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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 1:23 PM, concerning plant: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea 'Gypsy')

A medium-early, medium-green domed broccoli from Sakata. Due to plant vigor, it is recommended to "organic" growers. A Japanese hybrid. It performs reasonably well here. It is earlier than advertised. Central heads are small (6 inches) with medium bead. Plant is large, and sets multiple sideshoots. An ok cultivar, but there are several I like much more. It is the ugly duckling of broccoli plants.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 1:16 PM, concerning plant: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea 'Green Magic')

An early maturing hybrid from Sakata 2004. It is performing well here in 2020. Nice uniform domed heads. No sign of brown bead.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 1:12 PM, concerning plant: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea 'Green Goliath')

A 1981 open pollinated variety from Burpee. It has nice heads and good side shoot development. Erratic maturity extends harvest over several weeks which is an advantage to home gardeners. The best open pollinated variety that I have grown.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 1:07 PM, concerning plant: Collards (Brassica oleracea 'Green Glaze')

This is an antique from the early 20th century. There are several versions still available and I am not sure whether any of them are "original". This one was known in the south as the Greasy collard. It is a lighter green than standard collards and has a slick greasy appearance. It is a compact plant, which grows similar to a cabbage, but without trying to head. Supposedly developed from the old Green Glaze cabbage. There is a recent intoduction, Cascade Glaze, developed by Jeff McCormack, which is a much darker green but has the oily appearance. It is sometimes vended as the Green Glaze.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:57 PM, concerning plant: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea 'Green Duke')

A 1971 Sakata hybrid that replaced Green comet in my plantings. It too has been passed by with newer introductions, but it was a good performer in its day.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:54 PM, concerning plant: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea 'Green Comet')

A 1968 hybrid from Takii. A good producer that has been overtaken by newer intoductions like Southern Comet. It was my favorite in the 70's.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:37 PM, concerning plant: Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata 'Green Briar')

Currently my favorite short season cabbage. Very vigorous and productive. Solid 5 lb heads are an ideal size and have good taste and texture for multiple uses. I use it for spring and fall planting.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:30 PM, concerning plant: Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes 'Grand Duke')

A hybrid version of White Vienna. I find no great advantage in either vigor or taste to the White Vienna.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:27 PM, concerning plant: Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis 'Graffiti')

This one has great visual appeal and good flavor. It is a midseason variety that does well here in a cool spring. When we have a hot June, though, it can't take the heat, so growing it here is a bit "Iffy."

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:22 PM, concerning plant: Mustard Greens (Brassica juncea 'Giant Southern Curled')

This has been my favorite mustard cultivar for over 75 years. It has large curled/frilly leaves, which are very tender and moderately pungent. It will not stand temperatures where the ground freezes, but it tolerates temperatures into the 20's F. Grows well and tastes good. What more could one ask? In my youth, most folks called it Ostrich Plume.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:14 PM, concerning plant: Collards (Brassica oleracea var. viridis 'Georgia')

Long the standard in the deep south. Large vigorous plant with wide-spaced leaves. Typically harvested from the bottom up and is sometimes called the walking collard. Not my favorite as the smaller loose-heading varieties are much more tender and flavorful.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:09 PM, concerning plant: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea 'Galleon')

A 1990 Seminis hybrid, it has early semi-domed heads that resist brown beading. Vigorous plant that is among the top spring performers here.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 12:00 PM, concerning plant: Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis 'Fremont')

A 62 day hybrid. Does ok here but not the greatest.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 11:53 AM, concerning plant: Mustard Greens (Brassica juncea 'Florida Broadleaf')

A large smooth-leaf India-type mustard that takes about 7 weeks to reach edible size. A pungent mustard that produces well. Stands light freezes, which makes it desirable for mid winter greens in the southeast.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 11:38 AM, concerning plant: Collards (Brassica oleracea 'Flash')

A 78 day Vates type hybrid from Sakata (1992). Very slow to bolt. A short stem cultivar that is fast growing. Doing well here, but seems to be more susceptible to stem rot than any others that I tried. Warm wet spell, for about two weeks, and big lush plants are showing several instances of stem rot. Cabbage collards (both regular and yellow) growing in the same area are smaller plants but showing no signs of stem rot.

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By bxncbx on Jul 2, 2013 9:17 AM, concerning plant: Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Double Cutie')

While I love the flowers of Double Cutie, I have to say it is one of the worst performing daylilies in my garden. Every year I get 1-2 blooms that always seem to open on the same day. That's it! The plant seems happy and healthy and has multiplied well in 2 years. But if I can't get it to bloom more than 1 day a year it will have to go. Of all my miniatures this one does the worst in my zone 7a garden with a western exposure.

Edited to add that after a schedule of regular watering and fertilizer starting in Fall 2013 I have gotten many more blooms in 2014 as compared to previous years. The flowers are, however, significantly smaller. Definitely needs pampering to perform decently.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 9:15 AM, concerning plant: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea 'Everest')

Developed in 1988 by Northrup King, currently sold by Syngenta (Rogers brand), it is an early hybrid designed for fresh market. Medium dome, 4-6 inch heads, resistant to downy mildew. It grows well here. The plant is quite large, but the central heads are very small for a modern hybrid. It is sufficiently early, much earlier than Belstar and competitve with Packman. A satisfactory cultivar, but nothing special. It does have very fine beads, if that is a desirable characteristic. Everest has the best sidesprouts of any cultivar that I have grown.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 9:10 AM, concerning plant: Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes 'Early White Vienna')

This 19th century variety is smaller and about a week earlier than Purple Vienna. Not quite as vigorous as Purple.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 8:59 AM, concerning plant: Kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes 'Early Purple Vienna')

This is a 19th century cultivar that hasn't improved much over time. It is like a turnip that grows above ground. Taste is almost identical to the core of a cabbage. Cabbage cores were highly prized when I was a kid. This one is about a week later than White Vienna and larger, about the size of a Purple Top White Globe turnip, but the flesh is harder. Here it can be grown only in the very early spring/late winter or overwintered. It does not tolerate heat. Approx 60 days from seed.

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By farmerdill on Jul 2, 2013 8:55 AM, concerning plant: Broccoli (Brassica oleracea 'Early Purple Sprouting')

I grew Burpee's version of this 19th century cultivar in Virginia in the 70's. Very productive with lots of side shoots. Huge plant that occupied a lot of space. I used it for fall harvest. It is a long season plant that does not like hot weather

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