Byzantine Gladiolus-A Treasured Heirloom Bulb

By V J Matthew/ Shutterstock

Look out in other gardens for great bulbs to grow for next spring. This Grape Hyacinth called Muscari Azureum is a clear soft blue that is recommended for naturalising. Muscari Valerie Finnis is also blue whilst most of the  other species and varieties flower in shades of purple. Muscari grow well in pots where the foliage can look interesting.

Apart from late Tulips I think it is best to leave spring bulbs out of the ground – the end of November is too late even though you can buy very cheap bulbs.

SOMETIMES I GET TWO VERSIONS OF A DOODLE from Andre Jordan, and he wants me to choose. And usually I can’t.

WHILE REBUILDING A WAY TO GARDEN for the new season, I kept digging up forgotten bits I’m glad to have resurfaced, the way your favorite lost trowel turns up in the compost heap. From a crash refresher course in botanical Latin to the do’s and don’ts of composting, and labels that really last, perhaps I exhumed some treasures you could use, too?No-nonsense composting: Don’t get hung up on the style of bin, the shape of the pile, or how often it must be turned: Just get composting.

The way I cook is all about big potsful of things, and freezing or canning for later: cook once, eat multiple times. For the price of 1 pound of dry beans and a few simple ingredients, the yield is enough for six or eight portions, most of which are frozen in small containers for later use.This easy recipe takes very little active prep, but lots of waiting on each end for soaking and then baking. We gardeners are patient types, no?baked-bean tips and tricksDon’t want to pre-cook the beans? Soak them for 24 hours, changing water several times, and plan to bake them longer, perhaps all day. No good tomatoes in winter? I avoid needing to use canned by freezing a few bags of whole paste types at harvest time (above) for just this

ICOUNT TOMATO GRAFTING AMONG MY NEWEST OBSESSIONS. I know, I know; did I need another obsession—and particularly one that offbeat? But after a season of widespread tomato troubles and my generally leery feelings about counting on a plentiful crop from heirlooms in particular, why not considering turning to grafting for an edge? Growing a desired though perhaps less vigorous variety on tougher rootstock has been the trick in many crops (think roses, fruit trees, and many other ornamentals). Tomatoes, it turns out, are no exception. Into the world of grafted tomatoes we go…

First, let’s do a little learning on the topic of local as it applies to heirloom seeds.  I loved where the conversation led in my Q&A with Ken:Q. “Local heirlooms” is a primary message, and mission, of Hudson Valley Seed Library. Explain. A. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder and taste is on the tongue of the eater, defining the term “local heirloom” is in the hands of the gardener. Most seeds have traveled more miles than any of us will in our lifetimes. Very few of the varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers that we love originally came from the places where we live. Many favorites, like tomatoes, originated in warm, sunny places like Central and South America. As the seeds traveled to new places, met new people with their own ideas of flavor, beauty, and use, they changed.So local do

THE MOST POPULAR POSTS on the website are all browsable here at this link–kind of fun, isn’t it, to dig into the archive this way?JUST GETTING STARTED IN GARDENING? I’ve put all the “beginner’s” posts here, in this spot where your can click through at will.THERE ARE BROWSABLE, PHOTO-DRIVEN PAGES like those for everything from Conifers to Bird Sh-t (um, as in Bird Gardening). You can always find all the navigational links in the small green type in the far-left col

Like everything in gardening—a pursuit I always remind myself is part art, part science—experts differ on just how to save tomato seed. I’ve listed links to some variations below. But basically, here’s the idea:1. Working with one variety at a time, select fully mature fruits to collect your seed from. The fruits you use should be true to type for that variety—not the runts, and not oddities like double fruit. Seed Savers Exchange says to avoid the first fruit from large-fruited varieties, too.Suggestion: If you’re going to save a lot of tomato seed, plan to do this when you are making soup or sauce or maybe gazpacho, because there will be lots of tomato flesh that would otherwise go to waste.2. Simply cut the fruits in half or quar

Now, I can tell you from first-hand experience that the purple markings on the rounded, 6- or 7-inch green pods look nothing like those on an Eastern timber rattler. But when grown until the pods mature and dry (here’s how to grow and dry shell beans), they’d be more in the snake’s tan and brown color range, if not the right pattern, exactly. The bean seeds are somewhat pinto-like, but much smaller, and speckled the way the green pods are before they turn solid green when cooked.Besides being beautiful, the fresh snap beans are somewhat sweet-tasting and easy to grow, and especially cooperative in hot weather (making them a favorite in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic, says Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, which lists them as 73 days to producing size).  Up north in Maine, Fedco’s catalog says 70 days–and that down south they’re sometimes called Preacher Beans, which Seed Savers confirms (offering a range of harvest time from 60-90 days); High Mowing See