A highlight among last summer鈥檚 gardening adventures was a pot on the patio holding healthy, bushy little plants improbably loaded with full-sized, bright and shiny red peppers. The display was pleasing to look at and almost unbelievably productive. Those plants churned out a nonstop succession of thick-walled, juicy, sweet fruits all summer.
I saw the pepper, called Redskin, in the T&T Seeds catalogue, and recognized the name. Years ago, I鈥檇 grown Redskin after being attracted to a description of the plants in a Thompson & Morgan catalogue. It鈥檚 nice to revisit varieties from the past 鈥� like meeting up with an old friend.
As for the plants, rarely does a flower or vegetable variety turn out even better than its catalogue description. When that happens, you鈥檝e found a treasure.
In late winter, I was filled with gleeful anticipation of further sweet pepper delights as I seeded Redskin again, along with its companion orange-skinned Mohawk. The transplants developed beautifully in their pots.
Best laid plans and all that. A knee injury in April meant that some plantings could not be dealt with. Alas, those peppers were never potted to grace the patio and yield their luscious bounty.
That is why I was doubly pleased to hear from a reader who had grown both Redskin and Mohawk, with superb results.
鈥淚 have at least 60 peppers in each of my two pots, with six plants in each pot and 10 peppers on each plant. The peppers are full-size and delicious. Thank you so much for suggesting these varieties in a February column.鈥�
Eve added that Redskin out-produced Mohawk, though just very slightly. Both varieties are perfect choices for pepper-loving people who garden in small spaces and on patios, decks and balconies.
Window dressing: Anyone with glass doors onto a deck, balcony or patio enjoys the splendid opportunity to be just a step away, year-round, from fragrance, food, and floral loveliness.
This summer, I look from the family room onto the patio and see brilliant Maverick Red geraniums, one in a clay pot on a table, others grouped in a broad patio planter. Close to the glass on its non-door segment are four bowl-shaped containers, each raised on wrought iron stands, of fragrant, spreading petunias. In the evening, I open the screened window side to let their scent drift into the house.
Next to the screen is Evening Scentsation, a new petunia variety this year. The plants are low, spreading, and full of flowers that start out deep indigo blue and fade beautifully to varying shades of lilac blue. I鈥檓 impressed by the plants, the flowers and their sweet scent.
Forming a broad background to Evening Scentsation are two containers of my longstanding favourite petunia, Tidal Wave Silver, an even more vigorous spreader, loaded with flowers in graded hues from silver white to pale lavender with purple veins. Tidal Wave Silver is the most reliable, easy-growing, hardy petunia I鈥檝e grown. The plants even wintered over one year, to repeat their billowy floral display in a front garden urn.
On a bench against the house wall, behind the petunias, hang bright red cherry and Roma (Little Napoli, T&T Seeds) tomatoes on potted plants.
Late in the summer, I鈥檒l install on the patio pots of hardy salad greens such as arugula, lacy mizuna, and komatsuna, a mild Asian mustard green, to flavour fall and early winter salads.
In September, as the tomatoes and petunias begin to decline, I鈥檒l begin shopping for pansies and violas to replace them on the plant stands and bench.
These flowers bloom through the fall and during mild winter weather before coming into full bloom in spring.
Tucking a few bulbs like crocus, dwarf daffodils and unusual forms of grape hyacinth in among the pansies and violas is an easy way to add extra spring interest and colour to the plantings.
Garden events
Gordon Head meeting. Gordon Head Garden Club will meet on Monday at 7 p.m. in Gordon Head United Church, 4201 Tyndall Ave. in Saanich. Dr. Lorna Morandin, acting research and program director for Pollinator Partnership sa国际传媒, will present Gardening for Pollinators.
Garden picnic. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is hosting a Picnic in the Gardens on Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. Bring a picnic and enjoy your meal in a beautiful setting while listening to live music. Admission by donation. Details at .
