The chosen ones for 2009

2009 has been declared the Year of Greens by the National Garden Bureau. Leafy greens are popular everywhere from gourmet restaurants, farmers' markets and supermarket produce sections to backyard gardens. The extensive variety of greens available today offers creamy or crisp textures, sweet or pungent flavors, and colors in beautiful shades of green and red.

In our climate, some greens like kale for instance, can be grown year round for a harvest that lasts for months. Versatile and fast growing, greens can be harvested at almost any stage of growth and eaten raw or cooked. On the dinner table, greens are filled with flavor and nutrition for a culinary one-two punch.

A few greens you might consider growing this year include assorted lettuces, mache, arugula, mizuna, tatsoi, cress, collards and mustard greens. Most greens are annuals, though sorrel and cress are perennials that can be grown as annuals.

The annual chosen for the year is Nicotiana. I used to grow this flower for its wonderful evening fragrance. Nicotiana (pronounced ni-co-she-AA-nah), also known as flowering tobacco, is a lovely heirloom flower gaining recognition among today's gardeners. This ornamental fills the summer garden with large, brightly colored trumpets of star-shaped flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Older nicotiana species are valued for their impressive stature and deliciously scented flowers that open in early evening. Newer hybrids offer smaller, more compact plants with abundant flowers that bloom throughout the summer.

Most species of nicotianas are tall plants reaching up to five feet in height, while newer hybrids have been developed to stay around 12 to 18 inches tall making them much more versatile in the garden. The always-popular 'Sensation Mix' is a dependable variety with fragrant flowers in shades of pink, red, and white that stay open all day into the evening.

Bay Laurel is the herb for 2009, chosen by the International Herb Association. It’s used as a staple in most kitchens for flavoring soups, stews, stuffing and marinades, as well as a multitude of other culinary uses.

For years I had a small bay tree in a large clay pot that I’d move outside for the summer, back in for the winter. A handful of leaves, gently bruised using a marble pestle and mortar, added a wonderful flavor to tomato sauces. The glossy green leaves make this small shrub an attractive plant for containers.

The 2009 Perennial Plant of the Year is Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’. It’s nice to see an ornamental grass receive this honour. Individual blades are half inch wide and a bright yellow color with very thin green stripes. In the cooler days of autumn the golden foliage becomes tinged with shades of pink and red.

Hakonechloa is used mainly for its golden foliage, although it does produce tiny, inconspicuous flower spikes from late summer through mid autumn. This grass is also noted for its movement in breezes, offering a cascading or an undulating behavior.