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The French Tarragon, ‘Artemesia dranunculus sativa’, cannot be easily purchased. To obtain French Tarragon, you need to obtain plants or to use cuttings. French Tarragon has a spicy anise flavor that turns ordinary main dishes into masterpieces. Tarragon goes well with meat and vegetables and is a top choice in any hearty recipe. This herb reaches a height of 2 feet with an 18 inch spread. To use Tarragon in cooking, chop the leaves very fine to extract the flavor for cream sauces and bearnaise sauce. Add it to tuna or chicken salads, eggs and quiches, mayonnaises, and mustard salad dressings. It makes a wonderful flavored butter and can be combined with dill and parsley for fish. Protect your tarragon from harsh winters by mulching with shredded bark. Cut the plant back to the ground in spring, remove dead stems, and trim to shape. The plant also should be divided every 3 to 4 years. French Tarragon likes life on the dry side with plenty of sun. The soil should be well drained and watering should be thorough. Keep a good supply of fresh tips for cooking by cutting it back to the ground several times during the growing season. French Tarragon also makes a good choice for growing in a pot.

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The Mache Corn Salad Big Seeded, ‘Valerianella locusta’, has the mildest flavor and softest texture of any salad green. The leaves are so tender, they melt in your mouth. We chose the big-seeded Mache variety because it handles spring/summer heat without getting bitter. Great for both north and south gardens. This old garden green, enjoyed in the late stone age, contrasts nicely with the sharp-flavored greens in salads. It tastes delightful cooked quickly like spinach and combines nicely with fruits and vegetables. Mache Corn Salad is cool season annual. In northern climates, plant in early spring as soon as the ground is workable. In mild climates, plant in the fall for winter harvest. Mache prefers fertile, moist, and well drained soil. Mache is good for intercropping among larger vegetables such as broccoli and looks great with other greens. To harvest, simply cut off at ground level. The leaves can be picked off when they are 1 to 2 inches long.

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Feed plants up to 4 months on a single application. ClassiCote time release fertilizer 16-9-23 formula contains 11 essential nutrients including: magnesium, sulfur, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc. Use indoors or out for balanced growth. Great for trees, shrubs, bedding plants, gardens, vegetables, and hanging baskets. 2 lb. bucket.

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Produce nutrient-rich compost for your flowers and vegetables with this patented design. A large lid on top for large loads along with 2 flip-up hinged doors for kitchen scraps and vent design promotes bio-degradation without nasty odors and lower door slides for easy compost access. Also included is the most powerful compost activator available. Sprinkle it on, bio-activator immediately unleashes nature’s powerful enzyme reactions for faster decomposition, richer, more fertile compost.

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The Fennel Bronze, ‘Foeniculum vulgare’, has stunningly beautiful, purple feathery plumes that provide a lacy contrast in the vegetable or flower garden. The Bronze Fennel is an absolutely dazzling, hard to find Fennel, that is used primarily for ornamental value and has tasty foliage and seeds. The tall feathery, smoky purple foliage provides a beautiful accent with pink and white roses or any other contrasting flower color. The Bronze Fennel attracts butterflies. The swallowtail butterfly lays eggs on fennel. The seed produced by the Bronze Fennell is used for flavoring cookies, breads, and cakes. Fresh leaves can be sprinkled on salads or used in salad dressings. Plant in the spring 2 weeks before the last average frost date. Fennel does best in well drained, sandy soils with lots of organic matter. They need to be kept moist.

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The Edamame Green Soybean Tohya, ‘Glycine max’, is so high in protein, it is called “the meat without bones”. When boiled, the beans are popped out of the pod into your mouth for a culinary delight. Edamame means “beans on a brach” and has quickly become a favorite vegetable. They are 40% protien, high in vitamins A, B, calcium and iron. They are also very high in fiber and essential fatty acids. Soy products are credited with lowering cholesterol. Tohya is a short season variety that is perfect for growing anywhere in North America and it is currently the most popular variety in Japan. Plant after the last average frost date. Tohya prefers loamy, slightly acid, well drained soils. Harvest in the green shelling bean stage. Wait for the pods to get plump but while they are still green. If the foliage starts to turn yellow, pull up the whole plant and harvest.

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The Swiss Chard Italian White Ribbed, ‘Beta Vulgaris’, is almost the perfect vegetable. The Italian White Ribbed Swiss Chard will grow in heat and cold, is nutritious, and has a long harvest period. White Ribbed Swiss Chard can either be steamed, stir-fried, or eaten fresh. Swiss Chard is a green that many seasoned gardeners claim everyone must grow. The leaves can be harvested from late spring continuing all the way to the first frost. It will also tolerate partial shade. Swiss Chard is actually a beet without the beet. instead of growing beets, the plant grows wide, dark green, heavily crumpled leaves that are very tasty. Plant in early spring, 2 to 4 weeks before last frost or as late as 2 months before first fall frost. In warm climates, plant in late summer for fall/winter crop. Chard grows best in in well drained soil with lots of organic matter.

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The Kousa Dogwood tree, Cornus kousa, or Japanese Flowering Dogwood, is a handsome small specimen tree or shrub. The Kousa is not as susceptible to disease as the White Dogwood in spring. It is planted as a specimen, near a patio, or in groupings. Kousa Dogwood trees blooms later than the White Dogwood and with a softer petal flower than the White Flowering Dogwood. This deciduous tree has red fruits that look like a big round raspberry. The fall color is red to maroon. Because of its disease resistance, it is becoming the best replacement for the White Dogwood. The flowering tree, Kousa Dogwood, has low water requirements and displays a moderate tolerance for salt and alkali soils.

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The Sage Tricolor, ‘Salvia officinalis ‘Tricolor’, has green, white, and purple varigated leaves and the color intensifies in full sun. Tricolor Sage is beautiul in the garden. Salvia officinalis is the basic sage long famed for culinary and medicinal value, but it is also highly decorative in the garden. It one-ups the usual Purple Sage by mixing green, white, & purple foliage on a single pubescent-leafed plant. Tricolor Sage is an extremely drought-hardy evergreen groundcover, Tricolored Sage is a perfect plant for a low-maintenance sun-garden. Europeans believe sage helps digest rich foods, which might account for its association with duck and game recipes there. Today sage is familiar as an essential ingredient in turkey stuffing. Crush or grind leaves to release full flavor and use to season soups, dressings, teas, cooked vegetables, and fish. To encourage a plentiful supply of young red-purple foliage gather the leaves regularly and prune lightly in July after flowering. This eye-catching variegated sage makes a perfect evergreen edge for a sunny border.

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The Basil Italian Large Leaf, ‘Ocimum basilicum’, is a sweet basil that is particularly good for pesto and is also excellent for fresh use. There is nothing like the smell of basil, it is the smell of summer. There is no more useful herb. The Italian Large Leaf Basil has just that, a larger leaf than other basils. It is a good all “around basil” and it has very few pests. Basil is used in so many foods, it is hard to mention them all. It is used in Italian foods and pesto and pasta sauces. Fresh basil makes a nice tea, an excellent vinegar, and tastes great fresh with fish, poultry, rice, mild vegetables, eggplant and many others. Plant 1 to 2 weeks after the last average frost date. Place the Basil seeds in well drained soil with lots of organic matter.

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Check Prices at Nature Hills Nursery, Inc.

Check Prices at Nature Hills Nursery, Inc.

Check Prices at Nature Hills Nursery, Inc.

The Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, is a fast-growing, high-climbing vine that attaches itself with tendrils which expand, disk-like, on their tips. The deciduous leaves that radiate outward from a leaf stem, like spokes on a wheel. Each leaflet is about 3″-7″ long and an inch or two wide. The leaves turn fiery red in fall and are very showy. The individual flowers are tiny and inconspicuous, and arranged in elaborate long-stemmed clusters, with each flower at the tip of its own flower stem. The berries are blue-black, less than a half-inch across and much relished by birds. Easy to grow, the Virginia Creeper can get out of hand if not managed. Also known as Woodbine, it will send up sprouts and seed itself, and established plantings may smother shrubs and trees. Virginia creeper will thrive in most soils, in sun or shade, with or without a structure to climb on. Virginia creeper is favored for its brilliant fall foliage and as a manitenance-free ground cover. When allowed to clamber over trees or other tall structures, it develops elongated leafy festoons that are especially showy. Where there is nothing to climb, it attaches to the ground with adventitious roots, and makes an excellent cover for slopes or other places where grass is not practical or desired.

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