Harlequins Gardens

Boulder's specialist in well-adapted plants

We’re currently open Tues-Sun, 9-5

Memberships & Gift Certificates – available online
See our seasonal hours and address below • Read our latest e-newsletter!

Help Support Our Mission: GoFundMe

Home | Mikl's Articles | Articles: Fruit and Food

Articles: Fruit and Food

Some Like it Hot!

Marconi Rosso

Peppers have really thrived in this summer’s high heat. I’ve had my best yields ever of Marconi Rosso, Lanterna Piccante, Alma Paprika and Habanada peppers., and they continue to produce more fruits.

Marconi Rosso, like other Italian ‘frying’ peppers make an easy and incredibly delicious side-dish for a Mediterranean-style dinner: simply remove seeds, cut into strips vertically, sprinkle with sea salt and saute in good olive oil over medium heat, turning occasionally until softened (about 7 minutes). Serve as-is, or garnish with toasted pine-nuts or shredded Pecorino cheese.

Lanterna picante

Lanterna Piccante is a unique pepper that you won’t find in stores or even at farmers Markets. The large plants are graceful and bear large numbers of stunning pendant scarlet fruits, 1.5” to 2.5” across, shaped like succulent nodding bells. These are thin-walled, with the flesh having a delicious fruity flavor, and the seeds and ribs packing significant heat. The heat dissipates very quickly and doesn’t linger long on the tongue. To avoid the heat, cut the peppers in half vertically and cut out the seed cluster and ribs. Save a few seeds to add a little spark back to dishes that contain the flesh. I love to chop Lanterna Piccante peppers into 1/4” ‘confetti’ and add to omelettes, stir-fries, chicken or tuna salad, for its flavor and beauty. With the seeds, or some of them, it makes a great salsa ingredient. Like other peppers, they freeze well.

Alma paprika

I love growing Alma Paprika for the fun of watching the fruits change color as they mature, starting out creamy white, becoming marbled and flushed with rosy shades, and finally ripening to vibrant solid red. The distinctive flavor is a little spicy but not hot, perfect for making your own sweet paprika seasoning. I but the fruits into ½” squares and slowly dry them in my dehydrator. I grind the pieces in an electric coffee grinder (that is only used for spices), and store in a glass jar.

This is the first time I’ve grown Habanada pepper, a newer hybrid that is supposed to have all the flavor of a classic Habanero pepper bit completely without heat. One fruit on my plant is approaching ripeness now, and I’m looking forward to trying it.

Lycium (Goji Berry)

Whoever heard of Goji Berry 20 years ago? Now, with the current interest in superfoods, phytonutrients and antioxidants, Goji Berry juice and dried fruits can be found in many urban grocery stores. The 70+ species of Lycium are found on most continents and one species, Lycium pallidum, is native to Colorado. But the best known and most grown Goji is Lycium barbarum, the Chinese Wolfberry, also known as Matrimony Vine, Desert Thorn and Boxthorn. What is not commonly known is that this exotic superfood can be easily grown in Colorado.[Read More]

How Do We Manage Fireblight

Colorado is said to be the worst state in the US for fireblight, and 2018 was considered by many to be one of the worst years in Colorado. Fireblight is a serious disease affecting apples, crabapples, pears, Mountain Ash and hawthorn, and sometimes quince and pyracantha (supposedly up to 73 species of plants).[Read More]

Grow Delicious Grapes!

Got a fence or a pergola waiting for a fast-growing vine? Grow your own table grapes or wine grapes! The grape vines we sell, both table and wine varieties, are the most cold-hardy you will find anywhere. Most of them come from the northern Wisconsin breeding program of the late Elmer Swenson. Remarkably, three of his selections are seedless! All of them have good flavor, all are proven successful in Colorado in Zone 4 and above, and also succeed in high summer heat.

Swenson Red Grape– Very hardy dessert grape with large red to blue fruit with a high sugar content; non slip-skin. Slow growing when young; vigor, crop, and size of fruit improves once established. Bears fruit 2-3 years after planting. Unique flavor with hints of strawberry. Ripens in August, 3-4 week earlier than Concord. Also makes an acceptable white wine. Self-fertile.

Concord Grape– Most common grape in Colorado, very vigorous, hardy and productive. Medium sized, slipskin, blue-black fruit with sweet flesh and tart skin with “Welch’s Grape Juice” flavor for table, pie, juice, jelly, and wine. Ripens late September.

Concord Seedless Grape- Concord Seedless shares the distinctive sweet to sweet-tart flavor of Concords, but ripens earlier and features smaller grape clusters with smaller grapes. This is a woody, deciduous, tendril-climbing vine with clusters of seedless grapes that ripen in September. Excellent grape for juice, jam, jelly, pie, and wine.

Flambeau Seedless Grape– This seedless pink grape has clusters of small to medium-sized berries with a very sweet, low-acid flavor. A great table grape for cold climates as they ripen in early September. It is best grown on a trellis instead of an arbor as the vine has low to medium vigor. Tolerant of alkaline soils.

Saint Theresa Seedless- A superb new table grape for the Rocky Mountain region. This very hardy and mostly seedless purple grape offers abundant large clusters of sweet fruit in early September. These grapes can be eaten out of hand but are best used in jam, jelly, pie, or wine.