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Experienced gardeners are well aware of this reality and have even come to enjoy the ephemeral nature of their outdoor spaces.
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Did you know that what we call a banana tree is not a tree at all? Or that a banana is actually an herb AND a berry? Learn more bizarre botanical facts about this misunderstood tropical perennial plant, which can actually be cold-hardy down to zone 5 if you choose the right variety for your climate. I’m not much of a banana person (unless it’s cooked in rum and butter, though that combo will make anything taste divine), but I loved having banana trees around when I used to live in zone 10b. Among the many trees that grew in my Southern California garden years ago, there was an abundance of bananas flourishing year-round, all in different stages of ripeness. A few of them even grew over my hammocks and infused such a balmy and tropical feel to the setting, it was easy to forget that we lived in the city with foghorns blowing from the Port of Los Angeles every day. Even though I call them “trees,” they’re actually plants—and to be more specific, banana plants are herbaceous perennials. In other words, herbs. They’re one of those things in life that aren’t what they seem to be, the way tomatoes are technically fruits (not vegetables) and dandelions are herbs (not weeds). Bizarre botanical fact #1: A banana is an herb. That’s right—a banana plant is technically a large herb, distantly related to another garden rhizome, ginger. While most people think of basil, parsley, or rosemary when they think of herbs, it’s easier to see how a banana can be an herb if we look at more “exotic” herbs like lemongrass, horseradish, and wasabi. A banana is considered an herb in botanical terms because it never forms a woody stem (or trunk) the way a tree does. Rather, it forms a succulent stalk, or pseudostem. The pseudostem begins as a small shoot from an underground rhizome called a corm. It grows upward as a single stalk with a tight spiral of leaf sheaths wrapped around it. Banana leaves are simply extensions of the sheaths. Bizarre botanical fact #2: A banana is also a berry. During the flowering stage, an inflorescence (also called a banana heart, as it emerges from the heart of the plant) appears on the end of the stem. It is usually a long, tapered, tightly wrapped, deep purple bud. Bizarre botanical fact #3: Banana anatomy was coined by slave traders. A hanging cluster of hands on a banana plant is called a bunch, with each bunch holding 7 to 14 hands of bananas. As you likely guessed, individual bananas on a hand are called fingers. Bizarre botanical fact #4: Modern bananas have been bred to be sterile… but they DID have seeds at one point. A plant produces a single crop of bananas and then dies, propagated only by new shoots from the corm. Each of these shoots (pseudostems) goes on to live for only two to three years, but because the corm can survive for many years, the banana plant’s reproductive process is unique for a fruit. Bananas are bred as parthenocarpic plants and don’t require any pollination to produce fruit.
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If you’ve noticed gorgeous fall foliage lately and want to bring some to your landscape, we have just the thing. Here are 15 trees with the most spectacular fall foliage around. Join gardening expert Melissa Strauss in learning more about these trees that flaunt such vivid autumn leaves! The autumn landscape can be a most breathtaking scene to behold. Trees change their leaves to shades of crimson, mahogany, bronze, and gold, rolling over hillsides and lighting up the sky. Paired with the cooling temperatures and holiday anticipation, it’s truly an enchanting time to be outdoors enjoying nature. When it comes to fall color, not all trees are equal. Scientific reactions are responsible for those vivid hues. As the equinox passes and we see fewer daylight hours, the decrease in daylight means less photosynthesis. The decrease in photosynthesis means that the tree produces less chlorophyll. When you see those brilliant shades of yellow and orange, you see the color of the leaves without chlorophyll. Some leaves are brighter underneath than others, which simply turn brown. Shades of red and violet appear because of the presence of anthocyanins, which develop when sugars get trapped in the leaves. Maples, oaks, and dogwood trees are likely to produce these colors. Science aside, autumn leaves are one of my favorite things about the season. Not only are they beautiful to behold, but they are also a harbinger of celebratory times ahead. Here are 15 of my favorite fall trees with the best leaves. American Beech American beech is a slow grower with smooth, gray bark and a full, dense canopy. The leaves are simple, heavily veined, and slightly toothy. In spring and summer, they are a gorgeous blue-green shade. When autumn starts to creep in, those leaves change to brilliant bronze and gold. These trees need at least partial exposure and grow quite large over time. They need moist, well-drained soil that is slightly acidic and rich in nutrients. After the first few years, they need little pruning or maintenance and provide a lot of interest in the landscape. Black Tupelo Famed for the honey produced from its nectar, the Black Tupelo is an easy-going tree with reliably wonderful autumn colors. Its flowers are inconspicuous but are a great food source for bees. In addition to its fall leaves, it has interesting, scaly bark that adds interest in winter. The foliage lights up in shades of red, orange, yellow, and purple, with small bluish-black berries that attract birds. It has an oval growth habit and matures to between 30 ‘and 70’ tall. It’s not picky about exposure or soil as long as it doesn’t have wet feet. Ginkgo Ginkgos are amazingly long-lived and fascinating trees. The oldest specimen in the world is more than 3,000 years old! These truly get better and more beautiful with age. They have beautiful and unique fan-shaped foliage that is a lovely bluish-green in summer. For as lovely as they are throughout the year, ginkgos are a glorious golden spectacle in fall. Plant your ginkgo in a place where it gets a lot of light. They are drought tolerant and prefer sandy, well-drained soil. Make sure to loosen up and amend your soil if it is clay-heavy or compacts easily. They can live in Zones 3-9 but thrive best in more of a mid-range. Too much heat will decrease a ginkgo’s drought tolerance. Serviceberry Serviceberry is a member of the rose family and a more compact tree. At a mature height of 15 to 30 feet, it fits well in more modest spaces, and you can plant it closer to the house without fear of root damage. First, this tree is known for its spectacular spring floral display. When it blooms, it looks like a fluffy white cloud. As the days get shorter, serviceberry’s foliage changes to glowing red, gold, and orange embers. It glows in any garden space. In its first year, remember to keep the soil moist. Giving your serviceberry a layer of mulch around the base will help retain moisture in the soil. Trees that get more moisture produce more and better-quality, edible berries. Sugar Maple You’ll find sugar maple on any list of this kind. It’s simply one of the most flamboyant and reliable sources of autumn foliage around. Its attractive rounded crown makes it an ideal shade tree, and the vermilion, orange, and yellow foliage stands out in fall. Maple trees are generally well-loved for this reason. Sugar maple has the highest concentration of sugar of any species, which adds a lot of red tones. Sugar maples like well-drained, acidic soil, but they prefer it not to be too wet or dry. Give your sugar maple space from footpaths or driveways. Their roots are a bit sensitive. Sassafrass Sassafrass is a North American native with a rich history of use among Indigenous people. Female trees produce pretty yellow flowers in the spring, and the resulting berries feed birds and other wildlife. The plant also plays host to the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. The foliage is an interesting part of sassafras. The leaves aren’t all the same shape—some are ovoid—but the ends of branches hold interesting, tri-lobed leaves. When young, they have a citrus aroma. In autumn, they change to shades of orange, yellow, and red, sometimes even a deep burgundy. Eastern Redbud This member of the legume family is a double threat, with stunning spring flowers and incredible autumn foliage. It’s a compact tree with peeling bark that also provides winter interest. The heart-shaped leaves change from bright green to various warm colors, and the ‘Heart of Gold’ cultivar turns bright yellow. Full sun exposure will make Eastern redbud produce the most flowers. The rounded crown is a product of many horizontally tiered branches. Moist, well-drained soil is ideal, and it needs a winter chill to set buds. Ohio Buckeye Ohio buckeye is another mid-sized tree that blends well in most landscapes. It has a broad crown that is often slightly pointed on top. This is a bloomer, but the flowers are not highly visible among the leaves. They are, however, attractive to pollinators. The resulting fruit is poisonous. The fall color can span the spectrum from red to gold, with orange being the most common. Ohio buckeye makes a lovely shade tree. It prefers well-drained soil and is otherwise unfussy about composition and pH. It likes moderate moisture.
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Split or cracked tomatoes are a common problem in mid to late summer, and while they’re unsightly, most of the time they’re still edible. Find out why it happens and what you can do to keep your fruits from splitting or cracking. In mid to late summer, I usually see a common problem with tomatoes: once-perfect fruits on the vine suddenly splitting or cracking. While you can usually still eat the damaged tomatoes (especially if you pick them soon after they split), it’s a frustrating problem to have because it’s caused by rapid changes in moisture levels, which are often out of your control. The damaged skin is a physiological condition that can usually be blamed on rain. After a dry summer, a sudden downpour allows the plant to take up way more water than usual. As a tomato takes up water, the fruit expands faster than its skin can stretch, causing the skin to split. What you get are growth cracks or “bursting” of the fruit. But it’s not always rain that causes this—in hot weather, you might find yourself watering more often or more heavily as well, leading the fruits to swell and split. The damage may appear as radial cracks (which extend from the stem down the sides of the fruit) or concentric cracks (which show up as a circular pattern at the top of the tomato, ringing the stem end). If fruits are left on the vine, rot may set in at the cracks or the cracks may heal over with brown “scar” tissue.The good news is, there is a way to keep your tomatoes from splitting as often—or altogether. First, make sure your garden beds are nicely mulched to help retain moisture. Water your plants deeply (but less frequently) to train the roots to reach down in the soil for moisture; this will help the plants survive heat waves (and free you from needing to water so much). Second, if you go outside and harvest your almost-ripe tomatoes before any forecasted rain, you can save them! As I wrote about previously, tomatoes can be ripened indoors with no difference in flavor or texture. The notion that a vine-ripened tomato is superior in taste is actually a myth—and likely brought on by our own psychological biases. The best time to pick a tomato, if you want to ensure quality fruit, is right when the skin starts to “blush” (show some color). At that point, you can bring it inside to finish ripening on your counter (and you’ll have beat all the birds and squirrels that want to get to it first!). If, however, you miss the window and a heavy rain comes, be sure to harvest any split or cracked tomatoes immediately and ripen them the same way indoors. The defects might look ugly, but they don’t really alter the flavor and you can simply cut them out and compost those portions.Cracks on tomatoes also look similar to (but aren’t necessarily the same as) another condition called catfacing. You can see what catfacing looks like here and learn how to keep it from happening to your crop.
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As conscientious gardeners, we strive to improve our corners of the world and to steward pollinators for a whole host of reasons. They pollinate our food crops, many of which require insect pollination to produce fruit. Meanwhile, they also improve the look of our ornamentals and boost seed production to expand the colony. Insects offer natural pest control, as some beneficial species are predators for common garden pests like aphids and scale. They’re an important part of the food web for birds, reptiles, and small mammals. And when it comes to butterflies, they’re beautiful visitors who enliven the space with their fluttering. No pollinator garden would be complete without growing milkweed. Milkweed is the sole larval host plant for monarch butterflies, whose population is in decline. It also serves a variety of other insects and caterpillars. Its naturalistic, easy-care habit and sweet ornamental bloom clusters are a delight. While planting milkweed is broadly beneficial, growing it comes with a sort of nuanced responsibility. Not all native species are a fit for our individual sites or the pollinators we intend to support. The right kind of milkweed for our area can get highly specific, and for good reason. The availability of regional native milkweed becomes an integral part of monarch migration patterns and survival. Here are our top milkweed growing tips for a lovely butterfly habitat!
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The best and EASIEST way to make mushrooms. In a crockpot with garlic, herbs and butter! Just 5 min prep.
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THE VERY best (freezer-friendly) bolognese sauce! So rich, so hearty, so perfect. Serve over pasta or gnocchi!
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