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.

June so soon?

Welcome back to another episode of Lost In The Farmer’s market. This is the first episode of the summer season where it actually is acting like summer should. We ended a week or two of virtually no precipitation with rising temperatures and humidity. Fortunately we had at least 1.5” of rain to counteract the mini-drought and should be back on schedule for all things agricultural and garden. In the middle of this some great snapshots from the garden were taken and we’ll start the first real post of the summer with those.

Hemerocallis fulva - Tawny Daylily

The true common day lily if there is one has to be this guy right here. They popup in the late spring and persist as foliage all summer. The happy orange flowers of these guys can stand at 2-3 feet tall which makes them ideal for enjoying in a natural setting and for photographing.

Hemerocallis sp. ' Stella' - Stella Day Lily

The day lily is a food forager's ideal plant; it is completely edible but can cause frequent bathroom visits if too much is eaten. Day lilies are named for the fact each bloom unless the temperatures remain cool last for about one full day. Thes are not to be confused with Oriental/ Asiatic lilies which are true lilies (Lilium). Daylilies are actually grouped botanically with leaf-succulents such as aloes and the members of the Red Hot Poker's family (Kniphofia) . Stella is an important variety because it is the daylily that keeps blooming where as traditionally one might get a short bloom season and that was it for the year. As a side note, Daylilies and Oriental Lilies are BOTH poisonous to cats even the pollen can cause acute renal failure so if you have pets be wary.

Delphinum sp. - Larkspur

Good old Larkspur, a plant with a flower almost as complicated in shape as the most exotic orchids. Larkspurs are the late summer blues of the garden and are very adaptable. Common Wildflower seed mixes will have these.

Delphinum sp. - Larkspur

 What's this now? That is a pure white Larkspur who's origins are currently unclear as I only had blue. Not that it's a bad thing to see some random wildflower genes asserting themselves but this single plant was and is quite impressive compared to the one above.

Asclepias curassavica - Scarlet / Swamp/ Tropical Milkweed

I snapped a shot of the scarlet milkweed in the last post, but right after the flowers opened and as you can see they are an epic shade of flamboyant orange and red.

Hypericum sp. - Saint Johns Wort

Saint John's Wort is a herbaceous perennials that  bears incredibly bright yellow blooms followed by what you see above, pearl-like seed capsules which are colorful and almost good enough to be considered a second bloom. However, it should be noted that St. Johns wort is a useful medicinal herb as tinctures and salves made of it's leaves reduce the healing time of bruises and lacerations. Paired with betony which is known as wound wort, the two can be used to accelerate healing.

Lavendula angustifolia ' Lady Anne' - Lady Anne Dwarf Lavender.

Lady Anne was a dwarf variety of lavender I decided to offer this year because of it's tolerance of humidity and it's petite (up to 12") size. This form of English lavender is a better neighbor as it sprawls less and blooms the first year as you can see above.

The bloom of a betony plant.

 The betony family comprises of a large number of herbaceous plants often with the botanical Latin first name of Stachys. You might know it's most famous relative, Lambs Ear, or it's 'weedy' relative Rattlesnake Weed. But as more things bloom you'll see them up here with little tidbits of information and there will be a lot of stuff to talk about as the summer progresses. But I move onward to the market information for this weekend.

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 and if that doesn’t suit your fancy, June is the first month I am offering for the first time fig bushes. Bordeaux Regional Nursery is proud to present three types of figs for your culinary delight.

LSU Gold

-          Fruit is green-yellow when ripe and they have pale red flesh inside.

-          Bred for our region by Louisiana State University, LSU handles heat and humidity very well.

-          Good general use fig for all purposes.

Negronne

-          Sometimes called Violette du Bordeuax.

-          Fruit is ripe when they are a deep purple-black and have red flesh inside.

-          Comparable to Black Mission in sweetness, and is good for cooking.

White Ischia

- Very fast growing, the mother plant puts on several feet a year.

- The fruit is golden-green when ripe and has a reddish flesh.

- Good for use in breads and brewing.

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

Vegetable

3x Early Black Egg Eggplant

2x Pepper, Flashpoint Habanero

1x Pepper, Cubanelle

1x Pepper, Trinidad Douglah

1x Pepper, 7-Pot

1x Pepper, Naga Viper

1x Pepper, Naga Jolokia

1x Pepper, Chocolate Scorpion

1x Pepper, Santaka

1x Pepper, Aji Pineapple

1x Pepper, Aji Citro

1x Pepper, Aji Limon

1x Pepper, Aji Chinchi Amarillo

Fruit

2x LSU Gold Fig

2x Negronne

2x White Ischia Fig

3x Ground Cherry, Cossack Pineapple

3x Tomato, Pink Stuffer

3x Tomato, Black Cherry

1x Tomato, Rainbow Cherry

3x Tomato, San Marzano

3x Tomato, Traveler 76

1x Tomato, Underground Rail Road

3x Tomato, Black Krim

3x Tomato, Cherokee Purple

3x Tomato, Brandywine

Herbs

4x Sweet Basil

1x Thai Basil

1x Cinnamon Basil

2x Santolina

2x Rue

2x Artemesia

4x Tumeric