This plant is just downright charming and attracted much attention in my garden last year. It is a very aromatic miniature bush basil, with small, shiny leaves on highly branched stems. It grows in a perfect dome shape, just 8-12" tall (great for containers, borders, and small spaces). The slightly anise flavor is featured in much Greek cooking.
A. ptarmica Hardy perennial bears clusters of fully double small white pompon blooms with tiny yellow centers, almost like a large double Baby’s Breath. Its common name Sneezewort would lead one to believe that the flowers induce excessive sneezing. Actually it is less allergenic than yarrow. Easily cultivated, spreads readily and makes an effective “wild” border, 2–3' tall. Supplies copious cut flowers from spring until frost, enjoyable either fresh or dried. Dry slowly before the oldest blooms start to brown. Zones 3-10.
Amy's Sugar Gem is a large, round, red cherry tomato with golden sparkles in the skin. In addition to being pretty, it is meaty, juicy, candy-sweet, and incredibly productive. Is it as sweet as Hawaiian Currant? We will see! 71 days.
Aswad (which is Arabic for 'eggplant') is a very large and delicious Iraqi variety. Its fruits can weigh as much as 3 pounds! They are a dark, satiny, almost-black, and many are lobed, as though several of the familiar grocery store, teardrop shaped kind had fused. The flesh is sweet and tender, perfect for grilling, baba ghanousj, or baking. The plants love heat and water and are very productive.
(Salmon flesh) Banana-shaped fruit have smooth yellow skin and sweet, spicy salmon –colored flesh. When ripe, the melon smells like a ripe banana! The flesh is very sweet and rich, while the whole fruit is about 5-10 lbs. and 16-24” long. A very popular melon! 90 days.
This large, spindly-leafed plant produces huge clusters of grape-like red fruits, each about 1 1/2" long. The flavor is tomatoey-tart with a luscious sweetness added in. 73 days.
Use this as a fresh or dried cut flower or just a great way to attract hummingbirds and bees. This perennial plant takes a year to produce bright-red flowers, but then it returns with the same showy performance each year thereafter. Low susceptibility to powdery mildew. Height 30"; spacing 10". Hardy in zones 4-9.
This relative of Siberian kale has much looser waves on the leaf edges and is more silver and sweet. "Juicy and sweet in the spring, even when people are looking forward to lettuce," says one market grower. 60 days.
The lavender flowers of this plant are very attractive to hummingbirds and bees, and they are good in salads, too! The strongly fragrant dried leaves are used in teas and potpourris, and are also used by several native American tribes as a carminative. Height 36".
Someone got carried away when naming this variety "giant". Its fruits range from a small 3 oz. to a large 14 oz. No giants there, but the production is huge, and so is the flavor! Somehow neither sweet nor acid, the taste is deep and intense. The fruits are richly purple with green shoulders and make gorgeous slices or salads. Fairly early, at 65-80 days.
What do you get if you cross Brandywine OTV with Eva Purple Ball? Brandeva, of course! Brandeva gets its red color, great Brandywine flavor and fine texture from Brandywine OTV, and its increased disease resistance, improved productivity over a longer season, and smaller size from the Eva Purple Ball parent. This should be an excellent tomato for Middle Tennessee! The average fruit is 6 oz. (a smallish medium), 2 3/4" wide by 2" high. The skin is dusky red, while the flesh is rosy pink, sometimes with red streaks. 73 days.
Foeniculum vulgare dulce 'Rubrum') Fennel leaves add a delicious licorice flavor to salads, herb butters and other dishes. It is said to go especially well with fish. Its seeds have a similar flavor and are used in seasoning sausage. Many gardeners think it wise to grow fennel away from the main garden, since several other plants seem to dislike being its neighbor. Deadhead promptly to prevent self-sowing.
Calendulas are generous with their bright flowers and add a lot of cheer along a garden path, in pots, or in a cottage garden. Their daisy-like petals have a tangy, slightly sweet flavor that is good in soups and rice dishes or to garnish salads and baked goods. They are also used medicinally in healing salves and in bouquets. This variety is a mix of warm tones, so any individual plant could produce flowers in pink, orange, yellow or cream with burnt orange; some have contrasting dark lower petals and darker tips. Height 21"; spacing 6-12". Flowers in 55 days. Annual.
'Maya' has a different look than most calendulas, with brick-orange petals layered like shingles around the dark brown center, giving the illusion of double blossoms. These are beautiful in summer bouquets.
If you are using calendulas to make tinctures and oils, ‘Resina’ is the best variety to choose. Its medium-sized single blooms are extremely resinous, coating fingers and clippers when harvesting blooms. The medicinal sticky resins impart a pleasant odor. Blossoms are primarily bright yellow with yellow centers. A few will be orange with light orange centers. Cheery flowers, good medicine. 70 days.
(Nepeta cataria) Smelling catnip leaves make two out of three cats act goofy, and many people grow catnip for use in cat toys. Other people grow it for medicinal use, since it is traditionally used to reduce fevers in cold and flu. Candied leaves are also used for desserts! It is also a lovely plant, with spiky white blooms. Plants should be spaced 15-18" apart and will grow to 3'-4'. Cut down completely after first flowering to encourage a second blooming. Deadhead faithfully to prevent self-seeding.
The flowers of this plant are used to make a tea with a distinctive apple-like flavor and fragrance. It has long been used as a carminative, and as an anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer remedy to protect gastric mucous membranes. It is also anti-spasmodic and anti-microbial; used as a nasal wash to treat sinuses. 24-30" height.
This aromatic perennial makes a good ground cover that will tolerate light foot traffic. Growing to only 10-16", it spreads by creeping rhizomes. It produces fewer blossoms than annual varieties, but they are used in similar ways. Spacing 8-12". Hardy in zones 5-8.
(Orange flesh) A French, 2-3 lb. melon with light gray-green skin. The firm, bright orange flesh is super sweet and very fragrant. These are top sellers at high dollar markets. 85 days.
Garlic chives' leaves have a distinct but delicate garlic flavor, and the attractive white blossoms in mid-summer make good additions to both bouquets and dishes. The budded stalks are sold as 'Gow Choy' in Chinese grocery stores. Height 15-18"; spacing 6-8". Perennial in zones 4-9.
Mild onion flavor. Leaves are a key culinary herb, while the attractive globe-shaped blooms are used as an edible garnish. Great perennial for the garden. 75-85 days to harvest.
This plant produces a heavy, early, round, light-green head that is 6-8"and 3-4 pounds. The heads resist splitting and keep well, which may be why they are about the favorite variety worldwide! 65-70 days.
Cubanelle is much like the Anaheim, but is considered a sweet pepper. It is versatile, so use it stuffed, fried, on pizzas, or in salads and casseroles. The fruits are 4-6" long and about 2" in diameter, with 3 lobes tapering slowly to a rather blunt end. Use at the yellow-green stage or at the red ripe stage Be aware that Cubanelle's heat range goes from 0-1000 SHU, so let your first bite of each pepper be a cautious one! Capsicum annuum.
This sweet, yellow-fleshed, 20- lb. melon was a favorite of a local grower last year. The pea-green rind resists sunburn, and this variety is just about as drought-tolerant as a watermelon gets. It is also good for storage! 90 days.
