The Beauty of Okra

The mallow family, more commonly known as the hibiscus family, includes such plants as the hibiscus of Hawaii state flower fame, the common shrub Althea, annual hollyhocks, cotton and okra. The family also includes Durian, whose fruits and various fruit candies and other products are extremely popular in Japan, but taste and smell vile and disgusting to me.

When I was growing up in the Ozarks, hollyhocks were a common sight in gardens and flower beds. They came in a variety of colors and attracted hummingbirds and bumblebees, as well as a wide range of small pollinators. It seemed like everyone had them.

My mother loved altheas, which flowered all summer long and were easily grown from seeds or cuttings. We always had an althea hedge along the north side of our driveway.

It wasn't until we moved to town that I discovered hibiscus. The plants were perennials that came in various colors, sizes and blossom types including the amazing "dinner plate" hibiscus whose flowers are as large as the name implies.

Two members of the family that surprised me (I've never seen them in real life) are cacao and kola nuts. It's interesting to discover that chocolate and cola come from the same family as one of the most popular Southern fast foods, fried okra.

When I was a kid, we ate okra regularly, fixed in a variety of ways. Now it seems that sliced and deep fried is the only way anyone eats this interesting seed pod. And sometimes gumbo, but the recipes I know involve adding deep fried okra to the gumbo shortly before serving, so still fried.

My mother made steamed whole okra, heavily buttered, which I still love, but modern humans think is too slimy--this from people who eat raw oysters! We had it floured and pan fried, which is very different from the battered and deep fried version. We had it sliced and cooked in goulash, which I admit even I think is awful. We had it added to stews and my favorite way to eat it was whole pods, battered in tempura and deep fried. But then, I like it steamed.

Okra, like sweet potato vines, is becoming popular as a landscaping plant. It comes in different colors, in a variety of shades. The red okras have deep burgundy or maroon stalks, stems and leaves. The various green varieties come in distinctly different shades, from bright green to emerald and different growth habits from compact to very tall. There are even orange pod okra plants.

One thing all okra plants have is large, beautiful flowers that easily identify them as members of the hibiscus family. The flowers, the young leaves and seeds are all edible. The dried seeds can be roasted, ground and used as a coffee substitute, as they were during the Civil War.

Okra is easy to grow and has few insect problems. If you only grow one open-pollinated variety (to avoid cross pollination) the seeds are easy to save. Allow the pods to mature until they dry and begin to split, then pick them and place them in a bowl in a cool dry place to finish drying. Once dry, the pods can be cracked open and the seeds removed. Store them in an envelope, marked with name and date in a cool, dry place. I put my seed envelopes in a jar with one of those little silicone packs from a vitamin bottle to keep out moisture that could damage the seeds.

I prefer Clemson Spineless because they are dependable producers as well as fast, robust growers. I have planted other varieties, with mixed results, and I may plant some of the more colorful types in our front flowerbed next year as edible landscape plants.





The beautiful blossoms and attractive foliage makes okra a good candidate for a background plant in a sunny flower bed and also a good draw for pollinators in the garden.

Stephen

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