ELSEWHERE 



NEWS 



HOW ABOUT HERBS 



A Letter from the South 



SPENDING TIME IN THE DEEP SOUTH HAS OPENED MY EYES TO 

 fresh possibilities for herb growing in the North. Not that our gar- 

 dening is similar: not at all — I'm even beginning to believe ours is 

 easier: you get to take a rest! But there are plants here that we 

 could use, but don't, thinking of them as Southern. 



PERILLA (P. frutescens Crispa') is one. I have seen it in Northern 

 gardens, but not very often. In New Hampshire, it would be an 

 annual, vigorous and easy to grow. It's often mistaken for coleus 

 or purple basil because of its bushy habit and color. The purple 

 color is most eye-catching, but it also comes in green. It has a 

 minty fragrance and taste and is important in Asia, where it's cul- 

 tivated for its cooking oil. It self-sows and can become weedy in 

 the South, but when I saw it growing at Tower Hill Botanical Gar- 

 den in Massachusetts and again in a Florida bedding display, I 

 though it made a colorful statement. It likes full sun or partial 

 shade and would be particularly beautiful with grey artemisias 

 and salvia. I hope growers will consider beginning to promote this 

 as an annual for markets up here. 



GOTU KOLA (Centella asiatica), known as Marsh Penny or Indian 

 Pennywort, is a little-known perennial of the Umbelliferae family 

 now enjoying new popularity in the South. It tastes much like 

 parsley; is said to be high in the B vitamins, and was once — on 

 the West Coast — highly recommended for the prevention of aging. 

 It grows much like a strawberry, easily propagated from daughter 

 plants as well as from seed. Invasive in the garden, it makes a 

 fine hanging basket. It likes bright shade and ample water and 

 could be used on the patio or in a sunroom up here. 



Finally, an herb we are all familiar with, but do not think of as a 

 house plant, is GINGER. The ornamental gingers such as Butterfly 

 Ginger {Hedychium coronarium) and Hidden Ginger {Curcuma petiolata) 

 make the best container plants and have the more interesting 

 flowers, but I have grown on hands of Zingiber officinale found in 

 the grocery store to provide tasty, tangy greens for use in stir-fry 

 cooking. Like peppers, the rhizomes of all the gingers are edible 

 with varying degrees of hotness. All gingers are heavy feeders 

 needing rich humus soil, regular fertilizing, and plenty of light and 

 water. 



It's always interesting to travel. To see what grows elsewhere and to 

 take up the challenge of trying new plant material in carefully chosen 

 Northern situations is an interest in its own right. 

 Tanya ]ackson, a well-known area herbalist, can be reached al 603-431-6774. 



NE Grows Endowment 

 Fund 



(from the NENA New England 

 Newsline. Winter, 1995) 



New England Grows has established 

 an endowment fund from which annual 

 grant awards will be made to the Co- 

 operative Extension Systems within 

 the region. In 1995, the six New En- 

 gland Cooperative Extension Systems 

 each received a $2,000 grant, the funds 

 of which are to be used "to enhance 

 services that benefit the green indus- 

 try within the individual states." Pre- 

 sentation of the grant awards took 

 place during the 1995 New England 

 Grows at the Hynes Convention Center 

 in Boston. 



A US First for Blooms of 

 Bressingham 



Gary R. Doerr, president of Pepper- 

 grove Nursery, Lapeer, Michigan, has 

 been appointed to head US market- 

 ing efforts for Blooms of Bressing- 

 ham, Ltd , the well-known English 

 nursery. 



Doerr's position is a first in the 

 United States for Blooms, which 

 was founded in England in 1926. 

 "This position has been created to 

 speed up the introduction and ac- 

 ceptance of novel or different plant 

 varieties among the US gardening 

 public," Doerr said. "The Blooms of 

 Bressingham signature has long 

 been associated with truly worth- 

 while plant material and it's time 

 that it became more available to 

 gardeners in the United States." 



New Pansies 



(from a Harris Seeds News Bulletin) 



There's a growing market for fall 

 pansies in the Northeast and Mid- 

 west and the following two series 

 have been bred and trialed with 

 this in mind. Both overwinter suc- 

 cessfully (provided they're planted 

 early enough for roots to become 

 established) as far north as Minne- 

 sota and Northern Michigan. 



Pansy RALLY Series: "Rally" pansies 

 are a very free-flowering, medium 



The Plantsman 



