The Garden at Night

This video is a little something the Plant Dude put together to show folks how to use white blooming flowers in the garden for vibrant visual appeal. It also is a way to share a great personality from B.B. Barns.

Expand the video for full screen, and check it out in HD if your system allows.

A good little idea for bulb planting time.

So this might seem like a simple idea, hardly worth blogging about, but I thought it was pretty clever. One of my friends & colleagues Hunter Stubbs from the B.B. Barns Landscape Division was at a client's house planting some bulbs around her water feature. Before digging the holes and putting them in the ground he placed the bags in the general areas where he was going to plant. Then he took a picture to give the client so that she could have a record of where the bulbs would come up in the Spring.

Seems like just a little thing, but it can be a good record to have when planning & planting after the bulbs have gone in. Many trees, shrubs and perennials can go in the ground so long as the dirt isn't frozen. Having a record of the bulb planting areas, with an indication of what colors are going to come up, can be useful for off season planting.

Two very different, but very groovy plants.

The Ghost Chili

This plant has gained a bit of notoriety recently due to some exposure on shows like Man Vs. Food, and other adventurous food oriented shows. The notoriety is well deserved, as this is supposedly the hottest chili known to humanity. While there may be some others that rival this one for heat, like the Dorsett Naga & the Trinidad Scorpion, the Ghost Chili is still impressive at approximately 1,000,000 Scoville Units. For a little perspective on this number, this is 3 times as hot as the hottest Habanero you may have ever consumed.

Also known as Bhut Jolokia, the Ghost Chili has grown very well for the Plant Dude this year. I ordered a seed pack from J.L. Hudson, one of my favorite places to get interesting plant seeds, and got nearly 100% germination rates. The plant itself is beautiful, with dark purple veining and wide lush leaves. I had heard that it matures slowly, which I have found to be the case, so I am growing mine in a large container. I'll bring it in to the greenhouse if temps fall too low before the fruits mature. Stay tuned to the Plant Dude blog, as I intend to add video of myself being tortured by the Ghost Chili to the other videos out there by people foolish enough to consume this monster pepper!

Common Sorrel

Common Sorrel, or Rumex acetosa as it is known in binomial nomenclature, is a very easy herb to grow in the Appalachian mountains. This perennial grows easily from seed, germinating best in cooler times of the year. The picture above shows plants that I started from seed early this year, and now I am already having to thin them out.

The flavor of this leafy plant is surprising. It has been described as somewhere between lemon and spinach, but I don't really get that flavor from it. The tartness, which I assume is the "lemon" flavor others talk about, seems more to me like straight ascorbic acid. This makes sense given the high levels of Vitamin C in this plant. I do get some spinach flavor from the plant, but sorrel behaves a bit differently in the kitchen from spinach. While spinach can be wilted, sauteed or otherwise heated and retain a green color, sorell will brown quickly in the presence of heat. Therefore it is best to add it fresh, or barely cooked in order to retain a bright color & flavor.

My favorite ways to use the sorrel are to cut the veins from the leaves, roll them into cigar shaped wad, and cut them in a fine chiffonade just like basil. These fine strips are perfect for adding a tangy flavor to salads and cold dishes. I have also made a clarified butter that has sorrel blended in to it. This is a great addition to salmon, and other fish rich in fats and oils.

Rubus idaeus 'Anne'

One of my favorite small fruiting plants to grow is the golden raspberry, 'Anne.' Not normally grown commercially due to a tendency of the fruit to soften quickly, it is well suited to home cultivation since the fruits are used immediately. Sometimes the fruits are used SUPER-immediately. That plastic container in the picture above was full about 45 seconds before I snapped the picture. The kid with the truck on his shirt was full about 45 seconds after I took the picture. Oh well, I may get some myself off of the next flush.

In the southern Appalachians, with very cold winters and sometimes hot summers, there can be some variability to this cultivar. Anne can fruit off of new canes reasonably well, but is late to do so if we have a long winter. If we have a hot summer then it really takes a fair amount of watering to keep fruiting strong. With enough Plant-Tone fertilizer under their belt, these heavy feeders will produce an abundant late August or early September haul.

What I love most about this variety is that it is a perfect fruit additive for golden Belgian ales. One of the best beers I ever brewed was a farmhouse wheat ale that I racked onto a few pounds of these golden beauties that I had collected and shoved in the freezer over the course of the growing season. The wild yeast I used gave a nice tartness that complimented the rich flavor of the Anne raspberry. When I cracked open a bottle the next spring after a few months of aging, I was reminded of just how sweet the coming summer would be.