Five things to do in the garden this week:
Fruit. To test whether a cantaloupe, also known as musk melon, is ready for harvest, give it a little nudge with your thumb. If it comes off easily, it’s ripe. If it resists, leave it alone. Smell the blossom end opposite the stem end. A ripe melon has a sweet scent. When selecting a melon in the market, do not choose any that show green in the rind. Hold the melon, and if it’s heavy for its size, it’s probably packed with sweet juice. Make sure the blossom end has a sweet smell and has some give when pushed with your thumb, but is not mushy. A ripe cantaloupe keeps in the refrigerator for five days.
Vegetables. Harvest bush and pole beans when they have the diameter of a pencil. Resist the temptation to leave pods too long on the plant, harvesting them before they bulge. Pods should snap cleanly when bent in half. The more often you harvest, the more beans will be produced. Harvest with both hands, gripping the vine or stem with one hand as you detach a pod with the other.
Herbs. Perennial culinary basil thrives in half-day sun under ordinary garden conditions. It exhibits a strong vertical growth habit, as suggested by the names of its two widely planted varieties. Choose from Everleaf Emerald Towers, which grows three feet tall, and Everleaf Thai Towers, which reaches two feet in height with purple stems. Both of these varieties may live for years and, once established and well-mulched, two weekly soakings should be sufficient to satisfy their water needs.
Flowers. Hibiscus flowers are non-toxic and may be eaten raw but are more typically made into tea. The most edible species is roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), a short-lived perennial that can grow to eight feet tall. Its leaves are eaten as a vegetable in tropical countries, and its flower calyx clusters (that have the appearance of red Hershey’s kisses at one stage of their development) are not only highly ornamental but are made into a sweet yet tangy drink. Roselle seeds are widely available through Internet vendors.
Indoor plants. Two Ficus species with a similar look are worthy of consideration as indoor plants. Creeping fig (Ficus pumila) has small, heart-shaped leaves and is often used hazardously to cover fences and walls. Unfortunately, its adhesive aerial roots can cause damage to wood and grow into windows if allowed to climb the wall of a building. However, as an indoor plant, it grows nicely out of a container as a trailing specimen. Formosa or blueberry creeping fig (Ficus vaccinioides), named for its Taiwanese origin and, roughly speaking, blueberry-shaped foliage, has leaves the size of creeping fig’s, only they are glossy and oval-shaped. It will also vine or trail along, depending on its growth opportunities.