A gift that keeps on giving
A flowering bulb that is a popular indoor plant Christmas gift in North America can be grown outdoors in our gumbo soil.
Amaryllis, those beautiful exotic looking flowers that come in various shades of red and white, are a good choice for gardeners who want a plant that will provide low profile green leaves most of the year and sensational color each spring. In mass plantings they are particularly eye catching.
Amaryllis bulbs fare best in semi-shade and loose, well-drained soil. And yet I’ve seen them thrive even in our compacted clay-infested gumbo in almost full sun. Planted in the fall, Amaryllis bulbs need to be roughly one-quarter exposed. Do not plant them too deep! Plant about a foot apart. They will bloom the following spring if all conditions are met and snails or slugs don’t get them. We separate ours every three years after the foliage dies back in the fall. You can also put a few in pots in early fall for forcing indoor winter blooms.
Fertilizing isn’t essential if you have good soil, but if you do use a low nitrogen fertilizer like 5-10-10 otherwise you’ll get more leaves than blooms.
FRAGRANT HERB GARDENPlanning a fragrant herb garden? Rosemary obviously is a very fragrant choice, but it is slow growing, needs well drained soil and full sunlight and doesn’t like wet conditions. I treat it like cactus and it fares well. So if you’re going to have it in a bed with other fragrant herbs that need more moisture make sure it’s off to the side by itself and in the sunniest spot in the bed.
Other fragrant choices that like full sun but need more water than Rosemary are Lemon balm, Pineapple Sage, Biergarten Sage, Chives, Texas Tarragon (also known as Mexican Mint Marigold), Thyme and mint. Of the dozens of varieties of mint I’d recommend Kentucky Colonel Spearmint, Red Stem Doublemint, Apple mint, Orange mint and Chocolate mint. The mints do not need as much sun as the other herbs mentioned (mine get morning sun only and do fine until the summer heat hits in late June, early July, then they die back to the root ball until the fall.
Mexican Mint Marigold - News
Other fragrant choices that like full sun but need more water than Rosemary are Lemon balm, Pineapple Sage, Biergarten Sage, Chives, Texas Tarragon (also known as Mexican Mint Marigold), Thyme and mint. Of the dozens of varieties of mint I'd recommend
Basil, bay leaf, bronze fennel, chamomile, chives, coriander, dandelion, dill, marjoram, Mexican tarragon (aka Mexican marigold), mint, nasturtium flowers, parsley, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, vine leaves, watercress. Almonds, apricots, apriums
