Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
30th March 2019
Ex-seed-ingly Unusual
I have had some lovely feedback from readers recently, with the main questions being suggestions for new and different things to grow, and ideas for presents for keen gardeners who have ‘everything’. Of course, the former can cover the latter quite nicely.
I spent a lot of my birthday money at Real Seeds recently and got some lovely different leaves – ones that can be used for salad or cooked which makes them great value for money. A lot of them also add colour and interest to the beds, making them even better value for money.
‘Magentaspreen’ Giant Goosefoot is a very attractive and easily grown plant, used both for salads and cooked greens. It has bright green leaves, which are dusted with a sparkly magenta colour when young. It is very pretty in salads, or you can use it as a cooked green and it’s easy to grow.
Magenta Magic Orach grows quickly early in the year, supplying tender heart-shaped leaves, which are ideal in a salad or delicious cooked. This variety has deep purple leaves that look great in the garden and on the table. You sow the disc-like seed from May onwards, for harvest over the summer. The plants grow to 1m tall and are pretty.
I also bought Sunflower ‘Sunzilla’ which has VERY BIG HEADS. I love that they put that description in capital letters on their website! This new variety of sunflower grows to about 10ft tall and has been chosen for it’s absurdly large heads that can reach 18 to 24 inches in diameter. It has been bred for a thicker stem so there is less risk of it collapsing under the weight of the massive flowers and in fact the whole plant is ‘supersized’ with the leaves being enormous as well. It will need staking!
And from staking to baking, the Sokol breadseed poppy is a lovely plant. Breadseed poppies are unique in that the heads do not ‘open’ when the seed is ripe, so the seed doesn’t shake out in the wind allowing you to collect it for cooking, topping breads or pasta. These beautiful poppies are 3ft tall, pale pink with pretty darker patches on their petals. Easily-grown, giving a lot of seed from a small space, this is the rare white-seeded type with a superior flavour. For these and much more look at www.realseeds.co.uk.
Johnsons Seeds also offer a few unusual and novelty options. Kalette is a cross between Brussels sprouts and kale, and looks like mini cabbages with more delicate leaves. They have a sweet, nutty taste and can be eaten raw, fried, roasted or grilled and are good in pasta, stir fries and salads. Sow in March or April for harvesting in autumn.
For little green fingers, try Snake Gourds, which as the name suggests has fruits that look like snakes. When the fruits are dried you can paint them with faces and spots, stars, stripes or whatever you like to make them even more snake-like. (see pic)
I am not a big fan of the Cucamelons that have been around for a while now but I love the Cucumber ‘Crystal Apple’ which can actually be eaten like an apple. It’s sweet and delicious and the first one I was given to try last year, didn’t make it off the allotment! The outdoor cucumber crops prolifically if the large golf ball sized fruits are picked regularly. It’s best grown against a support, or it can be left to trail on the ground if preferred.
Strawberry spinach is fabulous value for money as you can eat the leaves like spinach, the roots like radishes and as the name suggests, the little red strawberry-like fruits all the way along its stems, are delicious. It’s easy to grow too.
The little round fruits of the Melon pear are cream skinned with purple streaks and have deliciously sweet and juicy flesh which is a succulent mixture of honeydew melon and cucumber. It is grown in a manner similar to its relatives such as the tomato, although it grows naturally upright by habit, and can thus be grown as a free-standing bush. It has a fast growth rate, bearing fruit within 4 to 6 months after planting,
The Wonderberry is a superb newcomer, resembling the garden huckleberry, but with a far superior taste, (it shouldn’t be eaten green). Quick and easy to grow in a container, garden or green house, it produces thousands of small, unusual-flavoured, sweet blackcurrant-like fruits which can be eaten straight from the plant, or cooked to make a very good jam/jelly/preserve. Young plants can fruit in as little as 10 weeks. Bizarrely, the leaves of this plant are narcotic and are sometimes smoked as a cannabis legal drug substitute but obviously this practise is NOT recommended.
And you may think you are on drugs when you see the Indigo Rose tomato. This astonishing, rare and new, seemingly blight and disease-free, blackest ever tomato also boasts stunning ornamental darker leaves and stems. The heavy-cropping trusses of fruity-flavoured, unbelievably jet-black, large-plum-sized fruits, which finally ripen late in summer to a deepest purple, resemble plums when sliced, with their deep red flesh. It is the first tomato variety in the world that has anthocyanins actually in its fruit, and importantly, no genetic engineering techniques were used to develop this plant. Anthocyanins, are antioxidants, and the same black pigment as in blueberries, and are believed to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Some evidence even suggests they protect our brain as we age. Now that must be worth trying! www.plant-world-seeds.com for more details.
What’s in a Name?
I found a lovely rose a few years ago called Carol Anne which was a perfect present for my mum, and with Mother’s Day fast approaching, I think a rose is a lovely present that will keep on giving pleasure long after cut flowers have wilted and chocolates have been eaten.
Country Garden Roses offer roses called My Lovely Mum, Mum in a Million and Special Mum, and also have a large selection of personalised named roses available, with over 200 names to choose from, ranging from Amelia to Yvonne and Charlotte to Victoria. Some of the more common names include Sarah, Susie, Gemma, Lizzy and Lara, and Clematis choices include Elizabeth, Natasha, Vera and Rebecca.
There are also fella’s names too, for birthdays or other celebrations. Choose from Jack’s Wish, Paul’s Himalayan Musk and Stuart, to name a few.
Or what about a sentiment if not a name? Choose from Anniversary Wishes, Absent Friends, Best Teacher Ever, Bride and Groom, Congratulations, Crazy for You, Life Begins at 40, My Lovely Dad, One in a Million, One Love, Special Granddad and Special Grandma, Thank You, Top Marks, You’re Beautiful and probably a little more risqué, Moody Blue and Carrot Top!
More details and choices at www.countrygardenroses.co.uk.
And don’t forget other plants with people’s names too. Black-eyed Susan, Sweet William and Creeping Jenny, for example. And there is an apple tree called Katy, a berberis called Maria, a Hebe ‘Majorie’, Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane’, Magnolia Susan, Lythrum ‘Robert’ and a Hellebores ‘Penny’s Pink’.
Lots to choose from for every occasion including Mother’s Day. And of course, if you have your own column in the paper, you also get to say, “Happy Mother’s Day, Mum.”
These are fabulous suggestions Lynne, and really got me excited about planting some new things. Thanks for generously sharing the wonderful ideas you have.