June 29, 2019 - Issue #415

[ Read in browser ]

Grafting is the process of connecting two different plants so they grow as one. The advantages of grafting include combining attributes that don't naturally occur in a single plant, for instance flavorful fruit with dwarfing or disease-resistant roots. All grafts are composed of two parts: the detached part of one plant, called the scion, which becomes the flowering and fruiting top part of the plant; and the rooted and growing part of another plant, called the rootstock.

Squash vine borers are pests of crops east of the Rockies. The adult is a moth that lays its eggs on the stems near the base of the plant in late spring to early summer.

Here are the basics to growing asparagus.

You'll know these pretty plants are in the onion family from the mildly pungent odor of their leaves when cut, but they certainly won't bring tears to your eyes! The many species and cultivars of these easy-to-grow plants add color to the flower garden from spring through fall.

Saving seeds can be economical, since a single flower can generate dozens or even hundreds of seeds. Although the procedure is simple, there are a few techniques that will improve your chances of being a successful seed saver.

While gardeners love flowers for their beauty outdoors in the garden and indoors in a vase, few raise them to eat. That?s a shame because many flowers are edible and bring lively flavors, colors and textures to salads, soups, casseroles and other dishes. Eating flowers is not as exotic as it sounds. The use of flowers as food dates back to the Stone Age with archeological evidence that early man ate flowers such as roses. Of course flowers have been used to make teas for centuries, but flower buds and petals also have been used from China to Morocco to Ecuador in soups, pies and stir-fires. Rose flowers, dried day lily buds and chrysanthemum petals are a few of the flowers that our ancestors used in cooking. In fact, many of the flowers we grow today were originally chosen for the garden based upon their attributes of aroma and flavor, not their beauty.

Most of the energy the young plant needs is stored within the seed. In fact, there's enough food to nourish bean plants until the first true leaves appear without using any fertilizer at all.