Must-Have Plants I'm Growing

 

"We have plowed, we have sowed,

We have reaped, we have mowed,

We have brought home every load,

Hip, hip, hip, harvest home."

Traditional English Harvest Verse

For the last few months, I've spoken with some of the nation's most well-known garden writers, bloggers and personalities about their must-have plants. So, you might just be wondering which plants I can't live without myself. That's why this blog post is dedicated to my 2010 harvest ... and some of my favorite plants.

As you can see above and below, my garden is a rather unruly mix of wildflowers, roses and perennials. The Shirley and California poppies self-seeded themselves from last year, and seem determined to take over my late-spring/early-summer garden.

As garden writer and designer Rebecca Sweet would say, there are a lot of "showgirls" in my garden. These are the plants that bloom outrageously and then disappear in winter. So, I'm working on adding more four-season interest to my new garden, including some lovely little boxwood shrubs which you can't see here because of all the showgirls. But I'll be glad to have their evergreen shapes in the winter months. You can hear more about showgirl plants from my Nest in Style podcast interview with Rebecca Sweet.

I'm a big fan of succession planting. So although my raised beds started out with lettuces and radishes of all types in early spring, they were replaced with squash and corn when the weather heated up.

Last year, I grew a bean teepee in this raised bed. This year, I'm growing 'Blue Jade' corn that was supposed to grow about three feet. They must like my growing conditions, because they are easily five feet tall now. I'm just starting to pull the blue-colored corn now. Incidentally, it's always good to plant corn in blocks (rather than rows) so they can self-pollinate themselves well.

Eggplants are a great way to grow attractive, delicious plants in small spaces. 'Rosa Bianca' eggplant is an Italian heirloom that will shine in any ornamental garden bed. But I like to grow them in containers too. The flowers are as pretty as the delicious fruit.

'Calliope' eggplant is a hybrid with striped fruit that are adorable. Harvest these eggplants when they reach about 2 to 3 inches in size. Great for northern climates, this eggplant ripens in about 65 days.

My 'Little Fingers' eggplant grew huge in a container, and never stopped producing tiny, black eggplants the size of chubby fingers. This early variety ripens in under 70 days. Incidentally, these containers with eggplants were filled with salad greens of all types in the spring.  Learn more about lettuces.

Grow lots of vegetables, and you can make strange faces with your food too. Starting at the top are 'Calliope' eggplants, 'Patterson Golden Scallop' squash, 'Lebanese White Bush Marrow' squash, 'Little Fingers' eggplants and 'Fairy Tale' eggplants. Incidentally, 'Fairy Tale' eggplants are also excellent in containers, and ripen quickly for northern gardens.

It wouldn't be summer without tomatoes of all types. That's why I grew varieties that ripened at different times. Pictured above (starting top left) are cute 'Yellow Perfect Sugar' (grown by a friend); 'Black Krim;' 'Green Zebra' (grown by a friend); 'Black Sea Man'; 'Isis candy' cherries; 'Tomacchio' and 'Principe Borghese' varieties for drying; as well as 'Stupice' which ripened easily a month before the others. Plus, some 'Osmin' purple basil. Tomato growing tips. Six tomatoes for cooking and preserving.

Beans are another favorite vegetable for us. And we especially love the ones that aren't green. Above are beautiful spotted 'Dragon's Tongue;' pinkish 'Red Swan Bush;' and yellow 'Pencil Pod Wax Bean.' Alongside the beans are flowering oregano stems that make the bees in my garden very happy. More about beans.

The weather is gradually growing colder, and there are only a few more weeks to enjoy these summer vegetables. But I'm already planting carrots, radishes and salad greens for the fall. There is nothing better than delicious food out in the garden, even in the colder months.

Meanwhile, what are some of your favorite must-have plants in the garden? Do you agree with these folks?

Must Haves (Flowergardengirl, Andrew Keyes, Pamela Price, Tee Riddle)

Must Haves (Rebecca Sweet, Jenny Peterson)

Must Haves (Kylee Baumle, Fern Richardson, Susan Cohan)
Must Haves (Joe Lamp'l, Patti Moreno, Theresa Loe of Growing a Greener World TV)
Must Haves (JeanAnn Van Krevelen, Lisa Gustavson, Michael Lieberman)
Fav Winter Plants (Kerry Michaels, Maine)
Fav Winter Plants (Dan Eskelson, No. Idaho)
Fav Winter Plants (Doug Green, Canada)
Fav Winter Plants (Helen Yoest, North Carolina)
Fav Winter Plants (Christina Salwitz, Western Washington)

Ten Tips for Trouble-Free Tomatoes

Want fewer troubles with your tomatoes? Consider these ten tips:

1. Choose the right location: Tomatoes need at least six hours of direct sunlight a day. Leave plenty of space between plants for good circulation; staking plants also helps.
2. Rotate crops: Many disease spores can live in the soil for years. Don't grow tomatoes or related plants like peppers and eggplants in the same spot year after year. If you can't rotate crops, plant tomatoes in large containers and change the soil annually. More on crop rotation and plant families.
3. Improve soil: Get tomatoes off to a good start by planting them in well-drained, weed-free soil that's enriched with organic matter like well-rotted compost.
4. Water correctly: Deep, slow watering encourages good root formation and is better than short, frequent irrigation. Use soaker hoses or drip irrigation systems to avoid wetting foliage, which can lead to fungal diseases. Water early so plants dry before evening. By keeping moisture levels consistent, you'll help prevent problems like blossom-end rot and leaf curl.
5. Mulch: Reduce weeds and maintain consistent moisture levels by spreading mulch around plants. Leave space around the stem. Mulching reduces the spread of early blight and other diseases by preventing spores from splashing onto plants.
6. Encourage beneficial insects: Praying mantises, predatory wasps, lady beetles and toads are natural predators that reduce tomato pests. Keep them happy by avoiding the use of pesticides in your garden.
7. Don't smoke around plants: If you smoke, wash your hands, clothing and tools carefully before working in the garden to avoid spreading tobacco mosaic virus. Remove and destroy infected plants to prevent disease from spreading to healthy plants.
8. Keep it clean: Remove garden debris, leaf litter and weeds to keep pests and pathogens away. To avoid spreading diseases, sterilize garden tools in a solution made from one part bleach to nine parts water.
9. Solarize soil: Want to control weeds, fungi and nematode diseases? Soil solarization kills weed seeds and diseases without chemicals. Cover wet garden soil with clear plastic sheets to trap the sun's heat. Solarization works best in areas with long, hot growing seasons, and requires at least four to six weeks.
10. Plant the right tomato: Hundreds of tomato varieties are available, so select the types that grow best in your area. Your local garden center or cooperative extension service will have recommendations. Look for healthy green leaves and stems when buying a plant. Avoid tomatoes with roots growing out of the containers' drain holes; they've been in containers too long. Check carefully for pests or diseased plant parts so you don't introduce these problems into your garden.

Tomato varieties marked with these codes have resistance to these diseases:
F - Fusarium wilt
FF - Fusarium Race 1 and Race 2
L - Septoria leaf spot
T- Tobacco mosaic virus
N - Nematodes
V- Verticillium wilt
A - Alternaria leaf spot

Heirloom tomatoes to try
Tomatoes for cooking and preserving

Portions of this article were published previously in Gardening How-To Magazine.