Help ID-ing for a novice gardener

[The Eager to Learn]

Ok. First, I’m new to this board so all this info may have been covered, but like I said, I’m new. Here’s the story. We bought a typical Chicago bungalow (read: very small backyard) in November 2002 from an avid gardener who let the garden go after he had 2 kids. He was foreign so he wasn’t sure of all the English names for the things he planted. The hugely overgrown backyard looked terrible, but there were plenty of flowers and veggies springing up thru the weeds the following spring. I transplanted many of the lilies he had (they’re all coming back!) as well as some daffodils and discarded the thorny berry bushes and a large rhubarb plant (don’t kill me!!) because we put sod down for our baby to play. We’ve moved all that stuff to a small strip, about 3 feet X 30 feet.
So, a few questions. My wife and I have NO gardening experience and really want to pursue gardening some more. But, we have all these veggies and flowers that we can’t identify, or we know what they are but can’t find info on how to care for them.
1. I think we have parsley everywhere, but it might be a weed. How can I tell?
2. Tulips have popped up, but they weren’t there last spring. Why?
3. How do I care for a Concord grape vine? It produced a lot of grapes last year and so attracted A LOT of bees. Any special fertilizer or maintenance? How to prune? When? Is it good for sweet (cheap) wine, or juice only? Extra watering needed?
4. We got LOTS of mint. How do I control that?
5. I think we have a sage bush that is quite bushy. Do I cut that back every year?
6. We have daffodils springing up thru our sod that I kinda like because my child can get close to it without getting dirty. I removed some of them. Will lawn fertilizer/weed killer kill the bulbs?
7. What do chives look like? I think he said there were chives there somewhere.
8. There is some sort of lettuce growing and someone said it was “Polish Lettuce” and that immigrants like to grow it. Any ideas?
9. There are some unidentified flowers/veggies (?) sprouting and I have no idea what they are. Any websites which I can plug in descriptions for an answer?
10. Roses: we have three bushes that are beginning to sprout stalks from all over the place. I have a feeling I should cut these off to channel energy to flowers, right? Is it ok to cut some of the canes now? I cut some back in March, but they all looked dead to me then. Now I can tell the difference and think maybe it’s ok to cut the deader looking ones. I’m reading Roses for Dummies.
11. Can garlic be grown well in Chicago??
Whew. I know there’s more, but I’m afraid to overstep the rules of this board. Any help will be appreciated.
Chris

[jjj]

I'lll start:

1. You should be able to tell parsley by the smell or the taste. But, parsley is a biannual, meaning that it goes to seed the second year of its life. Can you tell if the plant is comming back by the roots? If it is you should just get rid of it because it will be bitter. If it looks like it is just growing from seeds that have been scattered then it will taste fine.

4. Mint: What an awful prediciment. Mint is an invasive weed that will take over whatever it can. If you wish to keep some you should dig up a SMALL section of it, and temporally plant it in a pot. The rest needs to either be treated with a weed killer or thoroughly removed (which is very hard). Once the rest is gone should take a large plastic pot and cut off the bottom. dig a hole a little bigger than the pot and plant the pot up to the rim in the hole. Fill in around the hole and fill up the pot, plant the saved mint in the pot. This should keep the mint from spreading from the roots, just watch the tops though. If they fall over outside the pot they will try to root and start spreading all over again. Also keep it trimmed so it doesn't go to seed.

5. Sage can be cut back if you wish, in your zone is should just come back where-ever you have cut. You don't have to cut to keep it comming, but can if you wish to control the size.


6. Daffs; If weed killer is applied to the leaves of the plant--yes it will kill the bulb.

7. Chives: Your chives should be up and thriving by now. They will probably be a clump of tall skinny green blades. If they start to flower you will see round purple power puff like flowers. They smell and taste like onions, so if you find them you will know.

11. Garlic should grow well in Chicago.

Those are the answers I can help you with. I'll let someone else tackle the harder stuff.

[Newt]

Hi Chris,
I realize it's been a while since you posted, but I'll try and help with what I can. JJJ gave you great advice so I'll try not to repeat anything. First, take a look at these sites to see if you can use any of the information on the veggies.

http://www.explore.cornell.edu/scene...0a%20Vegetable
http://www.gardenersnet.com/veggies.htm
http://members.efn.org/~bsharvy/edible.html
http://www.savvygardener.com/Feature...egetables.html
http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/herbs.html
http://www.thegarlicstore.com/index.cgi/howto.html

For your weeds, especially the mint, consider using vinegar as a weed killer. Not the stuff in your kitchen, but horticultural vinegar which is stronger. Take a look here.

http://www.greensense.net/vinegar.html
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2002/020515.htm

I did a search at www.google.com and put in the search box:
Polish lettuce
There are lots of recipes out there for it. You might find this site helpful.
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/lettuce

Also take a look around here. You might get more ideas of what's growing or what you can cook with some of it.
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionar...lish%20cuisine

You can use google to research some of the things you have growing in your garden. You can also click on 'Images' at google and often get pictures. It didn't work for the Polish lettuce, but if you do some searching with that you might find a botanical name and be able to get more info on it. You can also get pictures of your chives, sage, parsley, etc. By the way, parsley is a larval food for several butterfiles, so you may see come caterpillars on them. I always plant extra for them. :) I'll bet you have marjoram growing in your yard too if the former owner is Polish.

This site should be helpful for your grapes.
http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/horticulture/g618.htm

To id your flowers, shrubs and veggies, you might want to consider going to the library and getting some books from there. There are many that have an encyclopedia in the back of them with helpful pictures. Once you know the names you can visit google again.

This site might help you id some plants, but it's rather intense. Just below it I'm giving you a link to a botanical dictionary that should be helpful if you want to get that detailed.

http://www.colby.edu/info.tech/BI211/PlantFamilyID.html
http://www.botany.com/index.16.htm

Here's a plant id site that might be more helpful and easier to use.
http://persoon.si.edu/DCGallery/flowgal.cfm

You seem to have the rose thing under control with your book, but if you need a site to try and id your roses, let me know.

Hope this is helpful. Don't hesitate to post with more questions.
Newt

[The Eager to Learn]

Triple J and Newt:

Wow! Thanks so much. That has really helped me, especially Newt doing all my homework for me.

There are more questions for me to ask, but I'll try first to look at all those websites!

Thanks again.

Keep the info coming!

[Newt]

Hi Eager,
Hope you don't mind me shortening your name. :) I realize I threw alot at you, but it should keep you busy for awhile. :roll: I'll be away for the weekend, spending Mother's Day relandscaping my daughter's house in Delaware! I told them they are going to owe me big time! I'm leaving sometime tomorrow with a car full of plants from my garden and a local nursery. I even managed to get 5 bags of compost in my 'getting smaller' Saturn! I'll check to see if there are any messages when I get back on Monday.

Have a great weekend reading! Btw, you're very welcome.
Newt