preview

How To Grow Incredibles

Decent Essays

I learned to garden in a hot climate. You didn’t start seeds in annoying little pots indoors; you just tossed them in the garden and they grew. Then you had a tomato and basil jungle forever, as it re-seeded itself enthusiastically every year.

So, I’m less than thrilled by the process of growing most edibles around here. I hate the little pots, the mess they make on precious south-facing windowsills, and the mortality rate of transplanted seedlings. I’m on the lookout for perennial edibles. Sadly, I have yet to find a perennial tomato, but I’m forever hopeful. In the meantime, I haven’t done too badly with herbs.

The herbs in my nice never-frozen garden just kept getting bigger, until they were taller than I am. That won’t happen here. However, …show more content…

Locate them near plants, like spruces, that you’d like to protect from spider mites.

Other companion planting stars come back every year, too. Rue repels Japanese beetles near fruit trees and roses (and according to some cultures, it also repels ghosts, always a bonus). Bronze fennel, the preferred host of a swallowtail butterfly, is far less attractive to aphids, who won’t come near it. Give your cats a treat and plant them a perennial catnip patch. They’ll have double the fun trying to catch all the pollinators who adore catnip, too. Take it from me, butterflies can fly very quickly when they have to.

Sweetly scented lemon balm, pungent French tarragon (forget the Mexican variety!) and celery-flavored lovage will all thrive in partial shade, coming back bigger and better every year. Mint also tolerates shade well, but be careful with it, as it will come back much bigger every year, or at any rate, much more widespread. Plant it either in containers or in an area where you don’t mind it taking over, like to stabilize a sloping stream bank. Shorter varieties like chocolate or orange mints can actually be good ground covers where you don’t want to

Get Access