K is for Kudzu, Kalanchoe, Kale and Remember Kalettes?

Season 7, Episode 25, May 28, 2025

and

May 27, 2025

Rosa ‘Peggy Martin’ has sure put on a show in Dee’s garden this spring. Here, she’s just about finished.

We are still gardening through the alphabet and we’ve landed on K for this episode. Because you subscribed to this free newsletter, here’s the link to listen a day early. Aren’t you the smart one!

Carol is working hard in her garden even though the weather hasn’t been all that cooperative. Me? Not so much. I have a cold. I also got a new kitten who just about drove me batty while we recorded. His name is Mishka which means little teddy bear and is an endearment for Michael.

Carol’s favorite this week is Cuphea'Vermillionaire’ because a hummingbird came to sip from it. Mine is my ‘Peggy Martin’ rose which has quite the story. Here’s my Instagram reel, but listen to this episode of the Rosechat podcast for the whole story. Also, I need to get a copy of The Rose Without a Name: The Story of the Katrina Rose by Nancy Ruse and Carol Stubbs, illustrated by Melissa VanDiver

Listen on to see if Carol will get all of her green beans planted. She has so many seeds!

Carol’s favorite this week is her *Cuphea*'Vermillionaire’, a hummingbird magnet.

Our question of the week was about weeds. The Cobrahead hand weeding tool is one of our favorites.

In other news, I’ve developed a sensitivity to the sun which we lamented in a previous episode. I promised to share some links to my vegan sunscreen and UV clothing. Here’s the t-shirt and swim shirt, both of which I also sent into Insect Shield to be bonded with permethrin. I decided I like getting my own clothing done other than the leggings. I love those. DEENASHRDR is my affiliate code for 15% off.

On to the letter K! Carol found several plants, and I think I found one.

Our kudzu information is from The Big, Bad Book of Botany: The World's Most Fascinating Flora by Michael Largo. I still think kudzu is a total menace, but it has some fascinating uses.

Carol also found Kolwitzia amabilis ‘Jolene, Jolene’ beautybush from Proven Winners. I will never grow that either. I wonder if Carol would?

My contribution was kalanchoe. I’m not good at this one either. I succumb to the winter whirlies and buy one sometimes in February. By June, I’ve killed it. Oh well.

Kale in my garden in 2024. My kale is tiny this year.

In our vegetable topic, we discussed kale—so many choices— and kalettes which were the hot thing a few years ago. You can still buy seeds for kalettes at Johnny's Selected Seeds.

We also chatted about kohlrabi and found an article about how to eat kohlrabi, according to Martha Stewart.

On the bookshelf, *Night Magic* by Leigh Ann Henson

On our bookshelf is Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, And Other Marvels of the Dark by Leigh Ann Henion (Amazon Link.)

In connection with this week’s book, we also mentioned The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World's Favorite Insect by Wendy Williams, which is one of my favorite books of all time.

Our dirt sat on our Trello board for a while. It’s the 1,000 Year Old Oak in Scotland (IG link), and Carol brought up the Angel Oak on Johns Island.

In our rabbit holes, I’m watching the Chelsea Flower Show on Britbox. Carol is researching another Lost Lady.

That’s it for this week! Enjoy that weeding because we’re all getting a bunch of rain.

K is for Kudzu, Kalanchoe, Kale and Remember Kalettes?

Season 7, Episode 25, May 28, 2025

Discussion about this post