The Rose of Mary

Our Rosemary (front) with thyme
and other flowering plants keeping it company

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a perennial herb belonging to the mint family (Lamiaceae). Members of this family, which include mentha, basil, sage, and others, are among the most fragrant plants in the world. According to Wikipedia (help out by editing it or donating) the name "Rosemary" comes from the Latin rosmarinus which means "dew of the sea" because in many locations the only moisture it needs to survive is the dew from the sea. Legend has it that the Virgin Mary once spread her blue cloak over a rosemary bush and the flowers turned blue. Afterwards, the shrub became known as Rose of Mary.

Rosemary is an evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean which, luckily for us, easily adapts to tropical conditions. It can grow up to 5 feet but in containers it usually grows to 2-3 feet (Ours is about a foot tall at the moment). Its fragrant leaves, which are easily recognized since they look like miniature pine needles, are commonly used in the preparation of various dishes such as meats, soups, and even pesto. Who hasn't tried a rosemary chicken breast or rosemary bread. Delicious! (Editor's note: Need to convince Jessica to make some rosemary pesto)

 Rosemary can be grown from seed or cuttings. Even though we usually prefer seeds (watching plants sprout is a soul satisfying experience in my opinion) we've experienced a poor germination rate so we would recommend cuttings or buying young plants at a nursery. Another reason to use cuttings or young plants is that you will find a wider variety of cultivars than from seed. The common rosemary is a tall upright plant with thin leaves and blue spring flowers (We haven't seen any flowers on ours yet). The cultivars can be short, bushy, sprawling, upright with broad, short or thin leaves and blue, white, and even pink flowers. Even the fragrance can change from one cultivar to the other.

The bible (The Bountiful Container by McGee and Stuckey) recommends that rosemary be planted on a container of at least 8 inches in depth. However, ours has been happily growing in a 3 inch pot. Although I suspect that we will need to repot it soon. Rosemary, true to its Mediterranean origins, prefers dry conditions, however, the soil must not be allowed to dry completely or the plant will (almost instantly) die. Be careful though because overwatering will cause root rot which will also cause the plant to die. The moral of the story is that you will need to find the right balance between watering and dryness for the plant to thrive. We planted ours in a good draining soil which we let dry between waterings. Place your plant in a sunny location so that it receives between 4 and 6 hours of sunlight. Fertilize it every week or two weeks with a balanced fertilizer or one with a high nitrogen content (you are interested in the leaves after all).

We haven't experienced any pest problems with our rosemary but nevertheless you should check your plants regularly, especially if pests are present in your other garden plants. If you feel generous (always remember to #spreadthelove) or you want more for yourself you can propagate your rosemary using the cuttings method we've previously discussed (see Propagation:Cuttings). So what are you waiting for? Go to your local nursery and get yourself some rosemary.

The One with Strawberries

Strawberry. Success!!!

If you follow us on Twitter (Shameless plug alert: Follow us @ContnrGardenPR) you know that we're very excited about our strawberry plant. Just thinking of being able to taste fresh strawberries makes us salivate. However, our excitement was subdued by the fact that strawberries are difficult to grow in the tropics (see The Holy Grail post). They are prone to fungus and root rot due to the high humidity of Puerto Rico. To avoid this make sure your plants are in a well-ventilated area and that during watering no water falls on the leaves. Strawberries may also be victim to the dreaded aphids (We don't have a solution for this one yet but we're working on one.)

Against all odds, and much to our delight, in December our little plant produced a few flowers. Excitedly (and a little compulsively), we observed each day (did I say we were compulsive) how one of the flowers started to become a green strawberry fruit. We cared for it by keeping the soil moist and providing a balanced fertilizer every week.

The time had come. After a few weeks it ripened to a bright red color. We carefully cut the fruit from the plant, washed it clean, and cut it in half (Jessy and I both wanted to taste it). Taste-wise our strawberry tastes slightly less sweet than a supermarket bought fruit. I was expecting a bitter aftertaste but I was pleasantly surprised that it had the flavor I'm used to. In terms of size a supermarket fruit dwarfs our little strawberry which was to be expected. And now we wanted more.

Mother plant sending out a stolon. 

One of the nice things about growing your own strawberries (besides that sweet fresh flavor) is that they're easy to propagate. The plants you buy at the nursery are called mother plants. They send out runners called stolons which produce multiple daughter plants. Daughters can be potted and allowed to root (or they could be removed to allow the mother plant to concentrate on fruit production). Keep the potting soil moist and they should develop roots in a few weeks. Once they are fully established you can cut the connection to the mother plant (much as you cut the umbilical cord from a newborn). Voila! You have a brand new plant. With this simple technique you are able to multiply your plants almost infinitely since each daughter plant will become a mother plant after one growing season. As always remember to #spreadthelove by gifting plants to your friends and neighbors. Finally, let us know in the comments section if you've had experience (and hopefully success) in growing strawberries in the tropics.

Propagation:Cuttings

Propagation of oregano brujo by cuttings.
Left:Take the top 4-6 inches, Middle: 45 degree cut, Right: New Plant

You know that plant you love so much. The one that's almost impossible to find. Wouldn't it be nice if you could have more of that lovely plant (Man, that really sounded like an infomercial!). Well there is a simple way to make your this possible. Propagation by cuttings.

The methodology is simple but the execution takes a few tries to ensure consistent success (Believe us, we know). First do some research (the internet is your friend) to ensure your plant can be propagated through cuttings. As a rule of thumb most herbs, such as oregano and rosemary, and woody ornamentals can be propagated through cuttings. Some plants that we've propagated by cuttings are basil, tomatoes, oregano brujo, and roses (currently in progress from our miniature rose). In the picture above we provided an example with oregano brujo (one of the easiest plants to propagate).

The best time to perform this type of propagation is early in the morning or late in the afternoon. (Editor's note: Joel and Jessica aren't morning people so they do their cuttings late in the day) Take your plant and make a 45 degree cut on the top part (3-6 inches) of a healthy stem. Remove flowers and lower leaves to reduce energy demand. This will help the cutting to direct its energy towards root creation. Let the cut heal for a day in the shade (very important or the cutting will dry out and die). Then place it on a well-draining high humidity soil (50/50 potting soil/perlite should work), or even standing water, to encourage the development of roots. Some plants need additional help to develop roots. To aid in this development you may apply root powder (hormones that encourage root development) to the cut. Roots will develop in 4-8 weeks depending on the plant species.

And there you have it. You are the owner of a brand new plant. Enjoy! Always remember that this is a good way to #spreadthelove by gifting some of your new plants to a friend or neighbor.

Sometimes neutral jing is your best option

Today's title is a homage to one of our favorite cartoons: Avatar - The Last Airbender (highly recommended for both adults and kids). In this cartoon there are jings which represent options for directing your energy. There is positive, negative and neutral jing. Positive = advancing, progressing, attacking; Negative = retreating, evading; Neutral = not doing anything.  A lot of times when gardening the best option is to do nothing. Just sit back and let nature take its course.

Remember those whiteflies we were battling (see Pests: Whiteflies)? Well, they're gone. How did we eradicate them you ask? To be honest we don't know. Here's what we tried. We bought some sticky traps and set them around our plants (negative jing). The traps caught every insect imaginable but very few whiteflies. We also tried to kill with our bare hands (oh, the humanity!) as many of the flies as we could find early in the morning when the flies are not very active (positive jing). None of these things were very effective. In the end we just let them be and nature took its course (neutral jing). We believe the whiteflies were eradicated by a combination of factors.

Biological: Spiders set-up shop where the whitefly population density was highest. They probably helped control the adult population.
Environmental: Temperatures dipped which normally results in less whiteflies. If true it means they might come back in spring or summer.
Luck: A highly likely candidate. Never underestimate the power of pure dumb luck.

So there you have it, our experience on how to control whiteflies. Do nothing and just enjoy your garden. Join us next time when we might actually do something.

#Gardeningallyearlong

As we've been saying all along, one of the nicest things about container gardening in Puerto Rico is being able to garden all year long. Even as the temperatures dip into the 70s (yes, that's a dip for Puerto Rico) we're still able to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and other warm weather crops. This has inspired me to create a new motto for this little blog, #gardeningallyearlong. So follow us on Twitter @ContnrgardenPR where we'll be using this tag when we tweet about gardening activities over the winter.

It's the Season... for Herbal Vinegars

The Holidays are here and we already feel the spirit. We just want to party, have some days off, eat the season's treats... but we also want to share with family and friends and give away nice reminders of love and care. (Editor's note: #spreadthelove) As a gardener you have lots to share. Today we'll talk about one of the many great gift ideas for the season: herbal vinegars. 


We previously talked about basil vinegar in our Yucky-Yummy post. The process to prepare any herbal vinegar is basically the same. Take snippings or leaves of your favorite herb, stuff them loosely into a glass jar with a fitting lid, and pour enough vinegar to cover all foliage. White wine and red wine vinegar are the best kind to combined with herbs. Wait about a week, strain off and discard the leaves (This is an important part since the leaves will rot in your vinegar. Yuck). There are numerous recipes that use herbal vinegar. Remember they make excellent salad dressings but can also be added to pot roasts, stews, sauces for chicken and fish or steamed vegetables. 

If you enjoy herbal fragrances, another delightful use for these vinegars is hydrotherapy. The process is simple: add about a cup of herbal vinegar to the bathwater, slip in and enjoy. Alternatively you can just add half a cup to use it as a hair rinse. Don't worry, the vinegary smell dissipates quickly and you’re left with a gentle herbal fragrance on your hair. Many herbs are good for your skin and so is the vinegar itself. Vinegar cleanses the pore, restores skin and hair pH to the proper level, it's also good for your scalp, and helps reduce dandruff.

Each herb provides different benefits to your body or hair: 

• Chamomile is considered soothing and relaxing and it is excellent for dry skin. 
• Bay, oregano and sage are good for sore muscles. 
• Basil, bay, fennel, lavender, mint, rosemary, sage and thyme stimulate blood circulation, so they are both invigorating and relaxing. 
• Calendula and spearmint are also soothing to tough or damaged skin. 
• The foliage and flowers of bay, nasturtiums, rosemary, and sage have astringent properties which will tighten the pores of the skin. 
• Calendula and chamomile lighten hair color, blonds get blonder and auburn and redheads get brighter.
• Sage darkens hair color.
• Calendula, parsley, rosemary and sage add shine and body to the hair, and help control dandruff.
• Chamomile makes hair softer.
• Calendula, lavender, mint and rosemary are good conditioners for oily hair.
• Parsley and sage are good for dry hair.

Safety precautions: Not everyone reacts favorably to herbs, beware of allergies. Test vinegars on your skin before using any new herb. Dab some on with a cotton ball and wait and hour or so for any reaction. Discontinue use if redness or itchiness appear.

Nice bottles with a few touches will make your gift extra-special

Once you are familiar with the pleasures and benefits of the different herbal vinegars, you will surely want to share the experience. Bottles of herbal vinegar make very nice gifts. Use the following hints to make them extra-special: 

• Use pretty bottles, the kind with removable stoppers are the best. 
• Strain the finished vinegar to remove all particles. Although a spring in the bottle does look nice, the fact is that it degrades too fast, creating unpleasant layers of sludge. If you really want to include a spring or some leaves attach them to the outside of the bottle.
• Create a gift tag describing ways to use the vinegar, both in cooking and cosmetically or add a recipe card.
• Add crafts or labels with floral or herbal designs, either to the bottles or the tags.

Send us your comments about your herbal vinegars or other gardening gifts this season. We bet everyone will be delighted. Happy Holidays!

Getting back on the horse

After two weeks sightseeing in India we're back (and better than ever?)! Time to get back on the horse and do some gardening.

Even with a garden-sitter some of our plants suffered while we were on vacation since our friends went away for Thanksgiving. This left our plants without water for 3-4 days. As a result we lost our cucumbers (which were already struggling), a cherry tomato (which was already struggling), our bell peppers (which were already struggling due to an aphid infestation) and a few seedlings. I hope you saw a pattern there. Basically, all plants which were already weak or young were lost. Every other healthy plant was spared although some (such as our miniature and our new cubanelle pepper) were weakened and attacked by aphids (Damn you aphids. Why won't you go away! Mental note: Write a post about aphids). But alas not all is bad news. Our arugula looks gorgeous and the small leaf oregano has spread considerably. Also, some basil seedlings have matured and the payasitos are starting to bloom and multiply.

With all that being said we're ready to get back on the horse (Didn't we say that already?). Yesterday we planted some cucumber and bell pepper seeds to replace the ones lost. We previously had 3 cherry tomato plants which produced more tomatoes than we can consume (and gift to friends). Therefore, we're looking into what we can plant to substitute the cherry tomato plant. Maybe a plum tomato, some heirlooms tomatoes, a few lettuces, some flowering plants, who knows. That's one of the great things about container gardening. There are hundreds of possibilities to choose from; a little something for everyone. Keep tuned for more information and for updates on our little container garden.