Growing Parsley

Parsley

 

 

From: http://m.almanac.com/plant/parsley

 

Botanical Name: 

Petroselinum crispum

Plant Type: 

Herb

Sun Exposure: 

Full Sun

Part Sun

Soil

Soil Type: 

Loamy

Parsley is a biennial plant with bright green, featherlike leaves and is in the same family as dill. This herb is used in soups, sauces, and salads, and it lessens the need for salt in soups. Not only is it the perfect garnish, but also it is healthy; it's rich in iron and vitamins A and C.

Planting and Care

Planting: 

• For a head start, plant seeds in individual pots indoors 10 to 12 weeks before the last spring frost. For better germination, you can soak the seeds overnight.
• Plant the seeds 3 to 4 weeks before the last spring frost because parsley is a slow starter. (The plants can handle the cold weather.) It can take up to 3 weeks for the plants to sprout.
• Plant the seeds in moist, rich soil about 6 to 8 inches apart. For thinner plants, plant about 6 to 10 inches apart. Try to pick an area that is weed-free; that way, you'll be able to see the parsley sprouting after about 3 weeks.
• You can use a fluorescent light to help the seedlings grow. Make sure it remains two inches above the leaves at all times.
• To ensure the best growth, the soil should be around 70ºF.
• Plant parsley near asparagus, corn, and tomatoes in your garden.

Care: 

• Be sure to water the seeds often while they germinate so that they don't dry out.
• Throughout the summer, be sure to water the plants evenly.

Pests/Diseases: 

• Stem rot
• Leaf spots
• Black swallowtail larvae
• Carrot fly and celery fly larvae

Harvest/Storage: 

• When the leaf stems have three segments, parsley is ready to be harvested.
• Cut leaves from the outer portions of the plant whenever you need them. Leave the inner portions of the plant to mature.
• One method of storing the parsley fresh is to put the leaf stalks in water and keep them in the refrigerator.
• Another method of storage is drying the parsley. Cut the parsley at the base and hang it in a well-ventilated, shady, and warm place. Once it's completely dry, crumble it up and store it in an airtight container.
• If you want fresh parsley throughout the winter, replant a parsley plant in a pot and keep it in a sunny window.

Recommended Varieties: 

• Flat-leaf varieties in cooking because they have better flavor and are easier to work with than curly-leaf parsley
• Curly-leaf varieties when you want a pretty garnish

Hedera helix (common ivy)

A woody climber native to Europe, common ivy has long been collected for winter decorations and is an important food-source for wildlife.

Hedera helix (common ivy)

Species information

• Scientific name: Hedera helix L.
• Common name(s): common ivy, English ivy
• Synonym(s): Hedera poetica Salisb. (nom. illeg.), Hedera poetarum Bertol. (nom. illeg.), Hedera helix var. vulgaris DC., (nom. inval.)
• Conservation status: Not assessed according to IUCN Red List criteria; widespread, abundant and not considered to be threatened.
• Habitat: Woodland and hedgerows.
• Key uses: Ornamental, medicinal, traditional uses.
• Known hazards: Ingestion can cause mild gastrointestinal upset; may cause skin allergy on contact or via airborne allergens.

Taxonomy

• Class: Equisetopsida
• Subclass: Magnoliidae
• Superorder: Asteranae
• Order: Apiales
• Family: Araliaceae
• Genus: Hedera

About this species

Common ivy is a popular ornamental, valued for its ability to thrive in shady places, provide excellent groundcover and cover unsightly walls, sheds and tree stumps. Many cultivars are available, including variegated forms that can be used to brighten shady depths of winter gardens.
Long collected for winter decorations, common ivy is associated with Christmas and frequently features in festive designs. It is also an important source of food and shelter for wildlife during winter.
Ivy is not a parasite, does not normally damage sound buildings or walls, and is rarely a threat to healthy trees. Regular trimming can prevent ivy becoming too heavy, a problem that can be exacerbated by the additional weight of rain and snow.

Geography & Distribution

Hedera helix is native to western, central and southern Europe. Its distribution extends from southern Scandinavia (Norway and Sweden) in the north to Latvia and the Ukraine in the east and southeast to Bulgaria, western Turkey, Greece (including Crete) and Cyprus. It is found up to about 515 m above sea level.
Common ivy is an invasive species in Australia, New Zealand and western USA.

Description

Juvenile leaves of Hedera helix

Overview: A woody climber (liana) with distinct juvenile and mature stages, both with evergreen leaves; the juvenile stage usually has lobed leaves and rooting stems, and the mature stage has rootless, flowering shoots with unlobed leaves. Stems are purple-green.
Juvenile leaves: Dark green, leathery, 3–5-lobed, the two basal lobes reduced in size to give the typical ivy-leaf shape. Dotted with white, star-shaped hairs.
Adult leaves: Unlobed, markedly narrower on shoots exposed to light.
Flowers: Borne in spherical clusters, each held on a stalk (peduncle), with a proteinaceous scent. From September to November.
Fruits: Yellow-orange to black berries, up to 9 mm in diameter, each containing five seeds.
Hedera helix f. poetarum is a form with dull orange fruits, found in the Mediterranean and known as poet’s ivy or Italian ivy.

Common ivy and wildlife

Ivy berries are a favoured winter food for blackbirds and if not eaten remain on the plant until spring, providing an important food-source for young birds. Branches and leaves of Hedera helix also provide shelter and nesting sites for birds, and a ready supply of insects can be found living on and around them.
Hedera helix flowers open late in the year (September to November) and are pollinated by insects such as wasps and moths. They are an important source of nectar and pollen for bees when other sources such as heather are not available.

Uses

Hedera helix 'Pennsylvanica'

Common ivy is a popular ornamental, and many cultivars are available, including non-climbing ones for ground cover and compact forms for potted plants. Being evergreen and shade-loving, ivy is perfect for winter gardens and can form an attractive covering for garden structures. Ivy was a fashionable ornamental in Victorian Britain and represented fidelity in the ‘language of flowers’.
Hedera helix is frequently used in cut flower arrangements, particularly in winter displays. The custom of decorating homes with ivy and evergreens dates back to pre-Christian times when they were associated with the power of the eternal and represented continuation of life through the winter.
Early herbalists, having seen common ivy smothering grape vines, held the belief that ivy berries could counteract the unwanted side-effects of alcohol consumption. Hedera helix has in the past been used in the treatment of verrucas, warts and corns.
Ivy wood has been used as a substitute for boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). The glossy, cream, ivory-like heartwood is sometimes used in flower arrangements.
Young twigs were formerly a source of dyes, and it is said that a red dye can be obtained from the berries when boiled with alum.
Ivy is browsed by cattle and sometimes used as an emergency winter fodder.

Common ivy as a symbol

In ancient Rome, ivy was a symbol of intellectual achievement and ivy wreathes were used to crown winners of poetry contests. They were also given to victorious athletes in ancient Greece.
The Roman custom of hanging a branch with leaves (often ivy because it was readily available, and the leaves, being evergreen, lasted a long time) on a pole to indicate that the premises sold wine or ale spread throughout Europe in the Middle Ages and became known as an alepole or alestake.

Millennium Seed Bank: Seed storage

The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership aims to save plant life worldwide, focusing on plants under threat and those of most use in the future. Seeds are dried, packaged and stored at a sub-zero temperature in our seed bank vault.
Five collections of Hedera helix seeds are held in Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank based at Wakehurst in West Sussex.
See Kew’s Seed Information Database for further information on Hedera helix seeds.

Cultivation

Where ivy is grown on structures, it should be clipped over every other year to ensure the growth does not become too heavy.

Source: http://www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Hedera-helix.htm

Plants that thrive without water

So, while I don't have a real water issue - I'm a rather lazy person and don't like to spend my evenings watering the garden. So I was looking for some plants that would be happy even if rain does not fall so much during the summer.

Here are a few of my selections, planning to have them in my yard next year:
Lavender - looks great (blue color0, smells great, and it will make everyone want it in their gardens( http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/herb/lavender/)

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Lavender.htm

Yarrow ("coada soricelului" - achillea) - various colours, and can be easily grown, and it's also a perennial (http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/perennial/yarrow/)

Agastache (desert sunrise) - orange bloom, with pink and lavender tints; but beware - it wants a lot of sun and dried land

Sundrops - yellow bloom, but it looks like it can be quite aggressive in the garden...
Russian Sage (http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/perennial/russian-sage/) - tall plant, with lavender like colour and silvery foliage
Salvia - bush/meadow/mojave sage - yes, the aromatic version as well, seems to be a great plant for the dry gardens
Lamb's ears (urechi de iepure) - grows quickly, and can be quite invasive - but looks really great, in pictures at least
Pine-leaf penstemon - looks like a great one, with its scarlet red flowers and almost ever-green.
Blanket flower (gaillardia) - in blooms quite a lot, and looks really great with its bright shadows of yellow and red.
Purple coneflower (echinacea purpurea) - mauve-purple blooms the whole summer, and a perennial as well.
Amsonia (amsonia tabernaemontana) - looks like an unknown plant, although amazing through its blue colour, and the yellow shades in autumn.
Sedum - pure pink flowers in autumn... although there are many other types of sedum that have different colours as well.

So plenty of options - now I need to choose which ones to pick... tough one indeed!

P.S.: The photos on the page have been taken from web, so if you own any of those and want them removed - please let me know.