GILDED BERRIES
Making a Good Impression
When I really want to impress some visitor to my garden, I offer a taste of Fallgold raspberries. Here is a fruit that is truly unique in a number of ways.
First, of course, is the flavor. Many raspberries taste good, especially when picked dead ripe and popped right into your mouth, but Fallgold is perhaps the tenderest and sweetest raspberry around. Here’s a berry that you’ll never find on a supermarket shelf; it’s too fragile to travel much further than arm’s length. Good for fresh eating but not freezing or processing. A university publication, while admitting that there’s currently limited commercial use for this variety, it could become a “gourmet item on the fresh market.”
Raspberry kin
Fallgold berries also have a unique appearance. The pale yellow, blushed orange color of the berries seems to speak out their sweetness and tenderness. Read more
TREES & SHRUBS FOR ALL
Taking Root
Fall is my favorite time to plant trees and shrubs — it’s the best time, in fact, for most of them. Here in cold hardiness Zone 5 of New York’s Hudson Valley, the specific date is October 17th. No, no, just kidding. Anytime around the middle of fall is good.
And that’s one reason I like fall planting. With plant growth ground to a halt and the soil generally in good condition for planting, fall planting is a relaxed affair. In spring, plants are raring to grow so want their roots nestled in their permanent home as soon as possible.
But enough about timing. Let’s see what form trees and shrubs, whether in fall or spring and whether purchased through the mail or locally, are available. You can buy trees and shrubs in one of three different ways.
A GARDEN PEST OF HUMANS
Yellowjacket Frenemies
Not all garden pests attack plants. One pest, not of plants, that especially bugs me around this time most years is yellowjackets. Yellowjackets can be worse than irksome; they can be deadly to people allergic to their sting.
Whether deadly or just irksome, yellowjackets are amongst the orneriest of creatures. They are aggressive and, unlike honeybees, don’t have to stop after one sting. Burying its stinger in your arm has no effect on a yellowjacket’s mortality, so it can do it again if it so pleases or go on to seek out other victims.
As with all of Mother Nature’s creatures, yellowjackets are not all bad — even from the biased viewpoint of us humans. Read more
