I’m always amazed that so many people don’t realize that turmeric (Curcuma longa) is an amazing garden perennial. We’ve had our plants in the garden for nearly 30 years. This week, the flowers of this delightful ginger lily from Southern India emerge, looking like fancy pink pine cones. Curcuma longa is very easy to grow, as long as the soil is reasonably well-drained. Just mark the planting spot, since it usually doesn’t break ground before June. Hardiness is Zone 7b-10.
I first grew Korean celery for years for the flowers, never realizing it was an edible food crop…a first class edimental! I have a fascination for plants in the Apiaceae family, whose members include Angelica, Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus), carrots (Daucus), celery (Apium), parsley (Petroselenium), etc. Not only are many of the family members attractive in flower, but they are supremely attractive to pollinators, especially wasps.
Not all of my Apiaceae experiments have turned out well. More often than not, members of the family are short-lived (monocarpic or biennial), while other are prolific seeders. One which has far exceeded my expectations is the Korean native, Dystaenia takesimana.
Dystaenia takesimana is an endangered native to Ulleung Island, where it’s known by the local name, Soembadi. Most likely, dystaenia is endangered because it was also used to feed livestock (pigs). Humans eat Korean celery mostly in late winter, when it can be eaten raw like celery, or boiled, tasting quite like spinach.
This amazing evergreen perennial puts on a show with 5′ tall stalks of white umbels, starting for us in early June. When flowering is complete, the stalks die back as the new basal foliage emerges. Unlike many members of the family, the attractive cutleaf basal foliage remains evergreen all winter. You’ll see this popping up soon in an upcoming Plant Delights catalog. We hope you enjoy this as much as we have.
Will someone please explain to me why more people aren’t growing the amazing sea kale, Crambe maritima. This amazing perennial is a great tasting green that returns every year without replanting. It’s also a great flowering perennial, putting on a show now in our rock garden. We have also never seen any pest activity such as typically bothers other members of the cabbage family. Our plant is growing in half-day sun in pure gravel (in our crevice garden), and never receives any supplement irrigation. The economic return from Crambe maritima is huge. I guess some folks may not find it attractive, but darn, folks!
A few years ago, Goji berries were the hot plant for gardeners due to their almost mythically healthy fruit. That was before gardeners realized what a weedy, suckering mess goji (Lycium barbarum) made in the garden. The Lycium species few people knew about was the US native goji berry, Lycium texanum…an endemic to a small region of West Texas.
Here is a new photo of our almost 3 year old clump of Lycium texanum, from a Hudspeth County, TX seed collection by our new Horticulture Manager, Patrick McMillan. This is a non-suckering species with foliage that resembles an asparagus fern…all laden with small red fruit in the fall, which is edible by birds, wildlife, and humans. We’re thinking this may wind up in a future PDN catalog. Hardiness is unknown, but in the wild, it occurs from 3,500′ to 4,600′ elevation, so it should have good cold tolerance. Our photo was taken after our winter lows of 16 degrees F.
What do the plants pictured below have in common, and it’s not what you might think. These common plants are actually food crops…read more at the end of the photos.
These are a few of the plants that can be used to make wheat bread…and flavorful bread at that. Yes, the kind you eat.
A fascinating 2017 research study from Tavria State Agrotechnological University in Ukraine describes how common garden plants (and weeds) can be used in the production of bread. Most people probably have little idea of the amazing research that goes on in Ukraine. If you’re curious to give it a try, here is the link to the original research publication.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ukrainians as they endure the horrific invasion of their wonderful country.
For the first time in years, our olive (Olea europea ‘Arbeqina’) here at JLBG is loaded with fruit. It’s been a while since we’ve had a crop, not because of cold, but because a f..xy!!!zz? beaver cut our tree completely to the ground several years ago. We offered this through Plant Delights for many years, so we hope others have been equally successful at producing an olive crop.
We were harvesting our abundant fig crop last week, and were astounded by the number of green June Beetles also enjoying the ripe figs. This indulging makes the beetles into a sweet and tasty snack for the likes of crows, grackles, blue jays, and mockingbirds.
After gorging themselves through the summer, the beetles burrow 6-8″ down into the soil where they lay their eggs, which hatch in a couple of weeks and then overwinter as grubs, which feed on compost during the winter months. While living as larvae, the grubs are food for many underground mammals as well as above ground foragers like possums, racoons, and skunks.
Although green June Beetles are voracious feeders of over ripe fruit, that probably isn’t fruit you were going to eat any way, so they really aren’t damaging to the garden. Green June Beetles are much larger and less impactful than the dreaded Japanese beetles.
We actually enjoy these fascinating insects and don’t find any need to try and eradicate them. Since they don’t bite or sting, they are great for kids and adults looking for unusual sensory experiences to handle. Holding a green June Beetle in your hand is the best way to get a real buzz, and still be able to drive safely afterwards. The only downside is that they may poop on your hand, but that also is a new experience for most folks.
Our 4.5 year old clump of Rosmarinus ‘Arp’ has become ridiculously large, as rosemary does. When we moved to our new home, Anita requested one near the kitchen door, which was a no-brainer since I am in love with both her and her rosemary chicken. Rosmarius ‘Arp’ has been one of the most winter hardy of all rosemary cultivars we’ve trialed.
Looking and tasting great in the garden now is Origanum ‘Drops of Jupiter’. This amazing creation combines the taste of culinary oregano with oreganos which are grown solely for flowers…the ultimate edimental and a superb plant for pollinators to indulge.
One of our treasured finds from a recent botanizing trip in East Texas with plantsmen Adam Black and Wade Roitsch (Yucca Do), was a gold-foliaged Vaccinium arboreum (farkleberry). The parent plant was 30-40′ tall, but there were plenty of root suckers from a recent road grading. This could turn out to be a wonderfully exciting new native edimental.
Blooming now in the crevice garden is one of our favorite edimentals. If you haven’t heard this word before, it’s the new combo term for edible ornamentals. Crambe maritima, known as sea kale, is a plant we first grew for its fragrant flowers, only to find it incredibly tasty, both fresh and cooked. We are constantly grabbing a leaf for a garden snack. Best of all, Crambe maritima is a perennial that doesn’t need to replanted yearly. We can’t imagine why every lover of kale doesn’t grow this. Dry full baking sun is all that’s required.
