Green Edible Bottle Gourd

This edible bottle gourd or white-flowered gourd is the standrad OPO gourd seen and sold in most Oriental markets on the west coast. Fruits are light green, bat-shaped of 10-12 inches long and 3-4 inches across. Young fruits are sweet and delicious, harvest fruit before it matures to retain its tenderness. It is good for stir-fry with shrimp and add to a soup. Plants grow vigorously in warm climates, starting to set fruits in 45 days after the transplanting. Easy to grow. This variety is very popular in Southern China and Taiwan.

Planting season: Late spring to early summer

Tatsoi / Rosette Pak Choy

Tatsoi (Brassica rapa var. rosularis), also called spinach mustard, spoon mustard, or rosette bok choy, is an Asian variety of Brassica rapa grown for greens. This plant has become popular in North American cuisine as well, and is now grown throughout the world.

The plant has dark green spoon-shaped leaves which form a thick rosette. It has a soft creamy texture and has a subtle yet distinctive flavour.

It takes 45-50 days to harvest and can withstand temperatures down to -9.4 degrees C (15 degrees F). Tatsoi can be harvested even from under the snow, making it one of the best vegetables to grow in a cool climate.

How to grow
This vegetable is strongly resistant to cold weather. Seeds are sown from spring through fall. This is a vegetable with unique appearance - spoon shaped dark green leaves arranged in a rosette of concentric circles. Stalks are short and plants grow relatively slower than other Pak Choy varieties. Young leaves are very delicious. Plants can be harvested anytime during the growth.

Cooking information
Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The leaves are tougher and stronger flavoured than standard pak choy and hence many prefer cooked (stir-fried, steamed or in soups) rather than raw. Young leaves can be used in salad.

Nutrition information
Tatsoi is very high in calcium and vitamins and is twice as nutritious and twice as delicious as ordinairy Bok Choy.

Edible Whole Red Amaranth

This is a unique edible amaranth widely grown in Vietnam and Southeastern Asia. The plant has red leaves, deep red stems, upright and tall type plants grow vigorously in hot weather, suitable for growing all year round in subtropical and tropical areas.

Fast growing vegetable can be harvested 30 days after sowing. Young leaves and stems can be harvested for cooking at any growing stage. Young leaves and tips are very tender and delicious, excellent for salads and stir-fry. Beautiful plants are also good for container or backyard growing as oranmental plants. Easy to grow.

Phyllanthus niruri 叶下珠

Commonly known as stonebreaker because of its strong roots, Phyllanthus Niruri is an herb that grows in tropical areas like the rain forests of the Amazon, Bahamas, China and Southern India. It can reach 30-60 centimeters in height and when in bloom displays an array of yellow flowers. It grows freely like a weed spreading abundantly. All parts of the plant exhibit medicinal properties. It is used medically as a diuretic and an astringent.In drier climates like Brazil, India, Florida, and Texas, Phyllanthus amarus and Phyllanthus sellowianus grows. They are similar in appearance and medical application to Phyllanthus Niruri.

Phyllanthus niruri has a long history in herbal medicine systems world wide. The whole plant and its aerial parts are used for many remedies, mostly biliary and urinary. Some examples are kidney and gallbladder stones, hepatitis, colds, flu, tuberculosis, and other viral infections. It has also been proven effective in liver diseases like jaundice and liver cancer. It is sometimes used for bacterial infections such as cystitis, prostatitis, venereal diseases, and urinary tract infections. It can also assist in reducing anemia symptoms, diabetes and hypertension. It is well known for its diuretic, analgesic, stomachic, antispasmodic, febrifugal, and cell protective properties. Phyllanthus may help decrease the amount of hepatitis B virus found in the blood stream. Phyllanthus urinaria is more effective medicinally than the variety Phyllanthus amarus.

Peperomia pellucida 草胡椒

Herbs , annual or short-lived perennial, erect or decumbent, freely branched, 10-50 cm, glabrous, without black, glandular dots. Leaves alternate; petiole ca. 1/2 length of blade, glabrous. Leaf blade palmately 5-7-veined, broadly ovate to deltate, 0.6-4 × 0.5-3 cm, base truncate, rounded, or cordate, apex acute to slightly acuminate; surfaces glabrous. Spikes axillary, terminal, and opposite leaves, solitary, rarely 2-more, loosely flowered, 2-6 cm, mature fruiting spikes 1-2 mm diam. Fruits sessile, very broadly ovoid to globose, 0.5-0.7 × 0.4-0.5 mm, longitudinally ribbed with ladderlike reticulations; beak minute, conic, ca. 0.1 mm.

Flowering all year. In shaded woods and around nurseries and greenhouses, along coastal plain; 0-20 m; Fla., Ga., La.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; n South America.

Peperomia pellucida has shown antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus subtilis , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , and Escherichia coli ; it could have potential as a broad spectrum antibiotic

TI Plant (Luckyplant) 朱蕉

Ti plants or cordylines, are extremely popular worldwide for their intense leaf colors and leaf shapes producing interest and contrasts even in deep shade. Native to Eastern Asia to Polynesia, ti hybrids have names in English, French, Japanese and Hawaiian

Pictured above is 'Pink Sister' known in many places as the 'Hawaiian Ti' plant

Natives use plants for fiber, cloth and livestock food. The roots are said to be edible

By the way, Ti is pronounced like 'tea' in some areas, but in Florida the name rhymes with 'hi.' Correct is the 'tea' version

Mistakenly said to be related to dracaena, cordylines are tropicals and seen happy outdoors only in South Florida. Even our zone 10 winter temperatures cause leaves to "rag" with the edges turning brown on most. Spring pruning of all poor leaves is standard maintenance

This plant is tolerant of most soil conditions, but does not work well near salt spray conditions.

Water moderately and feed normally. Provide good drainage.

Stems can be cut almost any time and cuttings can be inserted into the ground to start a new plant. The mother plant will branch with new stems and new leaves if you do. This type of pruning is necessary over time as stems can grow too tall (up to 8-10 feet) for the landscape affect originally intended

With little care. Ti plants can be wonderful houseplants as well. Stem cuttings can also be inserted into a vase with 2-3 inches of water and your ti will grow roots very easily

Andrographis paniculata 穿心莲

Andrographis paniculata, (AP), also known commonly as "King of Bitters," is a member of the plant family Acanthaceae, and has been used for centuries in Asia to treat GI tract and upper respiratory infections, fever, herpes, sore throat, and a variety of other chronic and infectious diseases. It is native to India and Sri Lanka, and widely cultivated in southern Asia.

It is a perennial herb that can grow from 30-100 cm tall. The stem is distinctly 4-angular and smooth apart from a few hairs at the nodes.

The leaves are opposite, simple and narrowly egg-shaped to lance-shaped that size 5-10 cm x 1.2-2.5 cm. The apex is acuminate while the margin is entire and hairless but often gland-dotted. The petiole is short, up to 6 mm long and it is connected to the opposite one by transverse ridges.

Flowers are in lax, axillary and terminal racemes or panicles combined into a pyramidal inflorescence, with 2 small bracteoles at base of the 1-7 mm long pedicel. The flowers are bisexual and zygomorphic. The sepal has 5 segments, joined at the base, with glandular and aglandular hairs. The petal is bilabiate, white or rose with purple markings on the upper lip. The petal tube is between 5-6 mm long, slightly enlarged below the limb. The lower lip is 4-6 mm long, oblong and it is 2-toothed at the apex while the upper lip is deeply 3-lobed, also 4-6 mm in length. It has 2 stamens that are inserted at the petal tube apex and exserted. The filaments are hairy with the anthers are inserted at the equal level. At the base they are united and bearded, deep purple to black in colour. The ovary is superior. It is 2-locular with 3-7 ovules in each cell, the style is curved upwards and the stigma is entire.

The fruit is erect, narrowly ellipsoidal and has glandular hairy capsule with the size of 14-20 mm x 3-3.5 mm. This is a species that is many-seeded Seeds are held up on well-developed hooks (retinaculae), almost rectangular and with 2 deep furrows.

How to grow
Sow seed in spring when the soil is warm (65 F). Needs moist, well drained soil and high humidity and can take sun or partial shade. Plant 12-18" apart.

Days To Maturity: 100 days