next week

I will be out of the office July 27th to 31st. I will be attending the KY County Ag Agents' Assoc meeting in Lexington.

Enjoy the great weather!

Potato Flowers and Flower Trials

Raining today. The calls have slowed a bit, so I can let you know the question of the day. Today's question: Why do my potatoes have little green fruit and can I eat them?

The Potatoes have fruit on them like tomatoes and eggplant (relatives). Potatoes have purple flowers, when pollinated turn into this fruit. PLEASE DO NOT EAT THE FRUIT. It's poisonous, I think more so than eating a green potato.

Don't bother saving the seeds either. The potato seeds do not breed true. Your "Yukon Gold" potatoes won't be the same if plant seeds instead of keeping a few potatoes.

If you're in Elizabethtown, please come by the Extension Office to visit the Display gardens. We have over 300 species of plants including the University of Kentucky Annual Trial Garden plants and a 32 Variety Echinacea trial. Here's some photos from earlier in the year:

The cone flower is "Katie Saul" one of the newer varieties of Echinacea. I kind of like the purple-pink with yellow highlights. It's a sturdy flower, not likely to fall over in the rain!

This is "Mocha Mint" coleus. It's a finely-dissected leaf emerges a bronze-yellow and ages to a chartreuse. It a shorter plant only reaching 8" by today. It would be eye-catching in a container or at the front of a bed.

Hello

Hello,
Welcome to the first posting of the Hardin County Blooms blog. I'm Amy, the County Extension Agent for Horticulture. I will try to keep you updated on the horticulture happenings in Hardin County, KY.