Plant Talk

Plant Guru Arthur Lee Jacobson's List of Vegetables To Grow in the Shade

Happy Boxing Day...and in the hopes you might have a minute over the next week or so to dive into a few seed catalogs, here's some thoughts from Arthur Lee Jacobson on what vegetables are worth growing in shady conditions.

Arthur Lee is the real thing - a bonafide plant fanatic, a character, a tree worshipper and warm-hearted guy willing to share his expertise. I have a story coming out soon in Pacific Northwest magazine (the Seattle Times) about a heritage tree tour Arthur treated me to this autumn.... but until then, here's a peek at what he's up to.

Arthur gardens in the Montlake neighborhood, beneath (you guessed it) plenty of trees. (Read my Seattle Times' story about his garden here.)

Despite his sloping, shady old garden, Arthur is undaunted at the thought of growing vegetables. He's busy removing ornamentals to make way for a kitchen garden in pots and in the ground. Arthur's best advice for gardeners who want to grow food in the shade? Potatoes!  His latest newsletter details all the edibles he's growing in less-than-sunny conditons; you can download a pdf of the newsletter on his webpage.

Here's an excerpt from his list of 80 different herbs and vegetables that can tolerate, or even prefer, shady sites.....

Arugula / Rocket (Eruca vesicaria ssp. sativa)
Annual. Reseeds easily. Piquant leaves and flowers.

Cress, Winter / Yellow Rocket (Barbarea vulgaris) European perennial. Some of its kin need more light.

Bean, Bush (Phaseolus vulgaris)
Some pole beans can climb high to reach sunlight.

Bean, Fava or Broad (Vicia Faba)
Cool-season annual. Leaves, flowers & beans edible.

Endive (Cichorium Endiva)
Varied forms include curly endive (fraisé / frisée), escarole and endive proper. Related to Radicchio.

Bok Choy / Pak Choi 白菜 (Brassica Rapa var. chinensis) Related Asian greens can also grow in low sun levels.

Garlic, Bear / Ramsons (Allium ursinum)
Needs shade; a woodland garlic; lovely white flowers.

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea)
Much better yield if lime and manure are abundant.

Brussels Sprouts (Brassica oleracea)
Much better yield if lime and manure are abundant.

Celeriac / Turnip-rooted Celery

Chard / Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla)

Chives (Allium Shœnoprasum)
Familiar miniature onion cousin. Perennial; best if divided every few years. Leaves, flowers, eaten raw.

Horseradish / Red Cole (Armoracia rusticana)
Leaves edible as well as the perennial roots, grated.

Kale (Brassica oleracea)
Best winter greens for Seattle. Much better yield if lime and manure are abundant. Many diverse kinds.

Kohlrabi / Cabbage or Stem Turnip (Brassica oleracea) Besides the swollen part, the leaves edible like Kale.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum)
Best grown in containers that can be moved about, and make harvesting easier.

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)
Annual. It would be ideal to learn what cultivars are best suited to low light. Sow several kinds.

Radicchio (Cichorium Intybus)....

If you go to Arthur's website you can sign up for his electronic newsletter and stay up to date on his research, which is focusing these days on edible houseplants....

Go Outside

I'm grateful for the shelter of a warm house on these frosty winter days...and yet, I crave fresh air and being outdoors. The forecast is for a break in the weather over the weekend; here are some ideas for post-Christmas outings:

Visit the dignified and friendly camel at  Swanson's Nursery. I'm afraid he's stealing all the attention from the reindeer, who are beautiful, but uninterested. This camel seems to love people, and his long-lashed eyes and velvety nose, proffered for a pat, are enchanting. I've visited him a half-dozen times in the last couple of weeks, picking up pots of fragrant paperwhites and amaryllis while I'm at Swanson's..and, yes, a hellebore or two.

 
Stripped to its winter bones, the Japanese Garden  at the Washington Park Arboretum is beautiful right now. Its evergreens, bare-branched maples, teahouse and ponds come into their own in winter. A quiet stroll along its paths is a reminder of the season's elegant serenity. 

Don't forget the extravagant light show at the Bellevue Botanical Garden on these clear, starry nights. Even a blustery day, with the Olympic Mountain range on the horizon and ferry boats passing by, is a delightful time to visit the Olympic Sculpture Park for a blast of art, snowberry thickets and groves of wintery white aspen bark.

The Witt Winter Garden, also at the Washington Park Arboretum is exuberant with bloom; witch hazels are budding up, mahonia, sasanqua camellias and
heather are in flower. If you visit on a sunny day, the garden is full of birds, sleepy bees and the sweet vanilla scent of sarcococca in bloom.

My most favorite hike in any season is along the cliffs at Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island - the photo below is of Bridget and me on a February morning at the top of the cliffside trail (taken by Alice Doyle of Loghouse Plants). My nieces are visiting from Edinburgh and Anchorage, my children home for Christmas, so I'll be taking a blog break until the new decade....if I don't see you at the camel cage at Swanson's, maybe we'll meet up strolling the paths of the sculpture museum, or hummingbird watching at the Witt Winter Garden (they crave the yellow flowers atop the mahonia this time of year). Enjoy...get outside...happy holidays..

Luxurious Lilies

By mid-summer my garden is happily dominated by lilies. Is there any flower more quintessentially high summer? These statuesque beauties are a real presence as they tower overhead; the trumpet lilies reach eight feet, with slim dark buds that open to dazzling golden bells.  In the morning, the lily scent is tantalizingly sweet, but by dusk on warm days the fragrance is so rich and heavy it's almost intoxicating. I add a few more lilies every year, purchased from B&D Lilies in Port Townsend or the Lily Pad.

Order lilies soon for a good selection; B&D puts out their new catalog by the end of July. Bulbs are mailed out in late autumn so you don't plant them too early.  November, when the soil has cooled down, is an ideal time to plant. All you need do is bury lily bulbs deeply in well-drained soil in a sunny spot, and your garden will be filled with perfume and the glory of lilies summer after summer.

Here are a few favorites:

Top to bottom: 'American West' are the top two images; I'm not sure which orange freckled lily this one is blooming with the delphinium; the bottom photo is the trumpet lily 'Anaconda' just opening up.