2019 picks thrive here: dahlia, pumpkin, salvia nemerosa, snapdragon
Ad ahlia, a pumpkin, a salvia nemerosa and a snapdragon walk into a bar.
But wait — this isn’t some lame joke that only horticulturists will get.
All four plants are celebrating their designation by the National Garden Bureau as its annual picks for “Year of the” crops.
Each year, the bureau, a nonprofit organization based in Downers Grove, Illinois, picks a bulb (dahlia), an edible (pumpkin), a perennial (salvia nemerosa) and an annual (snapdragon) that are “popular, easy-to-grow, widely adaptable, genetically diverse and versatile.”
This year’s choices are no exception and thrive in Ohio gardens. For further details on these easy-to-grow choices, visit ngb.org.
Dahlia
Technically classified as tubers rather than roots, dahlias are grown for one feature: their spectacular flowers, which range from miniatures to giants more than 1 foot wide.
Although true blue remains elusive, the showstopping blooms come in almost every color of the rainbow, including white and blackish red.
• Culture: Dahlias prefer well-drained soil and lots of sun. Because varieties with large flowers can become top-heavy, many growers install stakes at planting time.
• Fun fact: The ancestors of today’s garden dahlias are wild plants from Guatemala and Mexico, where they are the national flower.
Pumpkin
Easy to raise from seed, pumpkins are delicious to eat and fun to carve.
They range in size from “baby” varieties that you can hold in one hand to giants that weigh more than 1,000 pounds, and in colors from white to blue to, of course, bright orange.
• Culture: Pumpkins need full sun, consistent watering and rich soil.
“Fruit set will be strongest if the flowers are pollinated by bees,” the garden bureau adds.
• Fun fact: Don’t feel guilty if you’re going for seconds on pumpkin pie.
Pumpkins “are high in fiber, potassium, iron and vitamins A, B and C,” the bureau says.
Salvia nemerosa
Nemerosa, a perennial type of salvia, boasts spikes of flowers that are either white or blue and attract bees and other pollinators.
• Culture: Full sun and well-drained soil are musts. To encourage new flowers after the first blooms of spring have faded, cut back the plants.
• Fun fact: As a member of the mint family, salvia nemerosa doesn’t appeal to deer.
Snapdragon
An old-fashioned favorite, snapdragons are now available with bicolor flowers, double flowers and even trailing forms suitable for hanging baskets.
Like dahlias, they come in almost every color but blue.
• Culture: Unlike dahlias and many other annuals, snapdragons don’t mind chilly weather. To encourage re-bloom, remove dead flower spikes.
• Fun fact: Wonder how snapdragons got their unusual name? Here’s a garden trick that never fails to impress the young — and the young at heart:
Hold the sides of an oldfashioned single flower between your thumb and forefinger (this doesn’t work with double varieties). Gently squeeze — and the flower seems to shut its “mouth.” Release your fingers, and the flower relaxes and opens.
Repeat to watch the “dragon” snap its mouth open and shut.
Diana Lockwood, a freelance writer covering gardening topics, posts on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ mrsgardenperson