Have you ever heard of sea cabbage, a wild cousin of the domesticated brassicas? Did you know that edible bananas are a primitive plant thought to be related to some of the first trees of the primeval forest? I didn’t either until this weekend when I was finishing up an article on unusual vegetables and …
A sad mess of dessicated branches soon to meet the compost bin is all that remains of my beloved ‘Chinese Ornamental’ hot pepper plant. I had grown fond of this little hot pepper plant and was sad to let it go. I started the plant from seed two years and lovingly nurtured it through the …
About a month ago, my friend Barry gave me a small pup-filled pot identified as Agave chrysantha; however, online searches have not brought up any descriptions that match the rust-coloured spines that my little plants feature. I’ve also checked my trusty identification book, Succulents: The Illustrated Dictionary with no luck. The trouble is that many …
Until very recently, pawpaws have been one of those mythical fruits that I’ve known about for ages, but have never seen in person. Until just a few years ago I was under the mistaken impression that they are native to the Southeastern United States, but not available here. Chalk it up to geographical ignorance; I …
I bought this plant, black horehound (Ballota nigra) ‘Archer’s Variegated’, about a month ago and just recently planted it in the ground (still in the pot) at my community plot where it will live through the winter until I can figure out what in the heck to do with it when the ground thaws this …
I made my first visit to the Montreal Botanical Gardens about nine years ago. It was early August and the lotus flowers in both the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden were in bloom. Two close friends had died the year before, just days after my birthday. We went to Montreal to get as far …
This isn’t all of it, just some of the stranger items. Interestingly enough, the year I decide to give up on the garden is the year Operation Garden Terrorism seems to have come to a halt. Or maybe I just didn’t notice the damage because the garden looked so haggard! Past Interesting Items Found: Mystery …
