Learning More Uses of a Favorite Plant: Pineapple Sage

I was looking through the photos of my garden from November (which I have yet to post on my blog) and came across my Pineapple Sage. It is a fav or mine because it provides a bright red pop to my drab fall garden.

I have to admit, when I first planted it, I had no idea that it was a perennial and would come back every year. What a happy surprise that was. I have had it for at least five years now and it is incredibly reliable and has yet to show any signs of pests or disease. Growing this plant couldn’t be easier: it is incredibly care-free. I do absolutely nothing to it except to cut it back in the early spring. It is about 4-5 feet tall and full of foliage and blooms every year. In some ways I wish it would bloom earlier so that the hummingbirds could enjoy it, but then it wouldn’t liven up my drab, late fall garden like it does now.

When you rub the leaves of the Pineapple Sage, it smells exactly as you think it would: like pineapple mixed with sage. I have to be honest, I have never used any because I was not exactly sure what it would go with. I decided to do some online searching. I found some interesting information and recipes on Backyard Patch Herbal Blog. The blogger mentions using stems in summer drinks. Now that sounds like a great idea! She also mentions using chopped leaves in salsa and in chicken dishes. A mango (or pineapple) and avocado salsa with Pineapple Sage leaves might be nice, now that I think of it. She has recipes on her blog for Pineapple Sage Smoothies, Pineapple Sage Pound Cake, and Pineapple Sage and Ginger Chicken. I will have to try me some of those. There are also several ideas on Pinterest. Adding Pineapple Sage to some of Babble website’s detox waters would be good, I would think. The Adventures in Making blog has this awesome-sounding drink recipe: Blackberry + Pineapple Sage Soda. I should’ve done my research earlier so I could’ve enjoyed some of those great-sounding recipes before the frost killed my plant! Alas, I will have to wait until next year to try them. Better make myself a note so that I don’t forget.

Favorite Plants: Solanum quitoense, aka Naranjilla

Don’t ask me to pronounce it and don’t ask me to touch it, but I’ll tell you what a unique plant it is and that it has tasty fruit. The first time I saw Solanum quitoense (Naranjilla) was last September at the amazing Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, ME in their Burpee Kitchen Garden. It was in a pot with other fascinating, prehistoric-looking plants. I thought it was one of the coolest plants I had ever seen.

I bought my Solanum quitoense plant from the Unusual Tropical and Annuals Sale at The Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College in the spring. I potted it up in a big, blue pot and put it in a semi-shady spot in the kitchen garden.

It was in either a three or six inch pot when I bought it and it obviously was happy in my big, blue pot and grew and grew. It is a dangerous-looking plant with large, purple spikes running along the veins of every one of the large leaves. Not the kind of plant to be triffled with.

The stems are even more scary-looking because they are literally covered in thorns. The flower buds and flowers are soft and fuzzy, though, and even the leaves themselves are delicate and somewhat soft to the touch. This is certainly a plant of contrasts.

From what I was reading, it is fairly common to have issues getting your Solanum quitoense to fruit. One thing I read said it can take six months. No problems like that here, mine has had fruit almost all season. The un-ripe fruit is green and covered in fuzzy little hairs.

Once the fruit ripens it turns a bright and cheery yellow color. Be careful trying to pick it, though, because you might get stabbed by all of the thorns around it!

I have to admit I was a bit nervous sampling the fruit from such a strange and threatening plant. However, I read that the juice from this unique and rare fruit from the Andes is considered “Nectar of the Gods.” Who can resist that???

To eat it, you wash off any leftover fuzzy hairs, cut it into sections and suck out the insides (or squeeze them out). You don’t eat the thick, tough skin.

It has been described as tasting “sweet and sour,” or like “citrus,” “kiwi,” or a cross between “rhubard and lime,” or “pineapple and lemon.” I personally would describe it as being a somewhat tart combination of kiwi and lemon. Very intriguing.

According to Annie’s Annuals, a plant can bear fruit for four years. It is a frost-tender plant, so I decided it was too cool and unusual to let it get killed off by frost and moved the whole pot into the greenhouse. That’s something my physical therapist probably wouldn’t have approved of considering how big it is, but to me it’s worth it for such a stand-out garden specimen. It’s a definite keeper.

Favorite Plants: Epimedium Rubrum

The first time I saw Epimedium (Barrenwort) was at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. I loved the graceful, overlapping leaves and the tiny, delicate flowers that looked like they belonged in a fairy garden. You had to get really close to truly appreciate the beautiful flowers. They were growing in a shady area and I knew I had to find some for the area by my greenhouse.

I am ashamed to admit that I have killed many, many plants in the area by the greenhouse. It is one of those tricky areas to grow anything – dry shade. I have added compost almost every year we’ve lived here to help improve the soil. Despite that, I have probably planted and killed at least ten different types of plants in this area. Epimedium is supposed to be drought tolerant and likes part shade to shade, so I thought I could give it a try. I found Epimedium Rubrum at a local nursery and gave it a shot, not feeling very confident about it. I am happy to report that after a year (or maybe two) it is still doing well.

This photo was taken last year in April...

 The dainty flowers of Epimedium Rubrum.

Can you see why this is a favorite plant? I absolutely adore the shape and colors of the tiny buds and flowers. Now that I have seen how well my two plants have done in this area, I am considering adding more.

In fall, the leaves turn a rust color, which lasts through the winter. To me, a plant is even more valuable when it has multi-season interest like this. I took this rainy photo today...

The fall color of Epimedium Rubrum.

I had looked for more Epimedium last year at my local nurseries and Rubrum seemed to be the only variety I could find. Not that I’m complaining because it’s fabulous. However, I’d like to see some others offered.