Tidewater Gardening - What's New for 2021?: K. Marc Teff eau

from Tidewater Times February 2021

A Journey in Pink - Part II: Bonna L. Nelson

TIDEWATER GARDENING by K. Marc Teffeau, Ph.D.

What’s New for 2021? Shallots and Peppers!

At the beginning of each year, I like to highlight new flowering and vegetable plant varieties that are available to the home gardener. Some of these may or may not be better than or superior to the old tried-and-true ones but they usually offer distinctive characteristics such as different colors or sizes of vegetables. Other attributes are whether they can be grown in a container or pot, have enhanced disease resistance or a unique taste or flavor. As with many activities in life, we gardeners sometimes get into the proverbial “rut” and grow the same thing each year. These new varieties help to expand our horticultural palate and, who knows, we might find something new that is really neat, easier to grow, great tasting or provides greater yields.

The All-American Selections (AAS) organization (all-americanselections.org) is a non-profit group established and supported by the flower and vegetable seed breeders. Each year, AAS announces its yearly “Winners” for introductions of new flowers and vegetables. According to the AAS, the winner selections are the result of being trialed at AAS Trial Ground locations around the country where breeders have their new, never-before-sold varieties grown and compared against industry-standard varieties by a panel of unbiased volunteer judges. AAS Trial Grounds are based at breeding facilities, seed companies, public gardens, universities and other locations.

For 2021, a new AAS Winner is the Echalion Crème Brûlée shallot. This echalion is the first-ever shallot to receive the AAS Winner designation. The AAS describes it effusively: “Easy to peel, singlecentered bulbs have a bright coppery pink outer skin and a pretty rosy-purple interior with thick rings. The sweet tender bulbs are earlier to mature than the comparisons and have a slight citrusy flavor when eaten raw. When caramelized, things get even better as the natural sugars are enhanced and do not leave any overpowering aftertastes. A fantastic variety for the home gardener as well as farm

or fresh market growers.”

Now a little explanation about shallots. Whether red, white, purple or yellow, onions are one of the easiest vegetables to grow in the garden. Onions are members of the lily family and are versatile in that their green foliage can be harvested for green onions or the bulb can continue to grow to maturity. The mature bulb is then edible. There are many different varieties of onions.

Like onions, shallots are members of the lily family. Some people think that shallots are a variety of onion, but they are actually a different species. They are smaller than onions and look more like garlic. They have a flavor like an onion but are sweeter and more refined. The traditional shallot has the shape of an elongated golf ball. When you cross an onion with a shallot, you get what is labeled a banana shallot or echalion. The echalion is pronounced in its elongated shape. They are the largest variety and are named for their size. They have a smooth, tan-colored skin and are easier to peel. As they’re larger, they’re swifter to prepare than the same volume of smaller shallots. They have a milder, sweeter taste than onions and can be used as an onion substitute. Banana shallots are also less aromatic than a true shallot. They are, however, more expensive.

One of the differences between

onions and shallots is that the inside of an onion consists of concentric circles. Onions are also annuals. Shallots, on the other hand, are perennial plants that seldom produce seed. When planted, the shallot bulb divides into a number of cloves or small bulblets that remain attached at the bottom. Like

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garlic, shallots are formed in clusters of offsets with a head composed of multiple cloves. They are sometimes grown for the dry bulbs but usually for the young plants, which are used as green onions.

Shallots are grown by planting the small bulbs in the same manner as onion sets, and their subsequent care and cultivation are the same. They are also grown as bunching onions.

To complement your cooking with shallots, you might throw in some peppers. Most gardeners grow peppers in the soil or in raised beds. Some pepper varieties, like tomatoes, also do well as container plants. One of the AAS 2021 winners is a jalapeño pepper that can be grown as either a container or a hanging plant. According to AAS, “Pot-a-peno is a new jalapeño pepper with a compact habit perfect for growing in containers and hanging baskets. "Plentiful small, green jalapeño fruits have a traditional spicy zip that is great in any dish where you want a little punch of spice. Simply leave the fruit on the vine a few extra weeks and they will ripen to red for a sweet, spicy flavor. This variety is earlier to mature than other jalapeños giving you a head start on your garden’s harvest. "A unique trait of Pot-a-peno is how the fruit hangs down beneath the plant making it quite easy to harvest without damaging the appearance or productivity of the plant. A dense foliage canopy makes for an attractive addition to your patio or balcony garden.”

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While it is too early to seed vegetables in the garden, there are other activities in the February landscape. This month, watch for signs of growth in early spring bulbs. When foliage is one inch high, gradually start removing mulch. Cloudy days are best for initial exposure of the leaves to strong sunlight, which can burn tender foliage. Pinch off early buds from developing pansies to encourage plants to branch and form more buds.

Don’t be in a hurry to remove mulch from perennials too early. A warm day may make you think spring is almost here, but colder weather will return. Also remember to avoid walking on frozen grass and groundcovers. Ajuga is especially sensitive to being walked on during the winter, and large portions can die back, leaving bare spots for the spring. The frozen

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leaves are brittle and easily damaged.

Even though there might be rain or snow, the soil dries out against a house under the eaves where rain rarely reaches. Be sure to water well during a thaw to prevent loss of plants. Remember that plants require water during the winter to replace water lost due to wind desiccation and lack of rain or snow.

If you have bramble plantings, February is a good time to do some pruning. Red, black and purple raspberries and both thorny and thornless blackberries are referred to as brambles. To understand the pruning practices for your brambles, it is first necessary to understand their growth habits.

Brambles have perennial crowns and roots with only biennial canes (live for two growing seasons). The vegetative shoots that come from the crowns are called primocanes during their first growing season.

In the late summer, flower buds are formed on the primocanes and remain dormant through the winter. During the second growing season, these buds flower, fruit and then die.

This two-year growth pattern is typical of all brambles, except for the fall-fruiting raspberries such as Heritage. In fall ~ fruiting raspberries, the cane growth and fruiting are similar but are compressed so that fruiting begins during the first growing season. The flower buds are initiated on the top third of the primocane, the flower buds flower in late July and begin fruiting in August. These canes finish fruiting with the first frost.

After these fall-fruiting raspberries have finished fruiting in fall, you can cut out all the canes because they will produce new fruiting primocanes in the spring. For the regular brambles, carefully prune out the dead canes in the plants now and leave the fruiting canes for this year’s production.

If you are like me, I have a supply of various vegetable seeds that date back a couple of years. Most vegetable seeds have a short life and usually will not be viable after a year or two, especially if they have been stored in a shed or garage.

Seeds with a short storage life include sweet corn, onions, okra, beans, parsnips and peppers. I have also found that both garden peas

and “sugar” peas lose their viability after about three years. I had some older sugar snap peas that I mixed with fresh pea seed and planted last year. The older ones did not germinate, or if they did, they succumbed very quickly to damping off disease. The best advice is to use vegetable seed packed for the 2021 season and toss any seed that is two years old or older. It is important that you handle the seed packets carefully. Rubbing the outside of the packet to determine how many seeds are inside can break the protective seed coats. This will result in reduced germination of the seeds.

Happy Gardening!

Marc Teffeau retired as Director of Research and Regulatory Affairs at the American Nursery and Landscape Association in Washington, D.C. He now lives in Georgia with his wife, Linda.