Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

Rubus idaeus ‘Raspberry Shortcake’

Most of us like our blueberries served in a bowl. Of course, very few of us imagine growing them in a bowl, but that is precisely what modern hybridizers are allowing us to do. I exaggerate when I say bowl–I hope you understand that. But growing blueberries in a container–and a reasonably sized container, at that–is now a reality.

I have been perusing information from growers on the new introductions for 2013 and have found some truly interesting edibles. Fall Creek Farm & Nurseries of Oregon have a new series coming out this year called the BrazelBerries™ collection. The collection consists of two dwarf blueberries and one thornless raspberry which are small enough to comfortably tuck into a container for your patio garden.
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Your vanity garden is scarcely the first place you look for salad toppings. Instead, most turn to the leafy standbys–lettuce, cabbage, kale, spinach. Throw in a few slices of zucchini or a handful of cherry tomatoes, maybe sprinkle the bowl with a few herbs to push the salad toward “exotic.” But what if I told you that eating the florid, elegant blooms that might otherwise end up in a vase is as natural as dousing your Caesar with dressing?

I’m not saying you should go right out and make a trial-and-error buffet of your window planter. There are only certain flowers that you would have any desire to eat, as many are poisonous or taste beyond awful. And that’s all the disclaimer I can give: don’t eat anything unless it is properly identified.
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Daniel Atha is an Associate Editor of NYBG’s systemic botany journal, Brittonia, and a researcher specializing in floristics, taxonomy, and economic botany. He has taught classes in anatomy and systemics at the Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture and is currently working on a project to develop identifying DNA barcodes for plants of the Northeastern United States.

Despite their reputation for having less-than-perfect breath, dogs do tend to have shiny white teeth, no matter what they eat. But dogs aren’t able to brush their own teeth to keep them shiny, so the next time you’re helping Rover with his dental hygiene, give them a good look, and then dig up a dog’s tooth violet–a beautiful native wildflower now in bloom–remove the bulb coat and note the perfect semblance to Rover’s canines in vegetal form!

Erythronium americanum Ker. Gawl. (Liliaceae) dog’s-tooth violet

These plants are so beautiful it seems a shame to eat them. But we gleefully eat strawberries, squash blossoms … and lamb for heaven’s sake, so why avoid these delicate, delicious plants? Dog’s tooth violets grow naturally in huge colonies, so rooting around and pulling out a few slender bulbs is actually just thinning–what every bulb fancier does lovingly. Go ahead, dig a few out of your woods and try them. You’ll be glad you did.
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