Garden Detective

I just went out into the yard to take some pictures because I knew you wouldn't believe me without them.

I started my vegetable seeds indoors in February. Here's what my Burpee Porterhouse tomato plants looked like in March.

Unfortunately, I neglected to take more pictures when I transplanted them in late May. By then, the particular plants in this experiment were about 7 inches tall apiece. I took great care in selecting plants that were similar in size and health, and that had not been subjected to any of my earlier experiments (Worm Poop, et al.)

I planted two of them in an EarthBox, which I keep on the deck, and the others in my usual vegetable bed. Both spots have a southern exposure and get plenty of sunlight.

Here are the photos I took today, a month after transplanting:

The photo on the left shows one of the tomato plants in my garden bed. It's nine inches tall today. Very Charlie Brown Christmas Tree-like, wouldn't you say? The photo on the right is of the two plants in the EarthBox. Each is about 28 inches tall and 25 inches wide.

I'm just saying.

Who will grow Long Island's biggest tomato this year?

Will it be me, with my beast of an EarthBox? Or might it be you? If you'd like to be a contestant, send me your story, your plan and your secret.

I'm not sure whether President George Bush is a closet gardener or if he's trying to make a fashion statement, but there's a lot of buzz circulating the internet this week about his latest choice in footwear.

Getty Images has caught the commander in chief sporting brown Crocs, a nice color-coordinated complement to his shorts, socks and cap. Manolo, the shoe blogger, has suggested his choice of shoes is grounds for impeachment. Me? I say never mind that Crocs are best worn without socks, I'm just secretly hoping he was en route to tend his backyard tomato plants. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy about our president, knowing I have something in common with him on a personal level.

I have a pair of those acquired-taste clogs, used exclusively for gardening and for quick morning runs in my PJs to drop the girls off at school. Mine are purple.

I've always thought them quite trendy, though I have to admit that while they're easy to slip on and hose off, my feet are always a muddy mess after a bout of weeding. What's the point of wearing shoes if your feet are going to get dirty?

Recently, I found a better gardening shoe. And this one -- while also an acquired taste -- keeps my feet clean. The Kamik Doodle can be worn in the rain or in the garden, and there aren't any side holes through which water and dirt can enter. They even go well with my PJs. Kamik footwear has been seen gracing such celebrity feet as those of Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Cox, Madonna and her daughter, Lourdes.

I wonder if the president will be wearing them anytime soon.

Ever wonder what happens to plants that aren't sold during the planting season? Well, I suppose if they're dying they're destroyed. But what about the healthy ones? What do wholesalers and growers do with the millions of surplus trees, shrubs and perennials that go unsold each year? Wouldn't it be nice if someone were just giving them away? Turns out, someone is.

Founded in 2004 "to stop the huge waste of trees, shrubs and perennials and to help workers with disabilities earn a paycheck," freetreesandplants.com is that someone. The organization hires disabled workers to process, package and send unsold plants to anyone who reserves them, absolutely free of charge. Gardeners are charged $7.95 per unit of plants, which covers processing, packaging and shipping. A "unit" typically refers to a pair, so that's two plants delivered to your door for $7.95.

“This spring planting season has posed a difficult challenge for growers and gardeners alike. We have thousands of perennial plugs, trees, shrubs and bare root perennial plants to find homes for in the next few weeks. Gardeners from across the country could help by reserving one of the more than ninety varieties of perennials, shrubs and trees featured this spring,” said Cheryl Richter, a garden writer and photographer who created the program with her husband, Greg, in their hometown of Lincoln, Neb.

“Each year millions of healthy high-quality plants go unsold and are destroyed,” Cheryl Richter explained. “They go to the dump, are plowed under or get burned or buried. Every plant we save and select for our program is as good as, or better than, those featured in garden centers and renowned garden catalogs. This unusual spring has made this problem even worse.”

“Our concept began when we recognized that there is a terrible waste of living things when unsold plants are thrown away,” Greg Richter said. “We are believers in direct action and social responsibility, and we do not ask for or accept donations. Our program does not seek charitable designation.”

As of today, there were 11 varieties of shrubs, 14 varieties of trees and 60 different perennials to choose from.

Fiesta™ Salmon Double Impatiens

The perennial gardens are coming along, albeit slowly. Not one of the 30 liriopes (lily turf) I planted survived. They all look like stiff, dry, brown pieces of straw. On the plus side, the calamity has given me first hand experience with the customer service folks over at Michigan Bulb Company. One simple phone call and my money was very easily refunded. I'm glad about that and feel good about the company. Had they given me a hard time I would have written them off. Still, I don't think I'll buy bare root again.

As a result, I have some bare patches in what I had hoped would be a lush bed of liriopes so I just added some annuals to fill in the blanks.

BabyWing® White Begonias

I'm trying out some new introductions this year, and so far I'm quite pleased. In keeping with my preferred orange-purple-pink color scheme, I arranged some Fiesta™ Salmon Double Impatiens around some pansies on the street side of the fence.

I potted up some BabyWing® White Begonias with purple Easy Wave petunias, which I also added to a couple of beds. Easy Waves are great because they spread beautifully while reaching 10 inches in height. Window boxes spilling over with the Easy Wave Beachcomber mix, a combination of blue, shell pink and coral reef, make the house look happy. As far as annuals go, this year they're my favorites.

Easy Wave Beachcomber petunia mix

Behind the korean lilacs and Nepeta "Walkers Low" catmints, I planted some red Aztec verbena and more Purple Easy Waves for what's becoming quite a striking display.

Though the backyard has been dug up for a new cesspool, I worked around the mess to continue my vegetable garden tradition, though this year I'll only be growing a couple of varieties of tomatoes (Burpee's Porterhouse and some San Marzano plums) along with basil, parsley and

Maracas Brazilian Fireworks

mint. My father sent me home from a recent visit to Florida with 5 rappini di broccoli seedlings and a 7-foot-tall fig tree from his garden. We drove 20 hours on I-95 with that tree on the roof of the mini van. It survived nicely and is thriving in the backyard. The rappini, however, weren't as lucky.

To add a little color to the brown dust out back, I planted Maracas Brazilian Fireworks in pots and placed them on the deck railing. Now all we need is grass and a game plan for the newly blank canvas. It's a shady yard -- any ideas?