Garden Source

The Poppy Shirley Single Blend, ‘Papaver rhoeas’, has masses of tissue-paper like flowers and it is a very easy annual to grow in the garden. The Shirley Single Blend as 2 inch spectacular flowers that sway in the wind in even the slightest breeze. Flower colors include pink, white, red, and rose shades. Shirley Poppies bloom duriing the spring and summer. The Shirley Poppy does best in fertile well drained soils. They should be placed in full sun and kept evenly moist. Pinching off spent flowers significantly increases bloom period. Plant in early spring as soon as the ground can be worked or in the fall in mild climates. The Single Blend Poppy is a good cut flower.

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The Watercress, ‘Nasturtium officinale’, has a snappy, clean, peppery taste that will add crunch to you sandwiches, salads, omelets, or potato salads. You don’t have to have a free running stream or lake in your yard to grow watercress. Any moist, part-shady location will do. If you like the texture and flavor of alfalfa or bean sprouts with your food, you will love watercress. Watercress has a peppery, pungent flavor and odor with fleshy stems. Watercress can be grown in pots sitting in trays of water or grown inside during the winter. Plant 3 to 4 weeks before the last average frost date. Indoor stared plants can also be set outside at this time. Watercress is an aquatic plant so it must be kept moist at all times. It will do the best in areas with less than 1/2 day of sun. When plants are 4 to 6 inches tall, clip sprigs off the top 3 to 4 inches. The tips are the most tender part of the plant.

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The Basil Greek Spicy Globe, ‘Ocimum basilicum minimum’, is a basil lover’s treat. Its strong, spicy, basil flavor is a compliment to any tomato dish. The small, mounding plant is excellent for containers. Now anyone can grow basil, even if your garden is only in containers. This small-leaved, 12 inch in diameter, 6 inch tall mounded basil doesn’t give up anything to the other basils in flavor. It has a very strong basil taste and fragrance that makes a little go along way. Basil is used in so many foods, it is hard to mention them all. It is used in Italian foods and pesto and pasta sauces. Fresh Greek Spicy Globe Basil makes excellent vinegar, and tastes great fresh with fish, poultry, rice, mild vegetables, eggplant and many others. It is a wonderful edging plant in a flower or herb bed. Plant 1 to 2 weeks after the last average frost date. Place the Basil seeds in well drained soil with lots of organic matter.

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The American Persimmon tree, Diospyrus virginiana, is a native fruit tree with attractive edible fruit. Its dark-green leaves conceal small fragrant white flowers that are replaced by pale-orange fruits, which ripen after frost. While persimmon grows on many kinds of soils, it attains its greatest size on sandy, clay soil in bottoms. It is one of the first invaders of old fields with the seeds brought in by wild birds and animals. The leaf is rather leathery and dark green. Its average length is about 4 inches. Persimmon trees are well known for its delicious orange fruit and bark which resembles alligator hide. This deciduous tree provides fruit for birds and the buds and leaves are a source of food for deer, opossum, gray and fox squirrel, quail, raccoon, wild turkey, red and gray fox and coyote. It is very important as a wildlife food. Persimmon wood is hard and dense. It is used for golf club heads, handles for files and carving tools, billiard cues, shuttles and mallets. Plant a persimmon at the woodland’s edge or in an open field. The bright green leaves change to a bright golden yellow in the fall making this tree highly prized as an ornamental tree. Our Persimmon trees are unsexed. Approximately 90% of our Persimmons are females, so purchasing 10 or more should insure fruiting. In a good environment and with good care, fruiting will begin in year six and continues for fifty years or more.

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