Let not the paucity of my posts suggest I have abandoned my gardening. It was indeed a tough year for the little green monsters, but the year included some stunning moments. Lots more posts and photos are coming soon! Jude the Obscure with its pet clematis.
This is Eugène de Beauharnais. As I explained in the main entry for this variety, it's the oldest living critter on the property, but wow, that age apparently in no way contributes to weak performance. This is Gene starting it's second season here. None of these are large blooms, but they are astonishingly well formed -- all of them -- and in two or three more days this little plant seems likely to take on an almost supernatural appearance. There is broad skepticism on the interwebs about whether this variety truly has much China rose in its ancestry. Until now I tended to agree, but I think I'm starting to see it in the wispy growth and strong repeat. Meanwhile it clearly gets its intense, nose tingling scent from the…
My posts and responses may get a bit sparse for a while, as this week I started an exciting new job. With the garden awaiting spring, it's also a time of waiting for most of the roses to leaf out. They are starting. But in the meantime I keep anticipating the third season of many in my collection. With any luck, last year will likely seem like a mere tease compared to what's coming. [caption id="attachment_3867" align="alignnone" width="640"] Abraham Darby[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3862" align="alignnone" width="640"] Papa Meilland[/caption] [caption id="attachment_3868" align="alignnone" width="640"] Young Lycidas[/caption]
This spiny, Jurassic looking critter is my first experience with a naranjilla plant. If you think you see a family resemblance, you are correct -- this is indeed a nightshade. It's actually really entertaining to compare the members of the family. Alongside my Pandora eggplant seedling, the similarities are quite striking, even if this particular cousin appears to have passed a little too close to a plutonium stockpile. I have also commented at length about the other members of the family, in that sense because all produce nicotine. Like its cousins, this plant is native to South America, and the Andes in particular. Unlike many of them, it is a perennial and requires a long growing season. In this case, no one will be smoking naranjilla leaves, but we do…
One of the best parts of planting new roses is watching them emerge from twigs (especially if you started them as bare root/own root plantings), and gradually build up into much more substantial shrubs. This is, of course, also a lesson in patience, even among the most vigorous examples. As I have commented elsewhere in this site, Graham Thomas was my first. It has also been among the fastest growing of any variety in my garden. When it wakes up in the spring, there are times when each cane grows as much as 4" per day -- downright beanstalk-like performance, which led to my original example growing multiple canes in excess of 12ft tall. This will be its third spring. As it approaches mature size, I can't wait to see…
While it's too soon to get ready for the parmigiana, this happy little seedling is the largest of anything I've started for the coming season. A Pandora Striped Rose eggplant, its fruit will look like the second photo, and is said to be as delicious as it is beautiful. At this rate of growth (the seedling is only two weeks old), one wonders if the mature plant will attempt a hostile takeover...
For those into such experimentation, this is a glimpse at the tomato plant I've been coaxing along at the office. Previously featured in flower, with its view of the Empire State Building in the background... we now have 10 fruits, each of which are growing larger by the day. With selective pruning, I've been hoping to keep this variety from outgrowing its admittedly too-small container. Given the strong sunlight it receives in this location, a larger container may be necessary regardless, as it breathes heavily and tends to dry out its soil quickly. Variety: Azoychka Type: Beefsteak Color: Yellow Flavor profile: Sweet-tart, with citrus undertones
Even in the dead of winter, there are a great many garden related tasks to occupy one's time. If you happen to be a tomato addict, one of the most enjoyable of those tasks is the process of deciding which varieties to grow in the following season. 2018 will be my most ambitious year yet, featuring 12 varieties of tomato and a total of 24 plants. This year, at least one of each variety will be grafted onto Estamino rootstock, which performed exceptionally well in last year's experiments -- finally allowing me to harvest some tomatoes from the more disease prone varieties, while dramatically boosting vigor even on the varieties that do not succumb to bacterial or fungal pressures. Managing all these seedlings is part of the process. In this…
Between a weirdly cool and wet spring, and my bias towards varities that tend to be late-season tomatoes, we didn't start hitting bumper crops until August, but it was well worth the wait. This is a mix of Brandywine OTV and Chocolate Stripes, with a Paul Robeson hiding in the back. I'm fond of the OTV strain of Brandywine. Red, instead of pink, for me it has better flavor and vastly better productivity.
