Plant Profiles Articles
Plant Spotlight: Ornamental Kale
Kale is both a great ornamental annual and a tasty, healthy vegetable. As part of the Cole family (along with cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts), Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Kale can be grown in the late fall or late spring. Now is a perfect time to …
Plant spotlight: Spinach!
He’s strong to the finich ’cause he eats his spinach, he’s Popeye the sailor man!
Nutritional benefits
Good Source of: vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2 (riboflavin), calcium, potassium, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), tryptophan, dietary fiber, copper, vitamin B1 (thiamin), protein, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin E, omega 3 fatty …
Beets! Pickle, Can, Roast, Make into Borscht
Beets are one of the most nutritious vegetables you can grow. They are also versatile, sweet, and an excellent spring or fall cool weather crop. Now is the time to start thinking about planting beets for the fall.
Swiss chard (a plant that we highlighted earlier this year) is a relative of the beet. However, you eat the leaves of Swiss chard, and the roots …
Plant spotlight: Blue Star
One of my favorite plants is the Blue Star, Amsonia taebernaemontana. This perennial wildflower is native to southeastern North America, but is as gorgeous, if not more so, than many cultivated garden plants. While there are many different species of Blue Star, the cultivar ‘Blue Ice’ is a new favorite among home …
Organic Corn Red Martian
Nothing tastes better than corn freshly picked from the garden! Have some fun in the vegetable garden this summer by growing your own corn. For something different on your table, try the “Red Martian” variety of organic red corn from Park Seed. Kids will especially love this tasty treat. Corn named after an alien. Sign me up! In addition to …
Spotlight on Swiss Chard
A lot of people are scared of Swiss chard. A member of the beet family, Swiss chard is kind of like the beet without the beet. You can put baby chard leaves in salads, but normally when you buy or pick chard, it is …
The Pincushion Flower: Butterfly Blue
One of our favorite perennial plants for the garden is Scabiosa columbaria “Butterfly Blue.” This delightful little plant blooms all summer long and is an important addition to the butterfly garden.
There are many different colors of pincushion flower. You can get plants that bloom white, pink, purple, blue and maroon. There are annual and perennial varieties of Scabiosa. …
