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Hi, guys!
I’ve been waking up to new surprises every day this week, like purple crocuses, hellebores, white crocuses, Katherine Hodgkins irises, daffodils and garlic, above.
There are still no sprouts in the kitchen, where I’ve started seeds of Queen Lime zinnias, nasturtiums, yellow beets, Florida cranberry (which I told you about last time), climbing Roma beans, cucuzza squash, and climbing zucchini.
I’m also growing Edelweiss for the first time. You might know it from “The Sound of Music.” I grew up hearing about the wooly white flowers from my mother, who grew up just over the Austrian border in northeastern Italy, where the plants grow naturally on the rocky ledges of the Alps.
Edelweiss was so rare and difficult to reach that some people actually fell to their deaths trying to pick them. (Yes, these were my bedtime stories LOL).
I still have the framed, pressed flower that hung on the dining room wall of my childhood home.
So, I was super excited to see Edelweiss seeds for sale. The plants thrive best under the intense mountain sun in barren, nutrient-poor soil. I’m not sure how they’ll do for me here, but I’m going to give them a try.
I’ll report back!
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: I was involved with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, St. Patrick’s Division 2 in Babylon, NY, which erected a stone monument in a local park in 2021.
I want to plant a border around it with shamrock-type plants. Is there a perennial plant resembling a shamrock that can survive Long Island winters? —Jim Killen, Babylon, NY
DEAR JIM: Oxallis regnellii and Oxallis triangularis, also called wood sorrel or Shamrock, should grow just fine for you in your zone 7 region. They’re hardy from Zones 7 through 10. Some folks even report growing them successfully in Zone 6, but I suspect microclimates play a role.
The plants need sun to part-shade and require moist (but never soggy), well-draining soil, so you’ll have to water them throughout the growing season.
Some species of Oxalis can be invasive, so be sure to get those marked “regnellii” or “triangularis.” If unmarked, opt for ones that grow from bulbs rather than ones with spreading underground rhizomes, which could become difficult to contain.
These species will grow 6-12 inches tall with a 12-24-inch spread. They’re deer- and rabbit-resistant but toxic to dogs and cats.
Got a gardening question? Ask it here.
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Avoid disturbing wet soil. Walking on or cultivating soil when it’s wet risks damaging its structure, which can be nearly impossible to remedy.
👏 Sunday shoutout
Would you believe I have no photos to post here this week? You guys have really slacked off over winter!
Send in your spring garden shots, and you could be featured next week (bonus points if you’re in the picture)!
📰This week in my Associated Press gardening column
I write a weekly gardening column for the AP, so you might have seen my byline in your local paper (or news website) — wherever in the world you happen to be. In case you miss it, I’ll post the most recent here every week.
THIS WEEK: It's not what St. Patrick used, but today's three-leaved shamrock can make a nice houseplant
LAST WEEK: For Women’s History Month, a look at some trailblazers in American gardening and horticulture
BEFORE THAT: Exciting new fruit and vegetable varieties to grow this year
ONE MORE: Dreaming of summer peaches? Some gardening tips for growing them in many climates
You can read all my AP gardening columns here.
📚📺🎵 Random things I enjoyed this week
🥕I was invited back to the Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County (NY) ’s Spring Gardening School, where I spent a lovely Saturday morning teaching a class on companion planting. I also presented a double feature for the wonderful Lifelong Learners program at Molloy University in Rockville Centre, NY.
💇🏽♀️ I had a few meetings, bought a new sofa, wrote a few columns, watched the Oscars and got my hair cut.
📺 Oh, and naturally, I have some streaming suggestions for you:
One Day (Netflix) is a British show that follows two college friends as their paths cross throughout their lives. I laughed, I cried, I cried some more.
The Tourist (Netflix) is a Thriller about a man who wakes up in the Australian outback and doesn’t remember who he is. Some bad people are after him — but he has no idea why.
And my nephew David recommended an old (2007) Lindsay Lohan movie I’d never seen or heard of called I Know Who Killed Me. I didn’t know what to expect, but I loved it.
☘️ And today, the O’Damianos are having corned beef and cabbage. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all!
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📧 How’m I doing?
I welcome your comments and suggestions, so please send them along — as well as any topics you’d like to see covered and questions you’d like answered in the Ask Jessica section.
I have enjoyed purple shamrocks for years and years. The last few years, they have some sort of rust looking stuff on the underside of the leaves. How can I prevent this? It travels to other potsof shamrocks AND on my shamrocks I have planted in my flower garden.