At my Bedford, New York farm, I have thousands and thousands of trees, and sometimes they have "babies" of their own.
Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, and also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta. It is found in fossils dating back 270-million years. Native to China, the ginkgo tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history. I have many ginkgo trees at my farm, especially in and around my Summer House Garden. Recently, I noticed many seedlings growing in the ground nearby, so I had a selection of them dug up and repotted so they could be nurtured in one of my greenhouses until they are transplanted in more permanent locations.
Enjoy these photos.
This is the great ginkgo tree in the back of my Summer House sunken garden in spring. This parterre garden is very formal and focused on the giant tree. The other green trees are younger ginkgoes. The ginkgo grows to about 50 to 80-feet tall with a spread of 25 to 35-feet at maturity.
The younger ginkgo trees are planted on both sides of the footpath in this garden. The ginkgo is considered both a shade tree and an ornamental tree and features a spreading canopy.
The leaves of the ginkgo are unusually fan-shaped, up to three-inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three-inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze. They are bold green in summer.
Starting in late September, one can see a slight change to the color of the leaves – they’re starting to turn. A couple of weeks later, many of the changing leaves are two-toned, with separate bands of gold and green.
Finally, Ginkgo bilobas turn an amazing golden-yellow and then all at once, after the hard frost, they drop their leaves – it’s a complex phenomenon of nature.
Female ginkgo trees produce tan-orange oval fruits that fall to the ground in October and November.
Here is a closer look at the fruit, which is small and fleshy – about the size of small jujube, or Chinese date.
Inside is a single hard-shelled seed enclosing an edible kernel. The kernels are often roasted and used in Asian cuisines.
This ginkgo tree is outside my sunken garden. Like the giant tree, this one is a female, and drops many of its fruits on the ground every year.
Many of them were pollinated by male trees to make these “babies.” I saw a large area filled with ginkgo seedlings just growing under the trees. Before blowing the leaves and weed whacking any unwanted growth in the area, I made sure some of these seedlings were dug up.
Adan from my outdoor grounds crew uses a shovel to gently dig around the base of the seedling, loosening the soil and exposing the root ball.
These “babies” are not difficult to dig up – it took only minutes to collect about 50 seedlings.
Each mature leaf often has a single vertical slit in the top center. This forms the fan with a cavity in the middle separating it into two lobes. Bi-loba means “with two lobes”.
Adan digs up as much of the root ball as possible when he extracts he plant.
Here he carefully places each seedling into a trug bucket for transporting to the greenhouse.
Ginkgo seedlings do well with a well-draining soil mix that includes a blend of peat, perlite, and vermiculite.
Seedlings can safely be potted into individual pots when they are large enough to handle.
After placing the seeding in its container, Josh backfills and tamps down lightly to remove any air pockets.
All these seedlings look very healthy – they should do well in these pots. Each one will grow into its own ginkgo tree.
Finally, the pots are loaded onto our trusted Polaris and brought down to the hoop house where they can be nurtured for at least a year before getting planted in their more permanent locations.
If you’re thinking of transplanting any of your hostas, now is a great time to do it, when the soil is still warm from summer.
I decided to redo a couple of my perennial garden beds - in particular, the two beds in front of my main greenhouse. These gardens had been planted with hostas and white lilies, but they started declining over recent years and needed changing. Hostas are hardy plants that can be easily transplanted and divided, so I instructed my gardening team to move them down to my giant hosta bed behind the chicken coops and under the shade of my stately dawn redwoods, Metasequoia, where they could spread and flourish.
Enjoy these photos.
This year, I noticed the hosta gardens in front of my greenhouse didn’t look their best. While still green and lush, the hostas needed more room and the lilies had started to disappear, so I decided it was time to redesign the gardens and move the plants elsewhere.
I had the garden crew start moving the hostas first. To move one, use a sharp spade, cutting into soil in a circle surrounding the entire plant and then carefully pry the plant out of the ground.
Alex digs out each hosta plant making sure to keep the root ball intact.
Each hosta was moved onto a nearby tarp.
The plants were then carefully moved into the back of a pick up and brought down to the hosta garden.
This hosta garden was first planted in 2020. I got the hostas as bare-root cuttings and kept them in a cold frame for several months until they were big enough to transplant. In all, more than 700 hostas were planted that first year. I’ve added plants every year since, and it’s grown beautifully under the shade of the tall Metasequoias.
Dawn redwoods are a “living fossil” that was rediscovered in China in 1941 after being thought to be extinct. They are a relic from the age of dinosaurs. Dawn redwood trunks are reddish-brown with vertical, shredding bark.
The dawn redwood has feathery, fine-textured needles that are opposite each other and approximately a half-inch long. Don’t confuse them with the bald cypress needles, which grow alternately. These dawn redwood needles will turn shades of red and brown before falling – it is one of the few deciduous conifers.
The hostas in this large garden are planted in groups by variety including ‘Wide Brim,’ ‘Francee,’ ‘Regal Splendor,’ ‘Elegans,’ and ‘Blue Angel.’
They vary in color, markings, shape and texture. My plan was to plant lots and lots of hostas in this garden bed. Their lush green foliage and their easy care requirements make them ideal for many areas.
The hostas are strategically placed, so like plants are together.
When planting hostas, one should dig a hole that is at least twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep.
And don’t forget to feed – I always say, if you eat, so should your plants. Here is Alex sprinkling Scotts Osmocote – an all-in-one plant solution containing essential nutrients and a unique resin that controls nutritional release.
Alex sprinkles some into the hole and also in the surrounding soil.
Osmocote particles include a core of nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Alex works in an assembly line process preparing several holes at a time before planting.
Then he plants each specimen properly so that the eye is just at soil level. A hosta eye is a growing shoot that emerges from the crown supports up to 12 leaves. Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies, and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi.
This time of year, hosta leaves typically turn yellow, die back, and go dormant for the winter.
Once planted, Alex spreads the existing mulch around them, so they look tidy.
Vigorous growing hostas can reach mature sizes in three to five years. Giant and slower growing hostas can take a little longer. I am so pleased with how well they’re doing.
Hostas thrive in sites where filtered or dappled shade is available for much of the day, but they can survive in deep shade. If you have the space and the right conditions in your yard, plant some hostas – you’ll love them for years to come.
There's so much to enjoy in the Pacific Northwest - here's more from my recent whirlwind business trip to Washington State.
While in Seattle, I was interviewed at Amazon Accelerate, an annual company event dedicated to empowering, inspiring, and connecting its sellers. I also visited The Spheres - three spherical conservatories that are part of the Amazon headquarters campus. The Spheres was created to hold more than 40-thousand plants from the cloud forest regions of more than 30-countries as well as an employee lounge, retail stores, and an exhibition area. I toured the lab of my friend, Nathan Myhrvold, founder of Modernist Cuisine and the lead author of the Modernist Cuisine book series. And before leaving, I enjoyed a lovely Japanese dinner at Sushi Kappo Tamura, which specializes in local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients for all its dishes.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Amazon Accelerate is the company’s annual summit event created for sellers to hear about new innovations, engage in learning sessions, and network with peers.
My interview was conducted by Dharmesh Mehta, Vice President of Amazon Worldwide Selling Partner Services. I spoke about building a business, maintaining a brand, and inspiring creativity.
The audience included more than 18,500 attendees – both in person and online.
I have visited The Spheres several times before. They first opened in January 2018. While used primarily for Amazon employees, the conservatories are open for weekly tours and various exhibits. This tree is Aloe tongaensis, a massive, slow-growing upright, branching tree that can grow up to 12 feet tall and six feet wide.
This is the 4th floor living wall – home to large specimen aroids, including Anthurium veitchii, Anthurium queremalense, Monstera deliciosa, and Philodendron plowmanii.
Heather Kirkland and Daisy Schwartzberg Toye from my traveling team are standing in front of a living wall and the giant leaf of Anthurium queremalense, a very rare specimen native to the tropical rainforests of South America, particularly in regions like Colombia. This plant produces some of the largest and most impressive foliage in the genus.
This is Anthurium veitchii, the king anthurium, an epiphytic species of flowering plant in the genus Anthurium with leaves that grow up to three-feet long.
Kerriodoxa elegans, the white backed palm, is a solitary, small to medium-sized palm with beautiful large circular fronds that are glossy green with whitish undersides.
Here is a scaled down version of the Spheres living walls. These all-in-one systems are being tested on site for viability in additional locations within Amazon.
This living wall system is planted with carnivorous plants including Nepenthes, Pinguicula, Drosera, and Sarracenia
Here is a well established living wall system with more than 25 different plant species – all so lush and green.
And still another living wall system includes Medinilla sedifolia, Disterigma campii, Peperomia puteolata, Sphyrospermum dissimile, and Pilea glauca.
I also visited Nathan Myhrvold’s expansive Modern Cuisine cooking lab.
The research laboratory has one of the best-equipped kitchens in the world and includes access to a full set of machining, analytical, and computational facilities. It is also equipped with a state-of-the-art photography studio for groundbreaking photography techniques.
Whenever I am in Seattle, I try to walk through the Pike Place Public Market Center, the city’s original farmers market and the center of locally sourced, artisanal, and specialty foods.
I visited the Pike Place fish guys who always have the freshest seafood options, such as halibut, king salmon, and rainbow trout.
There is also a huge selection of wild salmon from Alaska.
And then I had a wonderful dinner at Sushi Kappo Tamura. Owner and sushi chef Taichi Kitamura prepared a beautiful array of wild, sustainable sushi. His menu changes daily and always has the freshest seafood available. On this night he prepared live spot prawns, wild Alaska halibut, wild Alaska white king salmon, wild Alaska sockeye salmon, toro, geoduck, and wild Alaska black cod.
Here is a sampling of the beautiful sushi. The wild Alaska black cod belly was beautiful and the wild salmon from Alaska was so fresh and delicious.
Chef Kitamura also prepared some delicious ikura from coho salmon.
Here I am with Chef Taichi Kitamura. Chef is originally from Kyoto. He is also a James Beard Award nominee, and an avid fisherman.
And another quick snapshot with Chef Taichi, Toshi Asai who has worked at Sushi Kappo for years, Susan Roxborough from Clarkson Potter and the editor of my 100th cookbook, and my former VP of communications Katie Goldberg who now lives in Seattle and organized the fun dinner.
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