Ground Breaking Banter - Rick
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what plants would you pick? We’re not talking because they’re pretty and you love them, but which ones would you choose for your survival? For the sake of this thought exercise, we’ll pretend it’s a climate where anything can grow. So, what are you picking?
We agree that a bamboo like Phyllostachys edulis is tops on our list, as it will provide edible shoots as well as straight, sturdy “lumber” for building shelter, tools, maybe even a raft to get off said island. Plus, even though it’s not ideal, bamboo also provides a rapidly growing source for firewood. Our second pick is coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, which will provide a consistent and reliable source of food (coconut meat) and the liquid inside can serve as water. The palm fronds can be woven into clothing, hats, bedding, and so on.
It’s on our third choice we start to diverge – Rick picks bananas, even though he doesn’t like them too much, because they are very productive and nutritious, plus the leaves can serve as plates and for cooking with steam. Stacey picks ‘Coffee Cups’ colocasia, because its unusual upturned foliage creates a cup that can catch and hold rain for fresh drinking water, and its edible roots known as taro, cocoyam, or malanga.
Want to hear the rest of our picks? Join us at the YouTube link above or on your favorite podcast platform to hear our whole conversation.
There’s no two ways about it: despite well over 325 different varieties in the Proven Winners ColorChoice line, we don’t have any that I would consider “desert island plants,” at least in terms of offering you a substantial life line under duress. While a few of our plants have some element of edibility, like rose of Sharon, Splendid Blue blueberry, and Taste of Heaven blackberry, and some maybe could even be considered structural if they had enough time to grow, none quite rise to the occasion of must-haves for survival. But of course, survival isn’t merely about barely hanging on to life, it’s about having some quality of life. So let’s pretend in our desert island scenario that your basic needs are covered and now you can have a little something frivolous. You still want it to contribute to your options on what to eat, but hey, if it can also be beautiful and long-blooming, so much the better – like today’s plant on trial, Flavorette Pear’d rose.
As you may guess from the name, this is an edible rose. Well, actually, all roses are edible, so this is a rose that was selected specifically for its taste, which is reminiscent of pears, and its soft, silky texture. Flavorette Pear’d comes to us from Serbia, where, like much of Europe, eating roses and rose products is actually quite normal. It has big, full flowers that start out pink and open white, keeping just a hint of pink blush. They have a delightful fragrance (which, of course, goes hand in hand with taste) and are prolific bloomers, so you’ll always have lovely petals on hand for your cooking. They bloom continuously without deadheading, and also exhibit good disease resistance against powdery mildew and black spot. It would make a lovely addition to a rose garden, herb garden, or just to your landscape, as even if you never actually eat it, it’s such a beautiful, fragrant rose to have around.
Roses have been used in all sorts of foods for centuries. It is very often the fruits, known as hips, that are used, but flowers feature prominently as well, being used to make rose water. You can also layer fresh petals with sugar and seal in a glass jar for a few days to make flavored sugar. You can also use the petals fresh or dried as a garnish or ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes, or just cut some flowers to enjoy indoors in a vase.
Like all of our roses, Flavorette Pear’d has been tested to ensure good disease resistance, but for the best performance, it is crucial to plant in full sun and to follow the spacing recommendations so the plant has good air flow around it on all sides. Flavorette Pear’d is actually a fairly compact rose, reaching 3-4’ tall and 3’ wide, so it’s a good space saver (especially compared to the other Flavorette edible rose we’ve introduced, Flavorette Honey Apricot, which gets 5-8’ tall). Avoid wetting the plant when you water, which helps reduce disease as well as keeps the flowers and petals in tip top shape so you can use them as needed.
Flavorette Pear’d rose is hardy to USDA zone 4 and heat tolerant through USDA zone 8. Here’s the cookbook for Flavorette roses that was produced by Pheno Geno roses for some culinary inspiration.
If you’d like to add Flavorette Pear’d rose or any of the 320+ Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs – to your garden or landscape, you’ll find a list of local retailers here.
Gardening Mail Bag - Stacey
In a recent episode, we answered a question from a listener who had aphids on her milkweed and was wondering what she should do about them. We said to wash them off or use an insecticidal soap, but listener Dale wrote to us to tell us we had given her some bad advice.
He shares research that milkweed that supports “diverse arthropod communities” is preferred by monarchs for egg laying. In other words, plants that host a variety of other insects seem to signal to the monarchs that they are a good place to put an egg. The research is based only on plants in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, which is significant since they are so close to the monarch migration sites in Mexico, but it’s interesting for anyone who grows milkweed for monarchs. Here’s a link to the article.
Im addicted to your show! I have learned so much from watching all of your episodes and I keep watching them over and over. My son-in-law has a market with a greenhouse and for the past three days (at the age of 74) I have done nothing from morning till night but help him repot plants to get ready for the spring sales. You both have mentioned that you have a deer problem in your yard. My daughter and I both have the same issue, and my son-in-law's Market gets attacked from time to time. You mentioned that you spray for deer to deter them but you never mentioned an actual product. Might I ask what you use and how well it works for you? How often do you spray and how much do you douse the plants with? Does that have a negative effect on the blooms? Love love love your show!! Thank you for any encouraging words you can give! - Linda
Both Rick and I take different approaches to dealing with deer in the way that we garden and the plants that we choose. That said, every gardener who contends with deer is going to need to use repellent at some point – even plants that are known to be deer resistant may appeal to them when they are fresh from the garden center, full of soft, lush growth. Here’s the ultimate guide to deer repellents: https://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/publications/FS810-A_UsingCommDeerReps.pdf.
Do you have a question for us? We’re happy to help! E-mail us or use the contact tab above. Due to high volume, we may not get to your question, so if you need an answer quickly, please reach out via the Proven Winners website.
Branching News - Rick
We continue our conversation on hanging baskets, with a little bonus tulip talk sprinkled in.
