Garden Wisdom Blog — how-to-grow

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) This perennial member of the mint family is native from eastern Europe eastward to China. It is a bushy, branching herb that grows to 50–100cm (20–39″) tall. Like many mints, its stems are square in cross section, and its leaves have a soft texture, being covered by minute hairs. Its white to pale-pink flowers are highly attractive to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Catnip is hardy to Zone 4, and works well in containers. Catnip has been celebrated for centuries as a medicinal herb, and it has come to be known by many names: Catmint, catnep, catrup,...

About Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea Botrytis group) Modern cauliflower has been grown since the 15th century, and it was grown almost exclusively in Italy until the 16th century when it gradually migrated to France and then to American gardens 100 years later. The Italians grew a variety of different kinds, including the traditional white and Romanesco, and various colours including purple, yellow, and green. In the 18th century German growers developed the annual cultivar which grows so well for summer and fall harvests. French gardeners perfected the biennial cultivar for winter and spring harvest in the 1800s, about the same time...

Celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) & Celeriac (A. graveolens var. rapaceum) The Latin names for the different types of celery are revealing. In both cases, graveolens means “strong smelling” or “heavily scented.” Dulce implies sweetness, while rapaceum means “turnip-like.” Few vegetables boast such accurately descriptive names. Celery leaves and flowers were among the plants discovered in garlands around the neck of Tutankhamun’s mummy, and he was entombed in 1324 BC. Homer mentions celery in his Iliad and Odyssey, so cultivation began early and it is still popular around the world. Celery, along with carrots and onions, are finely diced to...

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) Chives have been in cultivation since at least the Middle Ages in Europe, and there are references to their use in ancient Rome, but primarily as a medicinal herb. They were used to treat sunburn and sore throat, and it was believed that they would increase blood pressure and act as a diuretic. As a culinary herb, they did not really catch on until the late 18th century. Bundles of dried chive flowers and leaves were hung in some central European households to ward off evil spirits. Chives are, of course, small members of the onion family,...

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) Asparagus has very few close botanical relatives in its own family, Asparagaceae. The name “asparagus” simply comes from the Latin botanical title, with its roots in Greek and the original Persian, asparag, meaning “shoots.” The asparagus we eat, of course, are actually the young shoots of a large perennial plant, harvested shortly after appearing above ground in the spring. The shoots issue forth from an underground stem (crown), and if left to mature, form a dense cloud of diaphanous green foliage. The fern-like leaves are actually modified stems called cladodes, which emerge from the crutches of true...