December 11, 2021 - Issue #543 Read in Browser

Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle.

The Winners of the 2021 Garden.org Photo Contest are revealed! Over 4,000 photos were submitted in this year's contest and the members all voted for their favorites. We now reveal the winning photos!

The Top Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplants Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are all in the nightshade family. Let's open the Summer Vegetables Celebration Week with a look at the top varieties of each of these highly popular home garden vegetables.

Sweet Potato Basics Sweet potatoes are less popular now than they were in the 1920s, when many farm families grew them for winter food. Back then, the average yearly consumption per person was about 30 pounds. Now, with fewer people growing their own sweet potatoes, the average consumption is about five pounds per person. This is unfortunate, because like potatoes, sweet potatoes furnish us with energy, supplying sugars and other carbohydrates, some protein, calcium, iron and other minerals. They also contain vitamins A and C. Some people think of sweet potatoes only as a traditional holiday vegetable, but if you grow and store them, you can furnish your family with good nutrition for many months of the year.

Potato Essentials Here are the basics to growing potatoes.

Irish Potato Varieties There's a growing abundance of multicolored and differently shaped potato varieties available to home gardeners. To find out which potatoes do best in your area, ask around -- quiz gardeners, your local cooperative extension service office or the people at a good garden store. Ask about early maturing varieties (to give you some tasty midseason eating) and late varieties (for your main crop and winter storage). Try some red, purple or yellow-fleshed varieties, or experiment with fingerlings.

Pepper Types Seed companies break the peppers we grow down into two categories: hot and sweet. The hot types include Cayenne, Jalapeno and Anaheim. Examples of sweet peppers are Bell and Pimiento. Banana and Cherry peppers come both sweet and hot.

A Brief History of the Potato The history of the potato dates back more than 2,000 years, to the time when the Inca Indians of the South American highlands were bringing wild varieties under cultivation.

Sponsored by AgroThrive ONE WEEK comparison after one application of AgroThrive General Purpose organic fertilizer on Jamaican Sorrel plants. Photos submitted by Julian from Florida on agrothrive.com Click here to shop organic fertilizers

Devil's Backbone (Euphorbia tithymaloides) Plant Habit: Shrub, Cactus/Succulent Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade Plant Height: Can reach 6 to 8 feet in height Plant Spread: 24 inches Leaves: Evergreen Flowers: Other Flower Color: Red Flower Time: Summer, Late summer or early fall Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic Uses: Houseplant Dynamic Accumulator: B (Boron) Wildlife Attractant: Hummingbirds Toxicity: Other Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem Containers: Suitable in 1 gallon, Needs excellent drainage in pots

Elephant's Ear (Colocasia 'Electric Blue Gecko') Plant habit: Clumping Plant height: Medium (20-40 inches) Leaf base: Peltate Leaf form: Wavy, Bullate (quilted) Leaf surface (top of leaf): Glossy Leaf color (top of leaf): Blackish Leaf variegation color (top of leaf): Blackish Leaf main veins color (top of leaf): Blackish Petiole color: Similar to leaf blade, Blackish Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade Water Preferences: Mesic Plant Height: 36 inches (90 cm) Plant Spread: 36 inches (90 cm) Leaves: Unusual foliage color Flower Time: Other Underground structures: Tuber Resistances: Deer Resistant, Rabbit Resistant, Humidity tolerant Toxicity: Other Propagation: Seeds: Other info Propagation: Other methods: Division, Offsets Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger Miscellaneous: Patent/Plant Breeders' Rights, Goes Dormant

Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum viarum) Plant Habit: Herb/Forb, Shrub Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade Water Preferences: Mesic Plant Height: 4 to 6 feet, possibly taller Leaves: Evergreen, Broadleaf, Other Fruit: Showy, Edible to birds, Other Fruiting Time: Late winter or early spring, Late summer or early fall, Fall, Late fall or early winter, Winter Flowers: Inconspicuous Flower Color: White Bloom Size: Under 1" Flower Time: Fall, Late summer or early fall, Winter, Late fall or early winter, Late winter or early spring Underground structures: Taproot Wildlife Attractant: Birds Resistances: Humidity tolerant Toxicity: Other Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Root Miscellaneous: With thorns/spines/prickles/teeth

Jade Plant (Crassula ovata 'Ogre Ears') Plant Habit: Cactus/Succulent Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade Water Preferences: Dry Mesic Plant Height: 3 feet Plant Spread: 3 feet diameter Flower Color: White, Pink Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic Uses: Will Naturalize Resistances: Drought tolerant Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots

Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Rose F. Kennedy') AHS link: http://www.daylilies.org/DaylilyDB/detail.php?id=158260 Hybridizer: Doorakian Year of Registration or Introduction: 2007 Foliage type: Dormant Scape height: 29 inches Bloom size: 7.5 inches Bloom time: Midseason Plant Traits: Diurnal Bud Count: 21-25 Branching: 4-way Fertility: Pod Fertile, Pollen Fertile Bloom Traits: Edged Bloom Form: Single Color description: green with wide purple red picotee edge above green throat AHS Awards: Stout Silver Medal, Award of Merit, Honorable Mention, RWM Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade Flowers: Showy Propagation: Seeds: Will not come true from seed Propagation: Other methods: Division Ploidy: Diploid Parentage: Emerald Starburst x sdlg

King Begonia (Begonia 'Escargot') Photo by Joy

Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Chaos Theory') Photo by Henhouse

Feather Cactus (Mammillaria plumosa) Photo by DaisyI

Rose (Rosa 'Butterscotch') Photo by pmpauley

Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Mississippi Bill Robinson') Photo by Betja

Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Pioneer Woman') Photo by TBManOR

Aeonium 'Emerald Ice' Photo by Baja_Costero

Silver Princess (Eucalyptus caesia subsp. magna) Photo by bootandall

Albuca concordiana Photo by elgecko

Double Japanese Wisteria (Wisteria floribunda Black Dragon) Photo by Henhouse

Sponsored by Jung Seed Jung Seed is excited to offer Holiday Gifts for your gardener in your life. We have partnered with two local Wisconsin companies and one non-profit to bring you a unique selection of gifts gardening enthusiasts will enjoy.

The numbers from this week: 368 members joined. 3,593 posts written in our forums. 703 photos posted to the plant database. 705 plants added to personal inventory lists.

One kind word can warm three winter months.

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