The 2015 Seed Savers Exchange catalogue of heirloom seeds celebrates 40 years of “Passing on our garden heritage.”
Diane Ott Whealy, co-founder, says “It all started with Grandpa Ott’s morning glories,” whose seed pods she helped gather as a child. Among the flower listings is Grandpa Ott’s Morning Glory, a beauty in deep purple with a luminous red star at the throat.
For its sheer visual beauty, this catalogue is not to be missed. Every listing is accompanied by a sizable colour photo. The six pages of peppers and nine tomato pages are glorious.
Grandpa Ott’s has long been a personal favourite morning glory. It’s stunning. A newer flower discovery from SSE has been Starfire Signet Marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia). I’ve grown these lacy-leaved, small-flowered marigolds for decades under the names Lemon Gem, Orange Gem and others, but the Starfire mix has produced the most effective display of all.
I started the seeds indoors in April and located small clumps of the transplants into the spaces between small shrubs and perennials in a newly planted bed. The clumps formed neat little bushes with a fiery colour that intensified as nights began cooling later in the summer.
A few more highlights:
• Mexico Midget, winner of the 2014 SSE tomato taste award, is an early staking tomato that bears “hundreds” of dark red cherry tomatoes with “huge flavour for such small fruits.” This is a source too for the popular Paul Robeson tomato.
• Painted Lady runner bean dates back to the early 1800s and will be of interest to gardeners who experienced poor pod set in last summer’s heat. The vines bear masses of beautiful red and white blossoms that are “less affected by warmer temperatures than other runner beans.”
• Squash. The five pages of squash and pumpkin listings are paradise for lovers of these edibles. I’m taking on two new (to me) varieties. Sibly, a banana squash that is also called Pike’s Peak, won the SSE staff taste test in 2014 for its “thick, sweet flesh.” Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck is like a winter squash equivalent to the climbing zucchini Tromponcino. It too has long, slim fruits with all the seeds at the bulbous base. This squash is easy to prepare: “Simply cut the long curved neck into rings and bake.”
• Peppers. Fans of hot peppers will like the selection. All the pepper varieties are classed for their degree of heat, from sweet through “sizzling hot.” I’ve chosen Aurora, a miniature plant with small, medium hot, upward pointing fruits that ripen from lavender to deep purple, then to orange and finally to red. A few pots of Aurora will look fine on the patio and add a bit of sparkle to selected dishes.
Almost every listing in the SSE catalogue tells a story of the variety’s origins and of the people and families who grew it. The catalogue is a colourful history of seeds. seedsavers.org.
Calling all clubs. Thanks to the clubs and garden-related organizations that have already sent in notices of meetings and events for 2015. As the new year’s programs are launched, this is an invitation to send details to me for inclusion in the Events portion of the column.
If your group has finalized plans for a flower show, plant sale or other event, please send details to [email protected].
To be sure of reserving space in a column for your event, send the information at least three weeks before its date, or even earlier if possible. To allow for computer issues and other assorted life glitches, I work a week to 10 days ahead of publication dates, sometimes more if I need to take some time off.
Include a description of the meeting or other event with the location, time, cost of admission and points of interest. Please do provide both the day of the week and the date. It’s easy enough to type in a wrong number, and a check between day and date allows me to pick up conflicts that sometimes occur between them. A phone number as well as the email address for further information is helpful.
Please place all the information, if possible, in the body of the email rather than in attachments.
GARDEN EVENT
Bonsai meeting. The Vancouver Island Bonsai society will meet on Monday, Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Garth Homer Centre, 813 Darwin Ave. The discussion topic will be Winter Silhouettes. The evening’s activity will focus on creating the impression of age by carving trunks and branches. victoriabonsai.bc.ca.
