Unique seeds for pops!

October 14, 2011 12:22 PM

My dad loves being outside. I want to get him some cool/fun seeds for Christmas to plant in the spring. What should I get? He lives in south eastern Wisconsin (zone 5).

Open to pretty much anything except flowers, but prefer plants which are edible/produce something edible. The land our house is on is quite shady, so plants which don't need too much sun would be preferable. Things we already have: mint, chives, garlic, tomatoes, pear tree, apple tree, onions, cilantro and potatoes. Tried strawberries numerous times, but the animals always get to em!

He likes pretty much anything!

posted by fuzzysoft to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

maybe check with the DNR and NPS and see what plants are native to the area (as in please don't give him a bunch of invasive species to plan ;) )
posted by zombieApoc at 12:35 PM on October 14, 2011

Best answer: More herbs! Rosemary, basil, oregano! All three do fine in SW WI.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 12:40 PM on October 14, 2011

Those 15' super-giant sunflowers will grow nicely in that region, and get a lot of double-takes from passersby. They might not like the shadiness, but maybe they'll do OK.

There are also grape varieties that might be workable, too.

Stuff my grandpa grows in his garden as a specialty are rutabega and horseradish. Personal tastes indicate whether or not you think they "produce something edible".
posted by AzraelBrown at 12:47 PM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Edibles that don't require sun are in general limited to leafy edibles. Making a fruit or a tuber requires quite a bit of energy, so those are generally sun-loving plants. Thus, you're doing well with the herbs, and trees that push their way up to get some sun.

Other herbs or greens to consider would be sorrel (lemony-tasting spinach-like salad or soup green), thyme (lots of varieties), kale (even the "ornamental" ones are edible). A packet of mesclun mix makes great salad options.

If a tall plant that grows up into the sun is an option, consider Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), a daisy-like sunflower with delicious edible tuber roots. You'd have to give him the seed-roots stored in sand, and he can plant them (like bulbs) when the ground thaws.

The part-sun vegetables include beans, which actually have a wide variety, bush-type or runner-type, green/yellow/purple, fresh-type or dry-type. If you want something pretty/interesting, scarlet runner beans are a gorgeous vine, and dragon tongue are a nice yellow/purple bush bean. Fennel and kohlrabi are others that don't need a ton of sun (I'm surprised your tomatoes grow at all!) and aren't the most obvious garden plants.

Wintergreen is a classic shady ground-cover type plant (perennial). The leaves smell nice when crushed, and it produces little red berries that taste like LifeSavers. Gift-giving hazard is that it makes more sense to buy these as seedlings than seeds.
posted by aimedwander at 1:29 PM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I feel that if you can grow tomatoes you must have enough light for lots of things but there could be shade loving tomatoes out there. Brussel Sprouts are cool. I have only done them from seedlings though.

It has been a couple years since I was able to have a garden so most of the facts have flown out of my head. But heirlooms might be nice. You can still get the stuff that works but fun varieties with interesring histories.

There are tons of companies out there now as I got bunches of catalogs. The company I used the most was Bakers Creek. I think we might have used something called Territorial.

I don't know if it linked right as it was my first time doing the link thing.
posted by khyaiin at 3:25 PM on October 14, 2011

I t seems like parsnips would do well in a cooler climate. I am not sure of the light requirements, though. I think they are particularly good with beef, and I no longer make beef stew or pot roast without them.
posted by annsunny at 3:44 PM on October 14, 2011

I've had really good luck with swiss chard and bok choi in a part-shade vegetable garden. With both of them, you can either start them indoors and transplant, or direct-sow them outdoors around the time you can start sowing radishes. The bok choi will mature more quickly and you need to eat them as they mature; they will bolt after summer weather arrives. Swiss chard takes a little longer to get established, but once it's established, you can pick a few leaves at a time off each plant and it will happily produce all summer long and well past the first frost in the fall. "Bright lights" is a fun variety with bright yellow/red/orange stems.
posted by drlith at 7:50 PM on October 14, 2011

Sage and thyme do all right in the shade. I have some growing in the shadow of a fence and some overgrown bushes.
posted by emeiji at 9:41 PM on October 14, 2011

Best answer: My father is into planting odd, edible things, and I don't know how easily they grow from seeds but he planted two almond trees this past summer, he's in Zone 5, he tells me they'll grow there. He's also into cherry bushes, which are apparently a thing, plum trees, and all sorts of other strange things.
posted by IvoShandor at 2:09 AM on October 15, 2011

Google Tromboncino - it's a climbing Italian zucchini that grows into long and funny shapes.
There are also some varieties of giant exhibition onions that are traditionally planted on Christmas - google Kelsae or Ailsae Craig onions.
I've also had fun growing potatoes from true potato seed (TPS).
posted by leigh1 at 10:51 AM on October 15, 2011

Response by poster: I am thinking to get some herbs, beans and almond trees!

Thank you all for your answers! I will look into them later if I don't find these ones for good prices or not available.
posted by fuzzysoft at 8:51 PM on October 17, 2011