The Arboretum

[sevenstars]

Is there a garden thread? Can I start a garden thread?

I was going to call it Horticultural Hi-Jinx, or Planties, Plantos, and Planteroos, but I went with this. Plant-lovers, what are you growing? observing? appreciating?

Personally, I have concentrated all my life goals into the single aspiration of raising and eating a ground cherry before I die.

 

[Kilana2]

I'm not exactly a plantlover - but @rhubarbodendron is - and Garak!

 

[sevenstars]

I'm not exactly a plantlover...

Perhaps I should have added "eating"

 

[Kilana2]

Real garden-tomatoes, not from the supermarket- I could kill for for them. But I'm not Elnor with a sword - which is good for the plants.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Here's a morning glory that was in my yard a couple of months ago:

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Real garden-tomatoes, not from the supermarket- I could kill for for them. But I'm not Elnor with a sword - which is good for the plants.

Did you ever grow heirloom tomatoes? They look nothing like the over-bred things you buy at the supermarket, because they don't last as long as the hybrid varieties. But they are supposed to taste incredible.



I have had some delicious hybrid beefsteaks from roadside stands, but those are fewer and farther between anymore.

 

[Nakita Akita]

Did you ever grow heirloom tomatoes? They look nothing like the over-bred things you buy at the supermarket, because they don't last as long as the hybrid variaties. But that are supposed to taste incredible.

View attachment 14290

I have had some delicious hybrid beefsteaks from roadside stands, but those are fewer and farther between anymore.

My BF grows various veggies in the summer.
All of the stuff tastes great. Store bought stuff for the most part is flavorless.
That's why veggie platters have to come with super garlic flavored dips for the vegetables.

We've been out in his garden before fighting over or sharing veggies pulled right off of the plants. Yummy.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

My BF grows various veggies in the summer.
All of the stuff tastes great. Store bought stuff for the most part is flavorless.
That's why veggie platters have to come with super garlic flavored dips for the vegetables.

We've been out in his garden before fighting over or sharing veggies pulled right off of the plants. Yummy.

Store bought stuff is the result of years of breeding to make the veggies last longer. Farm to warehouse to distributor to warehouse to store isn't a quick process.

Me auntie used to have a large garden. The best thing were the pickles she canned. Dills, bread & butter, sweet gherkins. Good stuff and good memories.

 

[Nakita Akita]

Store bought stuff is the result of years of breeding to make the veggies last longer. Farm to warehouse to distributor to warehouse to store isn't a quick process.

Me auntie used to have a large garden. The best thing were the pickles she canned. Dills, bread & butter, sweet gherkins. Good stuff and good memories.

My dad used to make pickles. Jalapeño pickles. Dill not sweet, hot, us kids devoured them like crazy. They were so good.

 

[sevenstars]

Here's a morning glory that was in my yard a couple of months ago:

That is gorgeous. I spent the last season growing morning glories; I love them and I figured I couldn't kill them. And I was right! They brought us a lot of joy.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

That is gorgeous. I spent the last season growing morning glories; I love them and I figured I couldn't kill them. And I was right! They brought us a lot of joy.

Unfortunately, I killed mine. I started some new ones though.

 

[sevenstars]

I feel morning glory spam coming on.



I wanted the beautiful purple ones too, but the ones I could find were called "Grandpa Ott." And I refuse to plant a beautiful flower in my garden called Grandpa Ott.




These were Heavenly Blue. My first ones. My father wouldn't allow me to plant morning glories as a kid, he was afraid they'd, I don't know, grow through the windows and kill us in our sleep? He thought they were too invasive. But since he would have been 100 a couple of days ago, I'm planting all I want.

They are kind of invasive

 

[sevenstars]

Real garden-tomatoes, not from the supermarket- I could kill for for them. But I'm not Elnor with a sword - which is good for the plants.

So true, that's why everyone grows them I guess-- even me, and I'm terrible at it. Now I stick to growing cherry tomatoes, but reap the bounty of others. And anyway, now..

Spoiler

they're not just a Godfather thing, they're a Star Trek thing.

My only problem is I can never really let them vine-ripen completely, because the birds always get them.

Did you ever grow heirloom tomatoes? They look nothing like the over-bred things you buy at the supermarket, because they don't last as long as the hybrid varieties. But they are supposed to taste incredible.

I spend time flipping through pages and pages in catalogs like Baker Creek, astonished by the huge variety and range of colors.

After I started to try to grow my own, because I couldn't get a decent domestic tomato any time of year at the store,
they suddenly started carrying heirlooms there. It's been five or six years I think. I rarely buy them, because they're quite expensive, but it's really nice to see them available; usually more local too.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

So true, that's why everyone grows them I guess-- even me, and I'm terrible at it. Now I stick to growing cherry tomatoes, but reap the bounty of others. And anyway, now..

Spoiler

they're not just a Godfather thing, they're a Star Trek thing.

My only problem is I can never really let them vine-ripen completely, because the birds always get them.



I spend time flipping through pages and pages in catalogs like Baker Creek, astonished by the huge variety and range of colors.

After I started to try to grow my own, because I couldn't get a decent domestic tomato any time of year at the store,
they suddenly started carrying heirlooms there. It's been five or six years I think. I rarely buy them, because they're quite expensive, but it's really nice to see them available; usually more local too.

Where? What store? I'm guessing not the U.S.

 

[sevenstars]

Where? What store? I'm guessing not the U.S.

Absolutely-- Raley's (CA and NV)-- this isn't even their upscale store, and certainly not an upscale town. I think they're more seasonal than the hothouse ones, but when they're in, they're a pretty interesting selection. Some quite weird!

 

[Nakita Akita]

I feel morning glory spam coming on.



I wanted the beautiful purple ones too, but the ones I could find were called "Grandpa Ott." And I refuse to plant a beautiful flower in my garden called Grandpa Ott.




These were Heavenly Blue. My first ones. My father wouldn't allow me to plant morning glories as a kid, he was afraid they'd, I don't know, grow through the windows and kill us in our sleep? He thought they were too invasive. But since he would have been 100 a couple of days ago, I'm planting all I want.

They are kind of invasive

Those are really pretty.
I wish they were invasive here!

 

[Nakita Akita]

Did you ever grow heirloom tomatoes? They look nothing like the over-bred things you buy at the supermarket, because they don't last as long as the hybrid varieties. But they are supposed to taste incredible.

View attachment 14290

I have had some delicious hybrid beefsteaks from roadside stands, but those are fewer and farther between anymore.

I don't think I could eat these.
A few years back my BF had zucchini squash, spaghetti squash and pumpkins in his garden.
The next year these sort of crossbreed squash pumkin things grew.
I made a pumpkin pie with something he kept telling me was just a pumkin, he knew because he planted ... Blah blah blah.
Ever try spaghetti squash/pumkin pie? It was horrible. ( plus it took me hours to make the disgusting thing)
If I was starving, I could have eaten the things, but you never knew what flavor each one would be.
One day we kept picking different ones up and cutting out pieces to taste. It was strange.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

those pumpkin cross breeds are dangerous. They produce certain poisons that were eliminated when breeding the genuine sorts. The same can happen with cucumber cross breeds and courgette cross breeds. Fortunately, the poisons taste bitter so there are only few severe cases every year but it's not unheard of.

I love heirloom tomatos Modern sorts are way too sweet imo. Have you tried Old German yet? It's a red/orange marbeled sort and very tasty. Another highly recommendable one is Czech Bush: it doesn't need to be bound up as it makes a sort of sturdy stem. Medium sized red fruit.
Silvery Fir Tree has lovely leaves (deeply slit, almost like carrot leaves) and yealds tons of fruit but it is a bit tricky to grow as it hates being transplanted. You best sew this sort in pots or high yoghurt beakers and from there plant it directly into the soil or bucket you intend to keep it in. It's an extremely early sort and last year I harvested my first fruit on Whitsun.

 

[think]

and, I just joined a local plant group on fb and well they are all really nice people and helped me to figure out about the watering of my jade what they said too was that my baby jade would survive they are really very tuff plants and such..-- so I might have a chance with not killing it too badly.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

those pumpkin cross breeds are dangerous. They produce certain poisons that were eliminated when breeding the genuine sorts. The same can happen with cucumber cross breeds and courgette cross breeds. Fortunately, the poisons taste bitter so there are only few severe cases every year but it's not unheard of.

I love heirloom tomatos Modern sorts are way too sweet imo. Have you tried Old German yet? It's a red/orange marbeled sort and very tasty. Another highly recommendable one is Czech Bush: it doesn't need to be bound up as it makes a sort of sturdy stem. Medium sized red fruit.
Silvery Fir Tree has lovely leaves (deeply slit, almost like carrot leaves) and yealds tons of fruit but it is a bit tricky to grow as it hates being transplanted. You best sew this sort in pots or high yoghurt beakers and from there plant it directly into the soil or bucket you intend to keep it in. It's an extremely early sort and last year I harvested my first fruit on Whitsun.

I've never personally seen a hybrid tomato, just heard about them and of course, googled them.

The occasional roadside fruit stand has a really good hybrid beefsteak tomato. Lots of "meat", less seed, extremely red. Dee-lish.