Bloom-tastic!

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. First off, I would like to thank everyone who attended the garden tour on the 19^th. Getting the gardens ready for the tour was quite a challenge and it was wonderful to have all of you on site. I know that it was abnormally warm, and if you missed the tour I am still planning another one in October, when the temperatures hopefully will be cooler and you all get to see the progress made since the spring. It’s perhaps ironic now that we didn’t get any real rainfall since the tour, and the temperatures have broken 100 degrees several times in the last two weeks. While your lawn will survive this, I would recommend considering additional irrigation for your fruit-bearing trees and shrubs to ensure good productivity. Now, I did promise a photographic tour of the gardens for those who missed the spring tour but before we get to that (the next post), I’d like to dedicate this post to blooming plants in general.

 

Echinacea purpurea 'Cheyenne Spirit'

Alright, you know I remember this cultivar being way redder than it is, but the bright fuschia colored blooms are plenty welcome in my garden any day of the week.

Hypericum perforatum 'Hypearls' - Saint John's Wort

Most dont know that St John's Wort is a evergreen garden perennial with some of the most bright-yellow flowers on the block. This specimen was rescued from the woodland part of my gardens and has made an impressive recovery.

 

Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly Weed/ Pleurisy Root

 Butterfly weed is a herbaceous perennial that normally blooms in a showy shade of orange ans produces large quantities of nectar which the butterflies love.

 

Portulaca grandiflora - Happy Hour Peppermint Purselane

 What's not to love about a succulent garden flower that while being annual is utterly immune to heat and drought? Peppermint Happy hour and it's erratic broken flower colors liven up any planting imaginable and it may come back from seed too.

 

Hemerocallus fulva - Tawny Daylily

 Although it does vary in shades of orange from tuber to tuber, tawny daylily can take care of itself and needs very little gardener intervention. You normally see these plants used as part of plantings on the interstate, fortunately I had a colony of them on the property that I used to make this planting as seen.

 

Lilium hybrid - 'Serious Blacko' Lily

 Yes, I bought this lily because the name was so hilarious and I got to say 'serious blacko' in a funny action movie actor voice without it sounding racist. Just you wait until the 'Rio Negro' lilies bloom!

Monarda didymus 'Purification' - BeeBalm

This odd variety of beebalm is immune to most drought, seems not to get diseases and blooms light pink, the down side is that it's eating a sector of the garden.

Lantana camara - West Indian Lantana

This plant is a volunteer that just happened to volunteer in an area that badly needed color. You can see two differing species of butterfly lapping up it's nectar.

Opuntia cacanapa 'Ellisiana' - Spineless Prickly Pear

Ah, cactus flowers, you've got to love how something so unapproachable and rugged can produce such a pretty delicate flower and more so that the prickly pear flower in terms of physical anatomy is identical to those on the purselane, just way bigger. It's as if certain cactus and succulents said 'nah, we've got a good thing going, no weird flower stuff!'

Datura metel 'White Ballerina' - Angel's Trumpet

The white flower is stunning, but the dark blue-green foliage just makes it stand out even more. Datura as noted in my last post are evening/night bloomers so this big trumpet flower is there to bring in the moths. For note Datura is poisonous.

Oenothera biennis - Common Evening Primrose

This is one of the few times I've attempted a night time photograph but since evening primroses dont open until the mid-late evening this was necessary. This specific plant is about three and a half feet tall and has just started to bloom, a few flowers will bloom per day. It takes two years for a plant to get to this point as this specific species of primrose is a biennial. I should also note these plants have deep taproots and should not be transplanted in the second year as the shock may kill the plant. Common Evening Primrose will resow itself from seed though not necessarily in the same place as it's seed seems to travel.

With all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research & Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up the backbone of this blog. Also, as of the start of 2019, my booth can now process credit or debit cards thanks to the acquisition of s a Square reader so your payment options have doubled. With that said, if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic vegetables, herbs and fruiting shrubs come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.

Plants & Stuff Available Now:

Herbs:

Basil, Sweet: 3” - $3.00

Basil, Thai: 3” - $3.00

Etruscan Santolina: 3” - $4.00

Lavender, ‘Elegance Purple’: 3” - $3.00

Lavender, ‘Elegance Pink’: 3” - $3.00

Rue, Marbled: 3" - $4.00

Tansy, (Feverfew): 3" - $3.00

Tobacco, Night-Scented: 3” - $3.00

Tobacco, Lime Tree: 3” - $3.00

Flowers:

Balloon Flower, Astra Blue: 3” - $4.00

Balloon Flower, Astra Pink: 3” - $4.00

Balloon Flower, Astra White: 3” - $4.00

Datura, Black Currant Swirl: 3” - $4.00

Datura, White Ballerina: 3” - $4.00

Lily, Formosa: 3” - $4.00

Fruiting Shrubs:

Pomegranate, Dwarf: 6" – $8.00

Fruits & Vegetables:

Peppers, Tabasco: 3” - $3.00

Peppers, Thai Dragon: 3” - $3.00

Peppers, Sweet Marconi: 3” - $3.00

Peppers, Ghost: 3” - $4.00

Tomato, Black Cherry: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Carolina Gold: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Chocolate Cherry: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Gardener’s Delight: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Gold Nugget: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Gold Millions: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Paul Robeson: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, San Marzano: 3” - $3.00

Tomato, Sungold: 3” - $3.00

Garden Perennials:

Salvia, New Dimension Blue: 3” - $3.00

Coming Soon:

Basil, Cinnamon

Basil, Mirihani

Coneflower, CheyenneSpirit

Cotton, Mississippi Brown

Okra, Red-Burgundy

These days I am generally at Leclair’s General Store once a week, for the weekly Sustainable Neighbors meeting at 5:30pm through 7:00 pm. If you have questions then I will be there to answer your questions. Since our meetings have an open-door policy you don’t need to sign up for anything or join anything, you can come on in ask for us and join the meetings. If not, you can always send me questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market or pay attention to what Sustainable Neighbors is doing at the link below.

https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/

                        This brings to a close the eleventh LITFM post of the new year, stay tuned the next episode which should be posted on the 14th of June. There will be more garden updates and other cool stuff.

Exploded Thermometers everywhere!

Welcome back to another episode of Lost in the Farmer’s Market. This is a belated post as it was supposed to be posted last week and so it combines the latest plant with last week’s content. Another post without a plant list will be up shortly as a representative for the current post for this week. If that wasn’t confusing enough, then gosh darn it I’ve not done my job!

First off I’m sure some of you recall the mega storm on Tuesday the 9^th but I snapped a few pictures of the strangest part of the event, when the sky turned so bright yellow that it seemed to be bright enough to be high noon.

This effect happens because the sun is shining behind the storm, and this odd color is more likely during sunset when the sun appears more orange-yellow than normal. As freaky as it is it is not a sign of a tornado as some think but rather an odd lighting phenomenon. For note the storm delivered 3” of rain and yet at least around my way as of this writing a week later not a drop to speak of and yet on Tuesday a week later the temperatures hit 101 degrees.

‘Gator’ Aloe nearly in bloom.

The Specimen plant didn’t look too happy, yet here it produced a bloom so sometimes aloes do strange but awesome things. Even so right after this image was snapped I did a little cleaning of dead leaves.

Echinacea purpurea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’

The vaunted red coneflower I sold last year during the summer looks like this when in bloom. These are specimens I planted in the crescent garden to show what the plant could look like in the garden.

Monarda didymus ‘Lambada’

Commonly called Bee balm, this member of the mint family is best known for its pink or red blooms that offer lots of nectar to a large variety of pollinators and humming birds. Note the mildew spots on the leaves, all bee balm tend to get this; it’s rarely fatal to the plant.

Monarda sp. ‘Purification’

This is Purification bee balm; it’s the most successful species of bee balm I’ve ever grown in the south simply for its even spread and reliability. As you can see it’s in full bloom and in the morning it’s practically quivering with pollinators. But of course next week we’ll have some other garden images of plants that are handling the summer heat wave in their own way.

For those not in the know; the Fayetteville City Market is open on Wednesdays between the hours of 12:00 to 5:00pm and on Saturdays between the hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. The market is located at 325 Franklin Street in downtown Fayetteville. We are located on the grounds of the Fayetteville Transportation Museum. The market is a rain or shine event that persists in all but the worst weather. For note I have resumed service on Wednesday markets so you can come on down and not only get the best local foods, but you can now get your garden plants too. Fortunately June has begun with heat humidity and rain and I am responding by turning up the heat. This month you can expect to see some of the world’s hottest pepper plants. But Behold, the latest home grown organic item is now available.

With summer officially beginning on Saturday it is my great pleasure to introduce a critical herbal plant that doubles as a house plant. It is likely that in just a few moments you’ll know what plant I mean in specific but for those who do not recognize it let me tell you about it. This particular herb is considered a tropical and does not tolerate our cold weather however with time and age individual plants can get quite massive and it will produce a tall flower stalk with reddish-pink tube-shaped flowers. We all know it because we’ve seen in in a number of products ranging from beverages to skin protecting cosmetics. It is perhaps the most fundamental introductory plant to the world of succulent plants and indeed every house hold should have one especially if you love to cook. Of course you might know by now that I speak of Aloe barbadensis or as it is commonly called Medicinal Aloe or Aloe Vera. Fortunately the high heat of summer came early and with it the increase in sunburns has prompted me to offer this special plant early to meet the needs of the visitors at the booth. Aloe will be offered in one of three sizes with the larger size coming later.

-          2.5” pot Aloe Vera $3.00

-          3.5” pot Aloe Vera $4.00

-          6” pot Aloe Vera $6.00

Before you ask no this is not the start of Sparklitis month, but rather a response to summer arriving early. The best part is that these aloes were grown organically from a massive mother plant that still resides at the Headquarters. The mother is very vigorous and is currently in a 12” pot with three primary stems. So of course you can figure that the off sets being sold are very vigorous.

But of course this is not the only thing because this week’s market list is below.

Vegetable

3x Pepper, Trinidad Congo

2x Pepper, Trinidad Douglah

1x Pepper, 7-Pot

1x Pepper, Naga Jolokia

2x Pepper, Santaka

Fruit

4x Tomato, Traveler 76

6x Tomato, Black Krim

4x Tomato, Cherokee Purple

2x Tomato, Brandywine

Herbs

4x Santolina

2x Rue

1x Artemesia