Your National Gardening Association weekly news for July 8, 2017

Edible Landscaping - Edible of the Month: Figs

"Fresh figs are soft, sweet and creamy. They can be used in baking, to sweeten meats or in desserts. The fruits are high in iron, fiber, potassium and calcium. They can also be used as a laxative, so don't go overboard when munching on these fruits. The trees can be grown outdoors in warm climates or in containers in colder climates. Either way a few trees will produce more figs than you'll ever be able to eat."

Herbal Tea Recipe

"Once you've harvesting your herbs for tea, here's how to blend and brew up a healthy pot of tea."

Ornamental Onions

"You'll know these pretty plants are in the onion family from the mildly pungent odor of their leaves when cut, but they certainly won't bring tears to your eyes! The many species and cultivars of these easy-to-grow plants add color to the flower garden from spring through fall."

Saving Flower Seeds for Replanting

"Saving seeds can be economical, since a single flower can generate dozens or even hundreds of seeds. Although the procedure is simple, there are a few techniques that will improve your chances of being a successful seed saver."

Growing Edible Flowers in Your Garden

"While gardeners love flowers for their beauty outdoors in the garden and indoors in a vase, few raise them to eat. That?s a shame because many flowers are edible and bring lively flavors, colors and textures to salads, soups, casseroles and other dishes. Eating flowers is not as exotic as it sounds. The use of flowers as food dates back to the Stone Age with archeological evidence that early man ate flowers such as roses. Of course flowers have been used to make teas for centuries, but flower buds and petals also have been used from China to Morocco to Ecuador in soups, pies and stir-fires. Rose flowers, dried day lily buds and chrysanthemum petals are a few of the flowers that our ancestors used in cooking. In fact, many of the flowers we grow today were originally chosen for the garden based upon their attributes of aroma and flavor, not their beauty. "

CobraHead Introduces "mini" CobreHead Weeder

"The “mini” is about half the size of the Original CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator. It weighs less than five ounces and is 8.75 inches long. The “mini” blade is forged, tempered steel. The handle of the small tool is a recycled plastic/organic fiber composite. Left-handed or right-handed gardeners will find either tool comfortable to use. The handle shape will fit just about any sized hand comfortably."

How Beans Grow

"Most of the energy the young plant needs is stored within the seed. In fact, there's enough food to nourish bean plants until the first true leaves appear without using any fertilizer at all."

Photo of Orchid (Bulbophyllum A-doribil Candy Ann)
By sugarcane:

Photo of Bog Bean (Menyanthes trifoliata)
By RuuddeBlock:

Photo of Coneflower (Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit')
By dawiz1753:

Photo of Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Solar Fire')
By Lestv:

Photo of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta 'Autumn Colors')
By SNJDebbie24:

Photo of Siberian Iris (Iris 'Gull's Wing')
By IrisLilli:

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Notting Hill Whoopsie Daisy')
By floota:

Photo of Rose (Rosa 'Savannah')
By csandt:

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Aleta Everett Adams')
By adamsfamil:

Photo of Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa)
By RuuddeBlock: