Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Dec 21

Merry weekend before Christmas! And Hanukkah! It's a time for gardening eye candy. Above, a boxed Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) grown by a cousin whose husband ordered bulbs for her from a "Bulb of the Month Club". Great gift!

Below, another one that started blooming on November 21, grown by her friend:

The second amaryllis above looks similar to one type grown to bloom in spring outdoors by Neal in Israel.

He got a lot of blooms from one bulb! Glorious.

It's Winter Solstice Today

Is Winter Solstice the beginning of winter?

History, folklore, verse and weather forecasts at the link.

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

Starting to feel like you've already had too much rich holiday food? Turning toward salads? Tomatoes have been pretty awful around here - even those grown in greenhouses. Have you had any good experiences? We've had some good avocados and some bad ones.

We should probably talk again about endive and escarole - classical winter greens.

How about some old-fashioned lettuces, or some newer ones bred for dramatic color or climate adaptation? Get out those catalogs.

Tom Thumb is 150 years old. A miniature Bibb/Butterhead type. My Mom and I used to take a bottle of vinegar and a salt shaker out into the garden to munch on it.

Little Gem is another old single-serving sized lettuce.

Cos. This is a very small, green romaine type. One of the very best tasting lettuces we’ve encountered. A superb heat-tolerant variety that is sure to please! Famous among chefs and home gardeners alike!

Merveille de Quatre Saisons

Bibb/Butterhead. Translating to “The Marvel of Four Seasons,” this famous French butterhead is a standard for flavor and quality! A true marvel both in the kitchen and the vegetable patch. A pre-1885 heirloom; crisp and tender. The fine flavored leaves have a reddish color, and it can be grown almost year round in many locations. The ruby-rose leaves form a distinctly attractive rosette head, but can also be enjoyed as young baby greens.

30-48 days to maturity (30 for baby greens)

Devil's Ear

Leaf. Originally Devil’s Ear comes from Abundant Life Seed Foundation. It has very large, spreading, loose-leaf heads. Leaves are large, wavy-margined, and suffused in burgundy. We love its nutty, crisp texture and bitter-free flavor. Slow to bolt, and it stands a very long time in the garden.

This may be one of those lettuces from which you can cut the outer leaves and leave the center ones for the next week.

Merlot

Leaf. Reputed to be absolutely the darkest red lettuce in existence, making it tops for anthocyanin (antioxidant) content as well! Leaf lettuce with wavy to frilly leaf margins and very crisp, waxy leaves! Excellent bolt resistance, and good cold tolerance for a late fall to winter crop. Recommended as a cutting type for baby greens production or cut-and-come-again harvesting. We feel, along with our friend William Woys Weaver, that this variety is destined to become a classic, and it certainly deserves it! A rich source of potassium and vitamin A.

What is your favorite type of lettuce? Do you prefer a single type or a mix?

Cut Flower

Are you giving anyone flowers for Christmas? This one, or a relative, might be included:

Star of Bethlehem

How long since you have read a South African gardening magazine? I have met some people who are really dedicated to protecting the plants of this region.

Ornithogalum thyrsoides -
Chincherinchee, Tjienk, Star of Bethlehem

Chincherinchees or ‘tjienks’ belong to the genus Ornithogalum and are members of the Hyacinth family that includes indigenous garden favourites like Eucomis, Lachenalia and Veltheimia.

There are more than 120 species of Ornithogalum and the name is derived from the Greek words ornis and gala, meaning ‘bird-like’ and ‘white’ respectively. In Roman times, bird’s milk was used to describe anything special or admirable.

Ornithogalums have a disjunctive distribution in Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe and western Asia, but most species occur in Southern Africa – mainly in the winter rainfall regions of the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape. There are also a number of summer-growing and evergreen species such as Ornithogalum Saundersiae (Giant Chincherinchee) and Ornithogalum Longibracteatum (Pregnant Onion).

There's a lot more information about the plants than you see in most American gardening magazines. More at the link. Blooms may last 6 weeks when cut. The plant is very poisonous. Don't you love the name "Chincherinchee"?

"Ornithogalum Thyrsoides is seen to great advantage when grown in rock garden pockets inter-planted with the mauve, late spring-flowering annual, Senecio Elegans (Wild Cineraria)."

The latter is recognized as a potentially invasive weed in coastal sand dunes in California.

Puttering

Super-puttering with friends and family

Something fun for the kids in a little city:

Want to take a Magic Elevator ride to the North Pole?
Ten months ago I approached the City . . about a special project I had in mind. Inspired by a video I had seen about an attraction in a mall in Canada. .

With a budget to buy materials, I got started. I had to build the magical elevator, Santa's Workshop, and design the computer program that would take the families to see Santa. The journey starts by a greeting from Santa's elf, step into the elevator, and the journey begins. When you arrive at Santa's house, you ring the doorbell and Santa is there to greet you.

I have never worked on anything of this magnitude and there were times I just didn't think I could get it done. . .

A special thank you to so many people who helped out.

Adventure

Thread of the world's most beautiful towns and villages at Christmas 🧵

1. Locorotondo, Italy pic.twitter.com/Nnw7LUL3yt

— James Lucas (@JamesLucasIT) December 20, 2024

Gardens of The Horde

Hi Katy,

Just back from some early winter maintenance at our vacation home in northern Israel. The gardener was at work the other day and managed to save some birds of paradise for Mrs. BD to take back home to Jerusalem.

Regards from Jerusalem,

Biden's Dog

A fascinating flower. It's the City Flower of Los Angeles.

From Don in Kansas:

While most of the yard is dormant, one of the daffodils got the dates mixed up and is blooming now. Unless the temperature gets extremely cold soon, I should have flowers in the garden for Christmas.

What a happy Christmas gift!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend and a lovely Christmas and Hanukkah.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden at g mail dot com

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Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Dec. 14. Check the late comments you may have missed.

Any thoughts or questions?

I closed the comments on this post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.