Author Topic: Pictures of the season  (Read 311 times)

Atash Hagmahani

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Pictures of the season
« on: October 23, 2009, 01:46:45 AM »
Tea blossoms:



This is the plant that tea comes from. It's a type of Camellia native to Yunnan, China, but it's been in cultivation for thousands of years. This is a highly-bred form probably from Japan, with small leaves.

Tea Camellias bloom in the Fall, and I think their flowers are naturally small. It seems as though they should be fragrant, but I didn't notice any fragrance.

Most of you know Impatiens as small annuals. Mostly the tropical one from Africa that used to be popular in Victorian times, and I guess is again as a summer bedding annual for shade.

This one is also from Africa, from roughly Ethiopia and Kenya through central and southern Africa, in highland forests. It's a fairly robust perennial:



This one is usually described as fragrant, but I haven't noticed the fragrance yet. Its specific name, "tinctoria", suggests that it should be a dye plant, but I haven't figured out where the dye is kept yet.

The strangest for last:

http://www.mutuallyassuredsurvival.com/photos/Asparagus volubis climbing through Wonderberries.jpg

It's not rendering correctly inline, so I put a link.

An African Asparagus (Asparagus as a genus is more common in Africa than in Europe; I would guess Europe's one or two Asperaguses wandered over from Africa) climbing through some stray Wonderberries, which are themselves a stabilized hybrid between Solanum villosus from Europe and S. guineaensis from Africa (at least, that's the official version).
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The Future

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Re: Pictures of the season
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2009, 05:02:51 PM »
how does the wonderberry taste?
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Atash Hagmahani

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Re: Pictures of the season
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2009, 05:12:32 PM »
Bland and vaguely sweet. If you put them into muffins or tea bread, along with a bit of lemon extract (for you it would make more sense to use a bit of fresh lemon juice and some lemon zest), they are enough blueberry-like to make a good substitute.
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darwinslair

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Re: Pictures of the season
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2009, 11:27:54 AM »
how does the wonderberry taste?

Related to it is Chiqulitte Huckleberry.  Tastes much better, subs great for blueberries, and incredibly proliffic.

rareseeds.com carries it.

Tom
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Atash Hagmahani

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Re: Pictures of the season
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2009, 01:09:12 PM »
I've got Chichiquelites too, but unlike the Wonderberries they do not seem to naturalize as readily. I get a few, and I also seem to get some hybrids, but eventually they seem to die out.

The Wonderberries not only naturalize, but I've spotted them in other people's yards now. Birds are probably spreading them. For all intents and purposes, I never have to replant them; they just show up on their own now, abundantly. They come close to overwintering but freeze out in our worst extended freezes.

I think they taste about the same. If you notice a difference, you might have "Garden Huckleberries" which are Solanum nigrum. The Wonderberry is stabilized S. villosum x S. guineaensis, and is palatable (if a tad bland) raw. The Chichiquelite is more attractive, having wavy leaf margins glossier fruit. It also happens to have a more open habit, making it much easier to spot the fruit. Sometimes you have to look and feel around under the leaves of the Wonderberry, for the hidden fruit.

Luther Burbank wanted to call Wonderberries "Sunberries", but that is a strange choice for a fruit that is almost jet black. It seems like "Sunberries" should be bright, sunny yellow.
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opsec

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Re: Pictures of the season
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2009, 05:27:36 PM »
Atash,
   Where did you get your wonderberry seeds from to begin with?
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Atash Hagmahani

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Re: Pictures of the season
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2009, 03:35:40 PM »
Atash,
   Where did you get your wonderberry seeds from to begin with?

Baker's Creek, a huge online seedstore, at www.rareseeds.com
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Wellspring

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Re: Pictures of the season
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2009, 12:28:13 PM »
Can I borrow this thread briefly to share a few pics of the season?

Since there's an approaching Cold Winter storm, I thought it time to finally pull up my cayenne, serrano and jalapeno Italian Frying and Banana pepper plants.  Spent a few hours last night picking fruit while listening to Tchaikovsky's dramatic Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major as well as a little of J. S. Bach's DRAMATIC "St. John Passion" (sacred opera) to set the holiday mood. 

Now we have to decide how to preserve them since only the Cayenne dries well.  Maybe some salsa verdes (since most are green) that we'll freeze.
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Atash Hagmahani

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Re: Pictures of the season
« Reply #8 on: December 26, 2009, 12:26:01 AM »
Can't go wrong with J.S. Bach. That sounds like a beautiful, if somber, change of pace from the "Christmas shopping music".

Tchaikovsky can get a little "noisy", but the solo violin really "sings" in that concerto.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Lx32Y7NQlDo&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/Lx32Y7NQlDo&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;</a>
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