How to Grow String of Pearls Fuller and Bigger Like Pictures

I MUST GO OUT TO THE STILL AND SEE IF THE LATEST VINTAGE is ready for the holiday weekend’s festivities. (And you thought I grew all those potatoes for mashing and baking, did you?) I love the play, dear Andre Jordan, on the somewhat obscure informal definition of “potted” (intoxicated by drink or drugs, esp. marijuana: a party where everybody was pretty much potted), which really matches the idea of a potting bench/table/shed. But it seems like a doodle (and a party) in need of a soundtrack…and so I made one. Feeling retro? Feeling brave? Caveat emptor: Heaven help us, since 80s music is not my strength or taste.

MY LIST OF HOMEGROWN INGREDIENTS FOR THE THANKSGIVING TABLE starts with the bumpy, oddball makings of a centerpiece. Gourds (like the warty or Bule ones), though delicious to look at, are more decor than dinner, but I did grow many edible parts of the harvest feast this year: sweet potatoes (which I’ve cooked with you here before) and Brussels sprouts and white potatoes and winter squash and green beans—and come to think of it, there might be something on the menu made with my apples, too, and garlic and parsley and sage and…well, you get the idea.

This year, I’m late, late, late—and I’m conveniently blaming circumstances beyond my control. After frozen ground in April, no rain for three-plus weeks in May, and a June of incredible deluges, some of my best-laid plans aren’t looking so swell. Maybe you’re in the same situation. With all the upside-down spring weather that made headlines around the nation, I suspect it’s not just me who fell “behind.” There’s still time for a positive outcome.Ken (below, saving tomato seed), founder of Hudson Valley Seed Library catalog and an organic seed farmer, joined me on the public-radio show and podcast to talk about planting for late summer into late fall harvest (think: pea-shoot salad, a succulent fresh batch of basil and more), and about seed saving.Read along as you listen to the July 13, 201

THE ALLIUMS WERE OFF THIS YEAR HERE (too wet last summer and fall when many summer-dormant kinds want to be dry), but I’m having a good peony crop in 2012.

I hope you visit Joe’s latest inspiration-filled home base, and listen in to our chat that ranged from key landscape-design principles for real gardeners to how much I weigh (did I really say that out loud on the show?).the “Joe Gardener” podcast episode we just recorded Joe’s new website If you’ve never seen the TV episodes we filmed here—his first visit to my garden, and later a show about my obsession with gardening for the birds—those are recommended, too. (That’s us at one such meetup, above, with my trusty Kubota.)And Joe has been a guest on my

Ontario-based Dugald Cameron shipped unusual bulbs from Gardenimport throughout North America since 1983. He is in particular a self-professed begonia nut (me, too!) with 66 varieties in all offered in his catalog, alongside many other choice items from Achimenes to Zephryanthes.I often refer to my tender bulbs as “investment plants.” Expensive at first, perhaps, compared to a seed-grown annual, but then you overwinter them indoors, and they even multiply.“Bulbs really are underrated in some respects—because it’s like a kit, ready to go,” says Dugald. “All you have to do is add soil and water a few other things, and you get a flower. I call them potted perennials—you’ve got pots you’ve pr

Staked plants will ripen faster crops of generally larger fruit. Stakes must be at least 1 inch thick and 6 feet high, inserted a foot into the ground.  Adding supporting twine between stakes (as in the photo above) helps add stability; some gardeners lash horizontal cross-pieces of bamboo between stakes instead. Either way, as the plant grows you continue to tie it to the support with twine or twist-ties.Remember: Staked plants require a commitment to ongoing pruning, keeping the plant to one or two main stems of vine-like, not bush, habit. All small suckers that develop in the crotches between the leaves and the main stem must be removed.good ‘tomato hygiene’WHAT’S MOST APPEALING to me is that staking can help with disease prevention, which actually begins with selecting an appropriately disease-resistant variety (Cornell has a list of what variety resists what).Certain fungal pathogens, such as septor

FULL SUN (or light shade in hotter zones), and well-drained soil that’s high in organic matter is the basic regimen (though the sweetbay magnolia, M. virginiana, can also take a wet spot). Give the others those requirements, plus a light layer of aged organic mulch, and they generally will thrive. Fertilizing isn’t needed, says Andrew. (At Scott they only mulch the circles of trees in lawn areas, using a combination of leaf compost and one-year-old composted wood chips.)Magnolias are not the easiest to plant under, however, because of their fleshy, moisture-hogging root systems.  “Some plants that can take dry shade will make a go of it,” he says, suggesting Epimedium, or Asarum, or Christmas fern. Among bulbs, try Scilla, or Chionodoxa, or even toadlilies (Tricyrtis), he recommends.Magnolia grandiflora, the so-called Southern magnol

Many companies ship extra-early, based on rough frost-date estimates for each area that may not be exactly what’s going on at your place, but is that really when I want the starts to arrive? I asked for advice from Alley Swiss of Filaree Farm, a longtime certified-organic farmer in Okanogan, Washington, whose main crops—garlic, shallots and potatoes—are favorites in my garden, too.(You might recall the popular garlic-growing Q&A Alley and I did together, and our later garlic-growing piece in my column in “The New York Times.” I’ve learned a lot from our ongoing conversations–including that it’s OK to wait a little while for the seed potatoes to arrive.)how to grow potatoes, with alley swissQ. When is the right time to plant—is there a cue in nature to remind us, or a

Until recently, if you wanted to add a little fire to your food, you didn’t have many choices. You could grind black peppercorns over your plate or shake on some dried red chile flakes. If you were really adventurous, you could give your food a couple of squirts of Tabasco. But the pickings were pretty slim.

As part of our little patio makeover, I really wanted to add some lights for all the cozy ambiance.

Jacaranda Bonsai stands out with its stunning flowers that come in a lavender-purple hue. Check out these Best Jacaranda Bonsai Tree Pictures!