Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Catalogs and 2021 plants!
Oh the catalogs are arriving! I love getting my new year plant catalogs and browsing on a cold ,snowy, Sunday morning!
There are so many cool new choices! First up, beets! I never liked beets when I was a kid, except pickled. Years ago I pickled my own but, dang, they were not quite cooked through! Tasty but you needed a good knife to cut into ‘em! Burpee has a new variety of 2021 called ‘Mono Round Red’.
Here’s the description. Sweet-earthy flavor. Gorgeous ruby-red color. Satiny smooth texture. Maximum nutrition in roots as well as leaves. In short, the perfect beet! “Mono” simply means each seed makes only one plant (typically beet seeds generate a few), so clumping is eliminated — you won’t be thinning, plus your harvest will be nice and uniform. Each compact plant takes up only about a square foot in your vegetable patch. With a little salt and pepper, YUM.
Cabbage is another one of those vegetables that I was not fond of. Then a friend gave me one of his, holy cow, delicious in soup. The new one for 2021 is called ‘Overture Hybrid’. Bitterness, be gone!
A major flavor improvement, writes Burpee, it ripens wonderfully sweet, plump heads, dense with crisp leaves. Plus, you can direct-sow, saving time and effort. In cooler weather, your stuffed cabbage rolls will turn out better because the firm leaves resist ripping or falling apart.
And now for an annual flower to brighten up any landscape. A California poppy called ‘Yukon Gold’.
Just 12 inches tall, this would be beautiful near the front of your border. This super California poppy variety, has ruffled orange-yellow and gold bicolor blooms that bring the shimmering colors of desert sunshine to your garden. The feathery foliage is blue-green, setting off the 3″ bloom of glinting gold.
What delights are YOU dreaming about for your 2021 garden? Tell me about them on my Garden Bite Facebook Page!