Rare Plants
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Feijoa Apollo: The Most Effortless Exotic Fruit in Sakarya
Five years in the garden, four years of harvests every autumn. Feijoa Apollo thrives in Sakarya — aromatic, delicious, and one of the rare fruits that needs almost no attention.
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Eryngium Yuccifolium 'Magical Silver Globe': The Drought-Tolerant Perennial I Brought From Sweden
This plant I found and brought back from a nursery in Sweden is Eryngium yuccifolium 'Magical Silver Globe' - a multi-purpose perennial with silvery, globe-shaped flower heads. Its deep taproot lets it stay standing even through drought.
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Pawpaw: Our Kentucky Champion Gave Its First Ripe Fruit - A Flavor Between Banana, Pineapple, and Pudding
We ate ripe fruit from our pawpaw tree for the first time this year - the cultivar is Kentucky Champion. The flavor was genuinely striking, something between banana, pineapple, and pudding. Researching why such a good fruit isn't in supermarkets turned up an interesting story.
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Rudbeckia Triloba: Not Black-Eyed Susan, But Its Much More Floriferous Cousin
I thought this plant was Black-Eyed Susan, but the fact that it branches so much and blooms so profusely was the real clue - it turns out to be Rudbeckia triloba, a much more floriferous member of the same family.
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Coreopsis Tinctoria: The Flower I Mistook for Black-Eyed Susan
I first mistook this yellow-maroon flower for Black-Eyed Susan, but the leaf structure and flower pattern actually point to Coreopsis tinctoria. It's a true annual that self-sows from seed.
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Weigela: The Shrub in My Garden With Those Deep Red Trumpet Flowers
When I saw these deep red, trumpet-shaped flowers, I suspected it might be Weigela. I don't know the exact cultivar name, but the flower structure and foliage point quite strongly to this genus.
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Fernleaf Yarrow (Achillea filipendulina): A Gold-Colored Guest That Gets By on Little Water
Since fernleaf yarrow entered my garden, it's become one of the corners that asks for the least water and complains the least. With its flat, plate-like golden-yellow flower heads, it's both a visual and a practical win.
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Gul Biberi (Rose Pepper): The Pepper From Germany That Resprouts From Its Root Even Through Frost
I brought this pepper plant from Germany - I know it as 'gul biberi' (rose pepper). Every winter it looks like it's died back to frost, but come spring it resprouts from the same root, and when it ripens it turns into a red, hot pepper.
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Weeping Nootka False Cypress: The Conifer Whose Scientific Name Keeps Changing
This young conifer I've recently added to my garden is the weeping Nootka false cypress - its scientific name has changed hands among botanists more than once, but its drooping, almost weeping branch structure hasn't changed at all.
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Bougainvillea: My Ongoing Struggle to Grow It in the Ground in Sakarya
I still haven't managed to move my intensely magenta bougainvillea from its pot into the ground - Sakarya's winters are tough on this tropical beauty. I've seen it grown large in a few gardens here, but for me it's still an ongoing experiment.
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Lonicera Tellmanniana: The Yellow Honeysuckle That Paints My Pergola Orange
This orange-yellow honeysuckle climbing my garden pergola is Lonicera tellmanniana - a hybrid that brings North America and China together, and now it's putting on a show in my own garden.
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Acer Palmatum Tamukeyama: A Japanese Maple That Keeps Its Color Through Summer Heat
One of the Japanese maples in my collection is Tamukeyama - with its cascading, lace-like branches and deep red foliage that doesn't fade through summer, it holds a special place for me.
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Red Gem Goumi: The Cultivar With a Cherry-Like Flavor From Kiev
Another addition to the goumi family in my garden: Red Gem. Unlike Big Gem, this cultivar has a clear selection history behind it - and the flavor reflects that.
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Tiger Eyes Sumac: A Compact, Non-Aggressive Variety That Puts On a Riot of Color
I added Tiger Eyes, a dwarf sumac variety, to my garden - from what I've seen, unlike wild sumacs it doesn't spread aggressively, and on top of that it puts on a genuine riot of color throughout the season. Let's look at the story behind this interesting mutation and its garden value.
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Violette de Bordeaux Fig: A Compact Tree Hiding a Huge Flavor
I added another one to my fig collection: Violette de Bordeaux. Despite its small, compact size, it's a variety whose rich flavor outshines many others - and one that thrives even in a pot.
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Hardy Chicago Fig: A Reliable Variety That Defies Harsh Winters and Fruits Every Single Year
I added another variety to my fig collection: Hardy Chicago. As its name suggests, it's remarkably cold hardy, and the best part is it fruits reliably every single year - a variety I'd confidently recommend even to someone just starting out with figs.
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Sultane Fig: A Small but Flavorful Variety From My Collection, Tasted for the First Time This Year
I tasted the first fruit this year from my Sultane fig - small in size, but genuinely delicious. A post spanning this dark-skinned French variety's history all the way to my own garden experience.
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Peter's Honey Fig: A Golden, Honey-Sweet Variety I Tasted This Year
I finally tasted this year's fruit from my Peter's Honey fig - a golden-skinned, honey-sweet variety that genuinely impressed me. A post spanning the fig's thousands-year history all the way to my own garden experience.
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Strawberry Tree: A Dwarf Tree Whose Fruit Takes a Full Year to Ripen
Commonly called the strawberry tree, this dwarf, slow-growing Mediterranean tree stands out with its bumpy, strawberry-like red fruit. Its most fascinating trait is that the fruit takes a full year to ripen from flower to fruit.
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Carob: A Mediterranean Tree Still Growing Patiently at 5 Years Old in Sakarya
The carob tree I planted five years ago, a classic Mediterranean species, is still growing slowly here in Sakarya. The answer to whether we'll ever see fruit is hidden in this tree's own biology.
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Cornelian Cherry 'Hasanbey': A Delicious Variety I Harvested Last Week
The 'Hasanbey' cornelian cherry cultivar stands out from wild cornelian cherries with its larger, sweeter fruit - I harvested it in the garden just last week, and it's a variety with real historical and garden value.
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Grafting 'Chico' onto a Fruitless Jujube: This Year's First Fruits
After years without fruit, I grafted a 'Chico' scion onto my jujube tree. This season the graft finally produced its first fruits - a patience-rewarded story from the garden.
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The Tekirdag Vine: A Hardy Guest in Our Garden
The story of a hardy grapevine we brought from a garden in Tekirdag, known for its pink-mottled berries - identity, permaculture value, and how to grow it.
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Tokat Leaf Grape: Grown for Its Leaves, Now Surprising Us with Fruit Too
The story of a grapevine traditionally grown in the Tokat region for its leaves - and how it surprised us this year with pleasantly sweet fruit.
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Yagli Ordu Hazelnut: The Black Sea's Main Crop Facing a New Threat
A guide to the Yagli Ordu hazelnut, one of the Black Sea region's main crops - identity, permaculture value, growing tips, and the serious damage caused by the brown marmorated stink bug in recent years.
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Red Globe Grapes: The Large-Berried Grapevine in Our Garden
A guide to the Red Globe grapevine, which gave a generous harvest in our garden this year - identity, permaculture value, growing tips, and harvest observations.
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Apios americana: The Story of a Tuber Worth the Wait
The story of Apios americana (American groundnut), brought to the garden years ago and finally blooming this year - identity, permaculture value, and a growing process that takes patience.
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Laz Apple: A Native Black Sea Apple Variety
A guide to the Laz apple, a native heirloom variety from the Black Sea region - identity, permaculture value, and how to grow it.
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Green Persimmon (Diospyros oleifera): The Curious Species That Stays Green When Ripe
A curious persimmon species whose skin stays greenish-brown even when fully ripe, with a distinctly fuzzy texture: Diospyros oleifera. Identity, permaculture value, and how to grow it.
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American Persimmon 'Meader': A Different Flavor from Kaki
A guide to the American persimmon 'Meader' - smaller-fruited and different in flavor from kaki - identity, permaculture value, and how to grow it.
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Calliandra surinamensis: The Pink Powder Puff
A drought-tolerant, nitrogen-fixing shrub known for its silky pink powder-puff flowers: Calliandra surinamensis.
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Acer Palmatum 'Emerald Lace': A Dwarf, Weeping Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum 'Emerald Lace' is the opposite form of Seiryu in my maple collection: a weeping, dwarf cultivar. A detailed look at its leaf structure, color, size, growing conditions and landscape use.
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Acer Palmatum 'Seiryu': A Rare Upright-Growing Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' is one of the pieces in my maple collection. A detailed look at its leaf structure, fall color, size, growing conditions and landscape use.
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Satsuma Mandarin: The Citrus That Survives Even at -10°C
Satsuma, also known as Rize mandarin, is seedless and very juicy, and it has fully adapted to our garden. Even after seeing -10°C, the shrub survives without dying.
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Kumquat: The Dwarf Citrus That Fruits Reliably Every Year in Our Garden
Kumquat is a dwarf citrus that fruits reliably every year in our garden. It's currently in full bloom, here's what the plant is like and my own experience with it.
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Goji Berry: A Fruit That's Grown in Our Garden for Years, and I'm Still Not Convinced
Goji berry has been growing in our garden for years, but the yield has always been low and the taste never matched expectations. An honest look at a berry that tastes more like pepper.
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Cudrania Tricuspidata (Che): A Fruit Tree You Don't Need a Pair For
Cudrania tricuspidata, or Che, normally needs a separate male and female tree to fruit - but mine has a male branch grafted onto the female cultivar, so a single tree does the job. The fruit is still green now, but ripens into something that looks like a red raspberry.
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Black Sea Peach: Standing Strong While Diseases Strike Others Down
While other peaches fall to monilia and leaf curl, the Black Sea peach stands strong. Small, aromatic, local and resistant. A story about why heirloom varieties matter.
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Mespilus germanica Bredase Reus: The World's Largest Medlar in My Garden
This rare variety from Breda, Netherlands, is one of the world's largest medlar cultivars with fruits reaching 5-6 cm in diameter. A variety I definitely want to add alongside the medlar already in my garden.
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Chamaerops humilis: Europe's Only Native Palm in My Garden
I propagated them from seeds collected from the Sapanca Richmond Hotel garden. Nearly 10 years have passed. Chamaerops humilis, Europe's only native palm, is one of the most resilient plants in the garden with its compact form.
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Washingtonia robusta: My 10-Year Legacy Grown from Seed
I propagated them from seeds collected from Washingtonia robusta palms along the Derince coastline. It has been 10 years, they have grown taller than me. One of the most beautiful legacies I am leaving for future generations.
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Acca sellowiana Apollo: Subtropical Flavor Growing in Sakarya
Feijoa, a subtropical fruit, has been growing trouble-free in our garden for 7 years with the Apollo variety. Indispensable for its magnificent spring flowers and aromatic autumn fruits.
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Rudbeckia hirta: The Golden Star of the Garden
With its golden yellow petals and dark black center, Rudbeckia hirta is one of the longest-blooming plants of summer. Drought tolerant, bee-friendly, perennial.
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Cotinus coggygria: The Purple Smoke Cloud of the Garden
With its deep purple leaves and smoky fluffy flowers, Cotinus coggygria is the most dramatic plant in the garden. It offers a different beauty in all four seasons.
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Acacia dealbata: The Focal Tree That Wakes with Yellow Pompoms in Midwinter
While nature falls asleep, mimosa takes the stage. When those yellow pompom flowers open in January and February, the garden suddenly comes alive. Acacia dealbata is one of our focal trees.
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Eucalyptus gunnii: The Silver Giant of the Garden
Those silvery blue round leaves, column-like height and eucalyptus scent spreading through the whole garden. Eucalyptus gunnii is the most impressive tree in our garden.
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Roses from My Garden: Yellow, Red, Pink, White and That Unforgettable Scent
I have four colors of roses in my garden. Each a different character, different scent, different story. Growing roses requires patience but rewards you abundantly.
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Cornus kousa Satomi and chinensis: Two Dogwoods, Two Stories in My Garden
Pink Satomi and white chinensis... These two Cornus kousa varieties growing side by side in my garden offer a different beauty in every season.
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Acer palmatum Butterfly: The Most Elegant of Variegated Maples
With white-cream borders on its grey-green leaves and finely cut leaf form, Acer palmatum Butterfly is the most refined tree in the garden.
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Echinacea: The Eye and the Remedy of the Garden
Pink, purple, white, yellow... Echinacea brings color to the garden while being a medicinal plant with thousands of years of history. Perennial, easy to care for, bee-friendly.
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False Sunflower: From Sakarya Highlands to My Garden
When I first saw this yellow flower growing wild in Sakarya highlands, something stirred in me. I said one day it would be in my garden, now it multiplies every year.
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Cemetery Cypress: The Silent Guardian of the Misunderstood Garden
When I first saw it on the branch I had no idea what it was — that strangely shaped green lump startled me. Turns out it was a cypress cone. There's a lot you don't know about this tree.
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Li Jujube: A Rare Treasure Growing from the Root
Our ungrafted, root-grown Li jujube bore so much fruit this year that the branches can barely hold it. Rare, delicious and incredibly healthy.
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Heuchera: The Color Master of the Shade
Bringing color to those dark corners where sunlight can't reach, heuchera offers a beauty more striking than flowers — through its leaves alone.
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Crape Myrtle: The Bride That Paints the Garden Pink in July
Creating the most striking corner of the garden in midsummer, the crape myrtle carries a special beauty both in its blooms and its unique bark texture.
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American Persimmon: The Hidden Hero of Alternative Farming in My Garden
The American persimmon, a fruit most people have never heard of, has quietly begun bearing fruit in my garden. A perfect choice for those seeking alternative crops.
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Sumac Tree: Medicine and Spice from Your Own Garden
This magnificent tree growing in our garden for years is medicinal, edible and extremely valuable from a permaculture perspective.
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Rutabaga: Winter's Hidden Treasure
Yellow-purple roots, harvested in 90 days, long winter storage. A must for every garden.
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Italian-258 Fig: Everything It Has Given My Garden
This rare variety from Italy has been in my garden for two years. Early-fruiting, productive and incredibly delicious.
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