I never let it flower. I know, I know, I'm missing out on about half of the show, but what the heck. (I'm also debating putting in artichokes so I can have that harvest, but I don't know how they'll do here...) That way I can also control the height more easily.
Since it's not hardy up here I don't have to worry about the roots overwintering and getting out of control. If I was where it was a hardy perennial, I think I would probably dig it up every couple of years and start a new one, or perhaps skip a year or two - sort of like crop rotation.
Vegetables in the Cottage Garden??!
I wanted to grow horseradish in my cottage garden but my gardening club friends said once you have it you will never get rid of it. So, Doccat5, a few years down the road you will need to let me know how it turned out!
I am taking my lemon mint out of my cottage garden this year. Even though I tried to contain it in a sunken planter, it escaped. And boy was I sorry I planted artemesia which I took from an historical herb garden in our town when we were cleaning it up. It was so beautiful the first year with its silver leaves and spreading growth habit. It went everywhere the second year, many feet away with underground runners. Another herb I am not sure I should have planted was comfrey. It grows even better than weeds! I have to cut it back several times a season. But it is supposedly a great addition to compost piles so the master gardener who gave it to me said I should keep it.
My absolute favorite flowers in this garden are the Globemaster Alliums. The 10 inch blooms were in color for more than a month, then went to seed in the most beautiful round ball. I kept the dried seedheads in the garden for a couple months then brought them into the house in a vase. They are still there and everyone exclaims about them. I almost sprayed them gold for Christmas but opted for the natural look. I cannot wait to see if they do well the second year.
Alliums - I had completely forgot about them, there are so many beautiful options!
I love the alliums too. I just went for a look see in the garden and a few of them are peaking out. I hope a lot of them come back but I haven't had good returns in past years (sob). Our winters are too wet and rainy for them to really thrive. I still replant them because the neighbor kids love 'em. They come up with my eremurus.
Do you start your cardoon from seed? Looks like a fascinating plant and I wish I could find a place for it. I thought the invasive issue with it was the seeds? Is it the roots?
I just planted a flat of violas and pansies around where the alliums and daffodils are coming up. Then I'm going to add alyssum that I am trying to start from seed. Also my mixed lettuces and raddichio will go into the space around the violas too. I understand the pansies and violas are edible if you don't use pesticides... I'm trying to work with shades of violet, yellows and creams in that garden...
Tomorrow I am going to start more herb seeds. Everytime I go to walmart I pick up another packet--most are 10 cents there!
I had planned to start my cardoon from seed - mostly because it's just hard to find in the nurseries. I honestly don't know what makes it invasive, I would presume the seeds based on the type of flower it produces, but it's not hardy here so I'm not going to worry about that. I saw it at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and they never let it go to seed either - they always cut off the flower stalk as soon as it appeared. It's one of those things that you either love or hate. I'll let it bloom for the honeybees and flutterbys if they like it, but then the flower stalk will get whacked before it can set and distributed seeds (I may bag one seed head though, for trading).
I was wondering about herbs, I'm glad you brought those up tabasco. I'm going to plant various herbs, but wondered how many of you plan to let them flower for the bees/hummers? And I've pretty much decided to start basil a second time this year, as I'm pretty sick and tired of keeping the flowers off it for cooking purposes - LOL!
Kate, I completely agree with you on the definition of a cottage garden - sort of like a nice mixed fruit salad - LOL! BTW, I know that horseradish takes more moisture than the typical plant, do you think it's something that would grow in a large container? Not, mind you, that I need to grow more things!! I keep going back and forth on mint, but for now it's going to stay in containers.
Hi Tabasco, NatureWalker just bumped up this thread that has a great link to a chart that gives lots of combinations of vegies, flowers and herbs, as they relate to promoting each other's health (or not - not sure if allelopathic considerations got in there - let me know if not - I can share what my references have to say) and with regard to controlling insect depredations.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/502787/
Karen
That's a great chart for companion planting. Thanks for giving us the link, Karen.
dryad--I saw cardoon (I think) at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena CA last summer. It was the centerpiece of their perennial display and it was quite striking. That was where they told me it was 'illegal' for a private person to have the seeds. I don't think the person tending the garden really meant that, but it shut me up!
I plant the parsley for the butterflies swallowtails to lay their eggs on (and some parsley for my salads and so forth) and the caterpillers eat it up but that's OK with me. I plant dill for the same reason but use some with salmon dishes and salad dressings. Same for fennel. I just planted seeds for sage and summer savory and sorrel. Most of my herbs are really for the butterflies but I use them in cooking too. I don't worry too much about the flowers...I top off the basil to keep it from flowering, though.
Have you tried Thai basil? It has beautiful burgundy bracts around the flowers, pungent and showy! I typically leave some basil to flower, both for seed and the butterflies really enjoy those little blooms too.
I love love love Thai basils!
I did get some Thai .... hopefully i'll get enough plants that i can put some out back with the flowers and some by my roses and tomatoes.
but as i mentioned somewhere that i have about 8 varieties of basil ... i consider it a lot, since last year i only had 1.
I haven't tried Thai basil but it sounds like I'd better get some!
psssst -- ask Ansonfan. ;-)
If you like clams or mussels, then when they are nearly finished steaming, throw in a couple big handfuls of thai basil and some hot red peppers ...
no, I've not tried anything but the basic standard basil :) but it sounds like my garden's repertoire is definitely going to expand this year!
Cardoon may be "illegal" in California as an invasive, this is wild conjecture on my part but it may be due to the very strong presence of artichokes in the ag. economy. It could also be that the area there is just much more conducive to the plant being *really* happy. I know the ones at the Chi. Botanic Gardens were started and tended until they were specimen size in the private greenhouses. They were placed in the beds pretty much like they looked all season. I've attached a picture I took of one of the beds but it's not very good - too sunny so it's washed out. They were going for a color/texture statement in one bedding area that year.
tabasco, is that flat leaf or curley parsley you plant?
Very pretty texture garden.
The plant that I called 'cardoon' at the Huntington Gardens was about 10 feet tall and very statuesque. Either very very happy or a different variety.
Now that you mention the agricultural aspects of the garden assistant's 'caution', I think that cardoon might be 'illegal' in California because, as part of the thistle family, it's a hazard to cattle ranching and dairy farming and those businesses are huge in CA.
The recipe for mussels sound delish and I will get some of that basil in the ground!
I plant about 4 kinds of parsley--flat, curly, triple curly, and some special flat leafed parsley. I don't know why except that I think the Swallowtails might like a choice for their caterpillers. Silly, I know.
t -- i was chatting with a "tomato guy" earlier today ... and he said that Bunnies do not eat tomato plants.
So when i get these new seeds that he is sending me... i'll be planting tomatoes out back. YAY.
LOL - I can understand getting tired of one kind of salad green and appreciating a choice! I bet you're right on the Swallowtails enjoying the variety.
Terese, I'm so glad to hear that bunnies don't like maters - they'll be going in the front yard now as well as the back! A very generous friend sent me five different kinds of black mater seeds (I've not had them before) and I was trying to figure out where I was going to put all these maters I'm going to be growing!!
Now my issue is height. Tabasco, I can see where the California Cardoon is a significantly different beast! I wonder if the Chicago folks keep theirs small or if it's a different cultivar/variety. Regardless, I'm planning on keeping mine shorter. I don't have tons of room, and if it gets too big it will take over. And it IS a thistle, not something I like bumping into on a regular basis...