Monday, January 25, 2010

Minimalist parsley borders


In early January I pulled up my tomato plants after the crop of Beaver Lodge Slicers had come to a glorious end, then I mulched the area in preparation for whatever it is I'm going to plant there next, once the summer heat fades away. Looking at them this morning, I realised my curly parsley borders have never looked better. No other big, showy, fruit-laden, leafy plants to get in the way. Just the pure minimalism of parsley and mulch.

I have blogged before about curly parsley borders here, last August, when I was just establishing this current lot. I just love the look of them, and they're not quite as easy as they would outwardly seem, as parsley is a plant which grows best from seed.

Seen from any angle, it's a pleasing pillow of green.

Parsley's green is to me 'classic' green, rich and delicious.

Up close the plants are more spiky than curly, and I find I use the curly type of parsley in cooking almost as often as I use the more robust flavoured, and more praised, flat-leaf type.

As I mentioned in my previous posting last August, I had tried to plant both seedlings of parsley and seeds, but that experiment didn't work that well. All the plants you see here are grown from seed. All the seedling-grown plants bolted to seed in the first heat of summer and were pulled out. The seed-grown plants have sailed on unperturbed through shocking heatwaves, downpours, humidity and, worst of all, the indignity of having to be a mere, unnoticed green border around a flashy tomato patch. Right now, surrounding a modest swathe of sugar cane mulch, they're in their pomp.


8 comments:

PJ said...

That looks so lush and lovely. I remember curly parsley plants at my parent's house which never seemed to die. Alas they don't take to pots too well, so none here (not that I mind, I think we were fed too much of it as children and I don't like the taste much these days.) Will these just keep on growing or one day go to seed, do you think?

tina said...

It's quite a beautiful border and such a good use for parsley.

Tempest Ahoy said...

Looks stunning. Makes you want to run your hand through it all!

Kenneth Moore said...

Or maybe roll around in it, toss yourself in some tomato-based sauce, sprinkle cheese on you, and bake yourself!

...

Or maybe I'm just hungry.

It truly is a beautiful border, Jamie! I'm all for using edibles as ornamentals (and vice versa!).

Unknown said...

Very nice border, so lush and a nice colour.

Jamie said...

Prue: they'll go to seed late in the year, either in spring or summer, depending on the weather.

Thanks to everyone else for your comments, and it's nice to hear from you again, Kenneth!

ATW said...

Nice Parsley Border!! I really want to border my property with Parsley as well, but I have a lot of cats in the neighborhood and they love to dig up everything. They would probably just eat and piss on everything as well. But if there is a chance to pursue it, I will definately jump into it one day.

baby cribs said...

What a nice choice of border. I like it so much!