Can you imagine a salad without cucumbers? Don’t you love a cool, crisp cucumber sandwich on a hot day or fresh cucumbers in vinegar? And what would a grilled cheese sandwich or hamburger be without pickles?
Well, cucumbers are just about the most popular vegetable in the home garden (remember: tomatoes are fruits).
Cucumbers have been around for a while, too. They have been cultivated both in India and China for about 3,000 years.
Columbus is generally given credit for introducing them to North America. Thank you Christopher. Now, of course, there is some dispute as to whether he actually made it here but we are, nonetheless, fortunate to have these wonderful vegetables and now is the time they should be planted. Cucumbers are warm weather plants and should only be set out when the weather warms up and stays warm.
Cold, wet ground is no place for cucumbers and that’s why now is a great time to plant. For best results, they should be planted in hills or raised beds that have excellent drainage. I always dig plenty of composted manures down deep (about twelve inches) to give those roots some place to go that is damp and rich in humus when the weather gets hot. Bitter-free cucumbers can only be grown if the plants have access to moisture, especially during the fruit-bearing cycle.
If you seed cucumbers, they seem to take off very quickly once the weather warms up but transplants need a little more care. Greenhouse grown transplants need at least four to five days of acclimatization before they can be set out in the ground and even then they need some protection from the elements. Incidentally, be very careful not to disturb the rootball of young plants because the roots are extremely tender and the plants will suffer a severe set back if the roots are damaged.
There are many fine cucumber varieties available today that display good disease tolerance. But to be on the safe side, keep that cucumber patch moving to a different location in your garden each year. Wet spells in the summer or watering too frequently overhead often cause ‘alternaria leaf spot’ or mildew. As with any disease prevention program, healthy, well-fertilized plants are less susceptible to these problems and keeping that foliage dry is really important for controlling these problems. You must act quickly if the disease appears and the new bio fungicides are great.
Now, as to varieties, the list seems to grow each year. Many experienced gardeners like the old-fashioned ‘National Pickling’ and ‘Marketmore’ varieties. If you have been having success with these older strains, then stay with them but there is a wealth of newer varieties on the market and each has its own unique characteristics.
When it comes to slicing cucumbers, it is burpless all the way. Try ‘Burpless #26’, ‘Burpless Supreme’ ‘Japanese Burpless’ or the shorter ‘Sweeter Yet’, ‘Sweet Slice’ or ‘Sweet Success’. The great feature of burpless cucumbers is the fact that you can eat the skin without fear of an upset tummy and every fruit is bitter free.
Instead of growing these varieties on the ground, take some garden trellis and make an “A-Frame” shape so the plants can grow up one side and down the other. It makes a delightful garden feature and it is one sure way to keep the slugs away from your cucumbers. If you have limited space, you can grow ‘Patio Snacker’ and ‘Bush Pickle’ in containers but be sure to use at least a 14 inch tub and mix plenty of sterilized compost in with the potting soil before you plant. I have yet to find a bitter cucumber from these varieties.
If you would really like something different, try ‘Lemon Cucumbers’ which grow the size, shape and colour of lemons but still taste like crispy, juicy cucumbers.
Anti-oxidants are important in today’s healthy diets and Burpee’s ‘Gold Standard’ has five times the beta-carotene of other cucumbers. It tastes good too.
Short gourmet cucumbers are also a hot item today and varieties like ‘Perseus’ grow well and produce lots of smaller fruits.
Cucumbers are fun, fast and easy to grow as long as we get a little cooperation from the weather. Remember: use raised beds and black plastic or trellis frames, try some of the new varieties and keep the roots moist during the hottest part of summer. Once planted, you will be enjoying that first cucumber sandwich in about 40 to 50 days.
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Brian Minter
Columnist
As we become more confidant in our ability to create beautiful combination plantings in our gardens and containers, foliage plants tend to play a great role to complement and contrast floral colour. Interesting and colourful foliage often adds the ‘pop’ element that takes our plantings to the next level.
Grasses thrive in warmer summer temperatures and they can contribute tremendous value to our colour schemes. Purple fountain grass is the most popular focal plant today. Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’ (zone 9), with its dark burgundy foliage and dancing bunny tail plumes, provides interest all summer long. The combination of ‘Rubrum’ with hot pink plants, especially petunias, creates the magic that turns heads.
As most of North America has reduced the use of traditional impatiens (Impatiens walleriana) because of a downy mildew problem. Folks are looking for shade alternatives and coleus is one of the most underused options. Hot lime foliage plants are, perhaps, the most vibrant and becoming very popular because they light up darker corners. Once acclimatized, coleus will tolerate quite sunny areas, not just the sun lovers but most varieties. The tawny coloured varieties are sneaking into second place with me because they are not only an ‘in’ colour but they also blend well with yellow, peach and salmon coloured flowers. – all look great with hot pink New Guinea impatiens. Magnificent show-stopper ‘Kong’ coleus (growing 20” or 50 cm wide) make quite a statement in a shade location.
I like the ‘Kong’ salmon, pink, red and rose the best for their contrasting ability with whites, silvers and hot pinks.
Millets. Yes ornamental millets (Pennisetum glaucum) have flair and they are too often overlooked. These heat lovers grow up to 1 metre in height and sure catch your attention. My favourite is ‘Jade Princess’ with its hot lime foliage and oh-my-gosh long brown seed heads that look like bulrushes. For a rich burgundy, try ‘Purple Baron’, an AAS Award Winner. ‘Purple Majesty’ is very unique, having the most colourful corn-like foliage you’ll ever find.
For ornamental grasses, I have to say the summer ‘hottie’ is Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa). Two varieties, in particular, are outstanding. Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’ (zone 6) is the most brilliant lime you’ll see in a grass and H.m. ‘Aureola (zone 6) is just as magnificent having long narrow yellow leaves with a green stripe down the middle. Especially in darker shade, they add life and vibrancy both in ground beds and containers. My new favourite carex, C. oshimensis EverColor ‘Everillo’ with its evergreen lime foliage, is fabulous. With a touch of sun, its colour is a little more golden; in shade, it’s more lime coloured.
Today, perhaps the most widely used foliage plants for a summer garden are the ornamental sweet potato vines (Ipomoea batatas). These vibrant heat lovers accent all the other plants beautifully and carry them through the hottest time of the year with grace and style. ‘Hot Lime’, by far the best seller and the original ‘Marguerite’ adapt well to hanging baskets, containers and even ground plantings.
The ‘Caroline’ series comes in a wide range of colours, has serrated foliage and makes any combination shine.
All these varieties and so many others too, are just the tip of the iceberg for foliage accents. They make wonderful hot summer displays, are widely available and can be planted even in very warm weather. Summer patios and gardens can be enhanced and enjoyed far more with any or all of these gems.
