Oddballs of the pack

Well this week seems to be mainly about plants that I haven't stopped to consider adding to my plant
collection. At the same store that I got the chives and the dwarf curry plant, I stopped by and bought 3 plants. The first was a healthy lavender bush, which is to replace the lavender I have, as it seems to not have transplanted well into the soil I put it in. While its difficult to see from the photo, the plant I chose is already starting to bloom and I plan on transferring it first into a somewhat larger planter and after it grows larger, putting it into the ground, as I think I put the young one in too soon. The second two plants I bought from the store however were an interesting plant that I learned about just about a week or so ago. These plants are called nasturtium

Nasturtium is a plant with edible leaves and flowers, both of which have a hot peppery taste. These plants can be trimmed to be a dense bush or a trailing ground cover, which is what I intend to do with them. I am planning to plant the canna in the front yard and have the two nasturtiums on either side of it. The flowers generally will vary from yellow to red in color, making them compliment the reccurent yellow bloom of the canna I have. Like the canna they like full sunlight as well as moist soils.
In addition to this interesting edible plant I bought for my garden, while at the grocery store with one of my friends, I couldn't help but notice that the place was selling a plant I think all of us have heard of, Venus flytrap. Quite by chance about a week before I found this plant, I was considering of trying to find one, as it is native to the Carolina beach areas. Seeing it, I simply had to buy it. Venus flytrap, a carnivorous plant, is typically found in swampy and poor soiled areas. It likes partial sun but doesn't do well in full sun so I plan on, for now, keeping it in its planter inside and having it sit near the east facing windows.

In terms of the other plants I am growing, the tomato plant is producing more and more tomatoes and they are ripening perfectly, no insects seeming to eat them or get to them. One thing however I am trying to decrease is the amount of mint I have, as more and more suckers have seemed to pop up. In the second planter, the one with the cilantro, parsley and peppers, the peppers are growing and forming quite nicely. The cilantro that flowered is now going to seed and I plan on taking a few for next year and taking the rest and making it into coriander powder.
The stevia has also grown quite a bit since I last checked, as I went on vacation from Friday to Monday and have had work all day this week. It's grown to about the length of a pinkie and the leaves are growing quite nicely. The hot muggy humid weather has also been helping it as it is used to rainforest climate conditions. Sometime in the next few weeks I am going to look up ways to turn the leaves into the substance used to actually sweeten food and beverages and get back to you. I am also trying to think of any creative uses for the nasturtium leaves and flower so if anyone has suggestions, feel free to leave them below.

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.