Edibles

It comes as no that surprise that the tomato is the most commonly grown vegetable and most consider them to be an essential part of the vegetable garden. Who can resist the delicious temptation of a tomato fresh picked from the vine?

Wanna try a tomato we love? Every garden should have the Super Sweet 100 Tomatoes. This scarlet, cherry-sized tomato explodes with sugary flavor. Fruits are produced in long pendulous clusters right up to frost. Add to your favorite dish or eat them all by themselves.

Here are few juicy tips to help you grow these tantalizing treats.

Planting - Tomatoes are an unusual plant in that they can send out roots all along their stems. We suggest planting all the way up to the top set of leaves so new roots will emerge along the buried stem, helping the plant to grow quickly.

Watering - The most important maintenance for tomatoes is to ensure they get steady water throughout the growing season. It is important to avoid drench and drought to ensure fruit.

Feeding - It’s best to start your tomato plants in a rich soil, with plenty of compost. If your soil is on the poor side, you can also add fertilizer at planting time. Some supplemental fertilizing can be done mid-season. We recommend using Tomato Tone 3-4-6 for plump and juicy tomatoes or Happy Frog Tomato & Vegetable (7-4-6)

There are apple trees that flourish in orchards with foxglove and clover at their feet, and then there are apples who stand all alone, trained on wire or string on the side of a house. Apple blossoms and juicy fruit can now captivate homeowners, apartment dwellers, condo owners, suburbanites and those short on space!

New to the gardening scene are Urban™ Columnar Apple Trees that grow in a very narrow upright form with short branches. Not only are these little trees easy on the eyes, but you'll love their delicious fruit too! Urban apple trees mature to 8 to 10 feet tall, but less than two feet in diameter and are extremely healthy and disease resistant. When grown in full sun expect full-sized fruit the first year of planting, as long as there are two or more varieties for cross pollination. As trees mature, the yield of apples will increase. Now you can harvest juicy apples within easy reach of the patio or kitchen table!

Most of us wait all year for that first bite into a juicy peach, just one more reason we adore summer! If you love these juicy gems, we suggest growing your own. Peaches out of your own garden always taste the best. Here are some expert tips to get you started in the peach world:

WE RECOMMEND
July Elberta Dwarf are sometimes considered the world’s most famous peaches because of their abundance of taste, attractive color and disease resistance. They ripen to a deep, golden yellow with a blush of red. Elberta peach trees grow rapidly, and mature quickly to a height of 15 feet.

Redhaven Dwarf produces plenty of juicy fruit full of flavor ~ and it produces fruit in abundance very quickly. Not only are the peaches full of flavor, but they are also HUGE! These are one of the largest peaches you can find.

PLANT IN PAIRS
These two varieties of peach trees are normally planted in pairs so they can pollinate each other. This pollination causes your trees to produce more fruit. We recommend cross-pollinating Red Haven with the Elberta peach tree.

PLANTING
Peach trees adore the sun. Pick a place in your yard or garden that will receive full sun all summer long. Dig a large hole and add plenty of compost to the soil. This will give the tree added nutrients and help with drainage. Poor drainage in the soil will kill the root system of growing peach trees, so make sure the soil is well drained.

PRUNING
Peach trees should not be pruned before February. Avoid pruning within several days of predicted cold weather. Pruning peach trees during bloom or shortly after bloom is not ideal, but it will not adversely affect the growth of the tree or the fruit. It is better to prune a little late than too early.

TIP: Harvest the fruit before it turns completely ripe. Once it is picked, it will soften and ripen quickly. The fruit will still be hard, making it easier to handle and store. Store fruit in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight.

When summer arrives, you may turn on your TV for entertainment, but there could be an equally entertaining show going on right in your own garden with "the plants of summer." When the sun is high and the temperatures soar, these plants display beautiful blooms and foliage, often attracting bees, butterflies and birds in the process. Add these beauties to your garden for a great summertime show!

Agapanthus, also known as Lily of the Nile is an ideal, easy-to-grow perennial that produces colorful globes of blue or white trumpet-shape flowers in summer and fall. Its evergreen leaves add texture to beds, borders, and containers all year long. Prefers full sun.

Miss Molly Butterfly Bush is nice & neat shrub with compact branching and beautiful rich Sangria-red flowers. Its distinctive flower color makes late summer gardens pop and attracts tons of butterflies to the garden! This one prefers full sun and is perfect in the landscape or in a container on a porch or patio.

Blue Chiffon Rose of Sharon is a stunning shrub featuring huge double blue flowers with a lacy center. This summer-blooming shrub grows 8-12 feet, is drought tolerant and loves the sun. Plant and prune into a hedge or simply place it in sunny spot in the landscape for a profusion of beautiful blooms!

Madison Jasmine Vine is an easy-to-grow climber that produces beautiful clusters of starry flowers you can smell from feet away! The butter cream blooms are what makes this evergreen vine stand out in a crowd. 'Madison' is a cold hardy variety with glossy, dark green leaves that change to a rich bronze-red in winter. Grow it on a trellis or arbor, or along a fence. It prefers full to partial sun and rich soil well-drainage soil.

Windmill Palm has an upright, single trunk covered with dense, brown, hair-like fibers, with fan-shaped fronds that extend 1.5-foot-long. A very slow-growing palm, Windmill Palm can reach 40 feet in height, but is typically seen much smaller at between 10 to 20 feet tall. This particular tree works well as an accent tree or while still small, can placed in a container.

Bountiful Blueberry is an tasty evergreen shrub offering lots of large, super-sweet berries and boasts dramatic foliage with white bell-shaped flowers in the summer. This plant adores the sun ~ the more sun, the more berries! Plant in the garden or in a container with other edibles or flowers for a truly unique planter.