"We are pleased to offer these unique and attractive tea plants. Grown from seed gathered in tea plantations in Sochi, Russia, they are considered as producing the most northern tea grown in the world. Tea we have tried from these plants is very aromatic and flavorful."
Sochi tea Camellia sinensis grows 8 to 10 feet in height and width and is hardy to about zero degrees (Zone 7). It blooms from September through November.
Owen suggests planting a border of lettuce, chives, green onions, pansies and parsley along the edges of raised beds. Grow tall plants like dill, fennel, peas, corn and beans in the back of beds or in the centers of containers. Consider shapes, too. Globe artichokes, garlic and sunflowers have showy tops.
Hydrangea tree
I bought a great little tree at Valley Gardens to put into my raised planter on the back patio. It's a hydrangea pruned into a tree form, a Paniculata hydrangea that will grow and bloom in a wide variety of climates (hardy to Zone 3!). Unlike mopheads, they need several hours of sun to do well. If your weather is too cold to grow the pink and blue hydrangeas or if your landscape doesn't have much shade, consider growing one of the many types of paniculata.
These little beauties can be pruned at any time except when they begin forming bloom heads in the summer. The paniculata is the only hydrangea that can be pruned into a tree form.
The panicle-shaped blooms (cone-shaped instead of ball-shaped) are lovely, and the tree can grow up to 10 feet tall if allowed.
One of the most popular is 'Limelight,' which can be grown in most of the United States, except those areas that receive no freezing weather.
Reach Sara Busse at sara.bu...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1249.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Gardeners across the land are switching from "beautiful" to "practical" when it comes to plant choices. The most-frequently asked question I hear used is, "Is it easy to take care of?" when folks ask for plant suggestions. Now, people want to plant things they can consume as well as enjoy.
I can't give up pretty -- I just love colors and flowers and textures. But I'm adding a lot of practical edibles to my pretty beds that are great-looking as well as delicious.
On the back deck, I've got pots of tomatoes and peppers mixed in with the pots of annuals and perennials. Cannas grow next to jalapeños, and lobelias curl around pots filled with rosemary and oregano. The mint-filled pot sits near a low wall where guests can rub against it and release that fresh scent -- and growing it in a pot keeps it manageable.
If you've got an acidic spot, put in a blueberry. (They grow in similar conditions to azaleas or rhododendrons.) Instead of putting in a clematis vine, put scarlet runner beans or cherry tomatoes on that trellis.
In an article in Gardening Club magazine, gardener and author Ros Creasy was highlighted for planting a wine barrel filled with strawberry plants.
Creasy is the author of "The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping" (Sierra Club Books, 1982), which was followed by a dozen other books on edible gardening. She's been known to plant wheat, peanuts, lettuce and other edibles among her beds of flowers. Swiss chard is mixed with tulips. And mixing the beds keeps them healthy -- with tomato vines flanked by pots of herbs, Creasy says you are less likely to attract pests.
Marion Owen, a gardener and co-author of "Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul," says if you are faced with removing a tree that has died or outgrown its site, consider replacing it with a fruit-bearing one. Apples, currants, blueberries, Oregon grape (mahonia), raspberry, tayberry, red huckleberries, crabapples, plums and cherries are just a few of the possibilities that provide color and texture as well as food.
By the way, if you're looking for unique fruiting plants, trees and berries, check out Raintree Nursery, in Morton, Wash., (www.raintreenursery.com) and One Green World, in Molalla, Ore., (www.onegreenworld.com).
One interesting plant that caught my eye is the Sochi tea seedling, $19.95 at One Green World. Here's what they have to say:
"We are pleased to offer these unique and attractive tea plants. Grown from seed gathered in tea plantations in Sochi, Russia, they are considered as producing the most northern tea grown in the world. Tea we have tried from these plants is very aromatic and flavorful."
Sochi tea Camellia sinensis grows 8 to 10 feet in height and width and is hardy to about zero degrees (Zone 7). It blooms from September through November.
Owen suggests planting a border of lettuce, chives, green onions, pansies and parsley along the edges of raised beds. Grow tall plants like dill, fennel, peas, corn and beans in the back of beds or in the centers of containers. Consider shapes, too. Globe artichokes, garlic and sunflowers have showy tops.
Hydrangea tree
I bought a great little tree at Valley Gardens to put into my raised planter on the back patio. It's a hydrangea pruned into a tree form, a Paniculata hydrangea that will grow and bloom in a wide variety of climates (hardy to Zone 3!). Unlike mopheads, they need several hours of sun to do well. If your weather is too cold to grow the pink and blue hydrangeas or if your landscape doesn't have much shade, consider growing one of the many types of paniculata.
These little beauties can be pruned at any time except when they begin forming bloom heads in the summer. The paniculata is the only hydrangea that can be pruned into a tree form.
The panicle-shaped blooms (cone-shaped instead of ball-shaped) are lovely, and the tree can grow up to 10 feet tall if allowed.
One of the most popular is 'Limelight,' which can be grown in most of the United States, except those areas that receive no freezing weather.
Reach Sara Busse at sara.bu...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1249.
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