MY 2014 GARDEN PROJECTS – THE MID-SEASON CHECK-IN AND REVIEW

Many folks asked me about how my ‘special projects’ were progressing, at the Sakonnet Symposium this past weekend – so here is an update.

After such a hectic week (Work, three days at Comicon in San Diego, and then my presentation at the Sakonnet Symposium in Rhode Island) I am so happy to have a quiet day back in the garden. Well, maybe not THAT quiet, as we have already had three thunderstorms today, and the dogs are being incredible barky ( Lydia and Daphne are in ‘season’, and the two boys are well….being boys). Let me just say that the garden is a nice escape – even in the dense humidity, hail and tropical downpours.

My Dahlia cut-flower project is progressing, as this seems to be the perfect year for Dahlias. Lots of rain here in New England. This beauty is a 4″ ball type named ‘ Crichton Honey’, a popular flower with many flower farms.

Before you write me and ask how my projects are progressing ( yeah, a couple of you have! And you know who your are – Glen)  I am making some progress on most of my 2014 ‘special projects’.

For those of you who are new to my blog, these projects are a self-inflicted duty I assign myself every year. In mid-winter, it seems like I might be getting lazy, so instead of making to-do lists, I like to challenge myself with a few, intensely focused special projects – they might be an analysis of a certain genus, – a trial perhaps, where I collect and grow as many species, or named selections that I can, – let’s say all English Sweet Peas, French melons, Belgian Endive, or Shirley Poppy varieties. It’s a great way for me to stay fresh and, well, growing with plants.

This year, I took on a few too many projects which is typical ‘Matt behavior’, I didn’t want to disappoint you. so naturally, a couple fell off of the list – mainly, the Hollyhock trial and my new alpine scree garden ( although, I may still plant one in the fall – but I am thinking of something more elaborate if I can get it completed – a new raised-bed alpine house for Saxifrages).

The only other project not yet started is pickling, and Kimchi – but that will be starting soon. It’s just too early in the season.  Here is my mid-season check-in ( just in case you think I am slacking off, of becoming lazy!).

‘Cornel’, a nice red cut flower dahlia with long stems for vases, and a tight flower. It too is popular with flower farms and farm stands looking for nice cut-flower dahlias. CUT FLOWER DAHLIA TRIALS Inspired by Floret Farm ( don’t you love their site? Oh my gosh – it is just about perfect!), I decided in February to order as many Dahlia varieties that I could that match the cut flower varieties that Floret Farm grows. Of course, they are in Washington State, and I am in Massachusetts, so varieties will grow differently, still, my early results look promising. I think that I really like these smaller flowered, mid sized Dahlias with longer stems (I never really looked at the Swan Island Dahlia’s catalog so closely before, yet they clearly identify which Dahlias have the longest stems, and which ones are best for flower farms. Stay tuned, but I really like where my dahlias are going this summer.

Yes, I am actually using the greenhouse for something you can eat! My melon project was so successful a few years back, that this year I thought that I might try either cucumbers or tomatoes. Greenhouse tomato varieties are different than garden varieties, but I chose one that can be grown under glass or outside – Sakura F1, and organic variety that produces long trusses of large cherry-type fruit. I had visions of early tomatoes – maybe even by June. They variety I chose is from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and it produces trusses of tomatoes – I figured, might as well go all fancy. I planted them in one of my aluminum bulb plunge beds, which are near the front of the greenhouse, and usually filled with sand for the summer, where the winter-blooming bulbs rest, but with a bag of Pro-Mix mixed in, I think the soil ended up being just about perfect for greenhouse tomatoes.

Sakura F1, an organic greenhouse cherry tomato from Johnny’s Selected Seeds is producing lots of trusses in the greenhouse this summer.

I started my tomatoes a little late – I mean, if you consider April 20 late. Basically, it’s when I start my outdoor tomatoes, so I sort-of knew that I would not get super-early tomatoes, but I did hold some hopes that I would have tomatoes by the Fourth of July. I could have picked my first red-ripe tomato in late June, but since I planted these truss varieties, I didn’t want to ruin the beauty of the truss, so I had to wait much longer for the entire truss to ripen. All seemed to be going fine, until I returned home from a business trip last week and Joe, who thought that he was helping me, picked a bowl of tomatoes, which came from each of the trusses, leaving about half of the trusses still intact. I only freaked out a little, as it was nice to have some early tomatoes, and when I went outside to look, he had still left some trusses intact. All for you, my friends — you deserved to have full-tomato trusses —  all ripe and red – so here they are! Now, I can go pick the rest. I predict that my garden tomatoes outside, need at least two more weeks to start coming in.

Commonly known as ‘Nipple Fruit’ or ‘Titty Fruit’ (really), Solanum mammosum is actually an eggplant.

My Tuberose crop is growing, ( and yeah, so is the crab grass), but I am not all that confidant that they will make it once again. Tuberoses have been challenging, but I blame it on poor stock.  Sourcing blooming-sized roots was difficult again, and I didn’t get them into the garden until early June. I could only find small clumps via mail order. They are a late flower, so I still have nearly two months before they should form spikes, so I sit ….and wait….and weed, with crossed fingers.

The first installation of my Lithops collection. The genus just seemed like the perfect one for me to exercise my need for a collection of like-plants where one can observe and appreciate all of the differences. Tiny, collectable, with a few hundred species available – they are perfect. Let’s first see if they germinate, as I should have sown them in the spring.

Oca!  It seems like everyone is grow this Andean tuber this summer, as I have seen it in at least three gardens. Again, a little late in planting it, I did start it early in the greenhouse, but I had to wait until I had more space – what was I thinking? Clearly I need more land!

My Oca or Oxalis tuberosa planting is growing nicely. It too will be a late crop, but if frost holds off until mid October, I may be OK. The tubers were planted in a new section of the garden, which used to be lawn, so the soil is rich but not overly enhanced, as it is still clay-like. I am guessing that this is what this Oxalis which is so trendy right now, will like. Flowers will be arriving soon, and I can’t wait for those, as you know that I already have a collection of tuberous oxalis -just not the edible ones. This ancient starchy tuber from the Andes will be a new vegetable on our table this winter.

Lima Beans were not on the list, but I added them, along with a collection of standard fuchsias. I’ve never grown Lima’s before, as they are a true, southern crop, but I started them early in the greenhouse, and they have quickly covered this bean structure, and are blooming. I am hopeful.

Aaron Bertelsen, the Vegetable Gardener from Great Dixter spoke with me this weekend along with Margaret Roach, at the Sakonnet Symposium, in lovely Little Compton, Rhode Island. The three of us were hosted by Mikel Folcarelli and John Gwynne who not only planned the annual event, but who hosted a special garden tour afterwards. I will share more about this year’s seminar and the Sakonnet Garden tour my next post, as this one is getting long already.

The driveway outside of John Gwynne’s and Mikel Folcarelli’s fantastic secret garden presents a humble facade, that doesnt’ even hint of what lies within the walled garden. Just wait until you see it. This is truly a Rhode Island gem.

The farm table lunch at this weekend’s Sakonnet Symposium ‘The art of Vegetable Gardening’. I was so surprised to meet so many blog followers, new and old, as well as some notable gardeners from the North East. Really, with a corn field to the left, a quaint New England church to the right, and the Atlantic Ocean all around us, this ‘Farm Coast’ event was something not to miss on a this mid-summer, July weekend.