The Star: March 29, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday March 29 2018 27
Gardening
Drunken woman – a
popular variety of lettuce
• By Henri Ham
WHAT’S IN a name?
I enjoy it when a plant
has an interesting name or a
name that makes complete
sense for it.
Love in a mist, carolina
reaper and canterbury bells
are just some of the plants
which have, what I consider
to be, intriguing names.
But none of those names
come close to the newest
variety of lettuce seedlings
– drunken woman (fringed
head) lettuce.
How on earth did it
get that name? Obviously,
I’ve done a quick google
search, and I’ve also asked
around, but I haven’t found
a concrete answer yet.
What I have found,
is that it’s an incredibly
popular variety of lettuce
to have in the garden.
Many people have said it’s
their absolute must-grow
variety because it’s easy to
grow, tastes good (sweet
rather than bitter) and,
importantly, is slow to bolt.
Drunken woman is an
Italian heirloom variety
of lettuce that produces
attractive bright green
Sweet smelling sweet peas
SHELTER: Plant your lettuce seedlings 20cm
apart.
leaves with ruffled (almost
frizzy) edges in a deep
bronze colour.
The definition of what
an heirloom variety is, is
a hot topic of debate. But,
generally it means that
the plant variety is openpollinated
and that the
variety has been around for
50 or more years (some say
it must be over 100 years).
And what does openpollinated
mean? This
usually refers to seeds/
plants that use the birds and
bees to naturally pollinate
and will ‘breed true’ – ie
produce plants roughly
identical to their parents.
When it comes to
COLOUR: Select a sunny, well-drained spot for your
sweet peas and use bamboo stakes to support
them.
• By Henri Ham
IF YOU like a bit of colour
and fragrance in your garden
and your home, then
look no further than sweet
peas.
These lovely flowers are
super easy to grow, they
smell great and they look
lovely outdoors or in a vase.
Some varieties include
dwarf mixed, fragrant
beauty and cut flower
mixed. All smell lovely,
but fragrant beauty has a
stronger smell. And all can
be grown for cut flowers,
but the cut flower mix will
produce more blooms on
longer stems.
Lastly, as you’d expect,
the dwarf variety doesn’t
grow as tall as the other two
– it only grows to 30-40cm
which makes it perfect for
growing in borders, bedding
and pots.
The other two varieties
grow to around 120-180cm
and, like most sweet peas,
need something like a wall or
trellis to trail and climb over.
When you’ve got your
seedlings you need to find
a place to plant. As mentioned,
sweet peas grow
well in pots – particularly
the dwarf variety which
don’t require staking and
will cascade over the edge
nicely. The other two varieties
will also grow well in
large pots. You’ll just need
to tie four or five bamboo
stakes into a tee-pee shape
to support the plants as
they grow. And make sure
you plant them in some
good quality potting mix to
really help them along their
way.
If you’re growing in the
garden, all you need is a
sunny, well-drained spot
next to a wall or some sort
of support structure. Add
some netting, wire or light
wooded frame for the flowers
to climb up.
Plant the seedlings about
20cm apart from each
planting drunken woman
lettuce, just grow it like you
would your other varieties.
That is, plant it in welldrained
soil in a sheltered
spot and space each
seedling around 20cm
apart.
In around four to eight
weeks you can expect
your lettuce to be ready to
harvest.
Like many other
gardeners these days, I like
to just pick the leaves I need
from the outer edges and
leave the plant growing in
the garden.
Oh, and don’t
forget to watch out for
slugs.
other. And don’t hold back.
The more you plant, the
more colour and fragrance
you’ll add to your garden
and have for enjoying in
your home. You can expect
to your sweet peas to flower
in around 10 to 12 weeks
from planting.
Remember to water but
avoid over-head watering to
prevent them getting powdery
mildew. And, because
they’re annual plants, pick
off the flowers once they’re
spent (this will encourage
more flowering), and remove
the whole plant when
it’s stopped flowering.
•More gardening, p28
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