Annuals

Basil Italian Sweet Herb

"The Basil Italian Large Leaf, `Ocimum basilicum,' is a variety of sweet basil, and is particularly good for pesto, but is also excellent for fresh use. Nothing matches the smell of basil, which means that summer has arrived. One of the most useful herbs, the Italian Large Leaf Basil has, as the name implies, larger leaves than most other basils. Used fresh, basil makes a great tea or vinegar, and tastes wonderful with fish, rice, poultry, mild vegetables and many other food items. The seeds should be planted one to two weeks after the average frost date. They should be placed in well drained soil with lots of organic matter."

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The Lungwort Victorian Brooch, `Pulmonaria,' is a wonderful shade groundcover. Also called Bethlehem Sage, this wonderful plant will be able to lighten up areas of the garden that other plants would die in. Its green foliage is wavy, spear shaped and speckled with silver. The flowers can bloom for up to three months, and are magenta-coral in color with ruby red calyces. These slug and mildew resistant plants can grow to a height of eighteen inches with a spread of up to two feet. This easy to grow plant is perfect for the beginning gardener.

The Freesia Mixed Double Bloom, `Iridaceae,' produces wonderfully fragrant double flowers in mixed colors. This spring planted corm is most commonly grown for cut flowers that are brought indoors for their wonderful fragrance. To encourage new flowers to open, pinch out topmost buds and deadhead spend flowers. This plant requires intense sunlight and a rich soil to grow best. They should, however, be kept in a cooler location, as extreme heat can damage the plants. They are most commonly grown in flowerbeds and borders.

The Native American Plum Tree, `Prunus americana,' is a small, deciduous tree that can grow with either a single trunk like a tree, or many stems like a shrub. They can be found occurring naturally in rocky or sandy soils in woodlands, pastures, streams and hedgerows. It will typically reach a height of fifteen to twenty-five feet, and has a broad, spreading crown. Its branches and twigs are an attractive dark reddish-brown color, and its sweet fruits will attract wildlife. It is also called the Native Plum, Hedge Plum, Sloe or Wild Plum.

Here's your featured gardening article of the day:

How to Grow Ginger
By: Linda Paquette

Asian and Mid-Eastern dishes often have a subtle and distinctive flavor that comes from spicing the dish at the end of cooking with fresh ginger root. As these dishes grow in popularity, many grocery produce departments stock this pleasingly pungent root for use in homemade dishes. Your favorite grocer’s produce department is also the best place to find ginger root for growing.

What we call fresh ginger root is actually the rhizome of the ginger (Zingiber officinale) plant. Choose a smooth, shiny root that has some buds beginning. These will look similar to the eyes of a potato.

•A fun way to start a ginger plant is to suspend a two-inch piece of the rhizome over a glass of water. Do this by poking a toothpick on either side of the root. Fill the glass, submerging about one-third of the ginger. When roots grow to about an inch long, plant the rhizome just below the surface of a rich, moist potting mixture in a pot that has good drainage.

•Plant ginger in a pot for growing indoors or out! Using a rich potting mixture, choose a pot at least four times the size of your ginger rhizome or plant it in the large pot that will be its permanent home on your patio, deck, or other outdoor garden area. Fill the pot three-quarters full of potting mixture; lay your rhizome flat on top and cover it with about an inch of soil. Keep the pot in a sunny location until sprouts appear, then move it to an area with good indirect light. Ginger won’t tolerate bright, direct light.

•Start a small plant for transplanting into your garden. Plant your ginger root directly into a pot filled with rich potting mixture. Cover the pot with a plastic bag and place it on a sunny windowsill. When the first shoots appear, remove the plastic bag. If all danger of frost is past, move your young ginger plant directly into your garden. Alternatively put the pot in a location where it will get indirect sunlight. Water it regularly, but be sure not to let the soil become saturated.

Your ginger plant will grow two to four feet tall. Slender stems and narrow, glossy leaves may reach up to a foot long and resemble the foliage of a lily. Occasionally, your ginger may produce a yellow green flower, but flowers are both rare and unnecessary for the health of the plant.

Ginger is not frost hardy so in temperate areas bring plants indoors for the winter and ignore it! Foliage will yellow and die back, but the plant will return to growth in the spring.

Harvest ginger after the rhizome has grown three to four months. Since the best time to plant ginger is in the spring, this usually means a fall harvest. Harvested ginger root is usually sun-dried for longer preservation. It can either be stored in a dry cupboard or refrigerated.

About the Author

Linda is the main editor of Gardening Guides and the Lawn mower and care guide

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