While I love roses, I have been intimidated by the idea of actually growing them myself. Oh, I see them blooming in other people’s gardens, rambling along the fences and climbing over the gates.  And a number of wild bushes are tucked beneath the trees lining our road.  Clearly they thrive on neglect – so why aren’t they in my garden?

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Beverly and Brian Hendricks bought their small farm in western Maine’s Waterford in 2001. They had always wanted to own an old farm, and Bev smiles in acknowledgement that their early dream “to feed the world with organic veggies” was an ideal a bit beyond their present reality.

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Soon after I began to grow vegetables, I realized that flowers have a place in the same garden. In fact, I don’t have a ‘vegetable garden’ or ‘flower garden’ any more, but just ‘the garden,’ and everybody seems to get along fine. Even more, some flowers, such as marigolds, not only taste good but help their companion vegetables grow stronger and healthier.

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This colorful herb and decorative plant began its journey into our gardens and onto our tables from the land of the Incas – the cool mountains of Peru. Spanish conquerors became acquainted with it in the sixteenth century, and packed its large, wrinkled seeds to bring home with them. In turn, English bandits waylaid the Spaniards and brought the booty, including nasturtium seeds, to London in the 1590s. From there, over the next century, the colorful plant was carried throughout Europe and into the Orient.

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Snapdragons are a potential crop for Northeast growers, says N.H. Dept. of Agriculture Commissioner Steve Taylor.

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