Dawn Hummel's Top Plant Recommendations

• Deciduous and Evergreen Trees
• Bulbs
• Perennials
• Shrubs 
• Fruits & Vegetables

Favorite Fruits & Vegetables

• Cardoon - Scolymus Cardunculus
  Large, strapping gray green leaves are persistent throughout the year. Followed by large umbels of artichoke-type flowers that have large purple landing pads for bees and hummingbirds. Lends a Mediterranean feel to the garden. Stems can be blanched and eaten in winter months, but it requires much work for little reward to the palette.
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• Swiss Chard - Beta vulgaris var. cicla
  Great seed crop for children since it is extremely easy to grow. Vitamin rich and nutritious greens. Tolerates poor soil, inattention, and withstands frost and mild freezes. Both the stalk and leaves are edible. Leaves can be used as a fresh salad or cooked like spinach. Cut up stalks and cook in a wide variety of dishes.
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• Strawberry - Fragaria vesca
  Evergreen, pink to white flowers followed by brilliant red fruit. Tuck in small places like flower borders or containers on a patio, deck or balcony. Plant June-bearing, Day Neutral and Alpine Strawberries varieties for months of eating pleasure.
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• Blueberry - Vaccinium corymbosum
  Blueberries bring delicious fruit as well as striking ornamental beauty to your garden and landscape. Mix early, mid and late varieties to produce outstanding flavor, beautiful spring flowers, brilliant fall color, and a range of sizes and ripening dates. Easy to grow, require little care and seldom bothered by pests.
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• Raspberry - Rubus idaeus 'Amity'
  Everbearing variety produces fruit on both one year and two year canes.  Mow canes to the ground and they will re-grow and bear fruit in fall of next year. Easy to take care of and produces enough to cover cereal bowl over an extended period of time.
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• Scarlet Sentinel Columnar Apple - Malus pumila 'Scarlet Sentinel'
  Compact, deciduous fruiting tree that does well in small spaces and containers. Under plant with bulbs and strawberries. Dense clusters of bright white flowers are followed by tightly spaced and very large, greenish-yellow fruit with an attractive red blush. Fruit ripens in mid to late September and can be stored until February. Additional Details