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Growing Green: Tips for starting a vertical garden

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In doing research for some recent classes, I have become hooked on the idea of vertical gardening. As I explore this type of gardening further, I am blown away by all the innovative and exciting ideas I have found.

Gardening “up” has always made sense to me, and I have included all sorts of trellises and poles to support vines in my garden, but I have been limiting myself in my narrow definition of vertical.

Here are some exciting new ideas I have found that you might want to try in your garden this year.

Pockets: Many companies sell special garden “pockets” to assist in vertical gardening. Fill these pockets with soil, plant your seedling and hang on a vertical wall. But why not try shoe pockets? (You know, the kind that hangs over doors?)

Many of these are made of porous material and would work very well for all sorts of cascading plants. Try blue lobelia for cooler sites. Calibrachoa comes in many glorious colors for sunny sites, and many herbs and vines also have a trailing habit.

Planting trays are a great way to display your succulents. These trays have redwood sides, a waterproof bottom and a wire top. Fill the tray with a good quality soil and push your succulent cutting through the wire with a pencil.

Water them in and keep them horizontal for about a month to allow the roots to develop and the plants to stabilize. Once the plants are secure, hang your living picture on an exterior or interior wall.

For more information on this type of vertical gardening, check out succulent gardens at sgplants.com/. (Don’t miss their YouTube videos!)

Found objects make excellent vertical gardening containers. If you have some left over rain gutter, paint it, hang it and plant herbs. An old wooden pallet can be painted, hung on a wall, and pots filled with colorful annuals can hang from the slats with hooks.

How about old animal feeders, tires, planters? Stack them in an eye-pleasing display, and fill them with color and texture to brighten up an otherwise dull spot in your yard.

Vegetable gardens lend themselves to vertical growth as well. Trellis vining crops that otherwise would take up a lot of space in your garden. Pumpkins, squash and cucumbers can all be trained vertically.

For heavier fruits, provide nylon “hammocks” to support the weight. Plant tender greens and other cool loving crops in the shadow cast by these trellised veggies to protect them from the harsh afternoon sun.

For more information on vertical gardening, visit clark.wsu.edu/volunteer/mg/gm_tips/VerticalGardening.html.

Until next time, happy gardening!

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country, extension, gardening

More from around the web

Caesarstone unveils Nendo-designed Stone Garden installation

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Dubbed ‘Stone Garden’, the installation comprises 222 table-like elements made out of seven different pebble shaped quartz surfaces and nine different stone colours, each supported by a simple metal rod and secured by an overlapping design. The elements are clustered together to form a seemingly floating landscape.

According to Oki Sato, founder and chief designer of Nendo, “The installation also explores the boundary between ‘furniture’ and ‘non-furniture.’ Tables that aren’t quite tables form a cluster, creating a new kind of ground surface like a garden floating in the universe, far beyond the scale of individual tables. The unique variety and quality of natural colours and textures of the Caesarstone surfaces are perfect to be arranged in a composition like the stylized landscape of a Japanese rock garden.”

The simplicity of the design reflects the minimalistic approach of Nendo and the quality, functionality and creativity of Caesarstone. The installation showcases the versatility of Caesarstone’s surface designs that can complement any space like the different shapes, depths and directions of overlaps forming this installation.

Interior Design Show was held on 24-27 January 2013 at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Central Lounge.

Cistus Design’s Top Three Winter Flowers 2013

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Garden designer, lecturer and plantsman Sean Hogan is a busy man these days. Between designing gardens in far-flung places, plant collecting expeditions in foreign lands and speaking for trade and horticutural groups around the globe, it’s catch-as-catch-can to find him on his home turf anymore.

But there are few designers with more of a passion for winter-flowering plants. Sean’s home garden has always showcased winter-flowering plants, from the ever-present winter-blooming Correa on his front porch steps to the winter-blooming blood-red Camellia and flowering quince in his “blood and guts border”.

He hunts the globe for uncommon plants that can be grown in our region, equally interested in rare old cultivars and new wild collections that could prove cold-hardy for local conditions.

I asked him to list three of his current favorite, uncommon winter-blooming plants for Pacific Northwest gardeners.

Here are his three top picks – perfect for right here, right now.

Clematis cirrhosa ‘Wisley Cream’

Why grow this plant? “Well, for one, it’s a winter-flowering vine – that’s a good reason by itself! Clematis cirrhosa is a pretty vine with white, maroon-speckled flowers and smallish, glossy green, mostly evergreen leaves, but Wisley Cream (not pictured here) has especially lovely chartreuse to creamy yellow clusters of bells produced in early- to mid-winter, lasting until mid-spring or thereabouts.”

Care: It’s easy to grow, liking its top in sun for best flowering. Decent drainage is important – don’t even try it in swampy soil. The plant is from North Africa and the Mediterranean, so it’s accustomed to wet winters and dry summers – it’s better to neglect it than over-water in summer.

Tip: Clematis cirrhosa only reaches about 15′ tall so it’s perfect for small trellises or even for containers. Just try to keep the base of the plant (roots) in shade.

Camellia transnokoensis

Why grow this plant? “This is the un-camellia camellia! Not your big red blobby japonica camellia, C. transnokoensis had the delicate leaves of an evergreen huckleberry, forming an upright pyramid with horizontal sprays of foliage. Stems are gold in color, contrasting with new growth that’s tinted red. In early winter to mid-spring, depending on the year, it produces the prettiest clusters of white- to blushed pearl flowers that are very fragrant. It reaches 6-8′ tall and is about half that narrow.”

Care: It’s pretty straight-forward: half-sun is best (morning sun is ideal). It comes from southern China, where it receives some summer rain, so water occasionally in summer. Average soil is fine, as long as it drains okay.

Tip: There are a few plants that are very similar in appearance and are virtually indistinguishable so if you see C. transnokoensis, C. transarisanensis or C. lutchuensisfor sale somewhere, grab it! They are all great, notwithstanding the convoluted names.

Daphne bholua ‘Darjeeling’

Why grow this plant? “This is a classic “impress-your-relatives-from-Iowa” plant that should go right by your front door so everyone sees it! Daphne bholua is one of the most fragrant of all daphnes, the scent being a bit more custardy than pungent. It’s also one of the earliest to bloom, with the first petals sometimes unfurling as early as November. (This year, it’s only starting now.)”

Daphne bholua is mostly evergreen, except in the coldest of winters when it can shed leaves. The form Darjeeling (highly recommended by Sean) is a vigorous plant that holds on to its narrow, lanceolate leaves in winter better than some other forms. The plant has a narrow, upright form, reaching around 6-8′ tall and 2-3′ wide. Flowers are pale pink, aging to white.

Care: Like most daphnes, D. bholua likes good drainage, although, Sean says, its not the fussiest of the group. Half to full sun is best, resulting in the heavier flowers. Shade is okay but the plants offer sparser flowers. Some summer water is best, as it comes from summer rain areas of – not to put too fine a point on it – Nepal through Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Vietnam, into Sichuan and northwest Yunnan, China.

Tip: Plant Daphne bholua in a protected spot, such as near the base of a south- or west-facing wall and you’ll enjoy earlier flowers that are less likely to be damaged by frosty weather. That means more reliable bouquets all through the winter!

CTRMA seeks input on environmental concerns for Oak Hill Parkway project

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CTRMA seeks input on environmental concerns for Oak Hill Parkway project

January 29, 2013 //

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Steve Pustelnyk, director of communications for the CTRMA, talks with Oak Hill resident and Fix290 member Carol Cespedes at a previous CTRMA open house/workshop event to gather input from the public on the possible Oak Hill Parkway project for the ‘Y’ area.

by Bobbie Jean Sawyer

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) will continue seeking community input on the Oak Hill Parkway project—a potential redesign of the ‘Y’ in Oak Hill—during a Jan. 31 environmental workshop meeting at 6 p.m. at the ACC Pinnacle campus on the 10th floor.

The workshop will focus on environmental concerns over the potential project. Community members who have been active in environmental issues and have previously attended meetings on the project are encouraged to attend.

Steve Pustelnyk, director of communications for the CTRMA, said environmental concerns laid out in a series of upcoming workshops would help shape the Oak Hill Parkway project as it progresses.

“What we’re trying to do now is get a little bit more into the detail of the environmental issues and concerns in the Oak Hill area so that when we move forward with the environmental study we can make sure there are no surprises along the way,” Pustelnyk said. “We’re really trying to get with the folks who are very familiar and very interested in that part of the community to understand what things we should be looking out for and considering as we move through the developments of the alternatives for the process.”

Pustelnyk said he anticipates an attendance of about 20 to 30 community members.

The workshop will include brief presentations by environmental experts on topics such as water quality and vegetation in the Oak Hill area, followed by an opportunity for attendees to share their thoughts on local environmental matters, Pustelnyk said.

The first open house meeting on the Oak Hill Parkway project was held in November of last year, allowing attendees to interact with TxDOT and Mobility Authority staff, express concerns and provide feedback to be considered in future community meetings on the project.

Pustelnyk said next week’s environmental workshop is a continuation of the conversational approach.

“It’s going to be a very interactive process,” Pustelnyk said. “We’re still in a listening phase. So we’re going to provide basic information that we’ve already acquired from past work and current work related to the environment in that area and then we’re going to ask folks for their input regarding those issues.”

Pustelnyk said while Williamson Creek and heritage trees are major points of concern, there are several other factors that have to be considered throughout the environmental impact study process.

“There are cultural things such as cemeteries and schools; any sort of facilities could be negatively impacted by a major project. We take all of those into account,” Pustelnyk said. “It’s actually far more than just the obvious things like water quality and trees.”

Pustelnyk said ideas gathered from the workshop would be considered for use in possible community enhancement projects, such as concepts garnered from the 2011 Green Mobility Project, which included urban parkland and enhanced aesthetic and landscaping features in Oak Hill.

“Elements that come out of the environmental workshop that might be applicable to the project enhancement team could be brought to that group in the future. Everything we do in these work groups could lead to elements that might be considered a project enhancement,” Pustelnyk said.

Those interested in getting involved in the Oak Hill Parkway project and tracking its progress will have plenty of opportunities, Pustelnyk said.

“We’re going to have a series of these workshops on various issues for the next two to three months and then we anticipate having another broad open house, where we’ll probably start to roll out some of the early alternatives in the late spring or early summer,” Pustelnyk said. “So by mid-year, folks will have the opportunity to see what some of the preliminary ideas and alternatives are—to start looking at mobility improvements in the area.”

UT efficiency plan projects $490M savings

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The University of Texas could generate up to $490 million in savings and new revenue over the next decade under proposals to streamline business practices, including a possible increase in room and board for students, according to a university report released Tuesday.

Texas higher education officials are under pressure from state lawmakers to streamline efficiency and cut costs where they can, even as they press lawmakers to restore nearly $1 billion cut from higher education in the current state budget. The Legislature currently is drafting the 2014-2015 state budget.

The report unveiled by university President Bill Powers also said the school should be more aggressive in licensing research and technology.

Powers, who appointed the panel and endorsed its broad goals, said the university must still review specific ideas to see which ones it will adopt.

But Powers insisted the pursuit of better business practices should not necessarily impact the classroom. He said if Texas can save money it can spend more on its core missions of education and research, but the school won’t sacrifice teaching for economics.

“Universities, real universities, are not simply businesses,” Powers said. “Students aren’t simply customers … There is no interest in bringing a corporate mentality to strict business values to the classroom.

The report comes at a time Gov. Rick Perry and legislative leaders are pressuring universities to reign in tuition costs. In his State of the State speech, delivered about an hour after the school report was released, Perry renewed his call for universities to offer four-year tuition rates. Perry also wants 10 percent of university funding to be tied to graduation rates.

The report said housing, food and parking costs at the 50,000-student campus are below market, but did not say what the school should charge. According to the university, about 7,550 students have residence hall contracts which range from nearly $9,000 to about $15,600.

The report suggested Texas consider following Texas AM University’s lead in using a private contractor for some campus services. In 2012, Texas AM hired a private company to handle campus dining, landscaping and other services, a move Texas AM estimated would save about $260 million over 10 years.

Powers said Texas would be very cautious about moves that would raise costs on students, who have face.

“Housing and food rates are part of the cost for our students,” Powers said. “So we need to be careful.”

Keys to the mint garden

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I started working on my herb beds in the garden last week. Even though it’s too early for most herbs this is the time of year I can add another layer of mulch to the mint beds after digging out any damaged plants and weed interlopers.

The spearmint, peppermint, orange mint, double mint, apple mint and Mojito mint I grow are at their best from mid-March until early June as long as you take certain steps and understand that they can become invasive.

Mint likes moist but not too soggy soil, morning sun and mild temperatures. It bolts in June or July but you can extend the season if you plant it where it gets some protection from afternoon sun.

Light fertilizing is important, I use a diluted mix of sea kelp once in the early spring after the plants, which are cut back in August, have begun to re-emerge in the garden.

I don’t mind mint running, it makes the lawn smell good when it’s mowed, but if you do mind put a barrier around the bed sunk 6-8 inches into the ground. Mint is shallow rooted, it may flow over the top of your barrier but it doesn’t root very deep.

SINGED BROCCOLI

Ann in League City writes:

Some of my broccoli has brown spots on the crowns. What causes this?

Most likely it was our recent frost. I had some of the florets in my broccoli crowns turn brown after the frost we had a couple of weeks ago. If you want to be sure cut the top off and see if the interior of the stem is brown. I cut the damaged part out and steamed the crown, then added some fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice. It tasted just fine.

If you do cut the crown, leave plent of stalk and you make get a follow crop of side shoots.

PRUNING CLINIC

Join Fort Bend Master Gardeners and Texas Rose Rustlers for a Rose Pruning Clinic which will include when to prune roses, best pruning methods, how to insure your tools are disease free, and a hands-on pruning opportunity. Please bring your own hand pruners, loppers, and gloves. We will meet on Saturday, February 2 at 9:00 a.m. in front of the Bud O’Shieles Community Center, 1330 Band Road, Rosenberg, 77471.

TEXAS HOME AND GARDEN SHOW

The 27th Annual Texas Home Garden Show will be held in Reliant Park, One Reliant Park beginning on Friday, Feb. 8 through Sunday, Feb. 10, 2012.

Show times are Friday, 2-8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Among the scheduled gardening attractions are Organic Lawn Care, Landscaping Ideas, Ponds, Plants and Trees. For more information visit www.TexasHomeandGarden.com. THE TOPIC IS ORCHIDSLaurie and Shiela Scoy are the guest speakers at the Feb. 13 League City Garden Club meeting. The topic: Orchids. Social begins at 10 a.m. with the meeting to follow at 10:30 at Tuscan Lakes Village Clubhouse, 1610 Tuscan Village Drive, League City. For more information contact Kimberly Nitzschke, club president @ 281-332-9528 or lctxgardendiva@yahoo.comSPRING HOME GARDEN SHOWDiscover fresh, new ideas at 11th annual Spring Home Garden Show at The Woodlands Saturday and Sunday, March 2 3. The show will be held at the The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel Convention Center at 1601 Lake Robbins Drive.Jim Molony is a certified Brazoria County Master Gardener. Check out our gumbo soil page on facebook. Have a gardening question? Email jim@gumbosoil.com

Open house today on Arch grounds renovations

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ST. LOUIS • The National Park Service is hosting an open house today to explain the impact of proposed renovations to the Gateway Arch grounds.

The park service released its environmental assessment earlier this month. The 256-page report analyzes three possible scenarios for Arch grounds renovations, and assesses each for a variety of impacts — on historic buildings, archaeology and museum collections, vegetation, flood plains and local businesses.

The park service found no severe impacts in any of the scenarios. It selected the third, requiring the most extensive renovations, as its “preferred alternative.” That is also the alternative favored by the nonprofit organization spearheading the project.

The first option, deemed the “no-action alternative,” considered only the impact of landscaping the “Park Over the Highway” — a lid, already funded and planned, that bridges the depressed lanes of Interstate 70 and links downtown with the Arch.

The second alternative calls for building a large plaza at Luther Ely Smith Square, just west of I-70, regrading the Arch grounds, replanting vegetation, renovating the existing exhibit spaces inside the Arch museum and Old Courthouse, replacing the ash trees on the Arch grounds, and raising the riverfront’s Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard.

The final, “maximum change” option adds to the second. It would build out Luther Ely Smith Square with benches and gathering space, dig a new western plaza and entrance to the Arch museum, expand the museum, demolish the north parking garage, close the adjoining stretch of Washington Avenue, and replace the garage and street with trees, gardens, an elevated walk and pathways into Laclede’s Landing.

The renovations, the report says, would connect “the park with the city and the river,” and have “long-term beneficial economic impacts.”

Ann Honious, chief of Arch museum services for the National Park Service, noted that the park service has not issued its final decision. Public review of the process ends March 1.

“We don’t plan in a bubble,” Honious said. “We want public input into the process.” Honious also said, however, that the park service process has so far supported the project championed by CityArchRiver, the nonprofit group that is fundraising and spearheading the renovation’s design.

The CityArchRiver design calls for $380 million to complete the third alternative. Of that, about $90 million could come from a sales tax measure up for a vote April 2 in St. Louis and St. Louis County. St. Charles leaders have declined to put the tax on the ballot.

Federal, state and local governments will pay an additional $69 million. CityArchRiver aims on raising $221 million in private funding.

Maggie Hales, executive director of CityArchRiver, said she expects the park service to give her organization the green light.

“This is an important process,” Hales said. “We don’t expect any big surprises.”

The open house is from 4-7 p.m. today at the Old Courthouse, next to the Arch, at 11 North Fourth Street.

Arlington Board OKs Improvements to Parks Across County

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The Arlington County Board this weekend approved spending nearly $817,000 for large- and small-scale improvements at nine different parks.

The biggest project by far is rebuilding the playground Tuckahoe Park, 2400 N. Sycamore St., and making the park more accessible to people with disabilities.

The board approved a $733,000-plus contract with King George-based Jeffery Stack Inc. to install new playground equipment, create a more accessible entrance, improve paths, and install synthetic turf and rain gardens.

Elected officials, too, gave final approval to eight resident-driven projects to parks across the county.

They include:

Removing invasive plants and restoring the forest with native plants and trees at Hillside Park, 1601 N. Pierce St. ($11,354)
Building a garden and providing tools for teen gardening and other programming at Lubber Run Park at North Columbus and North 2nd streets. ($5,500)
Constructing a small deck to protect the root system of a pin oak at Fort Barnard Park, plus caring for the tree to enhance its growth. The park, at 2101 S. Pollard St., also will get three new shade trees, a higher fence and a berm. ($15,000)
Adding four new benches and a wood chip path to an existing garden at Thomas Jefferson Middle School on South Old Glebe Road. Funding also will pay for a garden design plan by EarlySpace LLC. ($13,718)
Installing five new benches and an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant picnic table and grill at Fraser Park on 28th Street South. ($10,400)
Improving the volleyball court at Alcova Heights Park, 901 S. George Mason Drive. The improvements include buying a new net and poles, plus landscaping and a 20-foot split-rail fence. ($5,523)
Adding four benches to a large traffic island on John Marshall Drive in the Williamsburg neighborhood. The island will also be treated for invasive plants and see its turf improved. ($9,290)
Building a new concrete pedestrian and bicycle path through Woodlawn Park to connect 15th Street North, which currently dead ends on both sides of the park. ($12,592)

The smaller projects will be paid for with Park Enhancement Grants, for which residents can apply through the county’s 13-member Parks and Recreation Commission.

“Parks are vital to the health and well-being of our children and our community,” Arlington County Board Chairman Walter Tejada said in a statement. “…Thousands of diverse Arlington kids will continue to have a great time in our parks.”

Great Big Home and Garden Show arriving with inspiration, education

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PREVIEW

The Great Big Home and Garden Show

When: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, Feb. 8; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9; and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10.

Where: International Exposition Center, 6200 Riverside Drive, Cleveland.

Tickets:$14, at box office; $11, online, at Home Depot and AAA locations; $10, seniors 65 and older with identifi´cation (Monday-Thursday only, tickets must be purchased at box office); $5, children ages 6-12; free, children 5 and younger.

Parking: $8.

More information: greatbighomeandgarden.com, 216-676-6000.

Here are schedule highlights for the Great Big Home and Garden Show.

Saturday, Feb. 2

Show hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

11 a.m.: Professional organizer Peter Walsh (repeats at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2).

1:30 p.m. Angelo Petitti’s plant picks for 2013.

2 p.m.: Architectural Justice Project Runway Fashion Show, with designs by Virginia Marti College of Art and Design.

7 p.m.: Kitchen design tips with John Hall (repeats at 6 p.m. Mondaynoon Wednesday; 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7 and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10).

Sunday, Feb. 3

Show hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Noon: Make your home energy efficient with Home Depot. (repeats at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7).

11:30 a.m.: Landscape maintenance with Steve Rak.

3:30 p.m.: Native plants with Cleveland Museum of Natural History (repeats 2:30 p.m. Wednesday; 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6; and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10.

4 p.m.: Great weekend projects with Matt Fox (repeats at 5 p.m. Tuesday).

Monday, Feb. 4

Show hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

1 p.m.: Accent with a pop of color with Sherwin Williams (repeats at 1 p.m. Wednesday, and 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8).

2 p.m.: Top turf tips for great grass with Petitti Garden Centers.

3:30 p.m.: Native plants (repeats 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10).

4 p.m.: Decorating ideas from DesAnn Collins.

Tuesday, Feb. 5

Show hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

1 p.m.: Installing a vanity and faucet with The Home Depot.

2:30 p.m.: Simple seed starting with Petitti Garden Centers (repeats at 4 p.m. Wednesday).

4 p.m.: Great garden solutions for what’s bugging you (repeats at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8).

7 p.m.: Going green in your backyard with Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District.

Wednesday, Feb. 6

Show hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

12:30 p.m.: Reducing runoff with a rain garden (repeats at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8).

2 p.m.: Tiling a kitchen backsplash with Home Depot (repeats at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8).

4 p.m.: Designing outdoor living spaces (repeats at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9).

7 p.m.: Refinish without stripping or sanding (repeats 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8).

Thursday, Feb. 7

Show hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

12:30 p.m.: Deer- and critter-proof your garden (repeats 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8).

3 p.m.: Installing vanity and faucet with Home Depot.

5 p.m.: Decorating ideas from DesAnn Collins.

Friday, Feb. 8

Show hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

12:30 p.m.: Organic solutions for the garden.

4 p.m.: Design ideas to pull the inside out (repeats noon Feb. 10).

Saturday, Feb. 9

Show hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

12:30 p.m.: New garden trends with A.J. Petitti.

4:30 p.m.: Harvesting and using herbs in the home.

5 p.m.: Q10-4 Legged Fashion Show.

7 p.m.: Kitchen trends 2013.

Sunday, Feb. 10

Show hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

1 p.m.: Hottest new plants for 2013.

2:30 p.m.: Roses 101.

Impatient? Tips for a quicker vegetable harvest – Bryan

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Vegetable gardening is an exercise in patience. Sweet potatoes can take more than 100 days to ripen; some tomato and watermelon varieties require five months.

But there are ways to shorten the wait.

The easiest is choosing plants that taste best when harvested young.

“The one thing you will miss out on with speedy growing is bulk, but what you will get in return is layers of flavor; a sprinkle of hot and peppery micro-green radish here, a sweet and nutty, barely cooked new potato there, a garnish of cucumber-y borage flowers to finish a dish,” writes Mark Diacono in the new “The Speedy Vegetable Garden” (Timber Press). “These are the crops that will mark out your cooking as distinctly and unquestionably homegrown.”

Timing is everything.

“Be slow to harvest and you’ll miss their best moments,” says Diacono, who does his gardening on a 17-acre plot in Devon, England. “These are fresh, lively and zingy flavors, flavors that can either fade or become bitter and overly strong as the plant grows on toward maturity.”

Many plants — notably fruits — are genetically wired for late development.

“Tomatoes, strawberries and apples all want to be left on the plant until they are fully ripe to get the fullest, lushest flavors out of them,” Diacono says. “Vegetables are a little different. Many get woodier, less succulent and lower in sweetness as they grow more mature, so really are at their loveliest picked young.”

That would include new potatoes, radishes, baby carrots, zucchini, miniature cucumbers, spring peas, turnips and beets.

Cut-and-come-again salad leaves can be clipped in as little as 21 days. Sprouted seeds (mung beans, mustard, lentils) can become table fare in just three days.

Check the maturity dates on seed packets as you shop. Heirloom tomatoes take 100 days or more to develop while cherry tomatoes need only about 65 days.

The same goes for squash. Winter squash (acorn, butternut) generally require 110 days before they are kitchen-ready. Summer squash (crookneck, zucchini), by comparison, can be eaten in 55 days or less.

There are many ways to jumpstart the growing season so you can be harvesting a meal while other gardeners are just beginning to turn the ground. Among them:

— Choose the warmest site possible if you’re planting early. “Even a small change in temperature can make a difference during spring and fall frosts,” says Jo Ann Robbins, an extension educator with the University of Idaho.

— Use enclosures. Covering plants moderates temperature, wind and humidity. “Air and soil temperatures are warmer, and the cover will conserve heat radiation from the soil during the night,” Robbins says in a fact sheet.

— Start vegetable plants inside from seed, and transplant them eventually into the garden. “Research shows the older the transplants, the better they will resist cold weather,” Robbins says.

— Warm the soil early. “Throw a piece of black or clear polyethylene over the soil in early spring, pin it down with tent pegs or bricks, and wait,” Diacono says. “The sun will warm it and excessive water will be kept off, leaving it in a fantastically workable state a few weeks later and conducive to quick plant growth.”

___

Online:

For more about plant maturity dates, see this North Dakota State University fact sheet:

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/hortcrop/h912.pdf.

You can contact Dean Fosdick at deanfosdick@netscape.net