Day 4 of Spring Garden Show 2019

Sunday, April 28, 2019

During the last day for this year’s Spring Garden Show, I decided to attend 5 seminars. At 11 am, I decided to check out a seminar about edible flowers. Ancient cultures in Persia, India, Turkey, Arabia, Romans, and Greece enjoyed a variety of plants for food and medicinal purposes. Some of the food might include green and fruit salads, jams, jellies, syrups, baked goods—cakes and bread, puddings, custards, ice cream, sorbets, vegetables, teas, beverages, infusion teas and drinks, and candles.

But, first, remove the stamen and pistil from the flower before eating. These parts just aren’t tasty. The Pompom Marigold flowers are related to the tomato, in which it is a good idea if they are planted together, although the marigold isn’t edible. But the flowers are likely to attract beneficial insects to the garden to help pollinate the edibles.

Don’t put toxic chemicals in your garden. It is better to use a container, organic soil, cactus, pumice, and perlite for drainage. Manure is good to use, as well. Don’t trust Wikipedia for research, and Beware of Begonias. If you are seeking trusted food suppliers and home gardens, look for books written by experts. These are good sources for research. Make sure your edibles are grown by organic fertilizer, and without any pesticides. Harvest your edibles during the early morning hours or later in the afternoon. Wash gently to remove dirt. Take out the white flower base, pistil, and stamen.

10 Best Tasting Flowers

• Borage—all parts are edible. It is also medicinal and food.
• Calendula—mostly known as “poor man’s saffron.” Medicinal and food
• Chives
• Elder flowers
• Lavender is savory and sweet food
• Nasturtiums can be used as dolma leaves alternative.
• Pineapple sage is used in a mojito
• Squash blossoms can be used with stir fry and pan fry
• Rose petals—used for making rosewater, teas, and desserts
• Violets—used for purple martinis.

The 12:30pm seminar was about pollinating your garden by attracting bees, butterflies, birds and beneficial insects. Grow edible plants that attract beneficial wildlife that will help your garden thrive. Add both floral and edible plants in your garden to create a more balanced ecosystem. There will be fewer bugs and issues. And, there will also be a variety of colors and texture, which will look nice and meditative. Zinnia is an edible flower. It needs full sun, and it comes in oranges, pinks, yellows, and violets. A super bloom is often caused by lots of rain. Other flowers include poppy and sage. Such flowers have nectar and pollen. Borage are blue flowers. They are drought-tolerant and easy to plant. Flowers with tubular shape attract hummingbirds. Calendula grows many medicinal flowers.Herbs, such as comfrey, are drought-tolerant. African Blue Basil and lavender need full sun, not much water, and hot climate. Daisies are edible. Agastache are native to America. It includes Navajo Sunset, Lemon Balm, and Golden Leaves Sunflower. Flies and wasps are great pollinators. Hence, invite them into your garden to be your natural gardeners. Weeds are edibles. Other flowers that pollinate include Open Face Zinnia, Marigolds, viola, violets, roses, honeysuckle, lime zinnia, black-eyed Susan.Geraniums are scented and edible. They grow all year, and they need full sun. they smell like roses.

At 2 pm, I went to Macys Home Store for the last food demonstration. Two French chefs made three French recipes. Chef Tony Esnault from Knife Pleat. I will post the recipes later in veganized form.

The last seminar at this event is about taking care of roses.

Rose care involves careful selection, as well as proper handling of irrigation, soil, fertilizer, pruning, weed management, insects, and diseases.

Roses need full sun, which is around 6+ hours. They are a bit heat tolerant, but they prefer afternoon shade in hot temperatures. They also need well-drained soil or raised beds, then place in big pots, but not near shrubs and trees. There should be space between bushes for air circulation and protection from wind. They don’t really need shade, unless in a very hot area, as well as they don’t need to compete for water and nutrients. It is a good idea to mix roses with other plants in order to keep pests off roses.

2 categories of roses include modern mid-1800s and antique prior roses. Modern roses are hybrid tea roses, floribundas, grandifloras, climbers, miniatures, and shrubs.

Pot or bare root? Pot is more expensive. But it depends on your available space, color, and fragrance as well as pest and disease resistance. The bare root roses prune canes to 8 to 12 inches above bud union. Cut damaged cane and soak in water before planting. Dig a hole—2 feet and 8 inches diameter. Form a cone in the bottom. Spread roots over the cone area and backfill. Water thoroughly. The bud union should be 1 to 2 inches above soil surface.

Frequently water when soil dries out. Keep soil moist, especially for newly planted rose.

17 inches deep—new growth visible—irrigate deep for good drainage. Don’t overwater. Use overhead spray, drip or flood, mulch, and allow to naturally dry. Overhead water cleans and refreshes foliage. Mulch conserves moisture and prevents weeds. Pebbles are also good.

Use 3-number fertilizer, which contains nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. It is good for bloom cycles and new growth. How does the fertilizer function? Nitrogen is good for leafy veggie growth. Phosphorus is good for flowering, seeds, roots, and production. Potassium is good for increasing size and quality of fruits and vegetables. Increasing disease-resistance for much healthier plants.

Pruning enables strong growth, removal of dead or disease wood, shapes bushes, and helps blooming and creating new shoots. Do pruning during the end of the dormant season. Use sharp shears, and make sure the shears are clean. Remove anything dead, dried pieces, and other junk to shape and clean.

Climbing roses are standard tree roses. They are miniatures.

Weed control—herbicide

Pest control—larvae of lady beetle

Aphids are pests. They are natural enemies, and they need to be removed. Use 70% neem oil during the early morning hours before the bees and butterflies come out as well as make sure there isn’t any wind. Rose slug is sawfly larvae and chili thrips, which are pests.

It is best to create a wildlife habitat in order to attract beneficial insects.

Fungal diseases include powered mildew, rust, and botrytis blight. Nutrient deficiency can create fungal diseases. Avoid over-fertilization. Feed soil adequately.