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RE: New surprises in my garden, come have a walk with me.
Hello Karen
Your mystery flower looks like a Petunia, variety Carpet Blue Lace. Here is a link. http://www.flowerspicture.org/petunia-hybrida.html
I also love gardening. It helps get your mind off of things and just connect with nature. I would rather be in my garden digging and planting than doing dishes any day :) My misbehaving or very old plants get names. Jimmy the Swiss Chard has been growing for 3 years now and is a shrub in it's own right :) I will take some pictures and upload them soon. I also named a potato plant that bore fruit above ground George. I did a post on him as one of my firsts.
Your garden is beautiful and your plants look very happy.
Thanks for sharing!
Lizelle
Your amazing thank you, I am not familiar with the flowers as yet, I have a garden journal that I add all my flowers to with a little note whether I want them again or not, I definitely want Petunias again :)
I am enjoying gardening this year, next year I am going to try a few vegetables, I am the same give me the garden any day I hate housework lol
Thank you so much :)
A spinach related vegetable, Swiss chard is so pretty that it does quite well in flower beds. My gran used to plant it among her roses.
It's quite easy to grow and can last for a couple of years if the leaves are regularly harvested. Pulling the leaves off the stem is better for the plant than cutting them off, and it will ensure new growth.
Here is a link to a shop that sells seeds, where I got the image from .
http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/swiss-chard/swiss-chard-bright-lights-prod000947.html
How do you use it, cook it I am unsure it looks like rhubarb :)
Use it exactly like you would use normal green spinach. Both the leaves and stems are edible.
Here is a link to some great recipes and will give you abetter idea of what to use it for.
http://www.organicauthority.com/meatless-monday-chard-recipes
As far as freezing goes: I
1)Wash the leaves,
2)Remove the stems by pulling them out : Hold the stem in your left hand while sliding your right hand up the base of the leaf, stripping off the green bits. Much faster than cutting it with a knife.
3)Make sure it's nice and dry and then freeze.
If you blanch it before freezing it goes yucky when cooked, while cooking it raw from frozen holds the texture better in my opinion. Its also a great way to stockpile if you only have a couple of plants and can only gather a few leaves at a time.
Brilliant thank you, I will give it a try next year, I love spinach :)
Another tip for petunias is when the flowers die to cut/ pull them off ( unless you want them to go to seed) Pulling the flower stem off of the plant will cause it to form more blooms because it didn't get to make seed. You will see the 'link' at the base of the flower stem where it can come off. They usually snap off at this joint easily. ( Lol, Not the exact botanical terms, But you will see what I mean :))
Thank you, I will do that, there so cute :)