Unusual Things I Grow

Earlier this month, I gave a quick tour of some of the food I grow in my Southern Tier of New York yard.  We don't have enough sunny room for a large garden so we rent a community garden pot.   So, we would all consider plants like dill, basil, parsley as usual type plantings.

But I think many gardeners also like to grow some unusual things just because they can.  Today, some of my herbs, three of which are in containers.

I grow more common herbs, too.  Here are (clockwise) garden sage, one of my thymes, bolting small leaf basil.  

These are in the ground but the rest of today's herbs are in containers, for various reasons.

First, Vietnamese coriander.   I bought this plant last year at a garden clearance sale before they closed for the season. I had never seen it before. It grew nice last summer but it is not hardy in my zone 5b garden.  I took cuttings before the frost, which rooted in water, and then planted in soil  The plants grew over the winter under lights.  I planted it out in the spring in a larger container.  I am not sure I will overwinter it again.

We tried this maybe once or twice.  As it turns out, we don't use this or the next two herbs in our cooking.  We just grow these because why not.

Second, Papalo  I saw this in a nursery near Ithaca, New York and decided it would be one of my experiments. It's a Mexican herb and has a sharp, unusual flavor used in Mexican/Central American cooking.  Spouse tried cooking with it one time and hasn't since.  We are just letting it grow.  And I do mean "grow".  Let's just say it is taller than I am and going strong.  But once temperatures drop into the 40's it's not going to be happy.  It will also be gone with the frost.

Third, cardamon in a pot.  Yes, cardamon as in the seed that goes in some dessert baking.  This was a gift from my guest photographer and I've had it, perhaps, four years. It replaced another cardamon plant I had gotten at a nursery somewhere several years before.

Until last year, it was in my office in a clay pot and very happy.  When COVID came along and I was sent home, I brought the plant with me.  It was not happy at all in the house until we put it outside when the weather settled.  Was it ever happy!

Then, I almost killed it over the winter (I think it got too much light and not enough water) but spring came just in time.   It's in almost the same location as last summer, in the same pot but is not as happy as last year.  You see the yellow leaves.  Maybe it needs a larger pot - this plant can reach 10 feet tall.  By the way, this plant has never bloomed.

Alas, we approach fall, and I am going to try to overwinter my cardamon.  Maybe it would bloom next year?

Have you ever experimented with growing plants that are a little bit unusual?  Have you ever cooked with Vietnamese coriander or papalo?