I live in Greenville, SC — as did Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779 – 1851) for parts of his life. His Greenville plantations near White Horse Road were equipped with hothouses for botanical study. Sometime between 1825 – 1830, these hothouses were the recipient of Euphorbia pulcherrima specimens he collected in the Taxco de Alarcón region while serving as American Minister…
Organic gardening often produces healthier, more easily grown vegetables and fruits than the same crops grown with “conventional” methods. There are, however, a few crops that have a pouty reputation for organic growers. The cucurbit family claims most of these weak-kneed plants. I count on summer squash and cucumbers to be riddled with squash vine borer, cucumber worms, and fungal…
We took my daughter to the Riverbanks Zoo & Botanical Garden in Columbia, SC last week. By that, I mean we spent 90% of our time at the zoo before running around the Botanical Garden for the last 10% like our pants were on fire. This is what happens to a gardener when the people with her are more interested…
Now that my feet are wet from hosting How to Find Great Plants, Issue #1, I have a better idea of what I’d like this collection to look like. I want to include everyone’s qualifying submissions and also highlight the best ones with a photo link and review. I’ll be selecting an equal number of “Food” vs. “Ornamental” posts from…
The best plants I’ve ever grown were recommended to me by other gardeners, and this blog carnival seeks to collect posts about exemplary food and ornamental plants. *Edit: I’m still experimenting with the best format for this carnival. Expect improvements in future issues. CLICK ON THE PHOTOS to visit the blog article on each plant! Photo Caption: FOOD, Onion ‘Rouge…
Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) deserves a more prominent place in our herb gardens, kitchens, and even the ornamental landscape. I think it is one of the prettiest plants in the garden! Lemon grass looks just as nice in the flower border as it does in the kitchen garden. You can put a grouping of it in your rose beds or…
It’s officially “Armchair Gardening Season.” In its honor, I’ve updated my Food Catalog Directory for the 2010 – 2011 growing season. I hope you can find what you need! If you really want to get the most out of your perfect spring daydreaming, I also recommend these articles from the old Kitchen Gardener magazines. Don’t you just love late fall…
Conundrum: I don’t want a giant agri-business to be able to sell my family the spinach they grew downstream from factory-farmed cattle (mmm, E. coli!) but I also don’t want much (or any) regulations placed on small-scale farms, CSAs, farmer’s markets, online farmer’s markets, small dairies, or backyard growers. Citizens are capable of inspecting their own local food — because…
At first glance it’s so cute and fluffy, but the loggerhead shrike has grim eating habits that easily earn its North American nickname of “butcher bird” (different from Australasian butcherbirds). This little tool-using songbird outperforms the deadliest skills of hawks and the creepiness of vultures when it dines. Sure it doesn’t look much different from an insect-eating nuthatch, a seed-eating…
We may have overdone it this year with the hot peppers. We don’t feel the least bit repentant, though. Spicing up a meal is quick when using small peppers, and they look great in vinegar-based hot sauces or simply as fiery pickles. I try to find peppers that produce a large spectrum of beautifully colored fruits on a single plant….
My daughter didn’t like tomatoes and it was killing me in the kitchen. When I read this Slate article* and learned that food dislikes were psychological,** and therefore fixable, I decided to eliminate the family food aversions one by one. I managed to turn my intense hatred of anything that had even touched mint, cucumbers, or cinnamon into absolute cravings….
After the warm months we gardeners are either squeezing as much remaining produce as possible from our plants before the threat of frost, or we’re incredibly grateful for an excuse to stop harvesting… finally! Last weekend we decided the weather prediction was chilly enough to go ahead and strip the garden bare. We ended up with a backseat and trunk…
In the humid south we can usually expect plant diseases to start showing up in June and July. Some of them are difficult to manage at all, but powdery mildew (PM) has a surprisingly effective organic solution… milk! I know, milk… it seems like one of these too-good-to-be-true crank organic remedies, right? The September 1999 issue of Crop Protection reported…
Don’t get me wrong — I love vacations. Edisto Island in May was paradise and our family spent June bonding on a cross-country trip. One thing I learned on the way to California and back was that your home’s location is everything — but you can certainly add your own personal touches. Click for larger photos. If you get an…
If I had to guess which snake most commonly gets mistaken for water moccasins (also known as cottonmouths) or copperheads, I’d choose the northern water snake (Nerodia sipedon). They have many color variations as they darken with age, sometimes to a nearly black color. Between its swimming habits and its confusing markings it easily fools paranoid hikers and swimmers. Fortunately,…
Homegrown tomatoes (and basil) are the reason most of us began growing food in the first place. Though some people direct sow their tomato seeds, most begin the season with transplants. Tomato transplants are a little different than other vegetables — there are some simple tricks that can improve their root system and vigor in your garden. This photo tutorial…
You can have leafy summer salads in the hot southeast! Though “heat resistant” lettuce only gets you so far into the season before bitterness and bolting set in, you don’t have to go without greens until fall. Amaranth greens are by far my favorite lettuce substitute. The first time I tasted it I was trying too hard to compare it…
Once I got frustrated with cilantro’s reluctance to grow at the same time that I have piles of fresh tomatoes to turn into salsa, I started researching heat-loving substitutes for it. Papalo is a frequent recommendation and it certainly survives our hot summers. Papalo (Porophyllum ruderale) is also called papaloquelite, poreleaf, mampuito, summer cilantro, and Bolivian coriander. It doesn’t taste…
It’s time to plant summer veggies! If you didn’t start transplants early there is no time now — get to a garden center or farmers market and purchase some tomato, eggplant, pepper, artichoke, celery, sweet potato (slips), herbs, and tomatillos before they’re all gone (or stressed from neglect). For beans, cucumbers, melons, squash, pumpkins, okra, corn, and amaranth greens you…
Tent caterpillars aren’t the end of the world. They may attack your ornamental or orchard trees but unless a tree is already suffering from other stresses it should recover quickly. These native, spring ephemeral caterpillars are often confused with fall webworms (Hyphantria cunea) or gypsy moths (Lymantria dispar). Fall webworms also have a brief life cycle (in the fall instead…