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Every season, seed companies introduce new vegetable varieties, each with the promise that it will offer gardeners something fresh and valuable. Hardiness, disease-resistance, early ripening time, compact size-these are some of the qualities that organic gardeners look for. The superior flavors and unique look of heirlooms continue to appeal to discerning gardeners. Last summer, we grew many of the new hybrids and reintroduced heirlooms that will be available in 2005. We assessed these varieties under diverse conditions, in the test garden near our Pennsylvania office as well as in plots in North Carolina, Kansas, California, and Washington. You can use our results to help you decide which ones will be winners in your garden this season.
Broccoli 'Coronado Crown' (60 days) Heralded as heat-resistant, this hybrid broccoli was a winner in our Pennsylvania garden yet went "from button to bolt" after a sudden blast of Kansas summer. Sixty days after transplanting in Pennsylvania, we had very beautiful and very large heads-up to 10 inches across-and they continued to produce harvest-size sideshoots into mid-October. In Washington, Debbie reported "not the hugest heads but quite nice sideshoots." SOURCE: 5
Corn 'Obsession' (79 days) "Very sweet; did not even need cooking-just snap, shuck, and snack!" enthuses Andrea, who sees her share of corn in Kansas. Don, in North Carolina, also raves about the spectacular taste of this bicolor corn. He harvested two ears from most stalks. At 5 to 6 feet, 'Obsession' held up well all summer and resisted lodging (stalk breakage below the ear). A breeding breakthrough created this gourmet sweet hybrid-it is a combination of two corn types: supersweets (labeled "su" on seed packets) and sugar-enhanced (labeled "se"). SOURCE: 10
Cucumber 'Eureka' hybrid (55 days) Touted as both a pickler and a slicer, 'Eureka' has been bred for disease-resistance. In our Pennsylvania garden, we harvested almost 400 cukes from four hills! We picked our first fruits 53 days after direct-sowing the seeds, and the vines continued producing heavily for the next 40 days. The plants were disease free, and the fruit was of a consistent shape, crisp, and tasty. SOURCE: 5
Eggplant 'Fairy Tale' hybrid (50 to 90 days) The first eggplant to win an AAS (All-America Selections) award since 1939, 'Fairy Tale' is an attractive baby plant with pretty striped fruits. In Pennsylvania, we grew it in the garden (not in a container), where it bore clusters of 3- to 5-inch fruits beginning in early July. It did not produce as plentifully as our larger Asian eggplants and was less able to spring back from the inevitable flea beetle raid, but we found it worth the effort because...well, because it was cute. We harvested our first eggplant only 49 days after transplanting; our test gardeners in other areas reported waiting 85 days or more. SOURCES:2, 3, 4, 5
Hot Peppers 'Mustard' and 'Peach' (100 days) These habaneros are differing pod types of the species Capsicum chinense. Don't be fooled by the soft pastel colors-either of these would burn a hole in your tablecloth. We had better-quality fruit on the more elongated 'Peach' (the wrinkly fruits of 'Mustard' had a tendency to rot on the plants). Both grew vigorously once hot weather arrived, topping off at about 2 feet and yielding heavily in late September. Nan, in California, grew them in containers, where they were "nicely shaped, 12 inches tall, and surprisingly productive." SOURCE: 6
Lettuce 'Baby Star' (68 days) It looks like a butterhead, but it's actually a miniromaine. 'Baby Star' performed well for us, making dense, dark green heads with substance and crunch. An August direct sowing gave us a second harvest in mid-October. Bonus: The dark green means a higher nutritional value than most other lettuces. SOURCE:5
Tomatoes 'Amana Orange' (79 days from transplant) A large, rambling indeterminate (bears fruit all season) plant bearing monster fruits with the occasional strange lobe, this tomato is not for the timid. "The strongest point," says Don, in North Carolina, "is the color: a true, bright orange." An heirloom from Amana, Iowa, this variety has been on the market prior to 2005. In the South, it was less than satisfactory, with a tendency to go "woody" inside. Elsewhere, tasters found 'Amana Orange' mild and extremely juicy. SOURCE: 8
'Old Flame' (86 days) This vigorous indeterminate heirloom held up to the blight better than most but did eventually succumb. Fruits were large and beautiful with yellow-orange coloring streaked with red-gorgeous sliced and arranged on a platter. In Don's sultry North Carolina test garden, 'Old Flame' rotted very quickly. But for those beguiled by beauty (and who isn't), this is a winner. And it's "great on toast with unsweetened peanut butter," claims Andrea, in Kansas. SOURCE: 11
'Palla di Fuoco' (73 days) This traditional Italian tomato is an indeterminate, open-pollinated variety with medium-size, round, red fruits. The shapely little "balls of fire" were "not the best-tasting but plenty good, and with outstanding production and fruit quality," Don says. "It's the only tomato I ever grew that nearly refused to pull off the vine-which kept the crop from dropping and rotting," Andrea states. We found it a joy to harvest, and tasty, with a pleasant texture. SOURCES: 7, 11
'Spears Tennessee Green' (85 days) The hard part about growing green tomatoes is knowing when they're ripe. The vigorous indeterminate heirloom vine produced a modest amount of large fruits. Pick them when they're still firm, and just as the green color begins to lighten. Both the color and the texture, strangely, reminded us of honeydew melon. "Crisp," "light," and "balanced," tasters said. "One of the best green tomatoes I've grown," raves Nan, in Southern California. This was the favorite in our home office taste test-and makes a great addition to a multicolor tomato salad. SOURCE: 1
'Sugary' (56 days) A new hybrid and an AAS Winner, this semideterminate (small, vining) plant produced clusters of blimp-shaped, pinkish cherry tomatoes. With a name like 'Sugary', we expected supersweet fruit. While all of our growers found it to be an excellent producer, starting early and continuing all summer, not everyone agreed that it was aptly named. The fruit got more "sugary" later in the season. The vine's modest stature makes this a good container possibility. SOURCES: 4, 5
'Tomande' (63 days) If you want a tomato that ripens early, has that "classic tomato flavor," and is disease-resistant, plant this one. 'Tomande' hybrid is indeterminate in habit but more compact than most other all-season producers-and it's a good producer. Don reports that his plants "kept cranking out tomatoes" all season in North Carolina. "The best for BLTs," says Debbie from Washington. SOURCE: 2
What's in Bloom: Fresh Flowers for 2005 How do you define the value of a flower? It might be a compatible garden partner, attract all the right beneficials, look great dried. Or maybe it's just quirky and different...and suits your garden mood. Last winter, we considered all of those reasons and then decided to plant these seven flower varieties in our 2004 test gardens. Here's how they fared in a wide range of conditions.
Asclepias physocarpus 'Oscar' Native to South Africa, this species (also called Gomphocarpus physocarpus) is known by some as "hairy balls." Had we been aware of that, we might have been more prepared. Dainty dangling white flowers on towering, gangly 5-foot stems had us scratching our heads over why this plant might be considered gardenworthy (even if it is a host plant for monarch butterflies). But in September, the tangerine-size puffy green pods were the talk of the test garden, inspiring the more creative among us to produce some very off-beat dried arrangements. Mostly, we just gawked and pointed them out to every visitor. This plant requires, shall we say, careful siting-and careful handling as well. The milky sap can be an irritant. SOURCE: 3
Cosmos 'Cosmic Red' It took half the summer for us to be convinced of the value of this bright orange-red cosmos. We were rewarded in midsummer with healthy 15-inch mounds of dark green foliage and bright color that stayed attractive into September. Andrea, our tester in Kansas, described it as "very eye-catching!" It lacked longevity in the humid South, and even in cooler Pennsylvania, marigolds outbloomed it by a full month. Still, it's a nice, dense bedding annual. A tip from Debbie, our Washington tester: "Just don't grow it next to 'Magellan Coral' zinnia." SOURCE: 5
Gaillardia aristata 'Arizona Sun' This dwarf blanket flower, a perennial, won its AAS (All-America Selections) award based on its first summer performance. It bloomed for us approximately 90 days after sowing, as promised. Mahogany and red flowers were still appearing on some plants well into the fall. At less than 1 foot tall, it is definitely a front-of-the-border plant. We'll be keeping our eyes on this one to see if next season brings a repeat performance. SOURCES: 2, 4, 5
Orlaya grandiflora 'White Lace' This is a lovely early-season annual native to the Mediterranean area. It grew easily in Pennsylvania, producing a beautiful 2-foot-tall stand of billowy white blooms similar to Queen Anne's lace, only tamer and more "lacecappy." When finished, it did not slowly fade away; it went to seed and turned brown practically overnight. Still, it is certainly worth growing-just plan to replace it in late July. (A late-season sowing of 'Merlot' lettuce would be perfect. See "Red Greens" on page 31.) Reports are that it self-sows. We hope so. SOURCE: 9
Salvia splendens 'Salvatore' By summer's end, and well into this fall, 'Salvatore' was a patch of fiery red. We didn't plant it side by side with other red salvias, so we can't say for sure if it has an edge. Compact, about 1 foot tall, and bushy, this salvia is a good choice for blanket bedding schemes-if you like red blankets. A seed source was not available as we went to print, but nurseries will have transplants in the spring.
Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Lime' Now, this is the zinnia we have been waiting for. The flowers are a little inconsistent-at their best, beautiful and full with row upon row of petals; at worst, just double. But fashionable lime is the perfect complement-to anything. In our Pennsylvania garden, the strong stems stood more than 3 feet tall and the foliage stayed darn near clean through August and into September. We loved it combined with purple salvia, Verbena bonariensis, orange lantana..."A real winner, both for home gardeners and organic cut flower growers," says Don from North Carolina. Move over, 'Envy'. SOURCE: 3
Zinnia 'Magellan Coral' This AAS winner comes with a claim that it will be continually covered with fresh new flowers and foliage. This was true in Pennsylvania-for the first half of the summer. By mid-August, instead of the promised "standout" coral blooms, we had browning flowers and diseased foliage. At 15 inches, the new growth just did not rise enough above the old to sustain the plants' healthy good looks. All of our other zinnias, including the mildew-prone heirlooms, outperformed 'Magellan Coral'. Our West Coast testers had a different experience. "They were still blooming in September and were quite stunning," says Debbie from Washington. They thrived in Encinitas, California, too. "These have produced so well and added such beauty to the garden," Nan reports. SOURCES: 4, 5
