Posts made in June, 2008

Does your garden take itself too seriously?  The answer to a garden that needs a little playfulness could very well be to grow some onions. Not, of course, the sort of onions that you eat (though that’s not a terrible idea, either).  What I’m talking about is ornamental onion plants, Allium. 

"Allium" refers to the entire onion genus, which is one of the largest plant genera.  It includes onions, chives, garlic, shallots, and leeks.  When gardeners talk about growing Allium bulbs or flowers, though, it is usually the ornamental sort that they are referring to.  These drought-resistant bulbs bloom, usually in early summer, with fun, colorful round inflorescences that look almost like balloons or something out of a children’s book (these inflorescences are actually "umbels," meaning that the flower stalks are all of the same length and stem from a single point).  These whimsical blooms are sure to get curious
comments from the neighbors.  They also last wonderfully in both fresh and dried arrangements, so they’re great for adding an unusual touch indoors, too.  The classic ball-shaped Allium blooms range from the smaller ‘Purple Sensation,’ which carries flowerheads of around three inches, to the huge, 9-inch balls of the Giant Allium.  For something even more eye-catching, try the "Tumbleweed Onion," Allium schubertii.  Its flowerheads grow to as big as 18 inches with pink flowers at all lengths along the flower stalks, creating an effect not unlike a floral firework.

Today is an exciting day for us here at Wayside Gardens.  We're shifting our main website over to the fall season offerings, which means a great deal of work, but it also means that we get to start talking about all of the great new plants we've got available this year.

I have my copy of the 2008 Fall Gardening Catalog on my desk now (I promise, getting the catalogs first isn't the only reason I work here), and it is, of course, beautiful.  The cover photo is, I think, the most stunning I've ever seen on a catalog.  It is of the new Coreopsis 'Redshift.'  This Darrell Probst creation is a true improvement over previous red Coreopsis.  The flowers are a blend of a bright, rich burgundy and clean, intense yellow, starting off deep red and maturing through shades of red and yellow to finish a lovely creamy hue.  The flowers are plentiful and large enough to be truly impressive as in a vase (cut or deadhead them to stimulate new flower growth; this Coreopsis repeats heavily).  The most impressive feature of 'Redshift,' though, is that it is a genuinely hardy, vigorous red Coreopsis.  No more will red Tickseeds be grown only as annuals in much of the country; this one is hardy to zone 4!

Of course, for those of you in the Southeast, don't forget that tomorrow is Flower Day!  Come by our home here in South Carolina for guided tours of our beautiful trial gardens and a chance to meet HGTV's Paul James!

This weekend I bought a big bag of kumquats.  I had never actually tried one, though I’ve been fascinated by the little guys for years.  Not only is it one of the most fun fruit names to say, they’re like tiny, perfect little oblong oranges.  I was pretty sure that you’re supposed to eat the fruits whole, so I rinsed one off, popped it into my mouth and bit down, ready to savor the citrusy goodness.  Not, as it turns out, how you eat a Kumquat.  The taste of the pulp is much closer to that of a lemon than that of an orange (only even more tart), and when you just eat it like that the rind is very bitter.  To the internet I went, looking for the proper way to eat them (peeling them all seemed just too ridiculous to contemplate).  The trick, I discovered, is to roll the fruit between your fingers before eating to release the essential oils in the rind.  Then you need to chew thoroughly.  The sweetness of a kumquat is in the rind, and it needs to be chewed into the sour pulp.  Once you’ve got the trick down, though, it is an amazingly delicious, complex fruit.  Man, I remember thinking, wouldn’t it be amazing if I could grow fruit like this for myself?

It turns out that I can.  Wayside Gardens has several citrus trees that thrive in containers, so all of us can grow delicious citrus fruit almost anywhere in the country.  I might just grab up a Washington Navel Orange which will produce juicy, flavorful and nutritious fruits which all are sure to love.  Plus, it’s blooms are fragrant and the tree itself is handsome enough to become a living ornament indoors. If you’re looking to grow limes for Mexican cuisine or mixing drinks, you can’t go wrong with the seedless ‘Bearss’ Lime.  You also might consider the Meyer Lemon one of the most popular container citrus trees ever.

Each year, Wayside Gardens and Park Seed open up our amazing trial gardens to the public.  For one day we have our professional horticulturists give guided tours of these beautiful 9 acres of garden.  This year we will have over 2,000 varieties of plants at their peak, and anticipate that thousands of visitors from hundreds of miles around will be joining us in our Greenwood home.

This amazing day is called Flower Day, and it is the very soul of the South Carolina Festival of Flowers.  It is an opportunity for you to meet many of the people behind this company and to see the passion that we all have for bringing you the finest plants in the world.  More importantly, it is a chance for us to meet you, the most important people we know of.

This year we will be featuring Eric Johnson, our Director of Horticulture and Cohost of PBS's GardenSMART, who will be speaking at 8:30 on New and Exciting Plants for 2008.  Stephanie Turner, Park Seed's Director of Seed Product, will be giving a presentation on "Great Annuals and Tropicals for Containers." 

Most exciting, though, is that HGTV's Paul James will again be joining us for tours of our gardens as well as Q&A Sessions at 9:30 AM and 2:30 PM.  If you don't know, Paul is the star of HGTV's Gardening by the Yard, one of the most popular National gardening shows (as well as my personal favorite).  He is known for is uniquely oddball and personable approach to gardening advice, so be prepared for anything.

Our gardens will be open from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM on Saturday, June 21st.  I have been attending this event with my family for many years, and I hope that you will join us this year.  [Directions to Wayside Gardens]