All the Dirt on Gardening

My Thursday column about Amaranth possibilities Published January 30, 2008 06:43 pm - Grow up a little amaranth By Molly Day Muskogee Garden Club Amaranth is an ancient tropical plant that was originally grown in India, Mexico and South America. There are 60 species that grow tall and erect, spreading, or prostrate on the ground. Many of the species have colorful leaves and numerous, densely packed flowers over the summer and fall. Some of the common names for plants in this family are: Chenille plant, Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate, Pig Weed, Goose Foot, Sow Bane, Chinese Spinach, Cock’s Comb, Gizzard Plant, and Lamb’s Quarters. The leaves taste like spinach, are rich in Vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. They are used to brighten salads and used in stir-fry and soup. Amaranth seeds contain 18 percent protein, vitamin E, linoleic acid, lysine, amino acids, three times the fiber and five times the iron of wheat. Cooked amaranth seed is ninety percent digestible. Amaranth predated corn ...

The Southern Region Master Gardener Conference will be held June 18, 19, 20, 21 in Oklahoma City. If your calendar fills as quickly as mine you will have to mark off the dates now. The Tour Agenda is on the website already but registration information is not yet so I don't know what the cost will be for the conference or the hotel. Tours include: Will Rogers Park Arboretum , Myriad Gardens , Greenleaf Nursery , Oklahoma City Zoo , Bustani Plant Farm , private gardens of Kamala Gamable and Anne Griswold, private gardens of Don Resler and Kenneth and Nova Minick, Sunshine Nursery , Linneaus Garden at Tulsa Garden Center , and the gardens at Philbrook Museum in Tulsa. The center for the event is Clarion Meridian Hotel and Convention Center. Staying at the host hotel has a lot of advantages but if you want to look for other accommodations, check the visitors bureau for other choices. It looks like all the speakers are lined up. Last year's Little Rock Conference was a dazzler....

Photo: Native primrose Ken Boettger a member the listserve Trillium-L, explains why inconsistent seed germination is part of Mother Nature's Plan. (See Boettger's Alpine WildSeed of Ellensburg WA ) With Ken's permission, here are his comments - "In the native plant industry this adaptation (difficult or long term germination potential) is beneficial to 'Seed Soil Reserves'. The idea is that the seeds are predisposed to be difficult to germinate. Ecologically, you want germination variability. There are many examples, but here is one. Plants produce seed. All seeds germinate immediately. Spring turns out to be very hot and dry and all wither and die. The plants then lose their gene pool and if a wildfire happens to come through that year and kill the parents, the plants are entirely gone from the site with no progeny. Rather, the plants benefit from some seed germinating this year, some next year, some three years from now. The probability of at least one germi...

Photo: Anise Agastache and Rose Campion in one of the front yard beds last spring/summer. SAMPLE SEED PACKS Artistic Gardens has a great seed offer - 50 sample size seed packs for $14 - that's 28-cents each. My order came to $17.50 Sample Herb Packet Special = $14.00 Seed Shipping = $3.50 = Total $17.50 Other seeds are similarly priced . Cutting celery - 35-cents for a sample pack and 65-cents for a full pack of seeds. I can't wait to see which 50 sample packs show up. HANDY TOOL FOR GARDENERS Compliments of the United States Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department , you can obtain the times of sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset, transits of the Sun and Moon, and the beginning and end of civil twilight, along with information on the Moon's phase by specifying the date and location in one of the two forms (one form is for US locations the other is for foreign locations. Click here to see Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day I entered Muskogee OK and this i...

This is a photo I took at a public garden in Kansas. Note the size of the shrub - yes, that's one shrub to the left of those rocks. I planted one of those shrubs in our yard, using the advice in the catalog that said that at maturity it is a medium sized shrub that plays well with others. Or, something to that effect. Maybe ours won't grow that big. But still, that is not a medium shrub. It is a giant. At this time of year, most of us are focused on the seeds and plants we can plant this coming spring. I have been ordering for at least a month and have a big order to call in next week. T.C. CONNER'S GARDEN COLUMN The Pittsburgh Post Gazette has a garden column by T. C. Conner today that we can all relate to. Conner is unhappy about the unrealistic photographs in the catalogs and even used a magnifying glass to look for signs of normal garden wear: Bugs. Conner also takes garden writers to task for suggesting that you/we go through the catalogs and plan for the year ahead b...

The registration deadline is near for a $30 all-day gardening school in Oklahoma City. The line-up includes: "New Trees for Oklahoma Landscapes" presented by Jim Ord, of J. Frank Schmidt and Son Nursery; "Delightful Flowers for Oklahoma" presented by Kerry Meyer of Proven Winners; "From the Kitchen Garden to Your Kitchen" plus "From the Kitchen to Your Table" presented by Kamala Gamble from Kam's Kookery and "Top Shrubs and Grasses for Oklahoma" presented by Allan Storjohann from the Myriad Botanical Gardens. Registrations after Feb 22, cost an extra $10. Members of Myriad Garden Foundation get a $10 discount. Lunch is on your own at local restaurants. Last year we brought our lunch and used the extra time to shop in the Myriad gift shop. There are several restaurants in the area in the hotels. Registration information: 405.297.3995

Here is a list of Internet and mailorder sources for gardening supplies, seeds, plants, etc. It's today's column This year the catalog list is mostly gardener-recommended resources plus a few unusual finds. Whenever possible, buy seeds and plants locally, but be sure to check out the offerings of a mail-order supplier and try something new. • Abundant Life Seeds, (541) 767-9606, www.abundantlifeseed.org , organic seeds and seedlings. • AM. Leonard, (800) 543-8955, www.amleo.com , reasonably priced gardening tools. • Annie's Annuals & Perennials, www.anniesannuals.com , (866) 266-4370, rare and unusual plus cottage garden plants. Click on tabs for easy re-seeders, deer proof. • Baker Creek Seeds, Mo., www.rareseeds.com , (417) 924-8917, vegetable and flower seeds for our zone. • Bluestone Perennials, www.bluestoneperennials.com , (800) 852-5243, shrubs, flowers, bulbs, herbs. • Brent and Becky's, www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com , (804) 693-3966, flower bulbs. • Bustani ...