{"id":4114,"date":"2018-09-21T05:21:32","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T12:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?p=4114"},"modified":"2018-09-20T13:09:14","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T20:09:14","slug":"do-you-know-the-leaves-in-your-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/do-you-know-the-leaves-in-your-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you know the leaves in your garden?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Did you see any kitties in the backyard?” my mother-in-law asked my son.<\/p>\n

“No, they were hiding in the avocado tree,” he said.<\/p>\n

They were. Only it wasn’t an avocado tree. This was a backyard in Oregon. But the leaves of the tree were similar to those of an avocado. See them in the photo above? Plus, my son is two years old. We’ll give him a break.<\/p>\n

Over time, after years of slowing down and taking close looks at the leaves of the plants growing in our gardens (for bugs, diseases, or fun), we begin to recognize them as surely as the faces of family. I now recognize the subtle differences between the leaves below, and even if you don’t also grow all of these particular plants in your yard I’d guess that you’ll still be able to distinguish them from their look-alikes.<\/p>\n

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Tomato or potato?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can you tell which of these photos shows tomato leaves and which shows potato?<\/p>\n

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Their leaves are similar just as many other things about tomatoes and potatoes are similar, or even the same. Taxonomists classify them in the same genus,\u00a0Solanum<\/em>. Both tomatoes and potatoes were originally cultivated by people in the Americas and introduced to Europe and the rest of the world by Spanish explorers.<\/p>\n

These two plants are so akin that you can graft a tomato top onto a potato bottom and grow a single plant that fruits tomatoes in the air while forming potatoes under the dirt. “Ketchup ‘n’ Fries” is what one company calls this centaur of a plant. (See it at Territorial Seed Company here.)<\/a><\/p>\n

Anyway, the photos above were taken in my yard, and so I know that the first one is a potato and the second a tomato. One way you could tell just be looking at the photos is that tomato leaves generally have pointier tips.<\/p>\n

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Banana or bird of paradise?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tell between these two is in how the leaves fold: Are they up like a taco or down like a tent?<\/p>\n

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Up like a taco.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Down like a tent.<\/p><\/div>\n

Birds of paradise have taco leaves; bananas have tent leaves.<\/p>\n

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