Credit to my gf for trying for over two weeks and finally catching the passion fruit flowering! Nature is amazing.

If you recognize this plant, you may be wondering why I want the fruit of the, known to be toxic, laurel cherry. Well, there's been some misinformation, and I'm gonna clear that up.

The Prunus genus is commonly known as the stone fruits and includes cherries, prunes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. All of them contain cyanogenic glycosides in all parts except for the ripe fruit flesh, though the concentrations vary widely with species and variety. Notably, sweet almonds have so little that their seeds/pits can be eaten safely in moderation by healthy, grown people. When crushed and digested, these toxic compounds break down into hydrogen cyanide, which can be deadly poisonous. Fortunately, they are extremely bitter and therefore easy to detect and avoid.

This all applies to laurel cherry as well, but for some reason this plant in particular is rumored to be entirely poisonous while many of the others are commonly eaten fruits/nuts. As an amateur horticulturist with a passion for unconventional and ornamental edibles, I got to researching. I was able to verify that the fruit of Prunus laurocerasus was, in fact, edible, but that the varieties available in Western trade were not cultivated for fruit qualities. For reference, I'm in the US and all I can find are dense, hedging varieties that have questionable fruit productivity and I couldn't find any reference to how they taste. It's likely the toxicity rumors keep people from sampling and sharing their findings.

I had a breakthrough when I learned that this species is actually cultivated for fruit in its native Black Sea region of Turkey. Still, I had no way of getting such a tree to the US, so I'd have to try to find it locally. For years now, no luck. Until recently I tried searching by the Turkish name, karayemiş, and found one, single Facebook marketplace listing. It seems that an immigrant family brought cuttings over many decades ago to enjoy their favorite fruit from home. Now, a few generations later, they're propagating cuttings from their mature trees. The first image is the fruit from one of their trees, and the second is the plant I purchased.

These are really wonderful plants for edimental gardening, with lots of desirable qualities. The spring flowers are beautiful and sweetly fragrant. The leaves are large, glossy, and evergreen which is very uncommon for a hardy fruit tree. As for hardiness, they can take some serious freezing temperatures: typically rated to zone 6. It's very fast growing, but only gets to around 15-30' making it a great tree for smaller spaces. It even grows in shade! In fact, too much sun can burn it.

These and the sunflowers have created a shade garden in the american west desert. I will plant more thoughtfully with this in mind, next year ;)

Do you love them just as much—those beautiful hydrangeas? I’ve really rediscovered them this year. The wonderful variety of colors and blossom shapes—I’m absolutely captivated!

Been lurking for a while and finally gathered courage to post! I love gardening and it’s so fun seeing people’s beautiful blooms!

After years of admiring everyone else’s gardens, I finally grew my own tomatoes… and today I picked my very first harvest.

Started them from tiny seedlings I got from the flea market, worried over every yellow leaf, checked them way too often, and spent the last few days debating whether to leave them on the vine or let them finish ripening indoors.

Ended up bringing these in today. They aren’t all fully red yet, but they’re at the breaker stage and should finish ripening on the counter.

It’s probably a small harvest by veteran gardener standards, but to me it feels like winning the lottery. Looking forward to that first homegrown tomato sandwich!

It’s HUGE and green still.

*edit, the picture of the peppers were small, thinking it was mislabeled.

We were bummed when we first moved in to have the smallest patio in our row, but we decided to make it work! Now we have (from left to right) cherry tomatoes, okra, hot peppers, jalapeño peppers, Anaheim peppers (might be dead), pattypan squash, more okra, Roma tomatoes, Thai Basil, milkweed, more cherry tomatoes, large leaf basil, Jack-o'-lantern pumpkin, and citronella. Not to mention the various flowers and not-pictured spearmint in the hanging planter.

We also have lots of volunteer sunflowers popping up thanks to the birds and squirrels! This is the first successful gardening year I've had in 6 years, and it makes my heart happy.

Its hard to see all 6 at once but one is hidden behind that big main flower. I just think its neat 🤗

I just ate several pistachios and saved the shells in a container. What can I use them for? Are they good for anything? Any recommendations?

It is a fungus or are they just thirsty burning up in the sun?

First time posting to gardening. We got about 3 baskets this size, this year. Raspberry bush right smack in the middle of the yard :)

-thinned out, cut down to about 4-6 inches in the spring, added sheep’s manure. No spraying.

Ottawa, Canada