The Sacred Hearth

Asparagus is great for permaculture because it can live 15 years or more and keep providing you with tasty spears each spring. It grows best in sandy, alkaline soil in full sun, but it's not picky. It can handle a bit of shade and less than perfect soil too, as long as you fertilize it well.

You can get asparagus crowns at most garden centers. Dig a furrow about 10 inches deep and wide and as long as you want your row to be. Fill the trench about halfway with compost and place your asparagus crowns on top, about 10 inches apart and cover loosely with soil and water. This is best done in the springtime as soon as the danger of frost has past.

You won't get any spears your first year, but the fern-like foliage will still be pretty. Make sure you mulch well every autumn to keep weeds down and a steady stream of nutrients coming. Asparagus is a hungry plant.

Holly should be planted in a sheltered area in well-drained, fertile soil. It can tolerate some shade, but the more sun it gets, the thicker the foliage will be. It should be planted in early spring and mulched well around the roots. Do not transplant if you can help it. It doesn't like to be transplanted and when you do it may lose its leaves. If you are patient, it may grow back just fine.

Holly bears male and female flowers on different plants. You will need one of each if you want berries and they should be no more than 100 feet apart.

Fertilizing and pruning should be done in the spring. Keep it moist through the summer months, but do not water in the fall and winter. Do not over water. The roots to not appreciate saturation.

Holly planted from seeds take two years to germinate.

Most crocuses like full sun and well drained soil, though there is quite a bit of variation between species. Be sure to do your research for the specific species you have.

Crocuses grow from corms, which are planted in autumn about 2-3 inches deep. They will pop up from beneath the snow like daisies (why do they say pop up like daisies- they don't pop. Crocuses do!) in the early spring. They can be killed by a late frost though.

Squirrels like to eat crocus corms.

In areas colder than zone 6, autumn crocuses may not do well in cold winters. After the first couple of frosts, but before winter has really set in, they should be dug up and stored covered with sand or peat moss in a cool dry place, about 50 degrees until after the danger of frost has passed in the spring.

After about 4 to 6 years, your crocuses will need to be divided. Do this by digging up the corms right after the foliage has faded and replanting them right away or storing them in a box of sand or peat moss until autumn planting time.

Coltsfoot is a perennial. It should be grown in a damp area, preferably in clay soil in a full sun position. Will tolerate some shade, but not much. Coltsfoot is invasive and travels underground by rhizomes, so cultivating it may be frowned upon in some neighborhoods. You might be better off to keep it in a pot to keep it from escaping. Try planting in a large pot sunk into the flower bed.

This is a very invasive plant which will grow in just about any soil. It has its own pest control constituents and isn't bothered by most insects, but the tansy beetle lives exclusively on this plant.

The plant is usually cut off near the root at the first sign of flowers in August and then hung upside down to dry. Don’t' feel bad. It's a perennial and will come back. If you let it go to seed it will take over your garden, and the neighbor's!

Young leaves can be gathered in spring for flavoring egg dishes.