How to grow Shallots

The growing and collecting of cacti has been a popular hobby in this country for many years. Their varied shapes and colors together with the colored spines make them fascinating and their spectacular flowers are an added interest for the grower. Some of the larger types may not flower in this country owing to the lack of intense sunshine, but many hundreds of other species should flower every year.

Marigolds (Tagetes ) are annuals of great decorative value during the summer and autumn months. They are natives of Mexico and South America and belong to the Daisy family, Compositae. The name is said to have been derived from a mythological deity, Tages. These Marigolds are quite distinct from the Pot Marigold or Calendula.

Sow celery thinly in pots or boxes in heat in March for early varieties, or in a cold house in mid-April for the main crop. Prick off into deep seed boxes as soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, at 5cm (2in) intervals. After hardening off, plant out from mid May to the end of June, in prepared trenches. This is not only helpful in earthing but enables watering to be carried out by flooding the trench.

Said to be an old Greek name for a similar plant (Compositae). Hardy perennials with white wooly foliage and flowers which can be cut before maturity and dried for use as `everlastings’, sometimes being dyed.

The flower form resembles an eagle’s claw, hence the probable origin of this name from aquila the Latin for eagle (Ranunculaceae). Columbine. Hardy herbaceous perennials for the herbaceous border and rock garden. The flowers and leaves are very dainty. Unfortunately, they are inclined to be short lived in heavy wet soils, but they are easily increased by seed. The flowers appear in May and June in a wide range of colors from yellows and creams to blues and reds and purples. The garden hybrids have been raised from various species, e.g. the long-spurred hybrids from Aquilegia longissima. ‘Mrs. Scott Elliott’s’ is a well-known strain, and more recently, there are the McKana Giant hybrids, with larger flowers and long spurs.

No other vegetable captures the succulence of summer like sweet corn. Whether you like your kernels white, yellow, or with both colors on the same ear, new hybrids offer incredibly delicious flavor with very little effort.

Orchids seem to do best if a greenhouse is devoted solely to their cultivation, though some types such as Odontoglossum grande and Coelogyne cristata will succeed very well in a general collection of plants.

Commemorating Paeon, an ancient Greek physician, is said to have first used P. officinalis medicinally. Although the genus has long been considered a member of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, some modern botanists now place it in a family of its own, Paeoniaceae. A genus of 33 species of hardy herbaceous and shrubby perennials and a few shrubs, among the noblest and most decorative plants for a sunny or shaded border. The main division of the genus is between the herbaceous and the tree paeony, but botanically, the matter is much more complex.

From the time of the Greeks and Romans, various fungi have been eaten as a delicacy and the expert can find many varieties growing wild which are equal, if not superior, in flavor to the mushroom (Psalliotta campestris). But there are also a number of poisonous fungi, some deadly. The field mushrooms which appear in profusion in meadows in the moist autumn days are perfectly safe, but the inexperienced townsman would be well advised to make sure first that he is actually picking field mushrooms, because some poisonous fungi are very similar. Cultivated mushrooms are absolutely reliable and a valuable food as well as a delicacy.

Tagetes (Tage’tes) are annuals of great decorative value during the summer and autumn months. They are natives of Mexico and South America and belong to the Daisy family, Compositae. The name is said to have been derived from a mythological deity, Tages. These Marigolds are quite distinct from the Pot Marigold or Calendula. See Calendula

Beans include many types of snap beans, pole beans, and Southern peas, such as black-eyed types. Plant these in spring after all danger of frost has passed. Because they grow so fast, start beans from seed directly in the garden. To speed their sprouting, soak seeds in water overnight before planting.

This is another variety, italica, of Brassica oleracea. Both purple and white sprouting produce a profusion of young shoots invaluable for prolonging the supplies of winter greens. Purple sprouting is the most hardy and will safely overwinter in most open situations.