The art of growing plants in containers is ancient, nearly as old as the invention of pottery itself. At first, growing in containers was most likely practical in nature, but certain cultures -- Egypt, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand -- began to develop the practice for aesthetic reasons.

Bonsai as an art form usually centers around the practice of growing trees in miniture form, using in shallow containers and maintained with tools to fashion and maintain the plant as a miniture form of itself. The goal for growing trees as Bonsai plants is to train the tree to look old, but if grown correctly, the plants can, indeed, grow to be quite old, lasting for generations. In fact, the oldest known Bonsai tree is a pine that is soon to be 500 years old!

Bonsai pots are most notible for their shallow depth. They can be used for growing other types of minitures besides trees. The cactus in this picture is just a sprout, but its shallow root system will allow a shallow container. It will be interesting to see if the shallow depth of the container will inhibit the growth of the cactus over time.

Rather than start from seed, many Bonsai enthusiasts look for small nursery stock for starter plants. This way one can choose plants that show characteristics that suggest the desired shape and age. Dry Creek carries several types of miniture trees.

This summer the deck has 22 tomato plants growing among cucumbers and several types of peppers. Four tomato plants are experimental heirloom tomatoes, planted from Dry Creek starts in May. They have developed mostly large tomatoes, some ripening last month, but most just now beginning to show color. Also on the deck are seven Cherry Tomatoes grown from organic seed. The cherry tomatoes are now rapidly turning red. Ten more containers hold the mighty Big Beef and Beefsteak plants.

But this year, there's only one container that's home to a Patio Tomato (pictured).

In a way, growing tomatoes in Northwestern Nevada is always an experimental venture. This is so because it's fairly impossible to predict how the weather will fare each season. We never know if the season will be long or short and whether the springtime months will be sunny and warm or cold and gray.

But while some tomato plants will be intimidated by our local weather patterns, the lowly Patio Tomato is usually certain to come through with results. They usually begin producing fruit in early June, offering daily ripeness by late June. The tomato size is just right for a variety of uses. Not overly huge like the Big Beef and Beefsteak, but not tiny like a cherry, the Patio Tomato offers a perfect size for quartering for salads and vegetable platters. Their flesh lends itself to chopping and pureeing for sauces, providing flavor on the good side of delicious. The plant is bush-like, staying compact often without the need for extensive caging. For this reason, alone, they are exceptionally suited to containers.

The song birds don't have to compete with the humans this year. The apples are abundant and suggest delicious foods like Old Fashioned Apple Pie, Apple Chicken with Caramelized Onions, or simply warm Apple Compote with California Walnuts.

One word of cautionary reminder: when harvesting the apples, if you use a ladder to climb up high enough to fall on your butt, be sure to have someone hold the ladder for you. You don't want to be eating your pie in a leg or neck brace.

Bob's Apple Compote

Gather about as many apples as you see in the picture, enough to make a generous six cups of prepared fruit. Don't be afraid if the apples have a blemish or two. Wash the apples really well, especially if you don't know what chemicals the growers have used on the trees over the summer. Wash them well anyway just to get the insect trails off.

Peel the apples whole and put them in a large pot of cold water with a little organic lemon juice to keep the apples from browning during prep. Take the apples from the pot of water, cut them in half and remove anything that isn't appetizing, such as the core and blemished spots.

Cut up the apples, reserving two cups in large chunks, two cups thinly sliced, and two cups finely chopped. Put all three types of prepped apples into a large sauce pan. Sweeten to taste; we added a 1/4 cup of organic brown sugar and a 1/4 cup turbinado sugar. Then add a tablespoon of organic lemon juice and a tablespoon of filtered water. For spice, add a 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg. Finally, add two tablespoons butter and a tablespoon instant tapioca.

Gently mix all the ingredients, then heat to bubbling. Reduce heat and stir in 1/4 cut chopped walnuts or pecans; your choice. Cover and simmer -- stirring occasionally -- for 45 minutes or until the larger apple chunks are cooked through and soft. According to the juiciness of the apples, you might need to add tiny bit of water, but do so only if necessary.

Serve warm, by itself or as a topping for vanilla ice cream, or spoon over sweet dumplings, biscuits or cake. This compote is also great as filling for pies and cobblers.

Earlier this summer we talked about the Sensuous Rose Pedal Sauce. Well, the roses are blooming again, due to some fairly severe pruning after the first bloom last June. If we're lucky, there will be enough for yet another tasty sauce, but if not, it's still wonderful to have some fragrant roses appearing this late in the season.

There are many ways to cook with rose pedals. Here's an easy and delicious way to prepare a spread for morning toast:

Rose Pedal Butter

Take a cup of unsalted butter from the fridge, unwrap it, place the sticks in a glass bowl. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until soft. Harvest several fresh, fragrant roses from your chemical and pesticide free rose bushes. Collect enough to make a packed cup of pedals. Finely chop the pedals, then, using a wooden spoon, mix in with the softened butter. If on hand, add a half teaspoon rose water to the butter / rose mixture.

While still soft, using a floret tip, pipe the butter onto a piece of waxed paper placed on a firm baking sheet or plate, creating little individual servings that resemble flowers. Serve with toast points or warm coffee cake. Place the remaining butter florets in the refrigerator. They will firm up and last for several days.

Cocktail party conversation recently touched upon the steady and disturbing decline in local, nationwide and even worldwide bee populations. Historically, it's not the first time something like this has happened, but it seems scientists are wondering whether this event -- especially the pollinating season of 2007 -- is the most dramatic die-off to date.

Two years ago several theories debating the cause of the die-off emerged. Is it manipulation of DNA to produce bees more interested in pollinating plants than making honey? Is it new chemicals meant to pollinate plants without the help of bees? Is it new and more deadly pesticides for farms and gardens? Is it the invasion of new parasites as well as the chemicals used to fight the parasites? Is it a virus? Is it the 30 year drought? Global warming? Is it confusion and bewilderment produced by continual shipping from place to place? Is it radiation produced by the ever increasing number of cell phone towers?

From gay marriage to the coming apocalypse, other not so very scientific theories were discussed as well. Still, the question of chemicals returned to the center of conversation more than once. As we sipped our summer cocktails, someone suggested that a pesticide- and chemical-free garden would be a godsend for the troubled bees. "Like an island in a sea of poison. If only we could convince enough people to stop using harmful chemicals, the island could grow." A retort was inevitable: "But, what if chemicals and poisons aren't the only problems? What if it's a disease produced by an accumulation of conditions? No one knows where to begin." A very reasonable suggestion was returned: "Well, maybe we should begin eliminating those conditions one by one. We can start with what we ourselves can control, start with the chemicals closest to us."

Neighbors are trading cucumbers for tomatoes, tomatoes for peppers, peppers for plums, plums for peaches. It's that time of the year. If you are lucky enough to come across a collection of tree ripened peaches, here's a recipe to make your summer evening dinner party a hit to the very end. It's quick, too. You can have your guests asking for the recipe in about 15 minutes.

Divine Peaches

You don't need a whole lot of ingredients for this incredible dessert. It's versatile, as well. You can use it as a sauce for ice cream, or pour it over a lemon pound cake fresh out of the oven, or simply dish it up in dessert bowls with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 cups of fresh organic peaches, ripe off the tree.
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup organic turbinado sugar.
• 1/2 cup pure cranberry juice (not cranberry juice cocktail).
• 1 or 2 tablespoons organic lemon juice.
• 2 tablespoons instant uncooked tapioca.
• 1/2 cup pecan or walnut halves.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Poach the peaches ever so slightly so as to remove the skins. Remove the pits, too, of course. Let the poaching water cool down, then feed it to your earthworms; they will love you for it. Mix the peaches with the sugar and cranberry juice in a medium sized saucepan. Cook and stir until the mixture begins to bubble. Lower the heat, add the tapioca, pecans or walnuts or a mixture of both, and lemon juice. Simmer for a few minutes, just until it begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Serve warm, if possible, but it's delicious the next day over waffles or pancakes.

For those looking for perennials that bloom in August, consider the Delosperma florbunda, a trademarked ice plant with succulent, gray-green leaves and bright pink flowers with white centers. Not only does this plant cover itself in flowers, but if given enough light, it will do so all summer long.

Like almost all ice plant, this one requires excellent drainage and not too much water. Drought tolerant, it grows to a height of four to six inches and will spread into a nice circle about a foot in diameter. Even though cold hardy, in our climate, the plant will most likely die back for the coldest part of the winter, but don't forget it's there, because it will probably come back in the spring to offer another year of beauty.

Ice plant is a good choice for rock gardens, container arrangements, and along the front edge of borders.

There's an ancient proverb that says people either love or hate Yarrow and that those who hate it are simply grouchy fools. A cranky gardener once commented that the reason why she hates yarrow is because it's "as common as the weeds in spring." Strangely, she loves and raves constantly about Nevada's Big Sage.

Yarrow comes in a variety of colors, from pure white to yellow, to pink and deep purple-red. The plants are amazing in that their blooms last for months, the plant will grow in just about any soil, they are very drought tolerant, and they can all but be forgotten and yet still thrive. But perhaps what is most incredible about Yarrow is that the flower stalks can tell the future.

It's true, the dried flower stems of Achillea Millefolium have been used for centuries as tools for consulting the oracle of the I Ching, what some say is the oldest and wisest book in the history of human culture. How the oracle works is anyone's guess, nevertheless, the ritual is fascinating and some say, curiously accurate in its telling. In any case, Yarrow is easy to grow, beautiful to look at and it smells sweet.

In western traditions, it is said that the reason why the botanical name references Achilles is because the Greeks used Yarrow medicinally to stop wounds from bleeding on the battlefield.

Today a Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) stopped by this Gay Feather (Liatris spicata -- also commonly called Blazing Stars) before flitting on beyond the garden. The Monarchs stop by this plant as it blooms every summer so far. It's that time of year, both for the fantastic, long blooming season of the Liatris, but also for the Monarch.

Reno and the rest of northern Nevada is part of the Monarch Butterfly's migratory route. Back in the day when Milkweed was plentiful and pesticides scarce, millions of Monarch butterflies would pass through on their long journey to Canada from Mexico. But their numbers have greatly diminished and are dwindling still.

It's easy to make your garden Monarch Butterfly friendly. If you plant perennials that bloom in August, you'll easily attract the adults, as they enjoy the late summer flowering plants, like this beautiful, long lasting Gay Feather. But if you really want your garden to be Monarch friendly, you'll want to plant some Milkweed because the Monarch actually depends upon Milkweed to survive. Why? Because Milkweed is the only known plant the butterfly uses to nurture and feed its young.

We have a page devoted to the Monarch Butterfly. Check it out.

This rapid growing upright perennial grows in clusters up to two feet high, offering abundant pure white snapdragon shaped flowers on tall, stiff stems that will brighten any moist place in your garden, sun or part shade.

The flowering stage is continuous with flowers lasting a long time. The plant resembles wild meadow flowers and thus is a perfect choice for mass plantings. The bright white flowers are "self cleaning" which means they do not brown or fade as they age. They do very well in containers, especially as an accent for other colorful flowers. Just make sure they get watered as they like a well drained, but moist soil.

The reason the plant is called "obedient" is that the flower tips can be gently bent and they will stay that way. They are friendly in other ways, too: they make excellent cut flowers, butterflies love them, and yet they are rabbit, squirrel and deer resistant.

Much is said about the significance of flowers and the white lily is one such flower with many meanings according to several long traditions.

One of the more interesting attachments to white lilies is from ancient Spain where it was long ago believed that the taste or even the smell of the delicately scented pedals of the white lily would relieve and even reverse the curses received from enemy spirits that might ravege the soul with the violence of mindless rage.

The flower also signifies the passing of time that we humans experience whether we like it or not -- that incredible, often times unnerving awareness we have of our own being-towards-death.

White Lily

What Fassbinder film is it?
The one-armed man walks into a flower shop
And says: What flower expresses
Days go by
And they just keep going by endlessly
Pulling you Into the future
Days go by
Endlessly
Endlessly pulling you
Into the future?
And the florist says: White Lily.

Laurie Anderson ("White Lily" from the film, Home of the Brave)

For some, using the big yellow-orange squash and pumpkin flowers for food seems a bit strange, but there are long and varied culinary traditions surrounding the squash blossom. The taste is so subtle that it lends itself to many, many delicious ways of preparing this wonderful flower.

Squash and pumpkins can do quite well in Reno, too, and one or two plants can be enough to provide plenty of flowers for delicious meals.

Whether Italian, Mexican, Thai or simply experimental, there are a thousand ways to prepare summer squash blossom treats:

• Put them on Pizza hot out of the oven.
• Put them on Quesadillas on top of melted white chedder.
• Grill them lightly, then serve them with corn on the cob sprinkled with a little cumin.
• Batter them and fry them like the Italians love to do.
• Put them in salads with a nice fat free sweet fig dressing.
• Coat them with flour, pan fry and serve with your favorite hot pepper sauce.
• Batter them, fry them and serve them with spicy fish sauce and white rice.

Even if you didn't have room in your garden for a squash plant, next year you can easily grow one in a pot on your patio. That way you'll have plenty of squash blossoms to experiment with.