Capsicum annuumVarieties:
Anaheim Chili
sources: Dave's Garden
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Chives
Allium - schoenoprasum
Perennial. Hardy to USDA zone 3. With beautiful edible lavender-pink flowers and delicate onion-flavored foliage, chives should be in every garden. Not many plants do as many things as this plant does AND are easy to grow, maintain, and come back every year! The edible flowers make a tasty pink-tinted chive vinegar (recipe inside packet), look & taste great in salads, and dry well when chopped for use on baked potatoes or left whole for dried floral arrangements. The foliage and flowers are an excellent garnish for most foods. Chives are easy to grow in almost any soil, containers, or a sunny indoor windowsill for use year-round. With chives on hand, your fish, chicken, vegetable, and baked potato dishes will never be lacking in flavor!
When to plant outside: : In early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked, or as late as 2 months before first fall frost.
When to start inside: 6 weeks before average last spring frost.
Special Germination Instructions: Seed requires darkness to germinate. Make sure seed is planted at a depth of ¼” – ½”.
Harvesting: Cut the outer spears of the chives when they are at least 6” long and cut back to 2” above ground. Once or twice a season, shear the plants to 2” above ground. This will keep the new, tender foliage available. The flowers can be harvested when in full bloom. source
When to plant outside: : In early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked, or as late as 2 months before first fall frost.
When to start inside: 6 weeks before average last spring frost.
Special Germination Instructions: Seed requires darkness to germinate. Make sure seed is planted at a depth of ¼” – ½”.
Harvesting: Cut the outer spears of the chives when they are at least 6” long and cut back to 2” above ground. Once or twice a season, shear the plants to 2” above ground. This will keep the new, tender foliage available. The flowers can be harvested when in full bloom. source
Basil
Ocimum basilicum
Varieties:
Plant Height: 18-36"
Spacing: 6-12"
Sun Preference: Full Sun
Italian Large Leaf: This large-leaved heirloom Genovese type basil is particularly good for pesto and any dish that calls for fresh basil leaves. Basil has so many uses! It is wonderful in Italian foods, flavored vinegars, wih fish, poultry, rice, and vegetables. It is also easy to grow these 18”-24” tall plants outdoors in containers or in the garden. In a warm, south-facing window, you can even grow it inside during winter! (Harvest often to keep plants compact and encourage new leaf production.) source
Siam Queen: It has a delicious, spicy sweet flavor with a licorice basil aroma. A compact plant with green leaves and beautiful pink & purple flowers on red-purple stems, it is a very attractive container variety and can be used as an accent in the flower garden. Thai basil is known to the Vietnamese as ""Hung Que"" (and eaten raw with noodle soup in the morning) and in Thailand as ""Horapha"". A distinct improvement over older varieties of Thai Basils, Siam Queen's yields are impressive, because the leaves are twice the size. (3"-4"" long and 1.5""-2"" wide). source
Dave's Garden info
Spinach
Spinacia oleracea
Variety:
Bloomsdale
This heirloom spinach is an old favorite among gardeners. It has very dark green glossy savoy-type curled leaves. Bloomsdale also has excellent flavor, is bolt resistant, and is easy to grow. Spinach is a nutritional powerhouse that is delicious fresh or steamed! In the 1930's, the spinach industry credited the cartoon character Popeye for a 33% increase in national spinach consumption. Today, we don't need a cartoon character to sell us on its benefits! A low calorie nutritional powerhouse, spinach is loaded with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Folate, Iron, Calcium, antioxidants, fiber, and many other nutrients. We love to eat it steamed with nutmeg or raw in salads, but you can also eat it sauteed with pastas, omelettes, and in dozens of other dishes. Its uses in the kitchen are nearly limitless! source
Viola
Viola cornuta
Hardy to: 4a(DG) 7(BG)
Plant Height: 4-6"
Spacing: 3-6"
Sun Preference: Part Shade to Part Sun
BG: Backyard Gardener
DG: Dave's Garden
I always loved finding the 'Johnny Jump-Ups' in yards and I loved their many colored faces. I bought a package a few years ago wanting these childhood favorite in my newly made flower beds. The package said they were annuals but I was suprised to see them come back the next year and spreading. They have spread through my southeast bed and into my northeast bed. I even saw a few in my vegetable garden (on the otherside of the house). If I remember correctly they bloomed last year, which is contrary to what I read somewhere (that they may come back but they will not bloom) so I will see if they bloom this year as well.
V.cornuta, an evergreen perennial with stems that are ascending with
egg-shaped leaves to 2 inches long. Slightly scented, violet to
lilac-blue flowers bloom from spring to summer, with white markings on
the lower petals and spurs to 1/2 inch long. source
Wooly Thyme
Thymus pseudolanuginosus
Hardy to: 2(HP) 4b(DG)
Plant Height: 1-2"
Spacing: 6-9"
Sun Preference: Part Shade to Full Sun
Flower Color: Light Pink
HP: Heritage Perennials
DG: Dave's Garden
I bought this ground cover last year and totally forgot about it, I never even planted it in the ground but just had it sitting by my other containers in the garden. I was shocked to find it this spring and see that it was actually growing. Dave's Garden says it is hardy to -25F (zone 4b) whereas Fine Gardening says it is only hardy to zone 5. But it survived -30F over the winter here, but maybe the snow that engulfed it helped to insulate.
One of the best Creeping Thymes for general groundcover purposes. This
is a low, creeping species with fuzzy grey-green foliage, occasionally
producing soft-pink flowers. A strong grower, ideal as a
drought-tolerant lawn substitute or for planting between flagstones,
tolerating moderate foot traffic. Woolly Thyme is easily divided in
spring or early fall, and even small pieces will take root and grow.
Evergreen. source
Noteworthy characteristics: Woolly thyme thrives in any dry,
well-drained spot. Patios, walks, rock gardens, stone walls, and pond
borders all benefit from the creeping, cascading habit of woolly
thyme. It also spills gracefully over stone walls and can be grown
between pavers. picture
Care: Provide well-drained, average, neutral to alkaline soil in full
sun. It will rot in moist soils. Cut back when needed to maintain
appearance.
Propagation: Divide in spring or fall, or sow seed in spring. Thymes
are slow to germinate and hybridize regularly.
Problems: Gray mold, root rot.
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