Asparagus! Some first shoots are making their way out of the ground. They are a little on the skinny side and can't be harvested this year, but as they are from 1 year old crowns I am told that I can start harvesting next year.I feel so delighted with them.
(I'm having my own Animal, Vegetable, Miracle minute right now)
Tarragon. Look at that wavy gentle green. Gorgeous, isn't it? We love tarragon with a passion bordering on pathology in our house. We eat it in sandwiches, in veggie wraps, in rice paper wraps, in lettuce roll-ups (seeing a theme here yet?), and even when just wandering around the garden.We even give it to Henry, the Pig from Guinea, because he loves it too.
Can you guess what this is? I have high hopes of candying the flowers, or using it with elecampagne for a cough syrup. I've never grown it before though.It has a I'm Going To Be A Large Object written all over it, doesn't it? The main stem is thicker than my thumb.
A heuchera ("Vanilla Spice") I bought last year. I was taken with the blend of red and white and pale green. I've got it next to some Ophiopogon planiscapus "Nigrescens," where it can repose strikingly (we all like to repose strikingly once in a while, right?).
Finally, a little violet I found the other day. It's called "Freckles" and if you can't see it from this picture, I will say that it is oh-so-palely spotted and a lovely shade of blue.
Other new plants in the garden:
Dodecathion "Queen Victoria"
Deschampsia "Tatra Gold"
Sidalcea "Party Girl"
Lemon Verbena (to replace the one that bit the dust the other day when Yours Truly left it outside overnight and it snowed) you can make the most amazing lemon sorbet from this
Monarda "Marshall's Delight" (an incredible pink)
And four blueberry bushes ("Reka" and "Hardyblue")
7 comments:
does this mean that you have finally managed to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?
Andrea, you monkey! Only you would ask me this! No (Sheila hangs her head in shame), I still haven't finished it. I've skimmed parts of it though - does that count? I was joking to Denny the other day that the reason I'm having trouble reading it is because I'm almost living it!
My goodness, you *do* live in a different climate! Nothing is growing like that here. Asparagus sounds very fun to grow.
I'm so impressed. I never knew asparagus couldn't be harvested the first year. I still haven't planted anything yet, and I fear I have to buy the vegetable plants now.
Very cool. I think asparagus is on our list of things to establish in the new place (more on that soon). How come you have no lettuce?
Shaun: yes, we do live in vastly different climate regions, don't we. You live where the exotic species Prince lives, though. I'd love to have one of those around.
HWM: My sources say that asparagus (like rhubarb and some herbs) needs a few years to get strong, if that makes sense. You can get round that a bit by buying 1 yr old crowns, but you still have to leave them for a year. It's testing my patience, I tell you.
JoVE: I'll be interested to see how asparagus does IN YOUR NEW PLACE (oops, caps key just slipped there). Do tell! Different city? Same city, different venue?
Oh, and I do have lettuce, but it's a tad chilly at night still. I found this site called PathToFreedom the other day - it's run by a family in Pasadena who have micro-farmed their entire lot and the pictures are incredible. It's inspired me to use my window boxes (north side of house) for the lettuce. I will take pictures and put them up soon.
I like your heuchera, I haven't got a pale leaved one like that. It is very unusual. x
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