'Early French Breakfast' Radish

French Breakfast radish: Just pulled out from the ground.

Washed and ready for consumption.

Today marks the beginning of harvest time for this season. This is the first time I planted the 'Early French Breakfast' radish and I decided that I like it.  This radish is elongated and it is red and white in color.  The part that's buried seems to have the white color.  It is a fast growing variety maturing in less than a month from sowing.  (I planted on the 29th of April and today May 26th we are eating radishes!)  It has a crisp texture and mild flavor.  We ate them plain and they are really good.  They can also be eaten as hors d'oeuvres with sweet butter and salt or added in salads and sandwiches.  My children ate them with no problem. This particular variety is known to do better in hotter climates like ours than other varieties.  I will be planting a second crop of this variety soon. 

No pesticides were used in these radishes.

Some say that radishes seem to deter beetles from infesting cucurbits (such as cucumber, zucchini and squash) when planted close to these crops.   This is an unexpected benefit if it's true.

Have you had any experience regarding this crop protection attribute of radishes?

'Abraham Darby' Rose

Rosa 'Abraham Darby' flower bud is complemented by the blue flowers of common sage.

Of the David Austin roses in my garden, 'Abraham Darby' is my favorite.  It blooms early in the season with beautiful old-fashioned peach pink flowers, glossy foliage.  Compared to 'Evelyn', the flowers of 'Abraham Darby' have less of the yellow tint and the petals are more ruffled.  It has a strong refreshing citrusy rose fragrance.   In my garden where summer temperatures can get very high, 'Abraham Darby' continues to bloom and maintains its beautiful appearance.  It is tolerant to heat and resistant to diseases.  So far there have been no signs of black spots and rust.  I had this rose for almost five years now.  

   

Rosa 'Abraham Darby' is a David Austin (a renowned rose breeder in the UK)-bred rose which was introduced in 1985.  It was named after one of the founders of Industrial Revolution.  

A buoquet of 'Abraham Darby' flowers

Would you choose this rose for your garden?

Planting Small Seeds

I find it useful to cover the planted area with clear plastic sheets (such as saran wrap) to conserve the heat in the soil and prevent loss of moisture...

Covered with plastic sheets after planting - April 29, 2010

Less than a month ago I sowed seeds of the following small-seeded vegetables in my garden:

1.  Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

2.  Bok choy or Pechay ((Brassica rapa)

3.  French Breakfast Radishes (Raphanus sativus)

4.  Corn salad (Valerianella locusta)

Sometimes starting seeds directly in the ground can be a little bit tricky depending on the weather conditions.  Some of the factors that can affect germination outdoors are temperature, soil moisture, and pests (birds, snails and insects).  Low temperatures and insufficient soil moisture can delay germination.  Delayed germination consequently result in lower germination rate as some of the seeds loose viability as the conditions shift from favorable to stressful.  Sown seed can also be eaten by birds depending on the depth of soil cover.  The week that I sowed the seeds was warm and I thought that it would stay that way.  On the contrary, the weather got cold the following week; I had to do some remedial tricks to save my seeds.  I find it useful to cover the planted area with clear plastic sheet (such as saran wrap) to conserve the heat in the soil and prevent loss of moisture while the seeds are still in the process of germination.  Seeds need to imbibe sufficient moisture for the germination process to begin that's why it is important to maintain moisture.  Another advantage of putting this covering on the soil is protection from birds and even snails that can eat the emerging seeds.


When the seeds have emerged, I removed the plastic covering. At this point maintained soil moisture is still necessary although the roots have now grown to penetrate further into the soil for water.

Emerging radish-seedlings - May 4, 2010

Radishes - May 19, 2010

Bok choy - May 19, 2010

Basil - May 17, 2010

Of the four types of seed planted, the radishes emerged first, followed by bok choy, then basil.  The last one that emerged was the corn salad plant. 

Weed Eating Tree...

This sign caught my attention as I was walking to Starbucks one day.   I know what's being advertized here...but doesn't it sounds like there is a tree and a yard that eat weeds?  What do you think?

Hort Art - Garden Accents

This statue appropriately blends in with the rest of the garden and yet it invites your eyes to look.  The ivy has found its way to become part of the lady's outfit.  This combination gives a sense of connection between the accent statue and its surroundings.  There exists an impression that "she" has been there when the garden began.  The color and scale of the accent piece add to the overall success of this design.

I took this picture from one of the gardens featured in the El Dorado Hills Garden Tour (May 15, 2010).

Repotting Cymbidium

I transferred the cymbidiums from their original one-gallon pots to three-gallon ones.  Orchid mixes are very expensive so I am experimenting on cheaper alternatives.  In the forests where these orchids (not the hybrids) originate, they are growing under and on trees or in between dead plant materials.  They don't require a specified formula of potting mix.   I used ordinary semi-composted bark mulch and added some Perlite and a handful of potting soil.  Some experts might question the ingredients but this is my experiment.  It is hard to convince myself into using imported materials like coconut parts and pay huge amounts of money.  I'd like to train my orchids to go local.  :)

Evelyn Rose

We have been enjoying a lot of flowers in the garden this year.  When the kids go out to feed their pets in the morning they often make comments about how fragrant the air is.  The strongest fragrance is coming from the orange blossoms but there are several roses that are really sweet-smelling.  One of them is the rose 'Evelyn'. 

'Evelyn' rose has beautiful flowers.  The pictures give a very accurate representation of the typical spring bloom.  The color is what I would call peachy-pink.  There's a color gradient that goes more intense towards the center of the flower, the outer petals being light pink.    In the spring the color slowly fades into very light pink.  During hotter months, the color is quite different.  They do not have the exciting color gradient.  I think that although Evelyn has a very desirable appearance and fragrance, its beauty is not consistent in all growing conditions.  In my yard I have two of them.  I transferred the one which used to be in my vegetable garden to a different location where it would get some shade during the later time of the day.    We'll see how they do when our temperatures rise to 100-115º F come July-August. 

Based on my own observations, 'Evelyn' does not have a beautiful form as a plant.  The canes and stems are long with a very heavy cluster of flowers on the ends.  As a result they tend to bend down.  (I had to prop up the flowers whe I took these pictures.)

This year I will try to limit fertilizer application to help shorten the canes and branches.  We'll see if it works.  So far I have not applied fertilizer to my roses this year.  After the first blooms are spent I will fertilize some.

'Evelyn' is one of the David Austin English roses.  It resulted from a cross between Tamara (pink rose)and Graham Thomas (yellow rose).  I believe it was bred and selected to be(become) the basis of  Crabtree & Evelyn's signature fragrance.