Rose -Tips For Growing Rose

Planting Rose Seeds:

Fill a container with sterile seed starting mix. Small seedling starting trays make it easy to care for many seeds at once. Alternatively, use plastic drinking cups with a hole punched in the bottom, to make root growth easier to view.

• Regular soil is not recommended, as it may not drain well enough and cause the seedlings to rot.

Plant the seeds. Some store-bought seeds can be planted immediately. If you germinated your own seeds as described above, plant them as soon as they begin to sprout. Plant with the sprout pointed downward, as this is the root. Lightly cover them with soil, about 1/4 inch (6 mm) deep. Space seeds at least 2 inches (5 cm) apart to minimize competition.

• Sprouted seeds should emerge as seedlings within a week. Store-bought seeds that do not require home stratification may take several weeks.Seeds that have not been stratified, using the germination process above, may take two or three years to emerge.

Keep the seedlings in warm, moist soil. Keep the soil damp, but not soggy. A temperature between 60 and 70ºF (16–21ºC) is ideal for most rose varieties. The seedlings typically thrive on six hours of sun or more each day, but you may wish to research the parent rose's variety to get a better idea of what your rose's prefer.

Learn when it's safe to transplant seedlings. The first two leaves visible are usually "cotyledons," or seed leaves. Once the seedling grows several "true leaves," with a more typical rose leaf appearance, it is more likely to survive transplanting. Transplanting is also easiest in winter or early spring, not during the height of the growing season.

• It may be a good idea to transplant the seedlings soon if you notice the plant is root-bound, with its roots encircling the container.
• Do not transplant it outside until after the last frost.

Transplant to a larger pot or outdoors. When you decide to transplant, wait for cool, cloudy weather or early evening, when the plant is losing less water. Moisten the seedling to keep the soil around it together. Dig a hole in the new location, large enough for the root mass, then remove the soil around the seedling in a clump. Transfer this soil clump into the new location, filling the hole with potting soil if the ordinary garden soil is low quality. Water the soil thoroughly after transplanting.

• Try to plant to the same level as before. Do not bury part of the stem that was previously above the soil level.

Care for your roses. Once the transplanted seedling is looking healthy again, you can start watering it as normal. Fertilizing a few times during the warm growing season may help your plant grow and bloom if you follow the fertilizer instructions, but keep in mind that some varieties of rose will not bloom at all during their first year of life.

cauliflower-Tips For Growing cauliflower

Cauliflower is a cool-season crop in the cole family (Brassica oleracea), which includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collards, kale, and kohlrabi. However, it is more temperamental than its relatives. The trick to growing cauliflower is consistently cool temperatures, which is why almost three fourths of commercial cauliflower is grown in the coastal valleys of California. However, you can try growing it at home no matter where you live, but timing is important to catch the temperature just right. It also needs rich soil and a steady supply of water and nutrients.

Cauliflower likes temperatures in the 60s. In young cauliflower plants there is a fine balance between leaf and head growth. Any stress tips the balance toward premature heading, or “buttoning,” when the plant makes tiny button-sized heads.

This can happen when it’s too hot or too cold. This also happens if plants sit in packs too long, or are stunted by drought or poor soil.

Now that you know the challenges, allow us to equip you for success.

Like most vegetables, cauliflower needs at least 6 hours of full sun each day; more is better. It also needs fertile, well-drained, moist soil with plenty of rich organic matter. The soil pH should be between 6.5 and 6.8 for optimum growth and to discourage clubroot disease. To be sure of soil pH, test the soil. You can buy a kit, or get a soil test through your regional Cooperative Extension office. Apply fertilizer and lime according to test recommendations. Add nitrogen-rich amendments such as blood meal, cottonseed meal, or composted manure to the soil or work a timed-release vegetable food such as 14-14-14 into the soil thoroughly before planting. For a boost, use Bonnie Herb & Vegetable Plant Food at planting and again after plants begin to develop new leaves and again when they start forming heads.

Cauliflower plant growing in a field before the head forms
Before the head forms, a cauliflower plant looks much like collards, its close cousin.
Set out spring plants early enough that they can mature before the heat of summer, but not so early that they freeze; 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost is about right. Be prepared to protect them from cold weather with a cover. You can use fabric row covers or homemade items such as old milk jugs.

Set out fall crops about 6 to 8 weeks before the first frost. Be prepared to shade them, if needed, to protect from heat.

Space cauliflower plants about 18 inches apart in the row with 30 inches between rows to allow room for walking. Remember, plants need an even moisture supply to avoid stress. Organic mulch will help keep the soil cool and moist and will suppress weeds. Apply 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week if rain falls short.

When the cauliflower heads are about 2 inches wide, you may need to pull the leaves up over each little head and fasten with a clothespin or twine. This shades the head to ensure it will be white and tender at harvest (called blanching). Plants are supposed to “self-blanch,” in which the leaves naturally curl over the head, but watch them because they often need the help of a clothespin.


Troubleshooting
Besides avoiding stresses, watch for cabbage loopers, imported cabbageworms, cabbage root maggots, aphids, and flea beetles. Possible disease pests include black leg, black rot, clubroot, and yellows. Contact your regional Cooperative Extension office for more information on pest identification and current control recommendations. The best way to minimize problems is to keep your plants healthy and your garden clean.


Harvest and Storage
The head is usually ready about a week or so after you tie up the leaves. Leave the head to grow as long as it stays compact (ideally, it will grow to 6 to 8 inches in diameter). You can untie it to peek and tie it back if needed. If the head begins to open up, cut it from the plant at the base of the neck no matter how small it is because it will only decline in quality. The head should keep in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks.

Tomato -Tips For Growing Tomato

It doesn’t take an expert gardener to appreciate the virtues of a homegrown tomato. But even experienced gardeners can sometimes experience challenges in growing these beauties to perfection. Here are some ideas you can apply this season to improve your tomato growing talent.

Start with great soil and a healthy plant. Although it sounds simple, you can eliminate most of your tomato growing challenges with these simple mandates. Well-amended soil, full of rich compost and other organic material can be your secret weapon to having the best tomatoes around. There is no man-made substitute for good old-fashioned compost. In fact, many of the best tomato experts grow their plants in pure compost.

To illustrate this point, last year I grew tomatoes in raised beds. I had amended the soil with composted manure and it was good, but not straight compost. Not far away, I had my compost bin, full of aged, rich dark compost. Growing from it was a volunteer tomato plant. I decided to let it grow to see how it would do. I did not provide any supplemental care.

Over the next two or three months, this composted tomato plant outperformed the competition in every way. In spite of my best efforts to nurture the raised bed tomato plants to perfection, the composted plant grew happily and undemanding. It never got diseased, stayed beautifully dark green, and the only pest was a tomato hornworm or two, which I easily picked off by hand. As the season matured, so did this plant. It was heavy with abundant large red tomatoes. This plant produced right up until the first frost, and the taste was outstanding.

Which leads to my next point. A healthy plant is a happy plant and a happy plant will taste best. By starting with disease free plants, you have a better chance of keeping them that way. There are many disease resistant varieties available. These plants are known as hybrids, and have been developed to make them more resistant to common diseases. However, I find that the hybrid varieties don’t compare to heirloom tomatoes when it comes to taste. The downside of heirlooms is that they can be more susceptible to disease problems. However, there are ways to minimize the risks.


Plant tomatoes deeply Assuming you have provided rich well-drained soil, pick a sunny spot and don’t plant your tomatoes too close together. Tomato plants thrive in full sun and are healthier when provided good air circulation.

Plant your seedlings deep, very deep. Tomato plants are one of the few vegetables that will root along the stem. The larger the root system, the better the plant will be. You can bury a tomato plant up to the top set of leaves. I leave about two sets of leaves showing. This step will ensure a larger root area and a more vigorous plant.

In the planting hole, I add a tablespoon or two of dolomitic limestone and mix it into the soil. This step can help ward off blossom end rot in emerging fruit. Cover the plant and water it in thoroughly with a diluted mix of liquid fertilizer. This is the one of the few times that it is acceptable to soak the foliage. I prefer to use an organic blend of fish emulsion and sea kelp. This adds nitrogen and phosphorus to get the plants off to a good start. Another alternative is to use Miracle Grow or its equivalent.

Manage the water. Tomato plants like deep watering. A soaker hose is best for this because it allows the water to soak deep into the soil, without wetting the foliage above. Don’t over water, but make sure they are getting enough. As the plants get a bit taller, add mulch. For tomatoes, the most important role of mulch is to prevent soil born disease pathogens from splashing onto the foliage and spreading disease. Place the mulch to within two inches from the stem, in a layer two to three inches tall. I place my mulch right over the soaker hose.

As the plants grow up, make sure they are supported in some way. There are many options for this, but the plants will become tall and the weight of the fruit can easily bend and break the plant stems and branches.

These guidelines will get your tomato plants off to a great start. Like with so many examples in gardening and life, how you start out makes all the difference in the world with the success of the harvest.

Drumstick-Tips For Growing Drumstick

Also known as the Horseradish tree or Tree of Life originated in India and has spread in popularity to many parts of Asia, Central and South America, Africa and the Pacific. This tree has delicate foliage and attractive pale yellow flowers. Possibly one of the most useful trees in the world, it produces long green pods that have been compared to a cross between peanuts and asparagus. The peeled roots are used as a substitute for horseradish and the edible leaves make a highly nutritious vegetable. Claims are made that its tiny leaves contains 7 times the Vit C of oranges, 4 times the Vit A of Carrots, 4 times the Calcium of milk, 3 times the Potassium of Bananas, and 2 times the protein of yogurt. (Source: Nutritive Value of Indian Foods, by C. Gopalan, et al. ) The roots have also been documented as useful in many folk remedies. In Africa it has been also called the Miracle Tree with so many uses.

The slender, semi -deciduous, perennial tree, to about 10 m tall with drooping branches. OK to keep pruned under 2mts as its the leaves that is what is best used in cooking.

Thrives in subtropical and tropical climates, flowering and fruiting freely and continuously. Grows best on a dry sandy soil. Makes an ideal shade tree with high drought resistance.

Other Names: Horseradish tree, moringa oleifera,Drumstick.

Drumstick is a very useful vegetable and widely used in South Indian food preparations, especially SAMBAR - the dish served as first course in South Indian Meals.

Growing drumstick is a very easy task. It grows into a tree, and can be trimmed at frequent intervals. The branch, when planted, gives rise to a new tree, so its really easy to create new drumstick plants very quickly. Initially, the new branch will appear to dry. Within a few days, however, beautiful new green leaves sprout.

Within six months, you will find hundreds of drum sticks swaying nicely from the tree. it makes sense to grow this nice tree. The leaves too are a rich source of nutrients and can be added to any dish. They are a bit pungent, so its better to fry it before adding it to any other dish.

Snake Gourd - Tips For Growing Snake Gourd

Planting the seed

If you are in a colder zone (like me who is in zone seven) please wait until it is warm enough to plant your seeds. Waiting until the beginning to the middle of May (in zone 7) is a good idea. If you plant them earlier, most probably your seeds may rot. If you want to save some time, and would like to start harvesting your fruits sooner, you can sow the seeds indoors by April and then transplant them to their actual location by the middle of May.

On a single pit (2 ft diameter and soil loosened to 1.5 ft deep) you can plant about ten seeds, 6 inches apart. Ten seeds are recommended particularly because, the germination percentage of snake gourd seeds are very low compared to bitter gourd. By planting 10 seeds you can expect to get about two to three plants at the end

Steps to make the snake gourd seeds germinate faster

Seed has hard coat and may take a long time to germinate. Since the germination percentage is very low (compared to bitter melons) you may need to use more seeds.

If directly seeded, the snake gourd seeds can take almost a month to germinate. There are things you can do to hasten the germination.

Moisture and temperature play a very important role in hastening the germinating of snake gourd seeds. To provide these ideal conditions, you can germinate your snake gourd seeds indoors using any of the following techniques.

1. Socking:

By early April, soak the seed for two hours in tap water. Then put a wet paper towel in a styrofoam plate, spread the seeds and cover it with another wet paper towel. Put the styrofoam plate on the top (not inside) of your refrigator (it’s warmer there). Keep the paper towel moist all the time. After about two weeks, the seeds will germinate.

At this time you can transfer them to your small containers. Let them grow for another 3 to 4 weeks in those containers. By that time they will develop a few new leaves. Now you can transplant them to the field. When you transplant, make sure to provide some artifical shade for a few days to protect the young plants from the sudden exposure to the harsh sun.

2. Breaking the seed coat:

We also do a little trick to make them germinate faster by breaking their hard seed coat using pliers. To break the seed coat, you need to hold the seeds between your fingers by their thinnest side and then press them with the pliers on the ridge joining the two halves of the seed.

Be careful when you do this, if you damage the endosperm inside the hard shell, you will kill the seeds. So, before you use this approach, make sure you have plenty of seeds.

Building a trellis

This can be an easy weekend project for most people. If you build a good wood structure, you can re-use them for years to grow your bitter melons.

What you see on the picture is a trellis of size 12ft x 8ft built using the following:

Posts : 4 numbers (4 inch x 4 inch x 8 ft)
Horizontal support frame – long side: 4 numbers (2 inch x 4 inch x 12 ft)
Horizontal support frame – short side: 2 numbers (2 inch x 4 inch x 8 ft)
Horizontal runners: 11 numbers (1 inch x 2 inch x 8 ft)
All of these were bought from Lowes. You will be able to find them in the lumber section of Lowes or Home Depot.

Steps to build the trellis

This is very similar to building a trellis for Bitter Melon. In fact we use the same trellis for growing snake gourd and bitter melon.

Prebuild the structure (frame) that goes on the top of the posts. You can do it in any flat surface or on your garage and carry it to the location. You will need a helper to carry it as well as to raise it when you want to nail them to the posts.

Putting the Posts
The posts were put into holes dug 1.5 ft deep. To make the posts firmly affixed to the ground, dig a narrow hole using a crowbar. Also after putting the post, when you fill-in the hole, alternate between stones and soil and stamp them into the hole using the crowbar. Pour some water while you are doing this so that the soil will go in between the stones. Once everything is dried up, your posts will be as firm as you want them to be.

Some people use concrete to install the posts. Personally we prefer to use soil (dirt) to install the posts. The main reason behind this approach is that, it is very easy to remove and relocate the posts if we use mud instead of concrete.

Irrigation

If there is no rain you must irrigate your snake groud plants at least twice a week. If you can, setting up a drip irrigation system can save you a lot of time as well as water.

Pest and diseases

That’s the beauty of it: None.

We haven’t seen any major pests or diseases attacking these plants. Since they are not native to US, there aren’t major pests or diseases. Moreover, due to the harsh winter preceding and succeeding the growing season there is not much chance for a pest or disease to survive and spread season after season.

Harvesting:

For most early varieties, you should be able to start harvesting your snake gourd in about three months after germination. You should harvest the fruits before they are too mature and start ripening. If you are growing them for the first time, it may be harder to know if they are ready for picking. However it is OK to pick them young if you are not sure of their maturity. When they are young and edible the fruit will appear turgid and hard when pressed between your fingers.

If you wait longer, the fruits will ripen. Once it ripens, the fruits will appear soft when pressed between fingers. The internals of the fruit will become watery. At this stage the fruits are not good for cooking.

Cabbage - Tips For Growing Cabbage

CABBAGE SEEDS 

Cabbage must be started indoors 6 weeks before your last frost date. You can direct sow a crop for fall harvest in mid-summer.

CULTIVATION

Avoid planting cabbage in the same spot each year as with any cabbage family crop.

GROWING TIPS

Cabbage plants need up to 1 1/2 inches of water a week. Well-amended soil is vital to ensure vigorous growth.

INSECTS & DISEASES

Cabbage is bothered by few insects and diseases. Floating row covers keep most insects at bay. Always avoid planting cabbage in the same spot each year as with any other cabbage family crop.

HARVEST TIPS

Harvest cabbage heads when they have formed tight, firm heads. Cut the stem below the head but do not pull the remaining plant. Smaller cabbage heads often develop near the base of harvested heads.

RECIPES & STORAGE

You can serve cabbage raw or cooked - it's great both ways! Try it steamed, boiled, stir-fried, sautéed or baked. Shred cabbage for delicious cole slaw and sauerkraut.

Red Onions - Tips For Growing Red Onions

Onions can be tricky to grow if they’re not planted at the right time. If planted in cold weather, they can die off or waste energy in blossoms rather than bulbs in the spring. If you’re planting seeds, start them indoors at least 6 weeks prior to planting outdoors. Onions can be planted outdoors at the end of March or beginning of April, or whenever temperatures do not drop below 20 °F (−7 °C).

How to Grow Onions

1. When you’re ready to plant, till the soil about 6 inches (15.2 cm) deep and add a layer (1 cup per 20 feet) of phosphorous fertilizer. Using a mixture such as 10-20-10 or 0-20-0 will provide an extra boost for your developing onions. At this point, be sure to remove any weeds that may be present in the garden plot you’re planting in
2. Plant onions so that no more than one inch of soil is placed above the sets or seedlings; if too much of the bulb is buried, the growth of the onion will be reduced and constricted. Space onion sets 4–6 inches (10.2–15.2 cm) apart, and onion seeds 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) apart. As your onions begin to grow, you can transplant them and space them further apart in order to increase their growing size.
3. Place your seeds in the holes you’ve dug, covering them with ½ to 1 inch (2.5 cm) of soil. Use your hands or shoes to firmly tamp the soil over the top of the onions; they grow better in firm, rather than loose, soil. Finish up planting by adding a bit of water, and you’re set to watch them grow!
4. Onions are relatively delicate plants, as they have a fragile root system that can easily be damaged or abused by weeds and tugging. Use a hoe to cut off the tops of any weeds that emerge, rather than pulling them out; tugging the weeds could tug out the roots of the onions, and make growing difficult. Give your onions about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water per week, and supplement with a nitrogen fertilizer once a month for nutrients. One month after planting, add a layer of mulch between each plant to lock in moisture and block out weeds.
5. Onions are fully ripe when the tops appear golden yellow; at this point, bend the tops so that they lay flat on the ground. Doing this will move further nutrients towards developing the bulb rather than growing the shoots. After 24 hours, the tops should appear brown and the onions are ready to be pulled. Remove them from the soil and trim off the shoots at 1 inch (2.5 cm) above the bulb and the roots. Leave the onions to dry out for a day or two in the sun, and then move them to a dry space indoors for 2-4 weeks to continue drying.

Beetroot - Tips For Growing Beetroot

The beetroot is the taproot portion of the beet plant, usually known in North America as the beet, also table beet, garden beet, red beet, or golden beet. It is several of the cultivated varieties of Beta vulgaris grown for their edible taproots and their leaves (called beet greens). These varieties have been classified as B. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris Conditiva Group.

Other than as a food, beets have use as a food colouring and as a medicinal plant. Many beet products are made from other Beta vulgaris varieties, particularly sugar beet.

Nutrition

Per 100 gram serving providing 43 calories, beetroot is an excellent source (20% of the Daily Value, DV) of folate and a good source (14% DV) ofmanganese, with other nutrients in low amounts (see table displayed at right).

Cultivars
Below is a list of several commonly available cultivars of beets. Generally, 55 to 65 days are needed from germination to harvest of the root. All cultivars can be harvested earlier for use as greens. Unless otherwise noted, the root colours are shades of red and dark red with different degrees of zoning noticeable in slices.

Grow Your Own Beetroot Plant

Beetroot will grow in any well-drained garden soil but require fertile conditions, best ensured by digging in at least a bucketful of well-rotted garden compost or organic matter, and raking in a handful per square metre/yard of Growmore or other general purpose fertiliser before sowing. Early sowings benefit from protection with horticultural fleece or cloches.

When the seedlings are about 2.5cm (1in) high thin out to leave one seedling per 10cm (4in) station.

Water every 10-14 days in dry spells. If plants are not growing strongly, apply 30g per square metre of high nitrogen fertiliser, such as sulphate of ammonia, and water in.

Beetroot can also be grown in containers

Harvesting

Pull up alternate plants once they have reached golf ball size to use as a tasty treat in the kitchen, leaving the others to reach maturity. Harvest these when they are the size of a cricket ball.

Bottle Gourd - Tips For Growing Bottle Gourd Plant

white-flowered gourd, Lagenaria siceraria (synonym Lagenaria vulgaris Ser.), also known as opo squash (from Tagalog: upo) or long melon, is a vine grown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable, or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. 

The fresh fruit has a light-green smooth skin and a white flesh. Rounder varieties are called calabash gourds. They grow in a variety of shapes: they can be huge and rounded, small and bottle shaped, or slim and serpentine, more than a metre long. Because bottle gourds are also called "calabashes", they are sometimes confused with the hard, hollow fruits of the unrelated calabash tree, Crescentia cujete, whose fruits are also used to make utensils, containers, and musical instruments. 

The gourd was one of the first cultivated plants in the world, grown not primarily for food, but for use as water containers. The bottle gourd may have been carried from Africa to Asia, Europe, and the Americas in the course of human migration, or by seeds floating across the oceans inside the gourd. It has been proven to be in the New World prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

Bottle gourd (Calabash) nutrition facts

Bottle gourd or calabash is a delicately flavored, cucurbita family vegetable. It is one of the chief culinary vegetables in many tropical and temperate regions around the world.

Botanically, calabash belongs to the broader cucurbitaceae (gourd) family of vegetables, in the genus: Lagenaria. Scientific name: Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. Some of common names are white-flower gourd, opo-squash, long squash, etc, in the west and doodhi or lauki in the Indian subcontinent.

Health benefits of Bottle gourd

Bottle gourd is one of the least calorie vegetable, providing just 14 calories per 100 g. It is one of the vegetables recommended by the dieticians in weight-control programs.

Fresh gourds contain small quantities of folates, contain about 6 µg/100g (Provide just 1.5% of RDA). Folate helps reduce the incidence of neural tube defects in the newborns when taken by anticipant mothers during their early months of pregnancy.

Fresh calabash-gourd is a moderate source of vitamin-C (100 g of raw frit provides 10 mg or about 17% of RDA). Vitamin-C, one of the powerful natural antioxidants that helps human body scavenge deleterious free radicals one of the reasons for cancer development.

Calabash facilitates easy digestion and movement of food through the bowel until it is excreted from the body. Thus, it helps in relieving indigestion and constipation problems.

Selection and storage

Bottle gourds can be available around the season in the regions wherever suitable conditions for their growth exist. In the markets, look for fresh produce featuring tender, medium size, uniform, light green color fruit. Take a close look of its stem, which may offer a valuable hint whether the produce is fresh or aged.

Avoid those with oversize, mature, yellow-discoloration, cuts and bruise on their surface. Tiny spots on the surface, however, would not lessen their quality.

At home, store them inside the refrigerator set at adequate humidity where they stay fresh for 3-4 days.

Bitter Ground - Tips For Growing Bitter Ground Plant

Bitter Ground:

This herbaceous, tendril-bearing vine grows up to 5 m (16 ft) in length. It bears simple, alternate leaves 4–12 cm (1.6–4.7 in) across, with three to seven deeply separated lobes. Each plant bears separate yellow male and female flowers. In the Northern Hemisphere, flowering occurs during June to July and fruiting during September to November.

Culinary uses

Bitter melon is generally consumed cooked in the green or early yellowing stage. The young shoots and leaves of the bitter melon may also be eaten as greens.

Bitter melon is often used in Chinese cooking for its bitter flavor, typically instir-fries (often with pork and douchi), soups, dim sum, and herbal teas (SeeGohyah tea). It has also been used in place of hops as the bittering ingredient in some Chinese and Okinawan beers.

Bitter melon is a significant ingredient in Okinawan cuisine, and is increasingly used in the rest of Japan. It is popularly credited with Okinawan life expectancies being higher than the already long Japanese ones.

In Indonesia, bitter melon is prepared in various dishes, such as gado-gado, and also stir fried, cooked in coconut milk, or steamed.

In Vietnam, raw bitter melon slices consumed with dried meat floss and bitter melon soup with shrimp are popular dishes. Bitter melons stuffed with ground pork are served as a popular summer soup in the south. It is also used as the main ingredient of "stewed bitter melon". This dish is usually cooked for the Tết holiday, where its "bitter" name is taken as a reminder of the poor living conditions experienced in the past.

In Thailand, the Chinese variety of green bitter melon is prepared stuffed with minced pork and garlic, in a clear broth. It is also served sliced, stir fried with garlic and fish sauce until just tender.

In the Philippines, bitter melon may be stir-fried with ground beef and oyster sauce, or with eggs and diced tomato. The dish pinakbet, popular in the Ilocos region of Luzon, consists mainly of bitter melons, eggplant, okra, string beans, tomatoes, lima beans, and other various regional vegetables altogether stewed with a little bagoong-based stock.

In Trinidad and Tobago bitter melons are usually sautéed with onion, garlic and scotch bonnet pepper until almost crisp.

Drumstick Allium Flowers: Tips For Growing Drumstick Alliums

By Mary H. Dyer, Master Naturalist and Master Gardener

A type of ornamental onion, also known as round-headed leek, drumstick allium (Allium sphaerocephalon) is appreciated for the egg-shaped blooms that appear in early summer. Hollow, grayish-green foliage provides lovely contrast to the pink to rosy-purple drumstick allium flowers. Drumstick allium plants are suitable for growing USDA plant hardiness zones 4 through 8.

How to Plant Drumstick Allium Bulbs

At heights of 24 to 36 inches, drumstick allium plants are difficult to miss. Showy drumstick allium flowers add beauty to sunny beds, borders, wildflower gardens and rock gardens, or you can plant them in a mixed garden with tulips, daffodils and other spring bloomers. You can also plant drumstick allium bulbs in containers. The long, sturdy stems make drumstick allium flowers ideal for cut flower arrangements.

Plant drumstick allium bulbs in spring or fall in sandy, well-drained soil that has been amended with compost or organic matter. Drumstick allium plants require full sunlight Avoid damp, poorly drained locations because the bulbs are likely to rot. Plant the bulbs at a depth of 2 to 4 inches. Allow 4 to 6 inches between bulbs.

Drumstick Allium Care

Growing drumstick alliums is easy. Water the plants regularly during the growing season, then let the foliage go dry after blooming ends in late summer or early autumn. Allow the leaves to die down to the ground.

Drumstick allium flowers self-seed readily, so deadhead spent blooms if you want to prevent rampant spread. If the clumps are overcrowded, dig and divide the bulbs after the foliage dies down.

If you live in a climate north of zone 4, dig the bulbs and store them for the winter. Alternatively, grow drumstick allium plants in containers and store the containers in a freeze-free location until spring.

And that’s it! Growing drumstick alliums is just that simple and will add an extra touch of interest to the garden