A few selected garden plants including some with medicinal values and food values:

Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). The flowering stalks of the Cardoon have traditionally been used as a cooked food since the times of the ancient Romans. It is certainly an acquired taste, which to date, I have not been able to acquire. However, the Cardoon is an easy-to-grow and dramatic foliage plant for one's garden. Its silvery stalks grow to about three or four feet high the first year and in the second and successing years, it produces flowering stalks up to about eight feet high that are topped with small flowerheads. Cardoon

Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus). This plant will eventually grow to become a small tree. I just bought two small one-foot high plants in one-gallon containers. It has five-leaflet compound leaves which closely resemble those of the dreaded illegal Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) plant, so you might want to keep your receipt and the plant label in case your busybody neighbors decide to report you to the FBI. Gardenw who want to be discreet may choose to grow this plant in their backyard. Chaste Tree

Cork Oak. (Quercus suber). There is a nice old Cork street tree out in suburban Lafayette, California. It seems to be growing happily unnoticed by local folks. After all, why take the trouble and effort to carve your initials in the bark of a Cork tree when you can easily spray paint the side of a building? Undoubtedly, there are many other Cork trees growing in coastal California. Cork is one of the oldest of the plant materials that has been used by man. Cork has been in the news recently with the revelation that the American major league baseball star player Sammy Sosa has been caught using a "corked" bat. The traditional cork stoppers used in wine bottles are being slowly replaced by artificial plastic cork stoppers and even (gasp!) screw-on metal caps. Cork Oak

Eucalyptus (Blue Gum). (Eucalyptus globulus). The Blue Gum Eucalyptus starts out very small (naturally) and eventually grows to a large evergreen tree. I planted some seeds received directly from Australia a year ago April and now I have three healthy plants that are each over two feet high. They are sporting the blue-green leaves that are characteristic of the juvenile plant. Now side branches are beginning to appear near the tops of the plants. Eucalyptus (Blue Gum)

Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica). In the late spring I ordered two of these trees and received two bundles of five each instead. Now I may have a small Green Ash forest in the backyard in a few years. Said to be attractive to eastern birds. Its leaves are definitely very attractive to an unknown insect that has taken half-moon and full-moon shaped bites out of them. Green Ash

Hollyhock (Althaea rosea). The Hollyhock is a traditional English cottage garden plant. I have a tall (eight foot) Hollyhock that has many single rose-purple flowers. The first year it was a low plant with several large leaves. This spring it put forth its single tall spike. Hollyhock

Licorice Plant (Helichrysum petiolatum). This is an easy-to-grow warm-climate perennial plant. It is drought tolerant and will spread rapidly in your yard in coastal California. Much easier to maintain than a putting-green grass lawn, but it would have to be classed as part of the "rough." Licorice Plant

Onion, Pregnant (Ornithogatum caudatum). I have several of these plants leftover from my apartment-dwelling days. I had purchased them from a gardening neighbor who propagated many plants in her large yard. in San Carlos, California. She didn't know their scientific name, but I eventually identified it. They grow nicely in large clay pots. Onion, Pregnant

Red Apple (Aptenia cordifolia). This is a charming little border plant that enjoys warm climates. I first noticed it growing in a neighbor's yard down the street in San Carlos, California. It took awhile to sleuth out its true identity. Recently, I found a small piece lying on the sidewalk. I took it home and placed it in a small glass of water and it soon produced some roots. I then transplanted it into a small clay pot. It managed to produce a small red flower while in the water glass (talk about the will to reproduce). Red Apple

Scented Geraniums or Pelargoniums These members of the Geranium family are frost-tender and thus can only be grown outdoors all year around in North America in Florida, coastal California and other warm areas. Elsewhere, Scented Geraniums can be cultivated outdoors in pots in the summer and moved indoors to avoid damaging frosts. Scented Geraniums or Pelargoniums

Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) - I have a small patch in my backyard garden that has been set aside for California native shrubs. It now includes two small Toyons to go with the Live Oaks, the Fremont Cottonwood and the Coyote Brush. The Toyon is a slow-growing evergreen Califoronia native shrub. Toyon

End.

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This web page was recently created by James Sayre.

Contact author James K. Sayre at sayresayre@yahoo.com. Author's Email: sayresayre@yahoo.com

Copyright 2003 by Bottlebrush Press. All Rights Reserved.

Web page last updated on 28 July 2003.