Coming up: more cardoon, better record-keeping
I’m not a big fan of unrealistic New Year’s resolutions such as “keep my papers organized and desk tidy,” for example. But I do like to spend some time each January reflecting on the gardens of the past year and making decisions about what I will do in the coming months.
Let’s start in the vegetable garden. In 2024 I planted about 24 kale plants of all colors. In 2025, I shall be more moderate. Yes, kale is healthy for us and freezes well, but I was lax in picking and freezing it in the fall, and wasted some. Shame on me. I use it mainly in stews and soups, or frozen in smoothies.
A new salad green I loved and which, unlike lettuce, never bolted or bloomed, is sold as dandelion. No, it’s not the dandelion we have in the lawn. It’s an Italian “dandelion” that is actually a different species. It is sold fresh in our Coop, I tried it and liked it, so I started some from seed indoors last March, a variety I think is called ‘Clio’ from Johnny‘s Selected Seeds. The leaves get to be 12 to 16 inches long, and they will regrow if cut, so I harvested it all summer and well into the fall and it never blossomed. I shall plant six plants again this year. FYI: It tolerates some shade.
Also on the vegetable front, I grew cardoon this year and will do it again. It is a very large leafy plant in the artichoke family. It does not bloom like artichokes, but you eat the midribs of the 3-foot-long leaves in fall. I chopped the midribs, boiled till tender, and baked in a cheese sauce. They tasted just like artichokes but created a lot more food.
This past summer was sunny and, for the most part, dry. We had a great tomato crop, and our flowers performed well too. I did have to water new plantings, as we got little rain.
We are out of sunny spots to add shrubs, so in 2024 we dug out a patch of goutweed — my nemesis — and planted nine shrubs and a Japanese red maple in an area of part shade, part sun. I was careful to water daily for two weeks, and then twice a week for the rest of the summer. The shrubs included two native viburnums and two mountain laurels, and three native hydrangeas, including a great variety for shade called ‘Haas Halo’ (H. arborescens). All did well.
The viburnums are Zone 5 and I have mostly considered our location a Zone 4 (with temperatures most winters colder than minus 20). But in recent years we have not seen lows of even minus 20 degrees, so I am willing to try some Zone 5 plants. Elsewhere I planted a kousa dogwood, a Zone 5 plant that I have tried and lost to winterkill more than once. The Stewartia tree I planted three or four years ago is also Zone 5 but is doing nicely. I’ll be 79 in April, and by gum, I’m ready to take some chances.
What else worked this past year? Opening our gardens to visitors. We worked hard in the spring to rid ourselves of weeds, sharpen edges of beds, and fill in empty spots. We opened our gardens on select days to various groups and invited friends for a glass of wine and a walk around with us in the early evening. No, our gardens were not perfect — none ever is — but these events were a great time. Try it!
I’ve had three honeyberry plants for three or four years now but have not gotten any berries as yet. The bushes (Lonicera caerulea) are in the honeysuckle family and the blue berries are very tasty, I’ve been given some. But so far I have not been able to pick my own. They have not earned their place. I shall tell them this spring to produce berries or they will be gone. I’ve been told that birds love them and will pick them before they are fully sweet and ready for me to eat. The berries turn blue, but are not ripe for a while after that.
The Catalpa tree I planted six years ago as an 8-foot-tall tree is now 35 feet tall and provides shade for us to sit and relax. It is a great tree, blossoming in July. I prune the top each year now to keep it from reaching its 60-foot-tall potential. It is a bit weak wooded, so I want to keep it from getting too big. The shade it provides encourages me to sit and relax in the garden, something I want to do more often in 2025.
I am saying a sad farewell to my Merrill magnolia that I planted in 2004. It bloomed reliably each year on my birthday in late April with huge double white blossoms. The shiny green leaves were gorgeous all summer, and the buds in winter look like pussywillows on steroids. It has five stems and stands about 60 feet tall and nearly 40 feet across at the crown. But it seems to have died last summer and unless it miraculously recovers in the spring I shall have it cut down. Sigh.
OK, time for one last resolution: I will keep better records in 2025. I just haven’t found the right way to keep them. I start a yearly notebook, and record some plants. But not all. I’m often too busy working in the garden and plan to do it later. My camera is a good way to record things and I take photos of everything that blooms. But I have literally tens of thousands of photos, and most are largely just organized by date. This year I will do better. Happy gardening, and best wishes for 2025.
Henry’s column appears monthly. Reach him at [email protected] or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.
Featured photo: Cardoon has silver leaves and is easy to grow. Start from seed indoors early. Photo by Henry Homeyer.
