'Udumalapet' and 'Pingtung Long' eggplant

I wrote my long sad eggplant story in a comment recently, but I’ll move it up here in case others have as much trouble growing eggplant as I do.

2007: White eggplant is so tasty and not always easy to find at markets, so it was one of the first things I wanted to grow in my central Virginia kitchen garden. I grew the plants from seed and set them out in late May I’m not sure about the variety. It may have been  ‘Cloud 9′, but if not, it was similar. I knew that flea beetles were a pest on eggplant, but didn’t worry much about it. I should have worried. The leaves were turned to lace and we harvested maybe 2 or 3 very small eggplants that year.

2008: So now, knowing that flea beetles might a problem, I made no attempt to defend the plants against them. Bad move. This time the plants were defoliated and we harvested zero eggplants. It may have been this year or it may have been 2009, but I changed varieties to ‘Rosa Bianca’ just in case the variety was the problem.

2009: Row covers. I was reading an English gardening magazine – Kitchen Garden – and noticed several advertisements for green-colored mesh row covers. I’ve never seen anything quite like that here and they look so much better than the white spun-material row covers we have here. So I searched for a mesh row cover and came up with Dio-Betalon, which is supposed to be durable, breathable, and transmit more light than the more common spun row covers. It’s semi-transparent, not green however. It’s also very expensive, but I bought anyway. I used it on radishes first, and some critter chewed a hole right through it and went on eating radish leaves. Durable as long as you don’t have critters. Anyhow, I had enough left that I could cover the eggplant with a new section (no unintended holes). It worked moderately well against the flea beetles, but not at all against the Colorado potato beetles (which showed up for the first time in 2008, but never got a chance that year to ruin the eggplant as the flea beetles had already done that). 2009 was a dismal, wet, cold summer (exactly opposite to this year) and eggplant likes heat. We had a total harvest of 2 or 3 small ‘Rosa Bianca’ eggplants from 4 or 5 plants.

2010: I changed varieties again, thinking that smaller-fruited eggplant would possibly have a chance to mature before something bad happens to the plants. This year I planted ‘Udumalapet’, ‘Pingtung Long’, and one plant of ‘Rosa Bianca’. I really want chubby substantial eggplant to roast whole for baba ganoush and baingan bharta, so I haven’t completely given up hope on larger-fruited varieties. I dug in some organic fertilizer at the time of planting out and got very sturdy dark green plants. I switched to ugly Agribon row cover because the good piece of Dio-Betalon I used last year ripped in the wind late last fall when I covered the fall potatoes with it. I tried to get a better insect barrier from the Agribon by weighting down the edges with pieces of wood, although I did remove it for part of the day when the plants started to flower. The good news is that there was almost no flea beetle damage this year. The bad news is that the Colorado potato beetles got in anyway. I picked them off, but the ones I missed chewed the leaves considerably. And now there’s some insect I haven’t yet identified. Anybody know what this is? (You can get a good sense of how badly some of the leaves have been devoured.)

What is this insect?

But, we have eggplant. Not a bumper crop, but enough to serve at several meals. The first thing I made was Vangi Bhaji, more-or-less following this recipe which was adapted from the English language version of Ruchira.

The second thing I made was an Eggplant and Goat Cheese salad very loosely based on a recipe in Silk Road Cooking: a Vegetarian Journey. I learned a useful technique from that recipe. Cut the eggplant into cubes (about 1 inch), toss them with olive oil and roast in the oven. You get an almost-grilled flavor this way. I roasted onions and peppers too and dressed the mixture with olive oil & lemon juice and added the goat cheese last.

The third dish was an eggplant and pork curry from The Food of Thailand.

And last night I made Burmese steamed eggplant with a chile sauce, adapted from James McNair Cooks Southeast Asian.

Lunch today is going to be grilled eggplant sandwiches. I’ll use the ”Pingtung Long’ eggplant, split lengthwise, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, grilled until soft, and then sandwiched in a baguette with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayonnaise. We’ve had countless variations on this sandwich over the years. Just about any kind of eggplant will work as long as you can slice it in large enough pieces to stay on the grill. Cheese is a nice addition, as is bacon. Roasted peppers are good. You can send it in a Middle-Eastern direction by marinating with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil before grilling, then stuff into pita or wrap in naan with yogurt and sliced cucumber. Etc. Etc. Etc.

'Rosa Bianca' Eggplant, and those bug-eaten leaves

Believe it or not, there are even 3 fruits on the one ‘Rosa Bianca’ plant this year.  We may get homegrown baba ganoush yet.

This post is doing double duty as my entry for the inaugural edition of Wendy’s Garden-to-Table Challenge, and as a plug for tomorrow’s World Kitchen Garden Day, as declared by Kitchen Gardeners International.

• Grilled Eggplant Salad
• Multi-veg Panzanella

In this hot weather bold colors seem very appropriate, and some of the most-thriving plants are some of the boldest. I knew I wasn’t going to get a photo of everything in bloom today so I picked a few things to decorate the dinner table. In the photo (roughly top-to-bottom) are Pepper ‘Bellingrath Purple’, Celosia’ Sylphid’, Zinnia ‘Carousel Mix’, Coleus ‘Pineapple Wizard’, Cosmos ‘Memories of Mona’, Salpiglossis ‘Kew Blue’ and Coleus ‘Palisandra’.

A selection for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

Here’s a more-or-less complete list of plants blooming today at Tangled Branches South, in the order in which I happened to think of them:

• Cuphea llavea (Bat-faced cuphea)
• Cuphea ignea
• Cuphea miniata ‘Summer Medley’ (self-sown)
• undetermined Cuphea (self-sown)
• Cosmos ‘Memories of Mona’
• Millet ‘Jester’
• Zinnia ‘Carousel Mix’
• Zinnia ‘Crystal White’?
• Angelonia
• Coleus ‘Pineapple Wizard’
• Coleus ‘Palisandra’ and others (self-sown)
• Salvia ‘Vista Purple’
• Lantana ‘Dallas Red’
• Verbena bonariensis
• Lonicera sempervirens (Coral honeysuckle)
• Celosia ‘Cramer’s Amazon’ (self-sown)
• Celosia ‘Sylphid’ (self-sown)
• Bronze amaranth (self-sown)
• Salpiglossis ‘Kew Blue’
• Petunia ‘Old Fashioned Vining’
• Portulaca, mixed single-flowers
• Dianthus ‘Fragrant Garden Pinks’
• Lavender ‘Munstead’ (rebloom)
• Hosta ‘Royal Standard’?

Zinnia, Coleus, Salpiglossis

I’d like to call special attention to a couple of plants. First, the zinnias. Why it took me so long to learn to love zinnias, I have no idea. They’re absolute butterfly magnets and almost totally drought-proof. Plus they’re cheap and easy from seed and available in many colors and sizes. I seem to remember them from years ago as being mildew-ridden, but these haven’t shown any signs of mildew at all. Second, salpiglossis. I’ve been looking at salpiglossis photos in seed catalogs ever since I started to look at seed catalogs. And I resisted buying the seed because “they don’t like heat and won’t grow in the South”. All the reference books and even the catalogs say so. Eventually desire got the better of all the contrary advice. And now they’re blooming in August in the hottest part of the garden in the hottest summer on record? I’ll admit that I started with three plants and now there’s only one. I did cut it back some after the first flush of bloom, but I did that with the other 2 as well. Still, I wonder how they’d do in a “normal” year and I plan to buy more seed next year.

That’s it for another Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. If you haven’t been there already, head over to Carol’s place and see what else is blooming on the internet today.

Garlic Chives Flower Buds

Well not really the flowers, but the flower buds. There was a simple and delicious recipe published earlier this year in Saveur magazine as part of a feature on home cooking in Taiwan. Supposedly the name of the dish – Cang Ying Tou – translates to “Fly’s Head”. Yum. Um. I guess the flower buds looks like flies’ heads? Anyhow, in the spring I made it a couple of times with garlic chives leaves and scallions and last year’s chile peppers from the freezer.

Flip through the calendar pages and here we are in the middle of August (how can that be?). Despite the heat and drought, the garlic chives are sprouting fresh new leaves and lots and lots of flower buds. Last night I revisited the recipe, this time using flower buds, flower scapes, fresh leaves and fresh ripe chiles.

Garlic Chives and Fresh Ripe Chile Peppers

In all my years of growing garlic chives, I never tasted the flowers and flower stalks until yesterday. I read something about them that surprised me and I didn’t really believe it until I tasted them for myself, but the flower stalks are slightly sweet. The same taste as garlic chives leaves, but sweeter.

I’d like to try the Thai recipe in the link in the previous paragraph but don’t have enough garlic chives buds right now to do it.  Maybe a few extra garlic chives plants would be a good thing. Instead of cursing their tendency to self-sow, perhaps I should be celebrating it.

PS. There is at least one variety bred specifically for flower production. I wonder which species that is. The garlic chives in my garden were supposed to be another species (Allium ramosum) which flowers in June and doesn’t spread. However, the plants turned out to be the more common garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) which blooms in August here.

Cuphea llavea 'Tiny Mice'

It must be time for my annual post extolling the virtues of Cupheas. But  you could just go back and read one of the previous ones. So instead, how about  the virtues of red?

I planted all the hummingbird favorites next to the front porch again this year and hummingbirds are almost constantly sipping from these flowers. I’m not sure that red flowers are necessary to attract hummingbirds – I’ve seen them visiting plenty of flowers of other colors – but I happen to like red flowers myself and if they make the hummingbirds take notice, so much the better. Bat-faced Cuphea (Cuphea llavea) seems to get most of their attention.

Cuphea, Coleus, Salvia

This is very nearly the same plant combination I had in 2008. Cuphea llavea ‘Tiny Mice’, Coleus ‘Pineapple Wizard’, and Coleus ‘Palisandra’ are old favorites, but Salvia ‘Vista Purple’ is new to me. The hummingbirds like every flower in this grouping so I ignore conventional wisdom and let the coleus bloom . And sometimes you get free self-sown plants that way. I didn’t plant ‘Palisandra’ this year; it just came up on its own.

Cuphea, Angelonia, Zinnia

Blue/purple Angelonia and white small-flowered Zinnia are also attractive companions for Bat-faced Cuphea. Angelonia is absolutely unshaken by any type of summer weather in my experience. It’s almost boring. You plant it in the spring and it blooms non-stop without deadheading or any attention whatsoever until frost. But it apparently has no nectar because I’ve never seen a bee, butterfly or hummingbird near the flowers. (I’ll update this as soon as I remember the variety name of the little Zinnia, but it’s also been a good performer in this hot dry summer.)

Cuphea ignea

I didn’t plant Cuphea ignea this year, but I have it anyway. Another volunteer. I’ve had several cultivars of this in other years, and also the plain species, so I’ll just call this one C. ignea and leave it at that. It’s a very orange-y red, but I think it qualifies as red.

Lantana 'Dallas Red'

‘Dallas Red’ lantana is always eye-catching, although it’s generally more orange than red. The butterflies and hummingbirds love it, the deer and other herbivores hate it, and I think it’s pretty.

But look at this red. This took me by surprise last week. I know the heat and drought has been very hard on plants this summer, but it seems way too soon for this.

Japanese Maple 'Seiryu'

Most of the summer I don’t notice this ‘Seiryu’ Japanese maple much. It’s still a small plant which stands at the edge of the woods and blends in with the rest of the greens. When I walked by and saw red, I had to grab the camera.

'Matt's Wild Cherry' tomatoes

…and peppers and beans and okra and a couple of tiny cucumbers…

This morning's harvest

For those keeping score, the peppers are ‘Quadrato d’Asti Giallo’, ‘Milord’, ‘Romano’, ‘Padron’, and ‘Ají Cyrstal’. The beans are ‘Fin de Bagnol’, ‘Tavera Filet’, and ‘Pencil Pod Wax’. The cucumbers are ‘Poona’ and ‘Snow’s Fancy Pickling’. Only one kind of okra and that is ‘Emerald’.

There are lots more varieties of peppers and tomatoes, just not quite ready yet. Also, keeping my fingers crossed, I think we’re going to get some decent eggplant this year for the first time.

It has been just incredibly hot here. Over 100°F (≈38°C) for the last 3 days and over 90°F every day except one since the 4th of July. Very little rain.

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) is blooming. (This deserves its own post and a better photo.)

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens)

Stink Bugs are ruining my tomatoes.

On the other hand, I picked 6 or 7 ‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’ tomatoes this morning and they were fine (and delicious as always).

Salpiglossis will grow in Virginia.

Salpiglossis 'Kew Blue'

Squash Vine Borers are ruining my zucchini.

We will have more okra this year than last.

‘Aji Crystal’ peppers have great flavor, but not much heat (so far).

I think I picked the first Hungarian Almapaprika peppers too soon because they didn’t have much flavor and the seeds look very immature. Maybe they’re only used ripe and dried?

Wish I knew the identity of these huge trumpet-shaped mushrooms in the woods.

Huge mushroom; at least 6 inches in diameter.

Hummingbirds adore Bat-faced Cuphea flowers.

Zinnia ‘Carousel Mix’ gives you some flowers that look like ‘Zowie Yellow Flame’ at a fraction of the cost.

Zinnia 'Carousel Mix' (this is just one of several colors)

Dianthus ‘Rainbow Loveliness’ is blooming for the second time this year.

It might be true that petunias repel bean beetles.

‘Fin de Bagnol’ beans have very tough strings.

I moved the RRP birdbath to Tangled Branches South and the bluebirds were very appreciative during the recent heat wave. (Robinson Ransbottom Pottery went out of business in 2005.)

Bluebird on Robinson Ransbottom Pottery Birdbath

I saw a Great Crested Flycatcher this afternoon.

The garlic is ready to dig, the Yellow Moon Dutch shallots are ready to dig, and the red onions from sets are almost ready to dig.

The first bin of German Butterball potatoes didn’t amount to much because the soil was too dry. Still tasty.

I ♥ dragonflies and I photographed a new one this afternoon.

Bar-winged Skimmer (Libellula axilena)

The spouse wasn’t home for dinner tonight, so the first pepper and egg sandwich of the year was all mine.

Twelve-spotted Lady Beetle, a native

And these are the dragons.

Widow Skimmer, male

Widow Skimmer, female

Eastern Pondhawk, female

Common Whitetail, female

Arrowhead Spiketail (I think)

These photos were taken yesterday morning in the garden and meadow. I’m just learning to recognize our local dragonflies, but wish I had a better reference book. I’m using Dragonflies Through Binoculars, but find that many of the photographs aren’t detailed enough to just flip through the book trying to match a photo with a dragonfly I’ve seen. If you know of a good photo reference, please let me know. If it’s a regional reference that would be even better.

I wrote earlier that I was going to do a post about the meadow wildflowers, and I did get as far as taking the photographs but haven’t edited and uploaded. And the meadow looks different now than it did two weeks ago. Maybe I’ll save that post for some snowy winter day when I need reminding that there are such things as sunny summer meadows.

6 AM, just beginning to open

Not much change by 6:30

But fully open by 8:15

This was the first daylily I ever planted (over 20 years ago). The variety is ‘Medallion’. The other daylily varieties at Tangled Branches North are unknown to me. I have “the big yellow one”, “the dark red one”, “the one that looks like Stella d’Oro”, and “the one that is probably ‘Siloam Baby Talk’. I have two more whose name I do know (‘Apricot Petticoats’, ‘Squash Tempura’) that I moved to Tangled Branches South this spring. They haven’t bloomed yet.

For completeness, here’s the list of plants in bloom at Tangled Branches North which aren’t duplicated at Tangled Branches South:

• Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)
• Shasta daisy
• Asclepias tuberosa
• Santolina (the green leaved one with pale yellow flowers)
• Coreopsis verticillata ‘Moonbeam’
• various groundcover-type Sedums
• Passiflora incarnata

More accurately, Passiflora incarnata was blooming until I pulled out every shoot I could find. Some plants should come with warning labels, and this is the year I finally got fed up with its wandering ways. The shoots are coming up everywhere, some a good 10 feet from where it was originally planted. When I planted it next to our neighbors’ fence, those neighbors were hardly ever outdoors and did basically no outdoor maintenance on the property (not even mowing the lawn). Now we have different neighbors who are the exact opposite – anything that can be mowed, sheared or edged is mowed, sheared or edged always. So I’m sure they’re unhappy at finding tropical-looking vines sprouting everywhere, but on the other hand, those vines are mowed off immediately. On our side of the fence, it’s a different story…

Cuphea llavea - a hummingbird magnet

• Bat-faced Cuphea (Cuphea llavea)
• Zinnia ‘Crystal White’
• Salvia splendens ‘Vista Purple’
• Angelonia ‘Angel Mist Lavender’ and a similar one
• Lantana ‘Dallas Red’
• Viola ‘Bowles’ Black’ and some undetermined volunteers
• Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia ‘Alcazar’)
• Oregano (Origanum vulgare)
• Coreopsis verticillata ‘Zagreb’
• English Broadleaf Thyme
• Lavender ‘Munstead’ and ‘Grosso’
• Nepeta transcaucasica ‘Blue Infinity’
• Verbena hastata ‘Pink Spires’
• Verbena bonariensis
• Purple Amaranth (‘Marvel Bronze’?, self-sown)
• Agastache foeniculum, both the plain species and yellow-leaved ‘Golden Jubilee’
• Stokesia laevia ‘Purple Parasols’
• Phlox carolina ‘Miss Lingard’
• Balloon Flower (Platycodon mariesii)
• Salvia ‘May Night’
• Petunia ‘Old Fashioned Vining’
• Alyssum ‘Easter Basket’
• Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
• Zinnia ‘Carousel Mix’
• Cosmos ‘Memories of Mona’
• Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys)
• Oenothera missouriensis
• Vegetables! (Beans, Tomatoes, Peppers, Potatoes)

Please visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens for the complete list of Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day participants, and come back here tomorrow for the list of bloomers at Tangled Branches North.

and write a blog post. I really did just get back from Illinois, where I attended a wedding last weekend.

Enormous Pink Hydrangeas and some other flowers

I was distracted from conversation during the reception because I kept staring at the flowers on the table, trying to understand what I was looking at. It took me a long time to realize that the huge fringed pink flowers that looked like Dianthus were actually florets of even huger pink hydrangea flowers. Now, I’ve seen some big hydrangea flowers before, where the individual florets were more or less “normal” sized, but these flowers were something else. Each floret was about the size of a carnation or rose (check the photo), and fringy like a Dianthus flower. There were streaks of green on some of the sepals. Can anybody enlighten me as to the variety? I’ve been browsing wholesale florists’ websites and I find many photos of large hydrangea flowers, but none with fringy sepals.

Another look at the table arrangement

The bouquets had a lovely fragrance too, mostly from the peachy-pink carnations, which was another surprise because there were also pale pink stocks. I expected the stocks to have much more scent than they did, and definitely more than the carnations.

But I wasn’t totally preoccupied with the flowers. No, I picked up a useful tip at the reception from a fellow gardener. Suppose you’re working in the garden when you suddenly remember that a social engagement (say a wedding) is fast approaching, and you look down at your hands and wonder how you’re going to get the dirt out from under your fingernails. Hydrogen peroxide! (Thanks, S!)