 |
 
Welcome gardeners, artists, photographers, cooks, teddy bear fans, gypsy spirits!
Flower poems, teddy bear fun, birds, anoles, peppers and container gardening, New Orleans photos and recipes, shopping...
free download Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended,
or buy cheap adobe OEM
Software Corel Draw 11
New content DAILY!
This site is free and supported by your kind donations...
NEW!
Click to join KATRINA LIMBO
With Adobe® After Effects® CS4 software, you can create compelling motion graphics and blockbuster visual effects with flexible tools that help save you time and deliver unparalleled creative power.buy adobe acrobat 9 pro extended buy windows 7 ultimate 32 bit
|
We have 61 guests and 0 members online
You are an anonymous user. You can register for free by clicking here
|
 
FREEDOM FLOWERS!
Support the Troops in Iraq!
Remember the Veterans!
"Cheers gypsy Rose, what a good idea, Patriotic Flowers. Kind of like the Victory Gardens of old. Thanks for the morale booster. Keep on keeping on." Hugs Jane of Iowa
|
|
|
HOWDY HUGZ frum TEDDY
A POME FUR TEDDY
TEDDY, yur my speshal frend
An so thiz messij I doo send
To wish yew sparklee starduzt fun
On yur nu paje. YUR NUMBUR WUN!
luv & hugz,
CindaBella
teddy novelizt an poet
DOES YOUR TEDDY BEAR WRITE FUNNY POMES and DEEP THOUGHTS?
Do YOU? Writers invited! Poems, jokes, fun forwards, photos welcome!
Email TEDDY
Read Teddy Bear Gumbo!
FREE FUN! Find your school pals at TEDDY'S CLASS REUNION
Click here for TEDDY's pop up JOKE paje!
The Original and BEST
Teddy Bear Site, since 1995
buy microsoft office 2007 enterprise sp2 oemIf you use the same computer at home and for your daily work, Windows Vista Ultimate is an excellent choice. You can smoothly shift between the things you want to do and the things you need to do. For fun, you'll love the extensive options you get for music, images, live and recorded TV, and online entertainment.
buy windows 7 home premium 64 bit
|
| Thursday, November 11 |
| · | HUGS FOR OUR VETERANS (17) |
| Wednesday, November 10 |
| · | What to Do? by Rapunzelda (171) |
| Saturday, November 06 |
| · | Tears On the Verge by Rapunzelda (45) |
| Thursday, October 28 |
| · | Rosalita's Yummy Cheese Manicotti (43) |
| · | One Cross Word by Rapunzelda (-1) |
| Wednesday, October 27 |
| · | HALLOWEEN BEST AT GARDEN GUMBO (42) |
| Wednesday, October 20 |
| · | A Haunted Walk in the Neighborhood (4) |
| Saturday, October 16 |
| · | The Haunted Birds of BOO BAYOO (53) |
| Wednesday, October 13 |
| · | Scared Birds by Rapunzelda (20) |
| Tuesday, October 12 |
| · | The Banana Ghoul of BOO BAYOU (9) |
| Friday, October 08 |
| · | ROOTIN FUR DA YANKZ by Tequila TEDDY (49) |
| Thursday, October 07 |
| · | Survival is Faith and Fortitude (39) |
| Tuesday, October 05 |
| · | Half a Cookie by Rapunzelda (42) |
| Sunday, October 03 |
| · | My Garden Gumbo in October2004 (5) |
| Saturday, October 02 |
| · | Eulogy for Cammy Zoom (71) |
| Sunday, September 26 |
| · | Flowers Come From Dirt by Rapunzelda (36) |
| Saturday, September 25 |
| · | Little Birds Make Me Smile (46) |
| Thursday, September 23 |
| · | Musa is My Muse (Bananas Fall to the Ground!) (38) |
| Wednesday, September 22 |
| · | Hurricane Waters by Rapunzelda (48) |
| Tuesday, September 21 |
| · | Hurricane Pontchartrain (68) |
| Saturday, September 18 |
| · | The Eve of Ivan (48) |
| Wednesday, September 15 |
| · | Boisterous Banana Bread (18) |
| · | HURRYKANE PARTEE DOWN IN NOO ORLEENZ (57) |
| Saturday, September 11 |
| · | Why Remember 9/11? (41) |
| Friday, September 10 |
| · | When Chaos Rules (Beware Ivan the Terrible!) (2) |
| Tuesday, September 07 |
| · | Flowerpoem for Florida's Hurricane Victims (44) |
| Monday, September 06 |
| · | Banana Daquiris (27) |
| Sunday, September 05 |
| · | HUGZ 4 FLORIDA: Teddy Bear Nana Dakeeri Hurrykane Partee (44) |
| Friday, September 03 |
| · | Josie Kreuzer's Back! (49) |
| Thursday, September 02 |
| · | Fly Away With The Doves by Rapunzelda (51) |
| | Older Articles |
|
| |
What is exotic to one person may be a common weed to another! To me exotic plants are just something unusual looking, often tropical. I hope to share some of my personal favorites here, hope you'll try them! Too hot to grow spinach? This beautiful tropical vine is heat-tolerant and edible too. Grow tips and recipe..
101 degrees out there but my Malabar heat-loving spinach vine is undaunted! Ya gotta love it! What's MALABAR? you may ask! Is it tropical?
Malabar is a beautiful twining tropical vine from Southeast Asia that is edible yet so pretty, the Epcot Center used it as an ornamental. You can too! Just provide a trellis on which it can twine or let it trail from windowboxes or hanging containers next to some fragrant herbs or any sun loving flowers. Widely cultivated for its edible leaves in the tropics and Orient, malabar is an excellent hot weather substitute for spinach.
Facts:
MALABAR
Tropical heat-loving spinach vine
Latin Name: Basella alba (Some recognize three different species, B. alba, B. rubra and B. cordifolia) Common Name: Indian spinach or Malabar Vine
Family: Basellaceae
Synonyms: B. cordifolia. B. rubra.
Habit: Perennial in warm climates
Habitat: Tropical
Length: 20-30'
Cultivation:
Malabar is a fast-growing frost-tender perennial vine that can be grown as a spring-sown annual. It requires a well-drained moisture-retentive soil rich in organic matter or sandy loam and a warm sunny sheltered place, tolerates poor soils but does much better in rich. High rainfall is no problem. (pH in the range 4.3 to 7.) It requires a minimum winter daytime temperature of 59°F (15°C) if it is to keep growing and can tolerate low light levels and night temperatures occasionally falling below 50°F. An interesting note- plants do not flower if the length of daylight is more than 13 hours per day. You can prolong the vine's life by encouraging leaf production and branching if you pinch off the pink florets as they form, but as cold weather approaches let it go to seed and form purple berries that you can harvest as seeds.
Propagation:
Seed may be started indoors weeks before last frost in your area. The seed germinates within 10 - 21 days at 65°F, pre-soaking the seed for 24 hours in warm water shortens germination. Plant outdoors after the last expected frosts. Stem cuttings can be taken in the late summer, overwintered and then planted out in late spring or early summer. It will become a perennial in mild climates.
Personal notes:
Plants grow easily from seeds you can obtain now thru many catalogs. Plant them 1/4" deep, a hanging pot is great. Keep moist and warm, in light. They may take awhile to germinate if it's cooler than 65 so start them indoors if you like, but once they sprout make sure they get plenty of sun. They will grow like crazy in warmth, go a bit dormant in cool temps. They are touted as a heat loving spinach. I don't see that it's too late to start them especially in pots, if you have a sunny window you may try bringing them in later and see if they over winter for you. They would make a beautiful houseplant! The crinkled, almost heart shaped leaves are about 3" and a glossy dark green. The shiny red stems get redder and a most beautiful fushia pink purple color in bright sun. Start harvesting the leaves after they get several sets and they will branch out and grow more. Pinch off flowers or they will go to seed. The florets form deep purple berries that are pretty purple but messy when smooshed. I have painted with the dye. When mine do seed, I pick the seeds to dry them or they fall and self seed quite readily. I have at least one plant in with my roses that has become a perennial, is a couple years old now. It is not a heavy invasive vine tho, easy to pull out.
Pests:
I have never seen a pest bother them, but they may get a red dotted fungi that is harmless,(try to avoid watering at night in cool weather) just pinch off the affected leaves and dispose.
Uses:
Malabar is great in salads and steamed in Japanese soups with tofu and ginger or tossed in Chinese stir-fry. Shredd it and fold into a cheese omelet. I like mine fresh in a simple homegrown salad with basils, nasturtiums, mushrooms, chive flowers and a honey mustard vinaigrette. I often use it in my Salmon Rosa Basil Desire recipe.
Reader Comments:
Oh Rose My malabar is beautiful!!! I am saving grandbaby seeds from the plant you sent me!!! I just love the way the Malabar grows and looks!!! ya know I haven't even tasted it yet?? I know I must be missing alot but it's such a pretty plant I can't bare to eat it LOL!!! Diprag~
RB: Actually Diprag, the more you pinch it the more it branches & grows! Try the younger leaves, it can get tough late in season and those older leaves are best steamed or shredded in lite Japanese soups. It has a spinach-like flavor but a unique musky one at that! I like it with...
Rosalita's Hot, Sweet n Spicy Garden Vinaigrette
Make this to taste, as sweet or sour as you like, shake it all up in a small spice jar. (I just make enough for a few salads, it keeps in the fridge and gets better to a point. Use whatever you like and have growing)
--equal parts fresh squeezed lime juice & green virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar
Add:
--a little honey to taste
--garlic clove finely minced
--cayenne or other chilepepper minced
--cinnamon basil, nasturtium flowers or a few shredded leaves
--a couple finely chopped chives (can use flowers too if you have them)
--salt and fresh ground pepper
Shake it up and drizzle over salad. Enjoy!
LOOK for more malabar photos on this site.
Copyright 2000-2003 Rosemary Basil, Mama Rosa's French Quarter Cochina, Rosalita's Courtyard Cochina
Note: a classic from the archives of VineCrazy and Surreal City Jungles.
|
| |
|
| Exotic Plants I Just Adore: #1 Malabar Tropical Spinach Vine | Login/Create an account | 0 Comments |
|
| | Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
|
|
Have you signed our Guestmap yet?
![[ Registered ]](http://www.diarist.net/registry/button.gif){kind=small}
