red cherry (a red sungold) and the sun cherry itself.

Both are good, but I think one or the other will take care of the sweet tooth. Certainly we're always going to have a Sungold of some sort around.

Bigger tomatoes:

1) Black Prince: It's a lovely tomato--deep, deep mahogany and perfectly round, but it's not that impressive taste-wise. I mean, it beats the store-bought tomatoes by a mile, but it can't hold a candle to the Brandywine and Brandy Boy.

2) Great White: This one is a surprise! It is a lovely ivory color, somewhat smoother than the Brandy Boy, and very delicately flavored, low-acid and slightly sweet. I'm voting to grow it again.

3) Yellow Brandywine: Bumpy, lumpy, and sunny yellow. Also, it tastes exactly like a tomato. I know--as descriptions go, it's not very helpful, but it really is the essential tomato. Absolutely I am growing Brandywines again. I don't know how I ever got through the summers without them.

4) Brandy Boy: Supposedly, this is "just like" the Brandywine, only smaller and more productive. These are good, definitely, but--I don't think they're quite as good as the Brandywines. Probably I should do a blindfolded taste test before giving my final verdict. Probably I won't, even though I admit to a slight bias toward the word "heirloom."

I miss: Bi-Colored Marvels. I first grew those last year & only got a few tomatoes off the bush because the Brandywine fell on it (This years cages are custom-made, ten feet tall, and very strong), but they were delightful--quite as tasty as the Brandywines and stained-glass beautiful.

Still in the running: Zebra tomatoes. I had a terrible time telling when the green zebras were ripe, so I'll try red next time, but I did like their strong, distinctive flavoring.

---

(1) This is not necessarily going to be difficult. I took a bunch in to church today and was a little uncertain how well people would respond to the lumpy, bumpy, irregular Brandy Boys. They were gone in seconds. The cherry tomatoes took only a little longer to disappear (and only because there were more of them). People were snacking on them then and there as well as taking some home for later. I have more now, though, that need to find new homes.

First Fruits

There are now 8 kinds of tomato growing in the garden. They're just now starting to ripen. These are the black cherry, sun sugar, and redgold cherry tomatoes.



Only a bowlful so far, but I think there will be mountains ultimately!




Also harvested and ate some of the Painted Lady Runner beans. I forgot to take a picture of the pods , but they're over a foot long! I haven't, I confess, ever grown green beans before and I picked these because of their name and the little blurb on the back of the package--apparently they've been grown since the nineteenth century. It's probably not the best-approved way to choose your crops, but they are both beautiful and tasty and the hummingbirds like them, so I'll call it a success.

What I've Learned about Snails Recently

They are hermaphrodites.

One snail can parent 118 eggs (Thanks, Eilzabeth Tova Baily)

In an emergency, they can self-fertilize (again, thanks Baily)

In other words:

If there is one snail in your yard, you are already out numbered.

Gardening--Global Buckets and Tomatoes

One of the houses I pass when out walking has a tiny yard, but the owners have made the most of it. The steps up to the doorway are lined with buckets full of gorgeous tomato plants. I've admired them for weeks now--I can grow tomatoes in our raised bed, but any attempts to grow them in pots has led to scraggly, stunted plants with stunted tomatoes.  It drives me bats!

Anyway, last week, the house owner was there, and she not only gave me a couple of the tomatoes (yum!) but told me that she was using the method described at globalbuckets.org. It's a promising-looking technique that should help keep the tomatoes regularly and evenly watered. I do wish that the brothers had written out their instructions rather than putting them solely on a video, but that is a minor quibble.  I'm definitely going to try their method next year.

Aloe Vera in the Garden

The aloe vera had to be trimmed back quite a bit--hacked back with a shovel, truth be told--because it was forming a huge, thorny mound (aloe is good for treating the cuts gotten from caring for aloe). Now, it's back in shape and blooming. 

The miniature roses aren't doing so badly, either. Wish the big ones were doing as well.

More Rosey Goodness

The garden has started to fill with roses again. On a recent expedition to trim off the blown flowers, I ended up with three bowls full of flowers and decided to make rose beads. There were still lots of roses left, and more coming, so I searched the web for recipes. The Rose Water or Orange Blossom Pancakes, made from the water leftover from bead-making turned out very well.

The recipe that had me most interested, though, was the Rose Petal Bread which I finally made today. Mostly made--I used some whole wheat flour & cut down on the butter and eggs; it would be a much softer bread with the full amount of butter and with white flour, but much less nutritious. In any case, it's delicious.

The bread dough rose nicely.

See the lovely little flecks in there? Rosemary, rose petal (red and orange), and raisins. Yum!

Nasturtium

I've loved these for a long time.

Right now, they've pretty much taken over the backyard. I haven't the heart to weed them out. By summer, they'll be limp and ready to give way to the next batch of flowers.

Colombine!

 

I first fell in love with Columbine flowers at (you guessed it) Disneyland, having seen them in one of the Tomorrowland gardens. I found a few more around the neighborhood and admired their graceful stalks and ballet-dress beauty.

It was too late, however, to find any plants, so I had to buy seeds, which I planted with some trepidation--I'm not that good at keeping seeds alive and nurturing them through that awkward, delicate seedling phase when too much water drowns them and too little withers them, and the difference between the two stages is a few drops.

To my delight, however, a number of the plants survived my care; no more than a small percentage, but enough. I planted them all around the garden--instructions on Columbine care vary, some saying "Full sun" and some "shade," so I mixed them.

Some died in the torrential downpour we had over the winter, but some lived, and now several are blooming! Or, rather, promising to bloom. The only open one is an unpromising mix of sickly green and pale red, but I have hopes that it will darken into something more impressive.

In the meantime, three others hold tightly furled buds, mysteries waiting to unfold.

How Doth Your Garden Grow?

Very well, thank you!

The nasturtiums have been reseeding wildly. They spent most of the winter months growing slowly; with the arrival of the sun and cool weather, they are in their glory.

I love these daisies. We've had them for years. They try to take over if they are allowed, but starting around now, I work to keep them trimmed back.

All the roses seem to have survived my pruning attempts and some are beginning to bloom.

From the Garden

I haven't talked about the garden lately.

It's doing very well.

Please to Note the Difference

This is a garden






This is a garden.




This is an ashtray.










The one is a place of beauty, contemplation, and a ceaseless war against aphids.

The other is a place to throw cigarette butts.

Mystery Palm

The Fountain Grass in our yard is now right next door to a well-waterd yard. It likes it--a lot. It hasn't just grown since the last time I thinned it in the fall, it has, well, fountained.

Finally, this week, I realized that if I didn't do something soon, I would have a yard full of vibrantly healthy fountain grass and nothing else.

So, I got on the super-thick, lined gloves my dad uses for mosaicing and an old long-sleeved shirt (Grass can be vicious when it is cornered) and set about trying to thin the grass.

It wasn't quite tall enough to hide an elephant, but it did turn out to have been hiding a fairly well-grown palm tree.

I have no idea what kind of palm tree it is, or how it got into our yard. It doesn't look the least bit like our neighbor's palms and in no way resembles any of the palm trees in back. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised: my sister found one of the ones now potted out back struggling up through a crack in the sidewalk near our house, but still, it does surprise me.

I dug it up, too, and put it in back for the time being. If it lives--and I think it will--it will go into church next month to be part of Rome during Vacation Bible School. After that, I'll wave it goodbye and send it off to its new home with a friend who does not already have a yard full of palm trees.

I do wonder what it is, though.