Other Offerings

We are closed for the 2010 Season. Thank you for your business. We'll see you next year.

Comfrey  3 root cuttings for $3.00  (Shipped Bare Root, shipping counts as 1 plant) 
(Symphytum sp)  Perennial plants ordinarily to about 2 feet; tall inflorescences to 4 feet.  Very upright, slightly prickly-leaved herb that blooms in an attractive medium purple.  A Eurasian native that has a long tradition of use as a healing herb and dye plant, but its medicinal use is contoversial and some studies have shown possible dangers with using this herb internally.  Therefore we offer it here only for the purpose of either ornamental use in the garden, or else growing for the harvest of its leaves for mulch, which is recommended.  Our strain doesn't spread by seed, so it stays within bounds in the garden.  Can easily be propagated by planting root cuttings in the garden, so it can readily be multiplied if a larger stand is desired.  Eradication isn't easy, so plant it where you know you'll want it to remain. Comfrey leaves may be cut several times a season  (usually 2-4 times from late spring until early fall),  with the leaves constituting a superlative mulch or compost-starter, or fermented in water and applied as a liquid plant food.  This crop has been grown as livestock feed for a very long time on the chalky soils in some areas of the United Kingdom,  where its quality and productivity are known to rival those of alfalfa.  To us, comfrey is an under-utilized and undervalued crop that deserves to be in more gardens.  We ship three root cuttings, just making top-growth.

Gladiolus, Mixed Colors  1 lb, $15.00 postpaid ; 2 lb, $27.50 postpaid; 3 lb, $ 35.00 postpaid
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Regular florist-type gladiolus in a wide range of colors. Grown here in Missouri by a grower friend of ours. We offer bulbs from 1.25 inches and above, which will bloom the first season, and should make premium size bulbs the second year on. One pound runs about 30 bulbs. Gladiolus should be planted after last frost of spring, and should be lifted after first frost of autumn, and stored in a dry, frost-free environment until the following year.

Gladiolus Bulbs, Mixed colors

1 lb., postpaid $15.00 2 lb., postpaid $27.50 3 lb., postpaid $35.00

Jerusalem Artichokes  1 lb, $11.00, postpaid; 2 lb, $19.50, postpaid; 3 lb, $28.00, postpaid
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(Helianthus tuberosum) Perennial -  Redoubtable source of reliable, delicious tubers, yielding a crop under almost any conditions!  Grow in full sun to partial light shade.  Our variety hasn't a name, that we know of, but was given to us several years ago by an Amish grower.  The tubers get quite large. White-skinned, sweet and delicious.  The Jerusalem artichoke root reportedly is even used to produce a spirit called "Topinambur" in Germany.  The plants produce somewhat rough-looking stalks to 6 feet, surmounted in late-summer to early-fall by bright sunflower-yellow single daisies, in sizable clusters, usually fairly showy.  Recommended. (Price reflects $6.00 per pound plus S/H.  Jerusalem Artichokes must usually be shipped earlier than live plants, and will in all cases be shipped separately and immediately upon receipt of order.)

Jerusalem Artichoke Tubers

1 lb., postpaid $11.00 2 lb., postpaid $19.50 3 lb., postpaid $28.00

Kiwi, Hardy New  $4.00 Sold Out

Yacon or Bolivian Sunroot   $3.50
(Smallanthus sonchifolius) South American relative of Dahlia and Jerusalem Artichoke.  Produces delicious sweet-potato-like tubers, weighing as much as 3 lbs, in 3-5 months from sowing, outyielding potatoes where well grown. The plants reach 4-5 feet in height, occasionally bearing small daisies, but blooming is rare except in really long-season climates.  The fascinating plant produces two types of tubers--propagation tubers, at the center of the root mass, which can be divided and replanted in the spring, and the edible tubers, which produce no buds and therefore cannot reproduce.  The flavor is likened by some to apple combined with celery.  We find them to be somewhat reminiscent of Jerusalem Artichoke, but milder-tasting and jucier.  The roots contain inulin and are of benefit to diabetics.   Also reputed to possess anti-oxidant and probiotic qualities.  Grow in full sun, in rich soil with abundant moisture. Potted and growing in our regular shipping pots.

Yarrow, Rose Pink  New  $3.00 Sold Out