Elisabeth Ginsburg – Page 9

Growing Happy Hellebores

Double Helleborus niger — A double *Helleborus niger* hybrid lights up a late-winter garden.

Garden writers in cold winter climates often warm themselves in January and February by rhapsodizing about topics like good garden “bones”, shrubs with bright berries, and the enduring appeal of evergreens. That is all well and good, but many of us are just dying to see a flower—any flower—in the garden. And that is precisely why hellebores are so wonderful.

About Christmas and Lenten Rose

*Helleborus orientalis* has rosy blooms and fully evergreen leaves.

What could be better in the gray weeks after the Winter Solstice than to wade into the garden and see the large, buttercup-like flowers of the Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) shining out like spring beacons? Just as the white blooms of Christmas rose begin their transition to buff pink, Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) unfolds its petals.

If hellebores have been on your radar in the last few years, you know that those substantial Lenten rose petals may appear in an array of colors from palest green through a range of yellows, pinks, and reds to near-black. Not only that, but they may be single or double, with rounded or pointed edges. Bi-colored varieties are common, as are those marked with alluring freckles. Hellebore leaves are usually evergreen, deeply dissected, and medium to dark green in color, depending on species. Sometimes, the foliage is even enhanced with attractive marbling or contrasting venation.

Helleborus Origins

*Helleborus niger* has white to pale pink flowers and evergreen leaves.

Native to various parts of Europe, western Asia, and China, hellebore species, especially Christmas rose, have been on the horticultural and medicinal radar screen since ancient times.

Large-scale garden use of hellebores has taken off in the last two decades, with the plants’ popularity increasing exponentially. Part of this has to do with modern propagation methods. Traditionally hellebores were grown from seed—a slow process—or increased by dividing established clumps. Modern tissue culture (cloning) has made it much easier to produce large numbers of identical plants.

Breeding efforts in the United States, Europe, and Asia have also resulted in many new, seed-grown varieties. These have been painstakingly bred for specific traits, especially unusual coloration and double flowers.

Planting Hellebores

Freckled Helleborus flowers — Some *Helleborus* hybrids have alluring freckled flowers.

Hellebores have become catnip to gardeners who love their easy-going nature, long season of bloom and resistance to hungry deer and other garden browsers. Planted in lightly shaded spots with good drainage, most thrive with little care. Though they are reasonably drought tolerant, the plants appreciate supplemental water during dry periods. When planting, enrich the soil with organic material like Fafard® Premium Natural & Organic C ompost, to give young plants a good start.
Happy Lenten roses will often mature into large evergreen or partially evergreen clumps that can be used very effectively as ground covers. Their leaves can also provide good cover for the fading foliage of spring bloomers like daffodils and tulips.

Some species, like the unfortunately nicknamed “stinking hellebore” (Helleborus foetidus) also self-sow with enthusiasm.
Hellebores also perform well in spacious containers. Remember to allow enough room for plants that will reach 2-feet in diameter at maturity, and give the roots a good container medium like Fafard® Ultra Outdoor Planting Mix. Water containers regularly during summer dry spells. If space is tight, grow hellebores in plastic liner pots that can be dropped into slightly larger containers during the bloom season and removed later to make way for other flowering plants.

Other Hellebore Species

The Corsican hellebore has unusual green blooms. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Christmas and Lenten roses are the most frequently planted hellebores, but they are not the only ones available. If you are blessed with a spot that is too sunny for Lenten or Christmas roses, try Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius), which grows about 2-feet tall and wide and features large, pale green flowers and lightly marbled, leathery leaves. Mature plants can produce 20 to 30 flowers apiece.

Cloned varieties of the hybrid Eric Smith’s hellebores (Helleborus x ericsmithii) are worth growing for their foliage alone, which is adorned with silvery veining. Many of these hybrids have reddish flower stems that support outward-facing white flowers that age to pink, a testament to their Christmas rose parentage.

For maximum early-season floral impact and sequence of bloom, plant several species of Helleborus in shady garden areas. Christmas rose and its hybrids, bloom first, often followed by bear’s foot or stinking hellebore and the silvery green-leafed Corsican hellebore. The Lenten rose hybrids make a splash afterward. To get the best floral show, especially with low-growing stemless types like Christmas and Lenten rose, clip off old, ragged-looking leaves to allow blossoms and new growth to shine forth.

Berries and interesting tree bark of the winter landscape are lovely, but hellebores make a mid-winter garden party.

Holiday House Plant Hangover

The holiday razzle-dazzle is over, and it’s back to real life. Nothing symbolizes the banality of January more than the Holiday Houseplant Hangover, a unique form of misery that comes from dealing with the remains of once-gorgeous amaryllis, paperwhites, Christmas cactus, and poinsettias.

Some people cure the condition with tough love, depositing the declining plants on the compost pile or in the trash, and speeding to the nearest garden center for a few fresh-faced African violets or moth orchids. Then there are those die-hards who consider it a moral failing to discard a desiccated poinsettia. They devote themselves to the fading botanical belles, taking all the pains necessary to ensure eventual rebloom.

If you are one of those two types, you already know what to do, but what if you are a fence-sitter, unable to decide if your flowerless Christmas cactus is worth lifting a weakened, post-holiday finger? The cure for your case of Holiday Houseplant Hangover depends on the type of plant and your level of commitment. Before making your decision, weigh the options below.

Paperwhites

For most people, paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta varieties) are one-shot wonders. Many varieties, like the popular ‘Ziva’, are marginally hardy (USDA Hardiness Zones 8-10) outdoors in cold winter climates, though others are considerably hardier. If you live where they won’t survive, make a guilt-free trip to the compost bin.

Those basking in environs with warmer winters can plant the paperwhite bulbs outside in the ground in spring, where they may prosper in years to come. Store them in a cool, dark place after they bloom indoors before planting then 6-inches down in the cool spring soil. Forced bulbs often take a year off before reblooming.

Poinsettias

Is a poinsettia plant (Euphorbia pulcherrima) that you bought at a big-box store for $4.50 really worth many months of aftercare? If you think it is, it’s possible to keep it going. After the blooms fade, move it to a uniformly brightly lit spot, where the temperature hovers between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Water thoroughly when the top of the soil feels dry, but don’t let water pool in the plant saucer. Apply a soluble houseplant fertilizer once a month, according to manufacturers’ directions.

Lop the old flowering stems back to about 4-6 inches in early March, making sure a few leaves remain on each stem. This is also a good time to repot, if necessary, using a high-quality potting soil mixture, like Fafard® Ultra Potting Mix.

In spring, when night temperatures consistently hover above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, place the plant in a lightly shaded outdoor location. Prune the shoots back again in mid to late July to encourage branching. Around Labor Day, bring the poinsettia inside and place in a sunny spot.

To get it to bloom, keep the plant in total darkness from 5:00 pm to 8:00 am every day, before returning it to its lighted position. You can either cover it with an opaque black cloth or place it in a dark room. Reduce water and fertilizer applications during this time. Continue this routine from October 1st to December 1st, by which time you should see the festive colored bracts we all associate with the holidays. The plant should be ready for its second turn in the spotlight.

Amaryllis

Amaryllis (Hippeastrum hybrids) often flourish in the long-term, though they may produce fewer blooms the second year, without good care. Clip off dead flowers, but don’t remove stalks until they begin to turn yellow. As the bulb sprouts new leaves, water when the top of the soil feels dry and fertilize every two weeks.

Like poinsettias, amaryllis appreciates a summer vacation outdoors but are happiest in a sunny location. Bring them inside at Labor Day. If well cared for and allowed to remain evergreen, the plant will eventually rebloom in its own time. To control the timing, stop watering and let the plant languish in the dark for eight to 12 weeks, returning it to a brightly lit place when new growth appears. Resume watering and fertilizing.

Amaryllis like to be cozy in their pots, so only repot every three years, making sure that the new container is no more than two inches wider than the bulb’s diameter. Detach and pot any offshoot bulbs that have sprouted. They will grow on and may eventually flower. (Click here to learn more about growing and caring for amaryllis year after year.)

Holiday Cactus

Post-bloom Christmas cactus — Post-bloom, keep your cactus in a bright, sunny space for the remainder of the fall and winter.

Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti (Schlumbergera truncata and Schlumbergera bridgesii, respectively) often enjoy a healthy afterlife. Thankfully, the plants are relatively unfussy. Post-bloom, keep your cactus in a bright, sunny space for the remainder of the fall and winter.
Like poinsettia, holiday cactus can vacation outdoors in semi-shaded comfort. Pinching back stems in June will result in more flowers later on. When it comes to flowering, these holiday favorites share poinsettia’s proclivity for long, dark spells. To control bloom time, the plants should spend six weeks on a regimen of fourteen hours a day in continuous darkness and ten hours of bright light, at an ideal temperature of about 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

Water holiday cactus when the soil surface is dry, except in the fall, after the plant has set buds, at which time the soil should be kept uniformly moist. Fertilize monthly from late winter through summer’s end with soluble fertilizer diluted to half strength. Every few years, repot in spring, using a mixture of six parts high-quality potting mix, like Fafard® Professional Potting Mix.

Whatever option you choose to cure Holiday Houseplant Hangover, don’t add guilt to the mix. Life is too short and houseplants too plentiful to mourn a poinsettia.

Holiday Spices: Origins and Use

Chilly winter holidays call for warm spices, especially spice rack all-stars like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Over the centuries these kitchen staples have inspired their share of drama–sparking wars, financial speculation and great journeys of exploration. That’s a lot to contemplate as you stir up a batch of holiday gingerbread.

Mostly though, holiday spices conjure memories of delicious tastes and aromas. A few of us get our holiday spices from specialty vendors, but the majority of us buy them in jars from the grocery store. Those spice jars may be small, but when you open them, the aromas and tastes will transport you to kitchens in every era and all parts of the world.

Scrumptious Cinnamon

Cinnamon sticks — Most don’t know that cinnamon stick is the inner bark of a tree. (image by Bertrand Thiry)

Sweet, richly flavored cinnamon comes from the inner bark of several trees in the Cinnamomum genus. Arguably, the best cinnamon is Cinnamomum verum, native to Sri Lanka, and sometimes labeled as “Ceylon” cinnamon. Supermarket cinnamon is derived from the more assertively flavored bark of the related cassia cinnamon tree.

Prized from ancient times, cinnamon is sold either in sticks (called “quills”) or ground form. It is an integral part of the spice mixtures sold as “apple pie spice” and “pumpkin pie spice”. Cinnamon loves company, especially fruits of many kinds, not to mention chocolate and coffee. It has been used in just about every kind of pastry, sweet bread, and dessert—from comforting cinnamon rolls to rice pudding—as well as in savory dishes like tagines and biryanis.

Ginger’s Bite

Gingerbread cookies — Gingerbread tastes like the holidays. (image by Jessie Keith)

Ginger or ginger root, with its sweet/sharp flavor, comes from the rhizome of a tropical plant, Zingiber officinale, native to Southeast Asia. It can be used in many forms—fresh, dried, candied and crystallized. Everyone is familiar with its holiday star turn in gingersnaps and gingerbread, but it is also integral to German pfeffernüsse cookies. Crystalized ginger makes a great after-dinner sweet after heavy holiday meals. With its heat and sparkle, ginger works well with apples, pears, plums, and pumpkin.

If you live in a frost-free climate or have warm indoor space, you might want to try growing ginger at home. Start with a plump, fresh grocery store ginger root. If you grow your ginger in a container, fill it with a rich, high-quality potting mix like Fafard® Professional Potting Mix with Resilience™. Soak the rhizome for a few hours, then plant, barely covering it with potting mix.

Place in a sunny spot indoors or light shade outdoors, water regularly, and the ginger will eventually develop long, strap-like leaves. In about eight months you can harvest bits of the root, but it will take a year or two for the plant to sprout tall spikes of colorful flowers. In cold weather climates, bring ginger plants indoors before the first frosts and mist regularly to compensate for dry winter air.

Comforting Nutmeg

Holiday Plate — Eggnog, gingerbread, and other holiday treats get their great flavor from holiday spices.

The word “nutmeg” inspires visions of eggnog, custards and fruit pies, but its range is actually much wider. Familiar in whole and ground form, aromatic nutmeg is the seed of a tree, Myristica fragrans, native to the Banda Islands of present-day Indonesia. Nutmeg is inextricably linked to another spice, mace, which is made from the lacy red covering of the nutmeg seed.

Dairy products get along famously with nutmeg in sweet or savory dishes. Cooking guru, Julia Child used it liberally in her classic recipe for spinach quiche and also added a grating of fresh nutmeg to traditional béchamel sauce. On the sweet side, nutmeg is lovely in fruitcakes, bread pudding, quick bread and just about anything made with pumpkin, squash or sweet potatoes.

Piquant Cloves

Orange pomander (image by Wendy Piersall) — Pomanders make great natural gifts. (image by Wendy Piersall)

Like nutmeg, cloves are produced by a tree native to the Indonesian island group once known as the “Spice Islands”. The cloves that we make into pomanders or insert in the rind of baked ham are actually dried, unopened flower buds harvested from an evergreen tree, Syzygium aromaticum. Cloves share membership in the myrtle family with allspice, a frequent traveling companion in holiday recipes.

Like ginger, cloves have a sharpness and piquancy that is a particularly good complement to rich, unctuous flavors, like beef or pork. They are also a stock ingredient in spice blends for mulling cider or wine. Pear and plum dishes benefit from a hint of clove, while spice and fruit cakes would lack depth without them. Use cloves—whole or ground–carefully, the little buds pack a flavor wallop.

Fresh spices taste best when ground or grated just before use. Store them in sealed containers away from direct sunlight. Ground spices lose flavor fairly rapidly, so use them up, lest they remain to haunt the cupboard like the ghosts of holidays past.

Cacti and Succulent House Plants

The colorful Kalanchoe blossfeldiana blooms for a long period in winter. (photo by Jessie Keith)

If the ideal house plant existed, it would be a specimen that combined eye-catching good looks with the ability to survive on a diet of almost total neglect. That kind of perfection is unattainable, but succulent house plants come close.

Native to dry climates and situations, succulents have evolved over the millennia into efficient water-storage vessels, hoarding precious moisture in fleshy leaves and stems. The sheer number of available species and varieties is enormous and includes sedum, aloe, euphorbia, sempervivum, jade plant, hens and chicks, kalanchoe, many types of desert and jungle cacti, aeonium and living stones. Shapes, sizes, and colors vary widely, from the complex rosettes of “saucer” aeonium (Aeonium tabuliforme) to the statuesque beauty of a mature jade plant (Crassula ovata). Succulents practically beg to be shown off and grow equally well in standard containers, grouped in dish gardens or mounted as living wreaths.
Some of the most interesting and colorful types are described below.

Suite of rosette echeveria succulents — A suite of rosette-forming succulents for indoor growing. (photo by Maureen Gilmer)

Thorns and Rosettes

A relative of the common holiday poinsettia plant, crown-of-thorns (Euphorbia milii) is among the most popular of the many euphorbias. Evergreen, shrubby and succulent, it reaches about two feet tall as a houseplant. Crown of thorns is also true to its name, featuring intimidating thorn-covered stems. Rounded flower clusters with large, petal-like bracts in shades of red, yellow, orange, white or peach help compensate for the prickles.
If you prefer rosettes to thorns, try tree houseleek (Aeonium) or hens and chicks (Echeveria), both of which bear flower-like rosettes of fleshy leaves in colors ranging from silvery gray-green to reddish bronze. Some species, such as Mexican snowball (Echeveria elegans) are also noted for their showy, bi-colored flowers

A Cast of Many Cacti

Not all succulents are cacti, but all cacti are succulents. True cacti are members of the Cactaceae family and many of the best known are covered with the protective prickles for which the clan is famed. Handle household cacti with care and keep them away from children and pets. Prickles aside, cactus family members boast interesting shapes, colorful flowers, and undemanding natures, making them excellent houseplants. Traditional favorites include the shaggy “old man” cactus (Cephalocereus senilis), an erect, columnar plant covered with long white hairs. It has the potential to grow tall but does so very slowly.

Succulents in pots — Succulent collections such as these need to be separated and repotted after a year or so, if each plant to grow successfully.

Little Bolivian cactus (Rebutia puchella) is part of the genus sometimes known collectively as “crown cacti”. Growing only about six inches tall, it bears batches of vivid orange blooms in summer and succeeded handsomely in a small container. Another low grower with bright carmine-pink flowers is rose pincushion cactus (Mammillaria zeilmanniana), which features a rounded form and summer blooming habit. Like Bolivian cactus, it is small. A four-year-old specimen is likely to be only four inches across.
Many mammillarias, with their appealing rounded shapes, succeed as houseplants. In addition to the rose pincushion type, popular species include snowball or powder puff pincushion cactus (Mammillaria bocasana) and silver cluster cactus (Mammillaria prolifera), featuring a plethora of small, silvery globes sporting bright red blooms.

Holiday Cacti

Though they are part of the cactus family, holiday cacti (Schlumbergera spp.) are rain forest natives. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter cacti are closely related species, distinguished from each other by bloom time and leaf shape. Many commercially available varieties are hybrids. All holiday cacti all feature sprawling, succulent “leaves” that are actually flattened stems. The bright flowers produced at the stem tips run the gamut of the color spectrum, with the exception of green and blue. In the fall and winter, holiday cacti are sold in bud, ready to bloom for the celebration season. They can easily be kept and nurtured for years afterward.
Holiday cacti need somewhat less light and more frequent watering than their prickly cactus cousins. Position away from direct sunlight and promote flowering by placing pots on trays filled with pebbles and water.

Holiday Cactus — Holiday cacti (Schlumbergera spp.) are some of the must colorful succulents for the holidays.

Kalanchoe

Another succulent that lends color to the winter houseplant array is kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana). The upright plants are distinguished by fleshy, scalloped leaves that set off the clusters of small, bright flowers held above them. The flower color range is roughly the same as for holiday cacti and double-flowered kalanchoe varieties are widely available. Related to the jade plant, kalanchoe is a medium-sized specimen, growing up to eighteen inches tall. Under normal home conditions, the blooms last up to six weeks.

Succulent Care

Good succulent care begins with high-quality, free-draining potting medium, like Fafard® Cactus & Succulent Potting Mix. With the exception of holiday cacti, most succulents thrive on at least four hours of sunlight per day and relish the low humidity of the average home in winter. Indoors, position the plants in your sunniest window. The quickest way to kill succulents is by overwatering, so let the potting mix dry out thoroughly between waterings. Feed only during the active growth period—spring and summer—and use either a specialty fertilizer according to package directions or general-purpose fertilizer diluted to one-quarter strength.

Miniature Pumpkins

Small pumpkins at a market — If you didn’t grow your own small pumpkins this season, they are easily found at local orchards and markets! (photo by Jessie Keith)

Miniature pumpkins are so irresistible they almost beg to be picked up and held. Varieties like the bright orange ‘Jack-B-Little’, striped ‘L’il Pump Ke-Mon’, tangerine orange ‘Bumpkin’, and the ghostly white ‘Baby Boo’ stand about two inches tall and three inches wide, their sides creased with deep ridges. Whether you use them for decorating, cooking or party favors, one baby pumpkin is never enough. In October retailers offer bins full of the little charmers, but it is also easy to grow them at home. Raising mini pumpkins can be a great, kid-friendly gardening project.

Growing Mini Pumpkins

These smallest pepos are part of the same squash or cucurbit family as their larger relations and favor similar growing conditions—plenty of sunshine—at least six hours per day–and consistently moist soil enriched with organic amendments like Fafard ® Premium Natural & Organic Compost. The vines will sprout happily in large containers or in-ground settings. As befits their smaller size, minis take somewhat less growing time than the orange behemoths, maturing in 90 to 100 days from seed. Under good conditions, each vine should produce eight to ten miniature pumpkins.

If you live in an area with a short growing season, start minis indoors two or three weeks before the last frost date for your area. Otherwise, sow outdoors in mid-May to ensure a supply for harvest-time decorations. Follow package directions, making sure to give the young plants plenty of room. Grow the pumpkins in vegetable or ornamental beds, or on sunny decks or terraces. Proximity to some kind of support—fences, trellises or bamboo teepees—is helpful, though the vines can also be allowed to sprawl along the ground or cascade from porches or raised beds.

'Jack-B-Little' pumpkins — The cute little ‘Jack-B-Little’ is one of the cutest and most common little pumpkin. (photo by Marian Keith)

Lilliputian Jack-o-lanterns are very amenable to container culture. Almost any sturdy vessel will work, as long as it has drainage holes. A ten-gallon container will support a single mini pumpkin vine. To grow several vines in one pot, select one that will hold twenty to twenty-five gallons, preferably with a diameter of at least thirty-six inches. Whatever container you choose, fill with a fifty/fifty mix of quality potting medium like Fafard® Ultra Potting Mix With Extended Feed With Resilience™ and Fafard ® Premium Natural & Organic Compost.

In-ground or in containers, if you decide to support the young pumpkins, tie them with soft ties–pieces of old pantyhose or any other flexible material. As you tie the vines, you will notice that the young fruits start out rather pale in color. Rest assured, the orange-fruited varieties will turn tawny in time.

Critter control is a must because varmints like raccoons, squirrels, and groundhogs are extremely fond of miniature pumpkins. Spray the developing minis with an organic critter deterrent to keep them away. Remember to re-spray after every rainstorm.

Mini Pumpkin Harvest and Use

You will know your minis are ripe when the vines appear dried-out and the stems greenish-brown. If you are using the pumpkins as decorations, let them cure in a cool, dry place for about a week before piling in baskets, mounting on wreaths, carving into votive candle holders or arranging on the mantle. Minis also make clever place cards for birthday or dinner parties.

Cucurbita pepo 'Bumpkin' pumpkins — ‘Bumpkin’ is another sweet little pumpkin worth seeking out this season. (photo by Jessie Keith)

Though less fleshy than larger varieties, ‘Jack-B-Little’s and their kin can also be used in cooking. The little pumpkins make eye-catching individual containers for baked eggs or savory hot dishes containing combinations of meat, vegetables and/or grains. Sprinkle the insides with a bit of brown sugar, dot with butter and roast for a simple dessert.

Minis can also be used as colorful ramekins for sweet baked concoctions like custards, bread puddings or fruit crumbles. Because the sides of the pumpkin are somewhat thicker than most ceramic vessels, you may have to add extra cooking time to standard recipes.

In fall, the garden is full of big specimens—giant squash, “dinner plate” dahlias and cushion mums big enough to seat a giant. Miniature pumpkins are a reminder that good garden things also come in small packages.

Harvesting and Storing Herbs

Garden herbs ready for harvest. (photo by Jessie Keith)

In early fall, fresh herbs are among the abundance of riches available every day in the garden. Snipping savory leaves as needed throughout the summer and early fall is the best way to enjoy them, but with the end of the growing season approaching, the supply of available herbs may well outstrip the immediate demand. Fortunately, there are lots of easy ways to save some of that herbal bounty to brighten up your cooking and home during the cold weather months.

Bringing in the Harvest

Basil is best frozen for winter use. (photo by Jessie Keith)

How and when you harvest herbs depends on the herb variety and the plant parts you want to preserve. Leafy types, like basil, thyme, oregano or parsley, should be harvested just before the plants flower. Snip off one third to one half the length of each stem to keep plants productive until frost and ensure that you have a good supply of leaves to preserve. If you are harvesting edible flowers, like late-blooming lavender or calendula, clip blooms just after they open. To gather seeds, including dill or coriander, wait until after the green stage, as seedheads begin to dry. Placing bags over the seedheads ensures that nothing will be lost and the bags can hold the seeds while they dry. Roots, such as echinacea and horseradish, should be dug and harvested late, after one or two frosts.

The best time for harvesting leaves and flowers is in the morning before the full heat of the day has set in, but after the morning dew has dried. Hosing off the plants the night before guarantees clean leaves, stems, and flowers.

Up in the Air

Lavender flowers are best dried by hanging in a cool, dry place.

Air drying is an easy, time-honored and effective way to preserve many herbs and flowers. Tie up small bunches of stems and leaves and hang them upside down in a cool, airy space. Garages, attic rafters, drying racks or screened porches are good for this purpose. The herbs are dry when the leaves crumble easily. Separate dried leaves from stems of large-leafed varieties, like catnip or lemon balm, and discard stems. To use dried thyme and other small-leafed varieties, simply crumble leaves and stems together.

Leaves can also be placed on towel-lined trays or in wicker baskets and left in cool, well-ventilated places to dry. If dust accumulation is a worry, place the stems and leaves in paper bags with small ventilation holes and set aside.

Drying Equipment

Dill weed can be dried for winter and the seed collected and used as a spice. (photo by Jessie Keith)

Herbs, including parsley, can also be dried very quickly in a microwave oven. Drying times depend on the plant variety and the power of the microwave, but Stephen Orr, author of The New American Herbal, suggests testing your oven by starting with a single sprig of a particular herb and microwaving on “high” for 10 seconds. Experiment and adjust timing as you go along. Large quantities of herbs or roots can also be dried in mechanical dehydrators used according to manufacturers’ directions. Generally, roots should be cleaned and cut into small pieces before drying. Electric ovens will also dry herbs, if the ovens can be set low enough—80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, experimentation is the key to determining the right time.

Salt of the Earth

Less in fashion than it once was, salting is also a good preservation method for fleshy herbs like basil that sometimes respond poorly to drying. Choose a glass jar and alternate layers of clean, dry leaves with coarse salt, making sure that you top the jar with a salt layer and a tight-fitting lid. The leaves will stay fresh for a minimum of several months.

The Big Chill

Mints retain their flavor beautifully when correctly dried. (Image by Jessie Keith)

Herbs destined for use in fall and winter stews and soups can also be frozen in small bunches. Place these in plastic freezer bags or other containers. Use directly from the freezer. Alternately, freeze herbs like rosemary, basil, and oregano in olive oil or water. The easiest way to do this is to use an ice cube tray, placing small amounts of the herb in each cube space. Top up the spaces with olive oil or water and freeze. These cubes can also go directly from freezer to stockpot or sauté pan.

Storage

While frozen herbs will happily spend the winter waiting in the freezer, dried herbs are a different story. No matter which drying method you choose, store the herbs in glass containers, preferably dark-colored, with tightly fitting lids. Keep them out of direct sunlight. Most important of all—use them. Any dried herbs left over by the time the growing season rolls around again should be discarded.

Gardening with Children

Kid in the garden — The combination of kids, seeds, dirt, and simple tools creates the best kind of growth.

What is better for growing children than the act of growing plants? Kids have relished digging in the dirt for millennia and shoveling mud is really only a short step from planting and tending a garden. The combination of kids, seeds, dirt, and simple tools creates the best kind of growth—in the garden and in the children.

Children's garden — This children’s garden is full of kid-friendly plants!

The benefits of youth gardening are clear. Children who garden plug into the environment and unplug from omnipresent technology. Horizons expand as young gardeners develop relationships with the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it. Growing edible plants also teaches kids where food comes from, which in turn fosters healthier eating. Ornamentals offer lessons about beauty, pollination and the cycles of life. Moving around outdoors also helps reduce childhood obesity–no matter what kind of plants sprout in the garden.

Inspiration: Children may or may not listen to what we say, but they often do what we do. If you are a gardener, let even your youngest children see you tending beds or containers. Even if they seem uninterested, the act of gardening will appear natural to them. If you are not a gardener, never fear. You and your offspring can learn side-by-side and the discoveries you make together will enrich your relationships.

Raised bed garden with edible flowers — This raised bed garden for kids is full of edible flowers.

Grab inspiration from the nearest available source. Visit nearby school gardens. Check out local botanical institutions, which may have children’s gardens, complete with child-size features, kid-friendly layouts, and interactive activities to get the little ones engaged. Look into classes offered by those same institutions, as well as the local 4-H Club, Master’s Gardeners or other groups. Your kids will be taught by people who are passionate about gardening and that kind of enthusiasm is likely to be contagious.

Get Growing: Start something at home. If you have an outdoor garden space, give your kids a small area where they can grow anything they want. If you are an apartment dweller or don’t have any in-ground space, let each child have his or her own container on the porch or terrace. Spring is a great time to start, but you can get growing at any time of the year. Many herbs, flowers, and even vegetables can also be grown indoors under the right conditions. In late summer, plant greens to harvest in the fall. In mid to late fall present children with big amaryllis bulbs, which are easy to plant, require minimal care, grow rapidly and bloom spectacularly.

Two young girls in Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead' — Children who garden plug into the environment and unplug from omnipresent technology.

If you don’t own garden tools, invest in a few simple ones, including a trowel, spade and watering can. Some manufacturers make small-size garden tools designed for kids, but most children can do just fine with standard size tools. Give young gardeners’ young plants the best chance of success by using quality planting media, like Fafard Natural and Organic Potting Soil and good soil amendments such as Fafard Peat Moss.

Spoiled for Choice: Let children grow what they like to eat and they will be more likely to tend to plants. Do your children like to pick flowers? Help them plant easy-to-grow varieties like nasturtiums or sunflowers. Once the plants bloom, let young flower lovers pick and arrange the flowers themselves. Display the bouquets prominently and praise them lavishly. A little encouragement is the best fertilizer.

Fafard Natural & Organic Potting Soil with RESILIENCE pack — Natural & Organic potting soil is a great choice for gardening with children.

Help Is At Hand: Resources abound for parents and grandparents who want to get growing with children. One good one is a book, Sunflower Houses: Inspiration From the Garden – A Book for Children and Their Grown-ups, by veteran garden writer Sharon Lovejoy. The American Horticultural Society offers a host of ideas, plus a directory of gardens with kid-friendly features. Find it at the Society’s website. The National Gardening Association sponsors kidsgardening.org, a website that promotes family, school and community gardening efforts.

Remember that the ultimate goal of gardening with children is to have fun. As with all things garden-related, the end result—whether tasty vegetables or bright blooms—is less important than the process.

Stay Cool and Hydrated in the Garden

During the long winter months, we dream of summer’s warmth. On hot summer days, when temperatures and humidity levels are somewhere north of eighty, we dream of holing up in a cool place.

But we are gardeners and that means we also can’t resist the siren song of the soil. Besides, everyone knows that crabgrass doesn’t care how hot and sticky it gets. In fact, it and its other weedy confederates redouble their evil schemes when gardeners are too hot to go out and pull them up. Winning at summer gardening means finding ways to beat the heat while tending the plants.

Work At Cool Times

Working in the garden — Start work in the garden early, before the days heat up, and try to work in shade.

There’s a yin yang to successful hot weather horticulture. At sunny times of the day, always work in the shade. During cloudy intervals, tend non-shady areas. Wear sunscreen no matter what, because ultraviolet rays get through cloud cover even when it is overcast. Garden early, before things heat up and return to the garden late in the day, when temperatures descend. Longer hours of daylight make early evening gardening a pleasure. Garden chores are also a good excuse to let someone else do the dinner dishes.

When temperatures are high, keep the effort level low. Take a look at the five or seven- day weather forecast and save the heavy pruning, mulch spreading and hole digging for cooler days.

Water Wisdom

Child using a hose on a sunny day — Sometimes a spritz with a hose is just what a gardener (or your kids) need to keep cool.

Beat the heat—or at least its worst effects—by keeping yourself hydrated while you work. Buy a fabric sun hat that you can soak in cold water, wring out and then wear in the garden. Make sure to wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothes. Garden fashion should always start with common sense.

Take advantage of nature’s generosity and work in the rain. As long as you avoid thunderstorms, you will be fine. It is also nice to take advantage of the hose or sprinkler for a quick refreshing spritz. Playing in the sprinker has never lost its charm with kids either. Placing a clean tarp beneath a sprinkler will keep their feet clean, and if set in close proximitiy to a bed, you have doubled the benefit.

Weeds pop our more easily during and just after heavy irrigation and rainstorms, so digging and dividing plants takes much less effort. Planting is easier too. Walk around beds and borders rather than through them, to avoid compacting wet soil.

Right Chores, Right Place

Gardening tools — When it’s too hot to work in the hot sun, do other garden chores, like cleaning and sharpening your tools.

If you must work outside on a hot, sunny day, garden in small time increments. If tools are close at hand, you can accomplish a lot in ten or fifteen-minute spurts. This strategy works well for most garden chores and is especially good for those you hate.

If it is too hot to even move, think about what you can do indoors in an air-conditioned place. Repot container plantings or root cuttings in cool comfort. Store necessary tools and supplies like Fafard Ultra Container Mix With Extended Feed With Resilience™ indoors in a plastic tub. When you are ready, cover the designated work area with newspaper or oilcloth, bring out the supply tub and create some beautiful containers. When you are finished, simply drop the tools and supplies in the tub, shake out the newspaper or oilcloth and return the plants to their outdoor locations.

Cool, indoor locations are also good places to clean and sharpen tools, wash out plant containers and make plant labels. This is also a good time to clean up potting benches and organize garden supplies.

Another good activity for hot days is garden planning. When it was chilly last winter, you snuggled under an afghan and paged through online and print plant catalogs. Now, you can sit in the shade or the air conditioning and plan your fall containers, bed schemes, and vegetable plantings. By the time those plants arrive, it will be cool enough to get them into the ground.

Fanciful and Fun Container Gardening

Used shoe of galoshes as container of succulents — Used shoes of galoshes make very cute containers for flowers and succulents. (image by Maureen Gilmer)

Gardening, no matter what or where you plant, should be fun. Container gardening has an overwhelming fun quota because experimentation, creativity, and even mobility are part of the experience. Planting in pots is also a great equalizer. The smallest children can start seeds in paper cups, as can seniors, the disabled and just about anyone else. The idea that some people are born with a green thumb is a myth. The contagious fun of growing flowers or edible crops in interesting containers has been known to turn even lifelong black thumbs bright green.

Find It

Interesting containers, like interesting people and ideas, are everywhere. Look around the house, apartment or garage. Are you harboring an out-of-commission tea kettle? Fill it with boiling-hot-colored portulacas. Up to your eyeballs in plastic detergent containers? Cut them off to form bright-colored oval planters and pot up some of the currently fashionable succulent plants like hens and chicks (Sempervivum). Put a miniature African violet in an orphaned teacup from the local antique shop. In some parts of the country, people have been making “crown tire” planters out of bald tires since rubber began hitting the road. The tires can be decorated to suit your fancy. If your neighbors will be offended by a front-yard tire display, put it in the rear.

Shell container with pink Kalanchoe blossfeldiana — A pink Kalanchoe blossfeldiana looks seaside-ready in a turquoise shell container.

Avid container gardeners are always on the prowl for unique planters. Yard sales are a good source, as are dollar stores. Check out local curbsides on bulk pick-up days. People discard an amazing number of plant-worthy containers.

Repurpose existing receptacles. A picnic caddy, designed to hold plates and cutlery for outdoor dining, also makes an interesting, portable herb planter. Make an ultra-fashionable statement by making a container garden in an old purse or insulated lunch sack. Plant a gaudy croton in an old wastebasket. Once your mosquito-repelling citronella candle has burned down, take out the leftover wax and use the candleholder as a plant pot.

Doing It Right

Picnic caddy with ornamental herbs — This old picnic caddy is filled with fragrant, ornamental herbs.

Once you have found your planter, get your supplies. Create simple temporary plantings by sinking nursery-potted specimens into imaginative containers lined with plastic. Disguise unsightly edges with sphagnum moss. For more permanent plantings, check the bottom of the chosen container. If it already has drainage holes, you are all set. If not, and the vessel can withstand being pierced, create holes in the bottom. If making drainage holes would ruin the container, create drainage room by covering the container’s bottom with a one-inch layer of fine gravel before adding the potting medium and plants.

Good potting mix is essential. Most plants benefit from an excellent all-purpose medium like Fafard® Ultra Potting Mix with extended feed with Resilience™. Depending on the types of plants in your containers, you may need specialist planting media, like Fafard® African Violet Potting Mix or Fafard® Cactus & Succulent Potting Mix. Differences among the various potting mixes are determined by the amount of drainage material incorporated into the mix, as well as the addition of nutrients specific to different plant types.

Picking Plants

Cactus fountain — An old fountain is repurposed as a beautiful succulent container garden. (photo by Maureen Gilmer)

Pick plants for containers the same way you select garden plants—right plant, right place. Container specimens in small to medium-size vessels are easy to transport, so it is sometimes easier to match light requirements to plant types. Sun-loving plants, including most flowering varieties and many edibles, require full sun, which means at least six hours of direct sunlight per day. Shade lovers, like begonias, can get by with as little as a couple of hours of dappled sunlight.

No matter whether you plant a miniature blueberry bush in an old spackle bucket or an entire small vegetable garden in a leaky wheelbarrow, be sure to water regularly. Container plants tend to be more thirsty than those grown in-ground. Fertilize regularly as well, especially if your plantings are nutrient-hungry annuals.

Small-Space Gardening

Profusio Zinnias and Swiss chard — Compact Profusion Zinnias and Swiss chard are great choices for smaller gardens with less space.

Small-space gardening is the triumph of inspiration over limitation. Space is the limitation. Inspiration, which is free and universally available, trumps space limitation every time.

Fafard Ultra Container with Extended Feed RESILIENCE pack — Fafard Ultra Container with Extended Feed is a great choice for small space container gardening.

You can plant a garden in an old washtub, grow it up a trellis or cultivate intensively in a two by two-foot raised bed. Small-scale landscapes can be housed in boxes perched on porch railings, bags or planters hanging from walls, or grow bags on asphalt driveways. They are perfect for the minuscule ribbons of earth surrounding a townhouse. Combine any small site with appropriately scaled plants, a little effort and quality soil like Fafard ® Ultra Container Mix With Resilience™ and a garden is born.

Choices, Choices

Getting down to the business of small space gardening requires a few choices. What do you most want to grow? If you have sunny space—six hours of direct sunlight per day—you can raise an array of edible crops, not to mention ornamentals and herbs. You can even mix those categories as long as you group plants with similar cultural needs. Light shade limits choices a bit but does not preclude any kind of small-scale gardening. Bear in mind the small-space gardening mantra—“no ground—no problem.” Find a container that will hold enough soil to grow your choice of plants and your garden is on its way.

Space limitation also means choosing plants that give “bang for the buck”—high-yielding fruits and vegetables, and/or flowering varieties that rebloom regularly during the growing season. Colorful or variegated foliage helps maintain visual interest between flushes of flowers.

Pick the Right Edibles

Many popular vegetable and fruit varieties are available in compact or even dwarf sizes. Cherry tomatoes—either standard size or dwarf–are a flavorful option for tomato lovers on a space budget. Stake or trellis them for space-saving vertical culture. Many zucchini and other squashes come in tidy, compact bush forms. Bush beans, sometimes known as “string beans”, also work well in small gardens.

Fruit lovers with large containers or small plots can grow dwarf blueberry varieties like ‘Top Hat’, which rises to only 24 inches tall and produces several pounds of blueberries per season at maturity. Strawberries will thrive in raised beds or pocketed strawberry jars. Dwarf apple, pear, and plum trees are well suited to large pots or can be trained (espaliered) to grow against walls or other supports.

Coreopsis Li'l Bang™ 'Daybreak' — Coreopsis Li’l Bang™ ‘Daybreak’ is a wonderful summer perennial for small spaces. (image care of Skagit Gardens)

Vest Pocket Blooms

Getting lots of flowers from a small space used to mean buying annuals every year. You can still go the annual route with free-flowering compact forms such as the many-colored zinnias in the Profusion series. An array of modern, smaller perennials will do the same job, and save labor by returning from year to year. Try a reblooming daylily (Hemerocallis), like little ‘Black-Eyed Stella’, which is yellow with a contrasting central “eye” and a maximum height of 12 inches. Another good perennial choice is one of the small-scale tickseeds (Coreopsis), like those in the bright-colored Li’l Bang series. Vertical growers like annual morning glory and perennial clematis use little ground or container space as they clamber up trellises or tuteurs.

Miniature Roses

Miniature roses, at 12 to 24 inches tall, feature all the traits of their larger relatives, minus the gangly stature. Fragrant, apricot-pink ‘Barbara Mandrell’ for example, boasts the high-centered flowers typical of hybrid teas. Miniatures are also available in the climbing form, which is handy for those with more vertical than horizontal space.

Made for Partial Shade

Container gardening is a great option for gardeners with little space or time.

Partial shade does not have to mean dashed hopes for space-conscious gardeners. Lovers of baby greens can grow mesclun in spaces with dappled shade and only about two hours of sun per day. Pots of parsley or oregano will be fine with only a few hours of sunshine. Try annual wishbone flower (Torenia fournieri) for purple or cream flowers in small borders, window boxes or containers. It thrives in shade and grows only six to 12 inches tall and wide. For foliage color, look for variegated-leaf perennials, like blue and cream Hosta ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’, which catches the eye and grows only six inches tall and 12 inches wide.

Succeed With Succession Planting

Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost Blend pack — Top dress small plots with Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost.

Get maximum growth out of small, sunny spaces by using succession planting. When spring bulb-grown plants, like tulips and daffodils, fade seed in annuals, such as nasturtiums, cosmos, or compact zinnias, in the same spaces. When cool weather returns, incorporate cool-season annuals for fall, like nemesia, pansies, or diascia.

Troubleshooting

Intensive cultivation of small spaces can lead to nutrient depletion. Top dress small plots with amendments like Fafard Premium Natural and Organic Compost, which can also be mixed into container medium. Small spaces—especially containers and window boxes—tend to dry out quickly, so check for dryness and make sure to water every day in hot weather.

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