Growing, Harvesting and Drying Stevia

Three years ago, I had never heard of stevia. My first experience with it was in the form of cuttings in the greenhouse. I opened the bag and read the tag, "Stevia? What the heck is this?" My co-worker informed me that it was an herb for sweetening. What?!  I ate a leaf off one of the cuttings (we do that from time to time at work, eat the plants. Got to see if they are worth selling!) and was hooked. I jumped in with both feet.

As with all new things I grow, I never do it right the first time. (Must have something to do with that jumping in with both feet). My original plan was to use the leaves to brew sun tea because that's what my co-worker told me they were good for. Didn't bother to do any actual research myself. Here's the thing: I don't like sun tea. Even when I used chai tea, didn't like it. So I grew 2 plants that first season (badly, wrong place) and used basically none of it.

In the meantime, I found Stevia sweetner in the store. Fell in love with it for my morning tea. I have blood sugar issues so I try to say away from sugar and the fact that stevia has a glycemic index of ZERO speaks volumes for it. No other sweetener can say that. And it's natural. 

So I tried again. Planted it in a better spot and did some research. It is a South American plant that likes heat and dryer conditions (yay drier conditions! I can so do that!). And while you can use the leaves throughout the season for iced tea and lemonade, the sweetest leaves don't come until after a frost. Seriously, it's like this plant was made for me!

The hardest part actually was timing the harvest. As you know, weather in the midwest is unpredictable. It can be 70 one day and 20 the next with a major snowstorm on the way. While the leaves gets sweeter after the first light frost, a hard frost will damage the plants. It's needs the cold to get the sweetest leaves, but too cold and your plant is garbage. You can see where timing can be difficult!

Last year, which was the first year I harvested in the fall, I battled the cold to go out and pull those plants up. I had to pick and choose among the damaged leaves to get enough to harvest. Even with that small amount, however, I was able to get enough dried stevia to last about 2 or 3 months. 

Considering that a success, I planted two stevia plants this year. I pretty much ignored them throughout the season except for watering the garden as a whole and pinching back the tips once or twice while I was fiddling with the basil. Pinching back the tips is probably the most important thing to do throughout the season. You don't want the plant to flower before the frost because flowering takes away from the sweetness. Fortunately, stevia is a slow-growing plant and a pinch or two is all it takes to make for a nice full plant and push flowering into the fall past harvest time. 

I believe my stevia may have stayed out in the garden for two or three, possibly four frosts. Honestly, our weather has been so crazy here in Minnesota I can't be sure. It is planted close to my house on the south side so it fared very well despite my neglect. Of the two plants I lost one branch, but no matter, I still had plenty!

Because stevia is not hardy in this area, I just pulled those plants up, roots and all, shook off the dirt and brought them in the house. And then stood there wondering just how I was going to get all these leaves off the stems. Flashback to last year's hunt and pick mission made me tired before I even started. Fortunately, the quality of this year's crop was far superior. I was able to simply hold each stem with one hand and strip off the leaves with the other. It actually went rather quickly. The whole pile took about a half hour or less. In the end, I had a bowl full of stevia leaves and a rather small pile of stems which went into the composter. 

I then ran the leaves through the salad spinner to rinse and dry them. Then, I spread them on paper towels to absorb any extra water. Next step, actually drying the leaves. Every site I've ever read indicates that drying stevia in the sun is the best but in the words of Sweet Brown: Ain't nobody got time for that. Truer words were never spoken particularly when living in Minnesota. It's fall. I had to wait for a frost. The sun might be out, it might not. Chances are it's windy as all hell and it's just bye-bye stevia!

So no, there will be no drying in the sun for my stevia. The oven works just fine (a dehydrator is great if you have one, which I don't). After Googling "how to dry stevia" it seems the consensus for oven temperature is about 140 degrees F. Yeah, my oven doesn't go that low so 170F it was. Normally, it takes about 20 minutes or so to dry a batch but I was drying cranberries at the same time so it took about 40-50 minutes per batch.

Mostly, the process was incredibly passive so although the whole process took about 6-7 hours, it really wasn't a lot of work. I lined two cookie sheets with parchment paper, spread a single layer of leaves on each, put them in the oven and set the timer. The first batch was the most labor intensive since I checked on it several times to see how dry it was. After that, all I did was dump the dry leaves into a bowl, spread another layer of leaves, shove them in the oven, set the timer and go about my business. 

As I dumped the dried leaves in the bowl I kind of smashed them up with a meat tenderizer mallet (I have had this handy little kitchen utensil for decades and never once used it for it's intended purpose. Maybe someday...). Because I plan on putting the dry leaves in a tea strainer, I don't want them too fine. I have pulverized them with a mortar and pestle to get a fine powder. However, if you have a large batch you could run them through a coffer or herb grinder. Maybe even a spin in the food processor would work. Even still, you can see how the leaves crumbled pretty fine. 

The leaves on top weren't quite as dry as they should have been. No matter. I left the bowl on the counter overnight and by the next day they were crumbly as well. Seriously, I love passive projects. While the time involved may be long, my involvement is pretty limited. Works for me!

Once the leaves were all dry and pulverized to my satisfaction, I poured the powder into jars. You can use any air tight container or storage bags. This was just what I had on hand. I was so proud of the amount of stevia that I got! This should last me certainly through the winter. It's also given me a new appreciation for the cost of processed stevia I buy from the store. It takes a lot of leaves to fill that little 4 ounce bottle! For as much as I use stevia in my tea, growing and drying my own is certainly worth the effort, especially when my effort is so minimal.

Epilogue: See that bowl up there? Yeah, I decided to make popcorn one night. Since the bowl only held dried leaves I didn't feel that it warranted a complete washing so just wiped it out with paper towels before dumping in my popcorn. Best. Lazy. Move. Ever. If, like me, you like the salty-sweet taste of kettle corn, this is a great non-sugar alternative. Loved it. Tried it out again a few days later by sprinkling the actual leaves onto my popcorn. Yep. Loved it. But don't over do it. A little goes a long way. I've found that when I use too much stevia in anything, it tastes bitter rather than sweet.

Next: The laziness continues! Tomato sauce the easy way.
 

Zucchini: The Squash That Keeps on Giving

I decided last fall that my dad needed to grow zucchini. I decided that this was so because it was fall and I wanted to make more zucchini bread than the one or two zucchini I got from my local CSA last year allowed. 

Somehow, I convinced him despite my mother's protests. Turns out last time he planted zucchini in their garden he planted TWO whole plants. Needless to say, they had more zucchini than they knew what to do with and a lot of wasted space in the garden, not to mention wasted food. This was before I decided I needed to have to zucchini.

What I remember about zucchini growing up is that my grandmother used to grow it and it was mostly disparaged by everyone in the family. Except when it was in zucchini bread or zucchini cake. Have you had zucchini cake? The one my grandmother made was a chocolate cake with chocolate chips on top. Nothing healthy about that creation, but it did taste good. 

At any rate, I decided that zucchini was needed for the zucchini bread. In the fall. What I didn't even think about was that zucchini is not only a fall vegetable. Nope, that baby is pretty much the first plant to start producing very early in the summer. Prolifically. And even though my mom has rediscovered a love of summer squash (which includes the lowly zucchini) there was more that she and my dad could eat alone. Since I was the instigator of this whole thing, those babies were mine. 

Cool. I had a lot of recipes that I had pinned on the Pinterest I wanted to try. Many were in hopes of sharing with my kids who had already expressed their disdain about the vegetable and their reluctance to eat it. Because (and if you've ever grown zucchini, you saw this coming) there was just too many of those things to NOT share with those kids. 

Now I had a mission! And told everyone on Facebook because that means I was really, really serious.

There was so much zucchini, that is exactly what I did. I tried several different recipes and lo and behold! I did come up with two recipes that they liked. Of course, it is too much to ask that they both like the SAME recipe but at least I found one that they each like. 

And as for me? I discovered many ways that I like to eat zucchini, yay! This is such a prolific plant that if you are serious about growing your own food, this is one that you definitely want to have because it really is very versatile. Once you figure out how to use it. 

Here's a list of some of the ways I used the zucchini and our reactions to it:

1. Zucchini subs: No way the kids were eating this one. But since I swore off bread and all things wheat this summer I needed something to eat my meat and cheese on. For smaller zucchini, I sliced them length-wise and scooped out a little of the seeds, filled it in with a spread made from dry Italian dressing mix and Greek yogurt, topped with my favorite meat and cheese. For larger zucchini, I sliced them into rounds and topped the same way. Found the rounds much easier to eat and overall a very tasty and satisfying lunch.
2. Zucchini pizza: Same concept as subs except with pizza toppings. I grilled the zucchini slightly before adding toppings and cooking as pizza. Kids wouldn't touch it, but again, a nice way to go gluten free and still get the pizza flavor. It's all about the toppings for me anyway. 
3. Zucchini chips: We made a variation of this recipe for zucchini Parmesan chips minus the Panko crumbs. Boy loved them, girl tolerated them. I found them to be a nice side dish. 
4. Zucchini tots: I love this one. The girl loved this one. My parents loved it, friends liked it. Boy thinks I am trying to torture him so take it for it's worth. I actually made this so many times that I came up with my own variation on this adaptation of the original recipe. 

Zucchini Tots
(printable copy)

• 4 cup grated zucchini
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup dehydrated onions
• 1 cup of shredded cheese (we like mozzarella, but any kind will work)
• 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
• 1 cup of uncooked quinoa
• salt and pepper


1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a mini muffin tin and set aside. 
2. Use a food processor to grate zucchini and then place in a strainer to squeeze out excess water from zucchini. Since this is such a large amount of zucchini there will still be a lot of moisture after squeezing but that's okay.
3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. 
4. Using a spoon or cookie scoop, fill the muffin tins to the top. The mixture will likely be runny but the quinoa needs this liquid so make sure you are including some in each scoop. Besides, that's where the seasonings are! 
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until tops are browned. 

The girl and I love the quinoa in these tots over everything else we tried (quinoa flour, oats) because it gives them a crunchy texture, soaks up excess moisture and keeps them from tasting doughy. Yum! Usually makes 2 dozen or more so we eat the first dozen and freeze the rest to heat up later for a quick side dish.

There was a little zucchini drought towards the middle of summer (not to mention actual drought) and I truly thought the season for this summer squash was over. Not so! My dad presented me with 5 very large zucchini at the beginning of September. They had their hands full with the yellow squash (which I have not learned to love) so the zucchini was all mine. As school just started,  I didn't have a lot of time to deal with these 5 giant zucchini so I did what I always do. I froze them.

First I cut them up in manageable chunks and ran them through the food processor with the grating blade which was working out swimmingly until the bowl was full. And I had two zucchini left. Deciding that there is only so much grated zucchini one can use over the course of the winter I decided to slice the last two. Perhaps I will be able to fashion some zucchini chips for the boy. It may not work out, I realize, but it just may work out better since a lot of the water will easily drain off when they defrost. Could be a disaster, might be genius. We'll see. At any rate, I have a lots of zucchini to throw in soups, for bread and of course, zucchini tots (I actually like working with frozen grated zucchini for the aforementioned reason, the water drains off easily, makes better tots).

When all was said and done, I ended up with an obscene amount of zucchini. After all that we all ate this summer. From only one plant. Over 36 cups of frozen zucchini. 

Yes, we'll be eating zucchini whether my kids like it or not although I have to say my summer mission went extremely well. They may not like all things zucchini but they at least like SOME things and I call that a win. 

Next: Growing, Harvesting and Drying Stevia

Freezing Herbs: Parsley and Chives

Previously, I wrote about how easy it is to freeze basil and my love of all things easy. And freezing basil is pretty easy but not quite as easy as freezing parsley and chives. 

In the past, I have treated my parsley the same as my basil by giving it a rough chop in the food processor and freezing it with water in ice cube trays. I was pleased with the results and had lots of parsley all winter long for the many soups I made (I have a soup obsession). And, I did do a small batch of parsley cubes earlier this summer.

However, I also bought some parsley on sale at the grocery store in May. A lot of parsley actually. The store got me on a 2 for 1 deal. I thought, why not? I need it for this recipe and I love parsley (the flat-leaf Italian parsley, much better than the curly stuff you find sometimes on your plate at restaurants). It'll get used up. Except that it didn't. I am ashamed to say that I told my daughter to feed it to the worms (I have a worm composter in the pantry, they are adorable!). She looked at it and said, "Really? It seems fine." And it did seem fine, but I didn't have any time to deal with it. I told her to put it a freezer bag and toss it in the freezer. 

Just harvested parsley on the left, parlsey frozen in May on the right.

I pulled it out a couple of weeks ago and it still seemed just fine. Perhaps a darker shade of green but certainly acceptable for soup, pasta or sauces. So when I had all the herbs in the house, pre-frost, I thought, why can't I do all my parsley like that? Certainly easier and besides, all my ice cube trays are tied up with the basil. So I did. Along with my chives, which my kids, strangely, adore. You haven't lived until you've snuggled on the couch with a 9 year old who's been chomping on chives outside all day. Seriously. He thinks this is a great snack. Pungent!

You will need:

• fresh parsley
• fresh chives
• salad spinner (or colander and paper towels)
• freezer bags or containers

Because the stems are as flavorful as the leaves and not a problem in soups which will likely be the bulk of my use, I didn't bother to remove the parsley leaves from the stems. If need be, it will be just as easy to cut the leaves from the stems as I use them. So into the salad spinner they went and under a cold water rinse. I advise shaking the colander around quite a bit to completely rinse the parsley and also to find any hidden surprises like this little lovely gem I found. Since parsley is a fairly low growing herbs the chances are greater that you may find a weed or two hiding in your edibles. 

You will follow the same process for the chives. Throw out any yellow or dry stems and check for weeds. Those things are sneaky, I tell you. 

Once rinsed, give those herbs a good spin in the salad spinner. Since they won't be preserved in water, get them nice and dry. If you are using a colander and paper towels, letting the herbs sit for while before putting them in bags will accomplish the same thing. I did love how the spinner clumped the chives together, though. Talk about making my life easy!

Next step, stick those herbs in a freezer bad or container. I personally prefer to use freezer bags because I can get them really air-tight. You could also use vacuum-sealed bags for this as well. Then when you need either parsley or chives, pull out those bags and simply cut off the herbs that you need with a kitchen scissors or knife and put the rest back in the freezer.

Recap:

You will need:

• Fresh parsley
• Fresh chives
• Salad spinner (or colander and paper towels)
• freezer bags or container

1.  Rinse herbs under cold water, remove any yellow, dry leaves and weeds.
2. Spin dry or leave to drain colander for 1/2 hour or more.
3. Put in freezer bags or containers and put in the freezer.

That's it! It really couldn't be any easier and you have close to fresh-tasting herbs all winter. Just remember that using these herbs frozen will be like using fresh rather than dry so adjust your recipes accordingly if need be. 

Next: What to do with all that zucchini!

 

Freezing Herbs: Basil

Basil is one of my absolute favorite herbs. Every year, I plant way too many plants and eat not nearly enough of it. Until this year! I finally managed to figure out the Basil Botheration!

The trick to basil is to harvest often. At least weekly, if not more. Then there is no need for more plants because the plants themselves will just get thicker and bushier and make more actual basil to eat. The rule with basil, as with most herbs, is don't worry, we'll make more!

Still I ended up planting about 9 plants (3 types of basil, split into 3 plantings each) which was closer to what I need but next year I will stick to a total of 6 plants (2 types, 3 plantings each). This gave me plenty to harvest starting almost immediately and I was able to rotate plants and not have to worry too much about plants bolting. Bolting is bad, very bad, with basil which is why frequent harvesting is so necessary. When basil starts to flower (bolting), the basil tastes bitter. So trim that basil back often, even if you're not eating it or freezing it. Don't worry about waste. Seriously, they make more. 

However, since I am so much smarter this year, I didn't trim and toss to prevent bolting as in previous years. No siree! I actually did something with that basil rather than waiting until close to frost to harvest what was left of my basil plants (not always the best quality basil) to try to freeze and make pesto. I don't even know what I was thinking. My yield was very low and I was out of basil by the beginning of November.

With all the eating that we did this summer, I only had to do 2 major harvests throughout the season and one right before frost. Not bad and not at all time consuming. Seriously, I'm lazy. Anything too complicated and I'm out. So I know of what I speak. Each batch took about a half hour or less to process. Most of the time involved is in the freezer and you're not needed for that part so you can go play. See? Easy!

What you will need:

• fresh basil
• ice cube trays
• food processor with chopping blade (or a sharp knife and mad chopping skills, which will increase the processing time)
• salad spinner or colander and paper towels

Obviously, the first step is to gather that lovely basil from the garden. Keep in mind that if you think you have too much basil, you probably don't. Once the leaves are removed from the stems and chopped, you will have roughly 1/3 the volume you have gathered in your arms. It takes a lot of basil to fill three ice cube trays and the time and energy to do one tray compared to three is about the same. Make it worth your while to pull out that food processor!

Remove leaves from stems and put in your colander or salad spinner. Discard any black, dry or generally icky leaves. I sometimes pull them off, sometimes I find a kitchen scissor is faster. Don't worry if you get some small stems in the mix. Rinse leaves under cold water and give them a good spin or use paper towels to dry them off. 

I know what you're thinking, if I'm going to freeze them in water, why do I have to dry them off? Excellent question! Because it makes the basil much easier to work with. If it's too wet those tiny pieces of basil are just going to stick to the food processor, to the ice trays and to your fingers. If you're anything like me, this is going to just irritate you to no end and make this easy process unpleasant and not so easy. 

In fact, with the Purple Ruffles basil there, I had to leave in the middle of the whole process to run kids somewhere. It sat for about 45 minutes before I got back to them and was very dry. So easy to work with! So if you don't have a spinner, draining them in the colander for about a half hour is another option. Not necessary but just for ease. If you're into that kind of thing. Which I am. 

Next, put the leaves into the food processor and pulse a few times. Don't just turn the food processor on because in a heartbeat you will have pesto and that's not what we're going for here. We just want a rough chop. I've never actually counted how many times I've hit the pulse button but I'd say around 6-12 times. It depends on how much basil you have in the bowl. Basically, you want it to look like this:

(Just a little side note about purple basil: I love it. Good flavor. Looks fantastic in caprese salad, in pasta, even in eggs. It does not make pretty pesto. Tastes great! Looks like baby poo. And then no one will eat it because of the poo resemblance and you will be sad. So just don't.) 

Once roughly chopped, scoop the leaves into the ice trays. I use a measuring spoon and try to get a tablespoon into each one. This, however, is not an exact science. While the measuring spoon is pretty good for scooping, the basil apparently does not like to be scooped. So each cube will be approximately one tablespoon, give or take a bit. I'm not much for measuring when I cook so this is fine with me. For the most part, you're not going to over-basil a dish so I suggest over-filling rather than under-filling. This will be like working with fresh basil so you are more likely to need tablespoons rather than teaspoons anyway. Slowly top the trays off with water. Be careful not to fill them too full or your basil will go floating away. 

This was my last fall harvest and I chopped down about 5 entire plants. As you can see, with all that basil I still wasn't able to manage to fill that last little ice cube up there! Tsk! So, really, when harvesting, more is better. 

Also, I cut the plants down the night before I had time to process them. They sat on the table for about 16 hours before I was able to get to them. They were a little wilted but perked up after the cold water rinse. See? You can do everything "wrong" and it still works out!

In regards to the ice cube trays, these are terrible! My freezer didn't come with trays so I had to go buy some. They are hard to find. Walmart, of course, had them. I had the choice of these at like $1.98 or some ridiculously low price or the complicated metal ones from the 70's at $15. I didn't know how this herb freezing thing was going to go so I went on the cheap. Mistake. I recommend getting some good quality ice trays if you don't already have some. 

Finally, stick those bad boys in the freezer. You don't want to leave them in the freezer too long as the water will evaporate eventually and expose more of the herbs and there is more chance of the herbs taking on flavors you would rather it did not. However, once again, I have left my trays untouched in the freezer for 2 weeks or so. They are fine. Once the cubes are frozen solid however, it's best to put them in a freezer bag or plastic storage container. 

Recap:
 
You will need: 

• fresh basil
• ice cube trays
• food processor with chopping blade (or a sharp knife and mad chopping skills, which will increase the processing time)
• salad spinner or colander and paper towels

1. Remove basil leaves from stems and rinse with cold water. 
2. Spin leaves in salad spinner or drain in colander and dry with paper towels.
3. Pulse leaves in food processor (or chop with a knife) to a rough chop.
4. Scoop basil into ice cube trays estimating each scoop at a generous tablespoon.
5. Slowly top off ice cube trays with water. Be careful not to overfill.
6. Place in the freezer until frozen.
7. Remove from trays and store in freezer bags or containers.

Voila! Homegrown basil all winter long!
This process works with pretty much any herb although is best for those you would use in sauces, soups or anywhere the bit of extra water won't ruin the recipe. 





Next:  Freezing Parsley and Chives. Even easier!

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Fall is a Great Time to Plant Trees and Shrubs

Although it seems counter-intuitive in our Northern climate, fall is a great time to plant trees and shrubs. While it's difficult to predict the first frost with any certainty, planting is usually possible through September and often into October.

Why is fall such a good time for planting shrubs and trees? The answer is very simple. While the temperature above ground may be freezing, the below ground temperature remains above freezing for much longer. While the below ground temperature is 40 degrees and above, the root system of trees and shrubs will grow and establish themselves. The tree or shrub does not have the added pressure of having to grow branches and leaves as well and can concentrate all its growing energy into establishing roots. Then, in the spring, the roots are established and the tree can use it's growing energy for branches and leaves. This basically gives the plant a head start in a sense in that it doesn't spend it's first growing season attempting to get established and you get the benefit of having a beautiful tree right off the bat. 

For successful fall planting, follow good basic cultural practices. Dig the hole to the same depth as the root ball of the plant and twice as wide. Provide adequate water until frost date but don't over-water. In the spring, watch your tree or shrub blossom gloriously.

Perennial Profile: Shasta Daisies and Other Daisy-like Flowers

Shasta Daisy

Nothing adds cheer to a garden more than Shasta daisies. With bright yellow centers surrounded by white petals, these plants light up a garden and blend well with most other perennials. In addition to Shastas, there are several "daisy-like" plants that come in a variety of colors and are equally dispensable in the garden. These include Coneflowers (Echinacea), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) and Blanketflower (Gaillardia). All are easy to grow, hardy and best of all, beautiful. 

Shasta Daisy-This is the quintessential daisy with the yellow eye and white petals. Shasta daisies range in height from 12-42" so there really is a variety for every garden. Plant in full sun to partial shade. While deadheading is not necessary, doing so will produce a second bloom in late summer and early fall. Shastas can be short lived here in zone 4, however, these plants will reseed (although not excessively so) if not deadheaded. Self-seeded plants can be easily moved or removed if necessary. The most notable variety is 'Becky', which was the 2003 Perennial Plant of the Year. Becky grows to 42 inches tall on very sturdy, erect stems so there is no need for staking this tall daisy. It also has an exceptional bloom season of 3 months.

Purple Coneflower

Coneflower (Echinacea)-Coneflower comes in a variety of colors ranging from white to purple and pink with newer cultivars sporting red, orange and yellow. The most popular is the purple coneflower (which is really more of a dark pink color) and even then there are many varieties to choose from. Coneflower ranges from 18-36 inches, grows well in full sun or light shade and isn't particular about soil as long it's well-drained. Butterflies and bees flock to this plant. Deadheading will prolong bloom although is not necessary. This plant will self-seed, but like the Shastas, is not invasive. Notable varieties include 'Prairie Splendor' which grows 18-24 inches and blooms earlier and longer than most other Coneflowers and 'PowWow Wild Berry' which grows 20-24 inches tall with profuse bright cherry colored blooms. 

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)- Once established, this plant is fairly drought tolerant. Plant in full sun to partial shade in average soil. Rudbeckia grows 18-30 inches tall and seed pods provide winter interest as well as food for birds. The best variety in this area is 'Goldsturm'. This compact plant sports masses of large deep yellow flowers with black centers. 

Burgundy Gaillardia

Blanketflower (Gaillardia)- This prairie plant is a wonderful addition to home gardens. Plant in full sun and well-drained soil. While this plant is often short-lived in our clay soil, if left to it's own devices will easily reseed yearly so be careful of cleaning up too well. Again, like the other plants on this page, it's not invasive, but may show up in surprising places! Plants are easily moved or removed as necessary. Blanketflower grows 12-24 inches and comes in a variety of red, yellow and orange flower colors. Recommended varieties include 'Goblin' which grows about 12 inches tall and has red-orange petals with yellow edges and 'Burgundy' which grows up  to 36" inches with dark red flowers. 

The best thing about all these plants is that not only to do they blend well with other perennial plants and shrubs but they look great together as well. In addition, common garden pests such as rabbits and deer generally don't find these plants appetizing. No garden should be without these easy-to-grow and delightfully cheerful flowers!

Perennial Profile: Hostas

Striptease

Nothing beats hostas for shade gardens. Coming in sizes from 6 inches to 4 feet, and every size in between, there is a hosta for every size and shape of shade garden. In addition, hostas come in a huge variety of leaf color, pattern, size and shape. In fact, it is estimated that there is over 3,000 varieties of hosta! How's that for variety?

While the number of varieties is overwhelming, hostas can be generally divided by color. Hostas are green, blue, yellow or varigated (which can be any combination of green, blue, yellow or white). 

Hostas are very easy to grow and will do well in full shade to part shade with some of the newer varieties (such as Sum and Substance) doing well in part sun. These plants are fairly drought tolerant and will thrive with very little attention. Plants can be divided at any time in the season, except on the very hottest days.

When planting hostas, choose a variety of colors, sizes and leaf shape. Strive to not have the same varieties planted next to each other for most interesting planting. Hostas also look great with other woodland shade plants such as ferns, astilbe, goat's beard (aruncus), and bleeding heart. 

Some notable varieties include:

Red October

Loyalist: A variegated hosta with green margins and pure white centers. This is a medium-sized hosta that gets 18 inches high and 24 inches wide. 

Red October: A smaller hosta at 10 inches high and 20 inches wide, the most notable feature of this plant is it's red stems that stretch into the bottom of the leaves. The narrow leaves are blue green with white undersides. 

Great Expectations

Great Expectations: This is a slower growing hosta but worth the wait. A variegated hosta, Great Expectations has blue-green margins on large oval puckered leaves. The center color changes from chartreuse to yellow to white throughout the season. It gets 20 inches high to 40 inches wide. 

Sum and Substance: A very large hosta with 16 inch oval leaves, this plant grows to 3 feet high and up to 6 feet wide. A stunning specimen in the garden, Sum and Substance has much better sun tolerance than many hostas. The foliage is a sunny chartreuse, perfect for brightening shade gardens. 

Striptease: An interesting variegated hosta with dark green margins on pointy, oval leaves and light green centers with white outlining. A medium sized plant that grows 20 inches high to 36 inches wide. 

With so many colors, shapes and sizes to choose from there is a hosta perfect for every garden. Choose several of your favorite varieties to plant together for a lush and stunning shade garden.

Perennial Profile: Silver Foliage Plants

Lamb's Ear

Foliage plants provide color, interest, depth and texture to garden beds. One of the most fun foliage colors to work with is silver. Just as the metal is reflective, so are silver foliage plants in the garden. During the day, these plants create reflective areas of light which highlights surrounding plants. At night, the silver foliage is luminescent making them ideal choices for pathway edgings. Silver foliage blends well with cool colors such as blues, purples and pinks and pastels. It also combines well with black, deep purple or deep burgundy foliage plants for a dramatic contrast. 

Another plus for silver foliage is that many of them are incredibly easy to grow, standing up to hot, dry conditions where other plants may struggle. As a bonus, most are resistant to deer and rabbits. There are many different plants with silver foliage both for shade or sun and in many different growth habits. In addition, many silver foliage plants have some of the most "touchable" foliage of all plants, the most notable being Lamb's Ear (Stachys).

While silver brightens shady spots, silver in the sun is a harmonizing color that pulls together contrasting colors. Below are some of the best silver plants for sun. 

Artemisia

Artemisia 'Silver Mound' (also known as Wormwood): This low-growing plant (6-12 inches) is ideal for the front of borders or lining pathways. The delicate, fern like foliage is soft to touch and adds a great contrast to coarse foliage plants. The plant does well in hot, dry areas in the garden and is especially suited to northern summers. 'Silver Mound' will get quite large after a few seasons and can be divided in the spring and fall. To prevent the plant from getting leggy towards the end of summer, shear the plant back to 2 inches in late June. The plant will quickly regrow into a compact mound. 

Lamb's Ear 'Helen Von Stein' (Stachys): The velvety foliage of this plant is nearly irresistible to touch. Lamb's Ear forms a low mat (12-18 inches tall) of large velvety silver leaves. The plant will put out tall semi-pink flowers scapes but often the plant looks much better when these are trimmed off. Lamb's Ear is easy to grow with little care and can be divided in early spring or fall. 

Russian Sage

Russian Sage:This plant's foliage is slightly more green but gives off a silvery glow especially when in bloom with it's airy lavender-blue flowers. Russian Sage gets quite large (24-36 inches tall and wide) making it ideal as a focal point or in the back of borders. In addition to having delicate silvery foliage on a large plant, Russian Sage is aromatic giving off a wonderfully savory scent in the garden. This plant is very drought tolerant. 

These easy to grow perennials will harmonize your garden and provide interesting luminescent pools of light at night. Try some silver foliage plants in your garden to tie together contrasting colors. 

Perennial Profile: Ajuga

Catlin's Giant

Ajuga, or bugleweed as it's commonly called, is one of those plants that looks pretty unassuming in pots on the nursery bench. However, once established in the garden, this plant easily becomes a must have.

Grown primarily for it's foliage, ajuga comes in a variety of colors from green to black to burgundy and from fine textured leaves to very large leaves. In addition to it's gorgeous foliage, the blue flower spikes in spring are stunning and an added bonus to it's glossy, rich foliage. 

Growing 6-10 inches tall and spreading 12-24 inches, ajuga is an excellent ground cover and perfect for difficult areas where other plants won't grow. It prefers light to partial shade for best foliage color but will tolerate full shade or full sun although leaves may become scorched in direct sunlight. It's not terrible fussy about soil as long as it's not soggy.

Catlin's Giant

Ajuga is a dense and vigorous plant which will smother out all but the most tenacious weeds. The plant can be divided at any time of the season and needs little care. As long as it gets adequate snow cover in the winter (not a problem here!), this plant doesn't need any additional mulching in the fall. As with most vigorous plants, ajuga may spread to places where you'd rather not have it such as your lawn. Fortunately, unwanted plants are easily removed and can be contained with simple edging. However, don't let the vigor frighten you off this plant! It's not an aggressively fast growing plant so isn't likely to get out of control before you know it. It's these attributes that make it the perfect ground cover for those difficult places. 

The dramatic foliage and low growing habit of this plant make it a great companion to hostas, astilbe and coral bells. It grows well in rock gardens and along pathways. Don't overlook this gem of a plant when planning your garden beds. You'll love the dramatic foliage and easy growing habit of this plant and be pleasantly surprised with its bright blue blooms in the spring--a welcome addition to any garden!

Perennial Profile: Coral Bells

Berry Smoothie

Coral Bells, often referred to by their botanical name of Heuchera, is an indispensable plant to have in the garden. Most notable for the vast variety of foliage colors, Coral Bells is also a prolific bloomer that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies while being ignored by rabbits and deer. In addition, Coral Bells will often grow in places other plants will not due to their adaptability in regards to sun exposure. Most prefer part sun, but many will tolerate full sun, while some will tolerate almost full shade. This wide rage of sun/shade tolerance makes Coral Bells the perfect plant for eastern and western exposures that receive direct sun for part of the day and many hours of shade as well. This plant will also do well under trees and shrubs. The brilliant foliage of Coral Bells enhances the beauty of surrounding plants. 

Hercules

Coral Bells are generally a low-growing, mounding plant usually about 12-24 inches wide and 12-36 inches tall depending on the cultivar. Although the flower scapes tower up to 18 inches above the plant, the delicate flowers and airy composition of the stems don't detract or hide other plants behind making this plant perfect for borders and edging. Coral Bells are evergreen perennials regardless of snow cover and will be among the first plants to take shape in the spring. One caution is to refrain from cleaning any leaves that appear dead too early in the spring. This plant does not give up it's leaves easily and cleaning the plant too early in the spring often results in killing it. Tolerate the seemingly dead leaves and watch your Coral Bells flourish. If crispy, dead leaves are still present in late June, early July when the plant is flourishing, that would be the time to remove them, however, don't force removal. 

Ruby Bells

Most Coral Bells have simple flowers of white or light pink which do not detract from the brilliant foliage. However, there are exceptions. Both 'Ruby Bells' and 'Hercules' have rather simple green foliage but brilliant flowers of ruby red and cherry red, respectively. 

The foliage of Coral Bells comes in virtually every color from bronze, purple, chartreuse, black, pinks, corals and yellows. There is a color for every garden! Cultivars to check out are 'Berry Smoothie' (fuchsia veined foliage), 'Kassandra' (caramel colored leaves with burgundy backsides), 'Palace Purple' (burgundy colored foliage) and 'Citronelle' (chartreuse).

Regina

Another exception to the brilliant foliage-white flower rule is 'Regina'. This cultivar sports gorgeous deep burgundy leaves with silver overlay and purple undersides. The flowers are a beautiful medium pink which plays wonderfully off the deep foliage color. 


If you're looking for easy to grow plants that will add color and drama to those hard-to-plant spots in your garden, check out Coral Bells. There is sure to be a variety that piques your interest.

Perennial Profile: Daylilies

Baja Daylily

Daylilies are so named because each bloom lasts for one day. However, a healthy plant will have 50 or more blossoms giving it a bloom time of a month or two. In addition to a long bloom time, the foliage of daylilies is the perfect camouflage for declining spring plants such as tulips and daffodils. Daylilies look best when combined with other blooming perennials.

This easy to grow perennial is not terribly finicky about either sun or soil conditions and once established, is difficult to kill. While daylilies perform best in full sun, they will take some shade, although blooming will be less prolific. Daylilies can survive and thrive in hot, dry spots in your yard once established. These characteristics make daylilies perfect plants for spots in the garden where other plants may struggle. 

Some notable varieties include:

Stella d'Oro: Far and away the most prolific blooming daylily. This gold-yellow lily blooms from late June through September. Often called a re-blooming daylily it's really more of an ever-blooming. This is a compact daylily that gets up to 18 inches tall and wide. Often overused because of its constant blooming, Stella d'Oro makes a bigger impact as a single specimen planted in a mixed garden rather than in a mass planting. Don't overlook this beauty just because it's ubiquitous. 


Happy Returns: This is another compact, ever-blooming daylily which gets about 18 inches tall and wide. Happy Returns is a clear lemon-yellow and a more open flower than the Stella's tulip-shaped bloom.


Purple d'Oro: A medium sized daylily at 20 inches tall and wide, this plant re-blooms with deep lavender pink blooms. A great companion to yellow daylilies.


Baja: At 36 inches tall and wide, Baja is the typical size of most daylilies. However, as a re-blooming lily, this plant will add beauty to the garden from June through September. The flowers are large (5-6 inches wide) with deep red petals and yellow throat.


Daylilies are a must for every garden. Coming in a variety of colors and sizes, there is certain to be a daylily to fit into every garden scheme.

Perennial Profile: Catmint 'Walker's Low'

Catmint is an easy to grow, long flowering perennial for sun or partial shade. The gray-green foliage gives way to blue-violet flower spikes in early summer and last through the fall. This plant is not terribly picky about soil and, in fact, will become leggy and less attractive with too much fertilizer. It's also drought tolerant, but puts on it's best show with adequate moisture. 

Despite this plant's name, it is neither low nor overly attractive to cats. The name, "Walker's Low" is after a garden in England and has nothing to do with the size of the actual plant. That said, Walker's Low is one of the more compact varieties of catmint but will still reach heights of 24-36" with an equal spread. As for it's common name of catmint, it's true that this plant is attractive to cats (we can attest to that as the cats in the greenhouse like to frolic in it), however, it's not nearly the same attraction as to it's close cousin, catnip. It's safe to plant this in your yard without fear of hanging an open invitation sign to all the neighborhood cats. However, this plant will attract an abundance of flying critters in the form of butterflies, moths and bees. Catmint has also been said to deter rodents. 

Catmint is good along borders where it can trail over the edge or as a companion plant to roses. The blue-violet flowers are a beautiful color to combine with yellow or orange flowers for a striking garden show. 

Did You Know? Tulips Are Like Onions

In honor of one of the few flowers soon to bloom here in Minnesota despite our repeated snow covered mornings, I thought I would share a bit of trivia about tulips. 

Contrary to popular belief, tulips are not native to Holland. The flowers originated in South Central Asia in what is now Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. The name tulip is thought to come from the Turkish word "dulband" which means turban which the tulip flower is thought to resemble. Dulband is translated to "tulipa" in Latin. 

In 1636-37, Holland had "Tulipmania" where the price of a single bulb was more than the cost of a house at the time. Rare bulbs were sold for exorbitant sums (up to $100,000 by today's standards) and to have tulip bulbs at your home was as impressive as having say, a Ferrari today. Eventually, thousands of tulips varieties were brought to market and there was a "Tulip Crash". Yet, tulip cultivation still remains a large part of the Dutch culture. 

Tulips are unique in that the flower stems will keep growing after they are cut. Snip a couple of stems from your garden and put them in a vase of water. The stems will grow up to an inch or more. Cut tulips don't need any special care in a vase except lots and lots of water. They are thirsty plants and need water added every day. 

Lastly, if you're in a pinch, tulip bulbs can be used in place of onions. Which is interesting but mostly irrelevant. Who has more tulip bulbs than onions? I guess if your tulips have gone awry, which they tend to do after several years of multiplying, it might be a good way to cull down the tulip bed. 

Did You Know? Cucumbers ARE Cool

We've all heard the expression "cool as a cucumber". Turns out that the statement is much more than an expression. On a warm day, the inside of a cucumber on the vine can measure as much as 20 degrees cooler than the outside air. This is due largely to its high water content. 

The cucumber's high water content is also one of its main nutritional values as adding cucumbers to a meal is an easy way to increase both water and fiber intake. And they taste good!

Another cooling property of cucumbers is that they contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and caffeic acid, which are known to soothe skin irritations and reduce swelling. So cucumbers on swollen eyes? Actually effective! 

For more information about the properties and nutrition of cucumbers, check out WHFoods: Cucumbers. 

Did You Know? Geraniums Aren't Really Geraniums

When is a geranium not a geranium? When it's a pelargonium!

Uh, yeah. Which is what exactly? Pelargonium is the correct botanical name for the tropical plants we commonly grow as annuals and call geraniums. Sometimes they are referred to as garden geraniums or possibly storksbill geranium (although that's a new one to me). Perennial in only the warmest of climates, here in Minnesota we start these popular plants in January from cuttings and seeds to have them ready for sale in May. Being tropical, they need lots of time to grow from a single leaf or seed into the full blooming plant we all know and love. 

Image: Tom Curtis / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

So what, then, is a geranium? An actual geranium is a perennial plant (yes, even here in zones 3 and 4) that really looks not much like a pelargonium at all. It's often referred to as hardy geranium or cranesbill geranium. The beauty of this perennial besides the fact that it is hardy here in Minnesota is that it doesn't like rich soil. So that tough place in your garden where nothing else will grow? Try cranesbill geraniums. This plant also stands up fairly well to drought and blooms profusely. A perfect perennial in my book!

So why do these two disparate plants have the same name in the first place? While both these plants are still in the same botanical family, they were originally in the same botanical genus as geraniums. It was only about 220-some years ago that the plants were split into two separate clans and it just hasn't caught on yet. Old habits die hard! 

At any rate, both of these plants are excellent choices for gardeners. What they do have in common is that they are both easy to grow and flower beautifully. Whether you choose a garden geranium or a hardy geranium, chances are you'll be pleased with it's performance.