Learning how to grow watercress gives you a tasty, water-loving plant option with a peppery taste that can enliven a sandwich or salad. Ann McCarron will show you how easy it is to grow and share our tips for caring for this perennial herb. Who can resist the hot, peppery taste of watercress in a salad, a sandwich, or even garnishing a burger, but did you know that watercress is very easy to grow yourself? Read on to learn how to grow watercress at home in your own garden. As a water-loving perennial, it’s often assumed that watercress can only be grown in fresh flowing water. While this is true, you’ll be happy to learn that recreating these growing conditions using containers is straightforward. You can even grow watercress on a sunny windowsill if you follow our tips! Watercress has been cultivated since Roman and Greek times, and there are good reasons for its long success. Those small fresh leaves are packed full of vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, and folic acid, making watercress a nutritional powerhouse. It’s not just for salad mixes, either. Add a handful of leaves to smoothies for a healthy vitamin boost, or try your hand at making watercress soup or pesto sauce to add to pasta. Either way, this incredibly versatile leaf is going to taste delicious. What is Watercress? Watercress, also known as garden cress, comes from the cabbage or mustard family Brassicaceae. With the botanical name Nasturtium officinale, it would be easy to confuse watercress with the land-grown, colorful nasturtium ornamental flowering plant, Tropaeolum majus. To add even more confusion, both plants are edible and have a strong peppery flavor, but they are not related botanically. Native Area Watercress is native to Europe and Asia and is naturalized across North America growing in streams, springs, slow-moving rivers, and marshland. As a semi-aquatic herb, watercress thrives in permanently wet conditions, either partially submerged or grown in soil regularly refreshed with clean, clear water. Watercress cannot grow in a stagnant environment. Characteristics Watercress has a dense, sprawling growth habit, propagating freely from leaf nodes which is why you sometimes see fine hair-like white roots on your bagged watercress salad from the supermarket. Leaves are mid-green, alternate, pinnately compound ranging between three to nine leaflets growing on hollow stems. Clusters of four-petalled white flowers are borne on dark green/brown stalks protruding slightly above the carpet of leaves and are a magnet to water insects, hoverflies, and bees. Flower production is stimulated by day length and tends to occur in mid to late summer. Seed pods are similar in appearance to other brassica family varieties: long, thin, and upright, turning brown when ready to harvest. Pods remain elevated above the water, bursting when ripe, falling close to the parent, and usually germinating within a week, providing continuous crop throughout the season. Seeds are tiny, oval, brown specks that are best broad-sown. Each pod contains 20+ seeds, and each cluster of flowers has around 20 seed pods. Watercress has both basal roots to secure it to the location and advantageous roots that float and assist in progressing colonization. Watercress has a vigorous growth rate, allowing harvests in as little as four to seven weeks. Treated as a cut-and-come-again salad, watercress rewards you with continuous lush growth from spring to late fall. Leaves become bitter and unpalatable after flowering, so frequent harvesting will keep your watercress producing new leaves for longer. All parts of the watercress, including the flowers and roots, are edible, but the latter parts tend to be bitter. Watercress is grown primarily for its tasty leaves, which are best consumed raw to get the most nutritional value. Leaves can also be cooked in soups and stir-fries or wilted like spinach. Planting Plant shop-bought watercress outdoors from March if no harsh frosts are forecast. Young plants may suffer from a sudden change in temperature so it’s best to acclimatize them over a few days. If growing in containers, keep indoors until the first frost-free date. Sow watercress seeds outdoors from spring when average daily temperatures are between 50-60°F (10-16°C) or indoors and plant outside once they have become established. Seeds require this temperature range to successfully germinate. If using store-bought transplants in garden ponds, simply place watercress into aquatic pots filled with compost or soilless potting mix and topped with gravel to prevent the growing media from floating away. Sow seed directly along the edges of ponds as long as the soil is saturated, as they grow naturally in that sort of environment. No access to a garden pond? No problem. Grow in containers outside or even on a windowsill. Grow transplants or sow watercress seeds on the surface of the soil and place the pot into a deep saucer filled with water. Keep the saucer topped up at all times using rainwater whenever possible. Place the container in a bright sunny location and watch your watercress grow! Although watercress is a perennial, when growing in containers, it should be treated as an annual. Watercress will not tolerate stagnant conditions which encourage bacterial growth. To avoid this flush your pots at least twice a week simply by removing the saucer and watering the container with fresh water allowing the excess to drain away. Do this a couple of times and return to the saucer topping it up with clean water to keep the soil moist. How to Grow Watercress is self-sufficient with few issues when grown in the correct habitat. Follow the tips below to learn how to grow watercress! Maintenance Generally, pruning is not necessary for growing watercress, although they benefit from regular snipping to encourage new lush growth for continual harvest.

Look to ‘Black Krim,’ one of the earliest “black” tomato varieties, for an heirloom tomato rich in color and flavor. This strong performer yields hefty slicing tomatoes in rich rose and deep purple tones. Explore the heirloom qualities and how-to’s of ‘Black Krim’ with garden expert Katherine Rowe. ‘Black Krim’ tomatoes bring bold heirloom color, flavor, and performance to the slicing tomato. Depending on weather conditions, hefty fruits ripen to deep purple or dusky rose. The unique color, form, and flavor of this “black” tomato make the heirloom noteworthy in the garden. These beautiful, beefsteak-sized fruits have dark flesh with deep, juicy interiors and a balanced, rich, sweet, and salty flavor. Let’s explore the heirloom traits and growing qualities of ‘Black Krim’ for an exciting twist on the summer slicer. What are ‘Black Krim’Tomatoes? This is an heirloom tomato variety with large, flavorful, beefsteak-type fruits. Its origin is as interesting as its color and form. ‘Black Krim’ is a selection in Krymsk, Russia, on the Black Sea across from the Crimean Peninsula. Synonyms include ‘Black Crimea.’ The first commercially available “black” tomato, Seed Savers Exchange introduced it in 1990 after receiving seeds initially from Crimea from Lars Olov Rosenstrom of Sweden. A few years later, the popular heirloom black tomato ‘Cherokee Purple’ came into cultivation. Heirloom varieties span generations because of their flavor, growth, unique fruits, and performance qualities. This variety is notable for hefty, colorful fruits with a rich, slightly salty flavor. Characteristics This indeterminate tomato grows and produces fruits throughout the season until frost. It fruits reliably and productively, with meaty tomatoes that weigh 10 to 12 ounces each. The long, leafy vines that reach six feet or more. In cool climates, the large fruits ripen to dusky rose and chocolate with green shoulders. They’ll turn deep purple-black in more sun and heat, but the sweet, salty flavor remains. The round fruits have squatty, flat tops. ‘Black Krim’ fruits late in the season, yielding mature tomatoes 70 to 90 days after transplanting into the garden. With its tall, continually growing vines, it needs a large tomato cage, stake, or trellis for support. Native Area Before ‘Black Krim’ grew near Russia and Ukraine, its wild ancestors hailed from faraway Central and South American coasts. Their original growing range is the narrow coastline below the Andes Mountains from Ecuador to Chile. Tomato cultivation spread regionally through indigenous cultures and then through Spanish colonists returning to Europe with the fruits. A few centuries later, it became significant in culinary uses. These are tender perennials in regions where they are hardy (USDA zones 10 and 11) and grow as warm-season annuals elsewhere. They belong to the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, along with peppers, eggplants, and potatoes, among numerous other plants. Planting These plants are frost-sensitive and require warm air and soil temperatures for best growth. They grow easily from seed, with seedlings ready to move outdoors a week or two after the last frost and as nighttime temperatures are above 55°F (13°C). Growth takes off with warming summer temperatures. When deciding where to plant, if possible, opt for a spot where you haven’t grown nightshades in the past year. Nightshades like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, tomatillos, and eggplants transmit diseases among the group. Crop rotation helps prevent the spread of any lingering fungus or bacteria in the soil. Plant seedlings two to three feet apart to provide ample air circulation between plants. If growing in rows, space the rows three to four feet apart. Plant tomato seedlings deep, leaving a third of the stem exposed (or two sets of leaves) with the rest buried. The covered leaf nodes and hairs grow roots to aid plant stability and nutrient uptake. At planting, install the upright support structure like a large tomato cage. How to Grow This large tomato grows best with certain cultural needs fulfilled. However, it’s also an adaptable variety that withstands less-than-ideal conditions. ‘Black Krim’ is a productive and reliable fruiter. Maintenance In addition to meeting basic cultural requirements, an important step is mulching, which helps with moisture retention, weed suppression, and soil temperature regulation. Clean, weed-free straw, compost, leaf mold, or aged woodchips do the job. Pruning is unnecessary, but as large, indeterminate plants, they benefit from pinching off low-growing, suckering offshoots to direct nutrients and growth to the upper parts of the plant. To increase air circulation at the base of plants, some gardeners find it helpful to pinch off the lower six to ten inches of growth along stems. Do this when plants reach two feet tall.

Decorate ponds, naturalistic landscapes, and native pollinator gardens with the queen of the prairie! A meadowsweet relative, this perennial blooms bright pink flower clusters atop tall stems. It’s perfect for boosting biodiversity throughout North America. Learn how to grow and care for it alongside native plant gardener Jerad Bryant. Pollinator gardens are full of perennial and annual species that attract bees, butterflies, and moths. Other animals eat the bugs, which attract larger animals in some areas! This web of life helps your garden by keeping pest populations in check, and by introducing pollinators to your fruits and veggies. Queen of the prairie is an iconic native perennial perfect for these spaces. It erupts in summer with blooms that resemble rose spirea but in clusters atop eight-foot tall stems! Finely divided leaves with jagged edges resemble hands. This plant is highly ornamental and a boon for wildlife. You can grow this perennial in your garden if you have a moist location that’s four feet wide. Queen of the prairie spreads a bit when it’s mature, and it’ll grow tall when it’s happy. It also reseeds readily if you leave the seed heads, so you’ll enjoy new seedlings for years. Sow some seeds today, or find a potted plant for easy transplanting. What Is It? Queen of the prairie is an herbaceous perennial that sprouts from the ground during warm weather in spring. It’s a close relative of meadowsweet and dropwort, preferring similar conditions. Look for its scientific name Filipendula rubra, or its common name queen of the prairie. The species type and its cultivars are perfect for gardens that need tall and dramatic structures. Native Area Find this native wildflower growing wild in eastern states between the East Coast and Great Plains. It likes swampy, boggy conditions and sunny exposures. Consistent moisture helps it reach high, and full sun gives it the energy to grow dozens of leaves and bloom clusters. Although it’s native to the eastern U.S., it’ll also thrive throughout North America in hardiness zones 3 through 8. Match the conditions in its native range, and it’ll thrive no matter where you garden. Characteristics Queen of the prairie sprouts stems to eight feet tall in early or midsummer with bright pink blooms. Each blossom is a collection of tiny flowers full of pollen. They lure pollinators to pollinate other flowers nearby. The stems sprout jagged leaves with divided fingers. Multiple stalks sprout from the plant’s base, and more and more grow each year as it becomes older. The plant goes dormant in the winter, dying back to an underground root system so it can survive hard frosts. Planting Queen of the prairie grows well from seeds or potted plants. Find either near you at a local native plant nursery or look online for plant or seed retailers. This species is common in eastern states, although you may need help finding it locally in other areas of North America. If your neighbor has a plant, ask them for seeds or divisions!