July and August are months of lush abundance in the Yakima Valley, when gardens explode not only with extraordinary produce, but with extravagant flowers. For centuries and across many cultures, flowers have provided not only a feast for the eyes, but for the palate as well. Many flowers are edible and can make a beautiful and delicious addition to recipes.

But before you head into the garden and pick a bunch of blooms to add to tonight’s dinner menu, it’s important that you know precisely what you are eating.

Photos of food bedazzled by blooms entice readers from the pages of cookbooks and magazines, but just because that dish may be garnished with flowers does not mean that the garnishes are safe to eat. The widespread use of pesticides by commercial growers is a reality, making it essential that cooks obtain flowers from a dependable, food-safe source. Never eat flowers from a florist or gathered from the side of the road.

Better to use those flowers from your own garden, so you know they are completely safe. Roses, nasturtiums, pansies, violets and lavender are flowers that can be used easily and are good choices for the flower-as-food novice. Not only do they make gorgeous garnishes, but thyme, oregano, sage and chive flowers have a milder taste than their leaves and can safely be used as you would the herb.

Salad with Chive Blossom

If you are choosing homegrown flowers to eat, remember that many can potentially cause gastric distress and some are outright dangerous. Always consult a list of poisonous plants before you even consider eating a particular flower, and never use floral preservatives with edibles. Pick freshly opened and perfectly formed flowers from your garden in the morning or late afternoon, when the water content is high and flavors and essential oils are at their peak. Remove the pistils and stamens — the pollen-bearing parts of the plant. This step is especially important if you have asthma, hay fever or allergies.

If this is the case, you may want to avoid eating flowers altogether, or do so very cautiously in small quantities, to be absolutely sure you will not have a dangerous reaction. Continue your preparations by washing the flowers thoroughly in cool water, followed by a revitalizing 30- to 60-second plunge in an ice water bath. Drain on paper towels and then carefully remove the petals or other parts to be eaten. In some flowers, such as roses, you may decide to scissor away the whitish part of the petal where it connects to the stem, since it can add bitterness. You can store the flowers in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, but try to serve them just as fresh as possible.

Ten common plants that you shouldn’t eat:

(From livescience.com)

Narcissus

Rhododendron

Ficus

Oleander

Chrysanthemum

Anthurium

Lily-of-the-valley

Hydrangea

Foxglove

Wisteria

By Sara Perry

A beautiful and appealing landscape is part of what makes our homes lovely, comfortable and comforting places to be.

Purchasing plants can represent a significant investment, and mistakes can be frustrating and costly. Luckily gardeners are notorious share-alls and advice from an experienced gardener – especially one who gardens in the same area you do – can be very helpful.

I recently asked some of our most experienced WSU Master Gardeners to share their “best picks” for plants – ornamentals or vegetables – that thrive in their Yakima area gardens.

Tomatoes are at the top of many gardeners’ priority lists, and this is certainly true for Larray Prather. Larray and a team of dedicated Master Gardeners propagate thousands of plants each year at our greenhouses in anticipation of our annual spring plant sale. Tomatoes and peppers are his specialty. When the sale is over, Larray goes to work in his huge half-acre garden where he grows more than 200 tomato plants, peppers and other veggies. Here are his top picks:

* Super Fantastic – an indeterminate hybrid tomato with a smooth taste that cans, juices, sauces and slices;

* Kelloggs Breakfast – a yellow beefsteak that has won our annual taste-off more than once. Larray says, “You just have to get over having a red tomato.”

* Sun Sugar – an orange hybrid cherry – sweet and yummy;

* Burpee’s Supersteak – an indeterminate hybrid for those big hamburger-bun-sized slices;

* Nu Mex Big Jim – a medium hot pepper;

* Fat and Sassy – a sweet bell pepper that really performs;

* Armenian cucumbers (which are really melons!) – He likes them fresh and pickled.

Hosta is one of Kris Vestad’s favorite ornamentals. Propagated for its lush green, blue or multicolored leaves, it fills in beautifully under shrubs and trees. This low-maintenance, long-lived plant thrives with afternoon shade and even watering but will grow in sunnier spots as well.

Kris’ favorites:

* Big Daddy – true to its name with large, deep blue, heart-shaped leaves that grow to 3 feet;

* Albo-marginata – with deep green, white-edged leaves that grow to about 2 feet;

* June – with a variegated leaf that is a little smaller.

Carol Barany’s expertise is filling large spaces with free-flowering, long-blooming perennials, and the beautiful gardens surrounding her lovely old period home prove it.

* Of geranium Rozanne Carol says, “When I first found this “Perennial Plant of the Year” for 2008, it was love at first sight, and I haven’t changed my mind since. This plant is simply the best hardy geranium, and my favorite perennial.” Rozanne’s violet-blue blooms continue all summer.

*A Dahlia called Fascination, with striking blackish-purple stems and leaves, is the best of the dark foliage dahlias, according to Carol. A diminutive 24 inches tall, its pink blooms make great cut flowers.

* The Centranthus ruber called Alba is a warm-white version of the familiar red (or pink) Valerian. Carol says this tall flower with pretty silver-green foliage “never seems to be without flowers, and it responds well to deadheading. When it’s time for a haircut, I whack the bushy, upright plants back with hedge-clippers, then wait for the next flush of blooms. Hands down, when people tour my garden, this is the plant they ask me to share.  There’s no better recommendation than that!”

Diana Pieti grows a wildlife-friendly garden:

* Agastache rupestris, Licorice Mint, or Agastache cana, Bubble Gum Mint — for the hummingbirds and butterflies

* Amelanchier, Serviceberry — a North American native shrub with small white blooms in spring and edible, blueberry-like fruit for people and birds

* Cornus stolonifera, Red Twig Dogwood — with its beautiful red branches in winter for general wildlife habitat.

Zinnias are everywhere in Bill Gillespie’s yard. “We plant them in thick drifts in our largest beds. Miniature, short and giants go well together and provide a mass of color from ground level to 4 feet high.” Some favorite varieties include State Fair, Dreamland and Lilliput; all are available in mixed colors.

Mary Killingstad is hooked on garlic.  Plant certified, disease-free cloves in the fall, feed and water well and you will be rewarded in July with large heads of home-grown culinary heaven.  Mary likes two heirloom hardneck varieties called Chesnok Red and Persian Star.

“Hemerocallis” or Daylily, and “Gaillardia” or Blanket flower, are two of LaVonne Benner’s garden stalwarts.  Easy to grow and maintain, and available in lots of colors, they bloom all summer.  A hybrid flowering shrub called “Caryopteris clandonensis” or Dark Knight is also on her list of bests, with its attractive blue-purple flowers that bloom from July until late summer.

The Yakima Arboretum’s annual plant sale runs 3-7 p.m. Friday, May 7, and continues 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, May 8. This is a great way to find a new-to-the-market selection of trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and vines for your yard.

WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is an organization of trained volunteers dedicated to horticulture and community service. Do you have questions about gardening or landscaping? Call the Master Gardener Clinic at 509-574-1600 or visit us at the WSU Extension office on 104 N. 1st Street in Yakima. New volunteers are welcome.

By Jim McLain

Start Your Own “Salad” Garden…Easily

Over the last several years, vegetable gardens have been popping up like dandelions in backyards across America. One reason for the renaissance of vegetable gardening has been the recession.

But there is also another reason: a desire for fresh produce that has been grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Not so long ago, organic farmers and gardeners were thought to be sort of, well, wacko. But organic gardening — gardening without chemicals  — has now gained mainstream acceptance.

If you are considering starting your first vegetable garden this year, whether you decide to jump on the organic gardening bandwagon or not, heed these two words of advice: start small.

Unfortunately, many first-time gardeners are overly enthusiastic and plant a garden that is far too large. By the time the heat of summer rolls around, many of these gardens have become jungles of abandoned weeds.

Ease into vegetable gardening by limiting your first to just one small 8-by-4-foot raised bed that will grow a surprising amount of produce.

Here’s how to start: purchase three 1-by-6 inch pieces of rot-resistant cedar lumber that are 8 feet in length. Cut one of them into two 4-footers. Nail them to the ends of the two remaining eight-foot boards. Voila! You now have the beginnings of a small 32-square-foot garden.

Select a site that receives at least six hours of sunlight a day. Dig out the turf if it is to be located where there is now lawn. Settle in your frame, then fill your raised bed with soil to within two inches of the top. You may be able to “borrow” soil from your flowerbeds, or you can buy garden or potting soil by the bag at garden centers. Add some garden compost or composted steer manure to enrich the soil.

For your first garden, consider limiting it to a “salad” garden — one that will provide ingredients for tossed salads throughout the gardening season. Begin your garden in the latter part of April or early May. Plant some of these cool season vegetables: radishes, lettuce, mesclun, chard, spinach and Walla Walla sweet onions. Two weeks later, plant carrots.

Run your rows across the width of the bed. Rows can be as close as four inches apart for your lettuce and other greens. They won’t need to be thinned because you will be harvesting them while they are still small.

Using the cut-and-come-again method, harvest just enough for one salad at a time. Use scissors to snip leaves about an inch above the ground. Your plants will then regrow and give you a second and possibly a third cutting before they begin to bolt and set seed.

When your cool season vegetables have passed their prime, replace them with warm season salad vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

Buy tomato transplants of varieties that have “bush” in their name, such as “Bush Early Girl.” They will take up less space. Even so, you will need to use a tomato cage to support and confine them. Two plants will likely produce all the tomatoes you need. On the other hand, you should have room for at least three or four sweet pepper plants, which should also be bought as transplants.

For cucumbers, construct a simple, space-saving trellis at the end of your bed for them to climb. You will need to tie the vines to the trellis when they first begin to run, starting them on their upward journey. Seed your cucumbers in the garden or start transplants indoors.

Keep your garden producing by successive planting — replacing each crop that has finished producing with a new planting of the same or different kind of vegetable. This can be continued right into July or even later for some vegetables, including carrots.

Nothing succeeds like success. By keeping your first vegetable garden small, you will expend minimum time and effort, but you will reap the benefits of a successful first garden. In following years, you may decide to expand your gardening by adding an additional raised bed to include a variety of other vegetables you didn’t have room for this year.

WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is an organization of trained volunteers dedicated to horticulture and community service. Questions about gardening, landscaping, or this program can be directed toward the Master Gardener Clinic at 509-574-1600, or visit the WSU Extension office at 104 N. First St. in Yakima. New volunteers are welcome.

Enjoy an Indoor Garden This Winter

By Marge Greenwood

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.  ~Chinese Proverb

Rich red roses in a flush of bloom; russet and yellow striped petals bursting amid lush green chrysanthemum leaves; pendulous succulents dripping with fat buds and blooms — winter hothouses bring us these out-of-season beauties to delight our eyes and brighten our homes during the holiday months of winter.

Lovely to give and receive, the charms of flowering plants can linger on after all the decorations are put away and the cut flowers are faded and gone.  Some can even be transitioned outside in spring.

Miniature roses and chrysanthemums are beautiful and easy to grow.  Both need bright light, but the flowers will last longer if they are not in direct sunlight while blooming.  Tolerant of some temperature variation, they prefer 60 to 70 degrees, a spot away from heat vents or cold air returns, evenly distributed moisture and good drainage.  Spray with water occasionally or set a saucer filled with gravel and water under the pot to provide humidity.  After blooms fade, don’t expect new growth right away – a resting period is normal after heavy bloom.  If your plant doesn’t appear to be maintaining health, it may need a larger pot.

When all danger of frost is past, roses and mums can be hardened off and planted outdoors in a sunny spot with well-drained, fertile soil.

Most poinsettias end up in the garbage or compost after the holidays.  Admittedly they are a little difficult to care for, and coaxing them to re-bloom takes dedication and vigilance.  But for those up to the challenge the results can be stunningly rewarding.

Ideally, poinsettias prefer 60 to 70 degrees with about six hours of indirect light a day.  Extremes and fluctuation in temperature will cause leaf drop, so when bringing your new poinsettia home, protect it from the cold and position it away from cold windows and warm or cold drafts.  Only water when the soil is dry and remove decorative foil for good drainage.  Never let it sit in standing water.

When leaves drop, usually by early spring, prune back to eight inches, repot and continue to water and fertilize.  After new growth appears and while nighttime temperatures are above 55 degrees, pots can be put outside.  Continue fertilizing and pruning to keep plants healthy and compact. Stop pruning in August.

Now comes the fun!  Beginning in October cover plants each night for fourteen hours of uninterrupted dark (black plastic works great) – then uncover and expose to bright light for six-to-eight hours a day, keeping temps between 60 and 70 degrees. Follow this regime for eight to ten weeks for brilliantly colored bracts by the holidays.  Tip: don’t fertilize your plant while in bloom.   With proper care, you will enjoy your poinsettia for years.

Christmas cactus is an interesting and different plant.   Its arching, dangling growth habit offers interesting visual lines punctuated by tropical-looking flowers.

Preferring cool but not freezing temps, these cacti dislike drafts such as those near a vent or an outside door.  Allow the top inch of soil to dry between thorough waterings.   Do not over water!  As with most tropical plants, however, they do like humidity and respond well to a gravel and water-filled saucer under the pot.  After blooming, place in a cool room and give limited water for a 30-day rest.  A few leaves may drop during this process.

To encourage blooms, cover plants for 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness each night starting in October.  Alternatively, cool temperatures of 50 to 55 degrees will also trigger budding.  This can sometimes be accomplished by setting the plant near a cold window pane.  As buds form on the side near the window, turn plant a quarter turn to expose another side.  The first buds will begin blooming and continue around the plant as you continue to turn it – thus extending bloom time.

Plants can be repotted in early spring – one tip though, they do seem to flower best when kept pot-bound.  This tropical specimen cannot be planted outside, although pots can be placed outside in sheltered areas during stable, warm weather.

The pleasures of flowering plants in winter are worthy of their maintenance, which itself is part of the sustaining gift for those of us with a gardener’s heart.

The weather outside is chilly, the garden tools are all put away, the garden is sleeping, but the gardener is busy getting ready for the holidays.

The bustle of preparations for seasonal entertaining and gift giving can have special meaning for the gardener who has been preparing since spring (or even last fall) for favorite foods, decorations and gifts for the holidays.

There is nothing that expresses affection and caring more than a favorite dish or hostess gift that is full of the energy and hard work of the giver.  And nothing is more beautiful than a door wreath or dried flower arrangement that still whispers with the memory of the summer sun in your garden.

One favorite flavor for holiday entertaining is pumpkin.  Pies are of course the quintessential pumpkin dish, but there are lots of pumpkin cookie, cake and muffin recipes as well.  Preparing fresh pumpkin grown in your garden for baking is really quite easy.  Simply cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and clean out the cavity.  Lay cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake in a 325-degree oven until the flesh is soft.  Remove from the oven and cool.  The outer skin should peel or cut off quite easily.  Run the soft, cooked flesh through a food mill, food processor or blender.   You can use the resulting paste just as you would use prepared pumpkin from a can.  Leftover pumpkin can be frozen for later use.

It is best to use pumpkin varieties that are recommended for culinary use.  The small sugar variety is the traditional baking pumpkin because of its sweet, dry flesh.

Hostess and holiday gifts can be especially meaningful when they come from your garden.  They can take a little forethought and planning, however, so you might use some of these ideas when planning next year’s garden.

• Garlic and Herb Braids – Three bulbs of well cured, soft-neck garlic with their long dried leaves intact can be braided together and decorated with dried herbs or flowers to make a charming and useful hostess gift.  Wrap the dry leaves in a damp towel for several hours before braiding to soften.  This will minimize breakage.
• Dried Herbs – Flavorful herbs grown in your garden can be dried in a warm oven or a food dehydrator and put into fun novelty jars and given as a gift to your favorite chef.  Parsley, oregano, thyme and dill are all good candidates for drying.  Paprika is a staple in most kitchens.  Wonderful homemade paprika can be ground from well-dried paprika peppers.  Decorate jars with homemade labels and jute or raffia.
• Herb Crafts – Wreaths, ornaments and wall decorations can be fashioned out of dried herbs and dried flowers combined with grapevines, willow, birch or dogwood twigs and branches.  For design ideas and crafting instructions look for craft books that include dried flowers and herbs at your local library.
• Framed garden quotes – Pressed flowers and herbs are the perfect complement to a favorite quote or poem (garden related or not.)  Print the quote on parchment, textured or novelty paper and find a mat and frame to fit.  Arrange pressed flowers, leaves and herbs (press between pieces of plain paper in the pages of a heavy book until dry) on the mat around the quote.  Secure the flowers with small applications of craft glue and frame after the glue has dried.

Other garden gifts might include potpourri sachets made from dried flower petals, dried fruit, fruit leather, jars of grape juice, jams and jellies, dried tomatoes or roasted pumpkin seeds (there is a hull-less variety you can grow).  Gourds can be made into birdhouses, bowls or dippers.  Forced bulbs planted in a pretty pot wrapped in cellophane make a delightful hostess gift.  Plant starts propagated from favorite varieties in your yard can be a wonderful gift of encouragement to a novice gardener.

Flavored vinegars look beautiful in decorative bottles with neck and cork dipped in melted paraffin to seal, and topiary-style wreaths planted with herbs for indoor growing are beautiful and useful.  Both are perfect for the dedicated gourmet cook.

Our gardens are the source of much joy and happiness for many of us.  We sow our energy and time as well as seeds.  When the harvest comes, the generosity of nature urges us to be giving as well.  In a world where so much is mass-produced, it is a delightful treat to give and receive gifts that money cannot buy – from the garden.

WSU Master Gardeners

The WSU Extension Master Gardener Program is an organization of trained volunteers dedicated to horticulture and community service.

Questions about gardening, landscaping, or this program can be directed toward the Master Gardener Clinic at (509) 574-1600 or visit us at the WSU Extension office at 104 N. First Street in Yakima.