Friday, Jul. 03, 2009

'Firecracker' plant is hard to find

Q. I have, in the past, usually been able to find a plant called the "firecracker plant." But I have not found one this year. When I ask certain garden center people, they look at me like I am crazy. It was usually sold with the small flowering annuals in the spring. I know it's too late to find one this year, but what is its real name and what is the correct method of caring for it from year to year?

-- S.K. of Belleville

A. I think one plant sold in this area as the firecracker plant is Cuphea ignea. It is also sold under the name of Mexican cigar plant.

This plant grows about one-foot tall and produces many one-inch tubular flowers (red with white and purple mouths) from spring to autumn.

To keep this plant from year to year, you just need to prune it back severely in spring to keep it from getting leggy.

You may also want to check for Crossandra undulifolia, which is known commonly as the fire-cracker flower. This plant produces tubular orange flowers, but they really do not look like small firecrackers.

Q. Someone told me that you can grow edible ginger. Is that true and where can you obtain it?

-- C. N. of Collinsville

A. It is easy to grow a piece of edible ginger, and it is actually very easy to obtain at the grocery store. All you have to look for is a piece of ginger root (Zingiber officinale), which is native to Asia and Australia.

The catch is to start it in spring as the plant wants to go dormant once days get shorter and temperatures begin to drop; also, the root is fresher in the spring, giving you less difficulty in starting.

Just put the root and place it in a five-gallon container horizontally about four inches under the soil. Place it in a southern location with full sun and if the evening temperatures begin to drop below 40 degrees bring it into an unheated garage for the overnight. Water it lightly and infrequently until you notice shoots beginning to grow, then water to keep the soil moist and fertilize it about once a month with a houseplant fertilizer.

The canes will grow about 15-inches tall, but rarely ever flowers. By late fall, your five-gallon container should be filled with many ginger stems that are ready to harvest. Just pull the plant out of the soil and slice off sections of the underground roots. Remember to leave some of the rhizomes planted during winter and allow them to remain dry and dormant in the unheated garage. These sections will then begin to grow again the following spring when the warm weather returns.

Q. When can you harvest carrots? Do you have to wait until fall?

-- F. G. of Belleville

A. You can harvest carrots anytime when roots are orange in color. After all, you have seen small gourmet carrots sold in plastic bags in the produce area. All they do it pull them when they are the size they want. It's actually the same way with baby corn, too. But there are varieties of baby corn that produce more ears of corn than regular varieties.

Send your gardening questions to Charles Giedeman, Lifestyle, P.O. Box 427, 120 S. Illinois St., Belleville, IL 62222-0427.