I love container plants, and whenever I am home I always like to keep a collection of interesting specimens in my enclosed porch, around my sitting room, and in my servery where I can see them every day. Most of my potted plants are kept in the greenhouse, so they can be maintained and carefully monitored. Last week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, rotated some of the potted specimens and brought in a selection of interesting succulents, ferns, and others.
Enjoy these photos.
I often display interesting and eye-catching container plants in my Winter House porch. The big floor to ceiling windows provide lots of light and they all surround my desk, where I can enjoy them while writing or while attending remote meetings.
This is a potted rhipsalis, native to the rainforests of South America, the Caribbean and Central America. Rhipsalis is a cacti genus with approximately 35 distinct species. I have many types of rhipsalis growing in my greenhouse. Rhipsalis specimens have long, trailing stems making them perfect choices as indoor plants on pedestals or tall tables.
Here’s a closer look. Also known as chain cactus or mistletoe cactus, the thread-like rhipsalis stems are narrow, green and can grow several feet long.
Displayed on its own or with other specimens, rhipsalis plants always get lots of attention.
Burro’s Tail, also known as Sedum morganianum, is a succulent plant native to Mexico and Honduras. It is characterized by its long, trailing stems that resemble the tails of burros, making it a popular choice for indoor gardening due to its low maintenance needs.
I have two potted ficus trees on this porch. Ficus belongs to the family Moraceae. This family includes a diverse range of woody trees, shrubs, and vines. Ficus trees are known for their ornamental value, adaptability, and ease of care. They typically have glossy green leaves, which can vary in size and shape depending on the species.
This plant is a Sansevieria cylindrica. It’s native to arid regions of Africa and thrives in dry climates with sandy, well-draining soil. The plant’s cylindrical leaves can be smooth or banded.
This succulent is an aloe – a striking variety with star-shaped blue-green rosettes. The leaves are covered in orange bumps and lined with small jagged teeth that tend to be flat with a slight downward arch.
Aloe plants are considered to be some of the faster growing succulents.
The jade plant is another popular succulent characterized by its thick, woody stems and shiny, oval shaped leaves.
Monarch ferns are also easy to care for plants. They are tropical ferns native to the Western Pacific Rim and loved for their glossy, green foliage.
Monarch ferns thrive in consistently moist soil, bright indirect light, and high humidity.
On one end, I displayed several potted and delicate dracaenas. There are more than 170 different species of dracaena and they all have grass-shaped leaves that grow from one or more thick, cane-like stems. Dracaena is a low-maintenance, easy to maintain plant that does best in bright, indirect sunlight.
Dracaena’s narrow foliage may be completely green or may include stripes or edges of green, cream, red, or yellow.
In my sitting room right now are several blooming orchids. Oncidium orchids typically bloom heaviest in fall and spring. Caring for orchids can be daunting, but understanding their basic and unique needs, these beautiful plants can thrive in nearly any home.
The size of orchids depends on the species. They can be quite small or very large. However, every orchid flower is bilaterally symmetric, which means it can be divided into two equal parts.
Here is another orchid – this one in bold pink.
And look at these gorgeous cut chrysanthemums in my servery – hopefully you’ve also seen them on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48. I just can’t get enough of them. They’re from Bear Creek Farm in Stanfordville, New York.
I grew these from small plants I received from Bear Creek last spring. I just went back for a wonderful heritage chrysanthemum workshop. I’ll be sharing those photos very soon.
Chrysanthemums, also known as mums, are popular fall flowers. They come in a variety of bold colors and add gorgeous seasonal interest just as summer blooms begin to fade. If you love cut flowers and potted plants as much as I do, use them to decorate your home. I feel so fortunate to have such an amazing collection of extraordinary plants to share with my guests and to enjoy myself.
Another task is done. Next year's garlic crop is now planted.
Fall is the ideal time to plant garlic. Doing it now allows the bulbs to establish good roots before winter, leading to larger and more flavorful cloves by the summer harvest. Every year, I plant two raised beds of garlic from Keene Garlic in Wisconsin. Garlic is great for cooking and very good for one's health. It is well known to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and carries many antioxidant properties. Knowing that I also grow the garlic myself makes it even more special.
Here is my process, enjoy.
All the seed garlic that was prepared for planting the day before is brought out to my large half-acre vegetable garden.
A new top layer of soil is added to the bed before planting the garlic.
Once the soil is spread across the bed, Matthew rakes it, so it is level and smooth.
In an adjacent bed that has already been cultivated, Ryan uses a Bed Preparation Rake from Johnny’s Selected Seeds to create furrows in the soil. Hard plastic red tubes slide onto selected teeth of the rake to mark the rows.
Landscape string is secured at one end to ensure the rows are perfectly straight. This is a guide for all the other rows in the bed. Ryan already determined how many rows would fit in this bed and how many garlic cloves would be planted in each row.
Next, it’s important to feed the bed. Keene Garlic Fertilizer is an organic 5-2-2 formula specially made for garlic and alliums.
Using a scoop, Ryan broadcasts a generous amount of fertilizer over the beds.
This fertilizer will help produce large, robust bulbs that are flavorful and nutritious.
Ryan positions each clove. When planting multiple rows of garlic, be sure the rows are at least one-foot apart.
It is also important to give each clove enough room to grow and develop. They should be planted at least several inches from each other.
To make the holes for planting garlic, Phurba uses a dibble or a dibber. The T-grip on the dibber allows the planter to apply enough pressure to create a consistent depth for each hole.
Phurba pushes the dibber into the soil to make the hole.
Here is a seed garlic clove. It is planted with the pointed end faced up. The majority of garlic in the US is planted from mid-October through November before the ground freezes.
Phurba places the clove into the hole.
Cloves should be pushed down at least three inches deep.
Ryan and Phurba work in tandem – as one places the seed garlic in the row, the other plants it. If the soil in the bed is well cultivated, this should be a fast and easy process.
Phurba also makes sure to leave one row uncovered, so Ryan knows the proper placement of each clove.
Here is Ryan with the Elephant garlic. Elephant Garlic is actually a leek that resembles garlic in growing and in appearance. It has a very mild flavor.
All the garlic rows are marked with the appropriate variety name.
Phurba plants these cloves in the same way he did the others.
After planting, he backfills the rows with soil.
And then both beds are raked evenly. Any garlic crop will tolerate some shade but prefers full sun. This garlic will be ready to harvest mid-July to August. And that’s it – we wait until next year to harvest. If you’ve never grown your own garlic, give it a try.
Although garlic can be planted in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked, fall planting is recommended for most gardeners. This allows extra time for the bulbs to grow and become more flavorful for the summer harvest. Every year, I plant a big crop of garlic from Keene Garlic, a family owned farm in Madison, Wisconsin. Yesterday, my head gardener Ryan McCallister prepared the garlic for planting.
Here are some photos.
It’s always exciting to get a delivery from Keene Garlic filled with bags of fragrant garlic bulbs for my garden. I have been planting Keene Garlic for several years and am always so pleased with their growth and taste. Here’s my box containing several different varieties for planting this year.
Keene also sent a bag of Keene Garlic Fertilizer and Bioactive Liquid Biology Bundle to treat and feed the garlic before planting.
Here’s Blackie, my Greenhouse cat, inspecting the garlic that arrived. He’s the perfect feline helper on Halloween.
Remember the terminology – a head of garlic and a bulb of garlic refer to the entire structure that contains multiple individual segments.
And each of those segments is called a clove. A typical garlic bulb contains about 10 to 12 cloves, but this can vary depending on the size and variety. Some larger varieties may have only four cloves, while smaller bulbs can have up to 15 cloves.
Ryan works with one variety at a time to keep them organized. Each bulb is carefully broken to separate all the cloves. For the best results, plant the largest cloves from each bulb and save the smaller ones for eating.
Ryan is careful to keep each clove intact as he is separates. He also leaves some of the papery peel, called the skin, on the clove.
Some of the garlic I am planting this year include Amish Rocambole, a robust and very hardy type. It grows well in Northern States, and has large impressive bulbs with flavor that’s deep, full bodied, and medium hot.
The Romanian Red Porcelain garlic is best for medicinal purposes because it is high in allicin. It is known to be very hot with a tanginess that tends to linger.
The German Extra Hardy Porcelain garlic is large-sized and medium flavored. Because of its large root system, this hardneck is extremely hardy and often withstands freezing and thawing cycles when other garlic varieties don’t.
The Music Porcelain garlic is easy to grow. Raw, this garlic is very hot-flavored, but it mellows when it is baked or roasted.
Asian Tempest – Asiatic is very hot when eaten raw and sweet when baked. It tastes rich, garlicky, strong, and robust with easy to peel jumbo cloves.
Northern White is very strong, hot, and potent. It also has easy to peel jumbo cloves. It’s a great all-purpose garlic for mincing, baking, and grilling.
And, Elephant Garlic is actually a leek that resembles garlic in growing and in appearance. It has a very mild flavor. It is most commonly found in grocery stores. It is also larger than the other garlic varieties.
For the preparation process, Ryan uses the Bioactive Liquid Biology Bundle, which contains two easy-to-use concentrates that help produce larger, healthier bulbs and improve nutrient absorption.
While this can also be added to the planting soil, Ryan uses it as a pre-planting garlic soak.
First, he pours one tablespoon of each concentrate into a trug bucket of cold water.
The garlic is soaked one variety at a time, so as not to accidentally mix them up. This is Chesnok Red – Purple Stripe. The Chesnok Red garlic is an heirloom variety. It is loved for its rich flavor as an all-purpose cooking garlic. It’s also well known as a superb baking garlic.
The garlic is placed into the soaking solution. Ryan uses two buckets – one solid and one designed as a colander for draining. Soak the garlic for at least 30-minutes or up to overnight.
Then the garlic is thoroughly drained.
It is also rinsed several times with water and drained thoroughly again before drying.
Once all the garlic is put through the preparation process, the cloves are returned to their mesh bags. One bulb is left whole and kept with its variety bag in case needed.
Ryan continues to prep all the garlic for planting. It takes a while to get through all the bags, but it’s the perfect project for a very rainy day here at the farm. If you love garlic, try growing it yourself.
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