Growing and Harvesting

Well the past few days have been very exciting for my garden, as far as product wise. As I walked around my deck the other day, I noticed the first of my tomatoes had ripened and decided to take it off before bugs and animals tried to get to it. Although it isn't the largest tomato, it still is a very nice sized one for being grown at home. I'm not sure what we plan to do with this little tomato but if we need a fresh tomato for a recipe we have one nice and ready.

In addition to having this tomato ripe, as well as a few other tomatoes close to ripening, while I was walking around our deck I noticed our pepper plant is beginning to form tiny little green peppers. as of now they are a little bigger than an average thumb nail.
In the same planter, I have parsley which just recently began to flower and, apparently, the flowers attract butterflies, bumble bees and many beneficial insects, such as predatory wasps. My only concern is that the wasps will begin nesting at our house, as oppose to living in the forests near by. Most people will clip the flowers in order to have the leaves stay fresh but if you are like me and decide to keep the flowers you can use the fruit to make the spice coriander.
As I continued to walk and water my different plants, I was pleased to see that in a very small planter I'm using, my stevia plant has began to sprout and leaf out. Although the leaves are very small for right now, I am very excited that they came out so quickly and can't wait for the leaves to be large enough to use as a natural calorie free sweetener. When the individual sprouts each get large enough, I also plan on transferring them into individual larger plants, as this plant is a perennial and as long as we can keep it warm, it will do alright. The only problem I've read about this plant is the initial germination as well as not being very cold hardy here. The germination didn't seem to be that large of a problem for me so I think I'll be able to keep them nice and warm in our sunroom during the cold months.
As I continued watering, I decided to check the side of our house to see how the blackberries were going and I'm proud to say we have our first ripe blackberries. I snatched a few of them yesterday and one today and they are the perfect taste and ripeness.
As for the other plants I am growing they all seem to be doing pretty well. The honey locust on the deck are growing nice and big and already forming a slight canopy. Pretty soon I think I'll have to either plant them in the yard or transplant them into larger planters so their roots can take off. The bluebeard for a while wasn't looking too good but it seemed to recover, having its leaves nice and firm instead of drooping. The sweetspire is starting to grow vertically as well. I think the only plant that isn't doing so well is the river birch I got last week, which is in the shade.

Seeds and saplings

Hello to everyone, I have quite the new assortment of plants this week! First plant I got this week was actually an herb to replace a plant I previously had. For whatever reason the thyme I had planted by the rosemary and sage vanished not too long ago and honestly it didn't look that healthy anyway. So while at the grocery store I decided I would go and buy a new more healthier plant and I am planning on putting it where I had the previous one.

In addition to buying new thyme, I decided to go to a small garden shop. While driving home from work during the week, I always pass this tiny little herb and flower shop and just a few days ago I decided "What the heck, I'll stop by."" The types of plants they had were amazing. Unfortunately for them I already have most of the ones they were selling. However, as I walked around, I remembered that chives are very good for carrots which I have planted with my tomato assortment.

Finding some chives, I went to go to the check stand when I saw, and smelled, something that caught my attention. It was a small herb called "dwarf curry." Although its culinary uses are limited, after buying it I did a little research on it and apparently it is used for medicinal purposes. If you steep the leaves into a tea it can help with sore throats. The oil can be used as a soothing ointment. If you want to look up more uses of it the Latin name is Helichrysum italicum. Here is a good website that explains all the uses of the plants oil http://www.helichrysum-italicum.com/properties.html. 

This plant is, like most aromatic plants, very drought tolerant. It likes dry soils and full sunlight, so top of a hill would be a perfect place for this plant. As the name entails, it has the smell of curry, although when cooked it apparently isn't strong at all. This plant is, from what I've learned, mainly used for its aromatic smell and medicinal qualities. 

In addition to these plants I bought, I also got some seeds from my neighborhood gardening store and bought watermelon, edamame, and stevia. Because watermelons like warm soil, and lots of room to grow in, I will probably have to think about where I will plant them. The edamame beans, becauses they are beans, will be planted along the fence and likely replace some of the dead beans that are simply flopped against it. As for the stevia, because it is a tropical plant, I will have it in a sandy loam soil and water it regularly.

My final plant, which I obtained today while gardening, is the deciduous tree Betula nigra, river birch. While I was weeding an azalea and rhododendron garden, I noticed a small birch sapling that didn't belong in the bed. Instead of simply tossing it into the trash however, I decided I would wrap it in paper towels and bring it home. River birch is a good native tree that can do well in a wide variety of areas. It can handle incredibly dry soil as well as incredibly thick clay soils. In addition to being adaptable, it is also a very good landscape tree. It can grow 40-50 feet in height and its most prominent and interesting feature is the exfoliating paper-like bark. I have it now planted in my backyard next to the Little Henry sweetspire.

In terms of my other plants, the tomato has began producing more fruit and the first few ones have started to change from green to orange. The bell pepper has just started to bloom its flowers and hopefully I will be able to see some peppers forming soon. The oak sapling, as well as many other saplings I've tried to propagate,  have unfortunately passed away, but the bluebeard, which is near the rosemary and sage, is doing alright, albeit being a tad bit lopsided. The blackberries have yet to ripen, but I walked by just today and the berries are fully formed and starting to turn red, which means that in a couple of weeks they will be ripe and ready to eat. Sometime in the next few weeks, I'm going to do a post solely dedicated to "what not to plant." This will be in terms of primarily landscape plants and ornamental plants, rather than fruiting ones. I will also go over good native alternatives or good non-native plants that aren't as aggressive. Good night and happy gardening!

Saplings

Hello followers! Sorry for the delay in posts. This past week I started a new job working at the University of Maryland campus. It has been quite fun. I have been helping to maintain gardens and pretty soon I will be helping the Arboretum Outreach Center by cataloging woody plants and shrubs around campus, which means I will be able to get lots and lots of cuttings and small saplings. Just this past week I took two saplings from flower beds.
The first one is Quercus sp. or some species of oak. It is a red oak of sorts, as oaks are divided into two different groups, red oaks and white oaks. The only way I could identify it right now though is by the leaves, which on red oaks have little "hairs" at the points of the leaves. Red oaks have the "pointy" edged leaves while white oaks have the smooth or way edged. Red oaks include Quercus acutissima, Q. cerris, Q. falcata,  Q. georgiana, Q. imbricaria, Q. marilandica, Q. nigra, Q. palustris, Q. coccinea, as well as a handful of others. Red oaks, and oaks in general, aren't incredibly picky trees. Within each species they vary slightly but they aren't incredibly high maintenance. They like well drained moist soil, a good bit of sun, and aside from their acorns, are generally problem free. There is the problem "Sudden oak death" caused by an organism, Phytophthora ramorum. As of now it is in a little planter and one of its three leaves is starting to brown despite the enormous amount of rain we've gotten (or perhaps that's why its browning). Anyway I'll let you all know how it's doing in a week or so. Additionally I obtained a Caryopteris xcladonensis, also known as bluebeard. It is a small shrub that has bright blue flowers in late summer. It is a cross between C. incana and C. mongholica and is a very common form for cultivation. It likes a loose, loamy soil and should be in full sun. It is tolerant of acidic and lime-based soils. Too much moisture in the soil however will destroy this plant, and I will be trying to find good soil for it that keeps water but doesn't hold it for a long time. Starting now, I will be trying to create names for each plant i propagate, either from cuttings or from saplings, and for this one I have yet to think of the name. Although it didn't last long, the small Amelanchier arborea earned the name Amelia, AMELancheir arborEA. However I have found a large tree just down the road to which I will name Amelia now. May little Amelia rest in peace. If anyone has suggestions for names for either plants I mentioned today, feel free to suggest some. Seeing as the Caryopteris is actually in a poorly draining planter, I think I should move it into the yard while there is a break in the rain downpour.