The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 25

WWW.THESTATE.COM THE STATE, COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010 D3 GARDENING Loquat bears way into senses, tastes of Midlands gardeners ipe tree Columbia? in fruit May? hanging In on a There is nothing like a splashy bloom or fancy fruit to engage a gardener's curiosity. So in search of the one but not expecting the other, last weekend I visited several local gardens that were on tour. Two of the gardens had trees laden with a mysterious fruit that had visitors buzzing. Had it not been attached to the tree, I would have been clueless In the as to what In the sort of fruit it garden was. But I Sharon know a loquat Thompson tree when I see one.

I just didn't know it would produce fruit. And what a fruit it is. Imagine a cross between an apricot and peach in flavor, texture and color. About the size and shape of an egg, the fruit is thin-skinned and needs no peeling but does need to be soft before you eat it. Inside is a marble-size, hard, brown seed, which I promptly wrapped in a paper towel and brought home visions of loquat production danced in my head.

(Thanks to Willie Hale for letting me taste my first, but not last, loquat.) Loquat is perfectly suited to the Midlands' growing conditions and those south of us. It is commonly grown in the Lowcountry where it's also called Japanese plum. Easily cultivated in full sun to part shade, loquat will grow into a small tree (15-20 feet tall) or large shrub (10-12 feet tall and wide). It is amenable to pruning and is a traditional candidate for espalier. Limbing up lower branches on a mature specimen will showcase its exfoliating bark, adding to the tree's garden worthiness.

I love the texture a loquat tree brings to the garden: ruggedly coarse yet refined. Its 6- to 9-inch long, narrow SHIELDS FROM PAGE D1 ry friendly departure," Shields said. We sat down with Shields on Tuesday, right before USC football coach Steve Spurrier surprised him with a jersey at the station. Shields had this to say about his TV career: I The greatest South Carolina player I've seen play in any sport: I was at USC the same four years as George Rogers. George Rogers, Sterling Sharpe and Kip Bouknight.

Can I say three? Anytime you do this, you're going to leave somebody out. I The best high school player I've seen play: My answer might surprise you, but it's Courtney Shealy, now Courtney Shealy Hart. Best athlete I've ever seen. You're talking about an academic and athletic All-American at Georgia. She was an incredible student at Irmo High School.

Played volleyball. Swam. Olympic gold medals. Now she's the head swim coach of the men and women at Georgia Tech. If I had to pick one that's come through my player of the week program.

The best sneakers for the sideline: I was a Converse guy, but the last two pair of sneaks that I've gotten have been Reebok. They've got a little wider fit, and I've got a wide foot. It's all about the comfort, especially on a high school Friday night when you're racing up and down the sidelines and then racing to the vehicle to go to another game. I South Carolina quarterbacks have great prep careers, but then they disappear. Why? (Former Clemson player Wily) Korn came out as highly touted as any from our state.

One of the best that did have a nice college career GARDENING TIPS Blueberries a nice addition to garden My wife loves roses, and our one full-sun area is her domain. I have slipped in a few tomato plants but would like to have some blueberries, too. Would they be compatible? Blueberries are 180 degrees opposite from roses on the spectrum for "amount of care required." If you read your children Robert McCloskey's "Blueberries for Sal," you remember that wonderful sound of "kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk," and that blueberries grow wild on the hillsides of Maine. In the Southeast, we also have many blueberry family members cheerfully growing in open woods. Our soils, like those in Maine, tend to be can find it.

Don't overdo it; compost increases water holding capacity, and blueberries require good drainage (remember, Sal and her mother picked them on hillsides). Gardening Find a local nursery or mail-order source Amanda for rabbit eye Gardening Amanda acidic, and that is one McNulty absolute prerequisite for good blueberry health. Rabbit eye blueberries, which are best for most of South Carolina, need a pH of 5.3 or less. Roses, on the other hand, like a pH up around so we have an incompatibility in that most basic of soil conditions. But don't despair, with our intense sunny summers, we can grow blueberries in part shade.

Just think, as your bride stands out with a mask, gloves and sprayer in the blazing sunlight, you can be harvesting sweet, juicy little berries in the shadow of a nearby pine or pecan tree. You won't, however, get as many berries in less than full sun, but as blueberries tend to produce fruits over a long period of time, few noncommercial growers ever pick every last berry, and you should have plenty for Sunday morning pancakes or muffins. Start now for planting success late in the fall. First, take a soil test. If a contractor once rinsed out a cement truck in your yard, you're going to have to lower that pH.

Go to clemson.edu/extension/hgic/ and find the instructions for taking a soil test, and carry your collected two cups to your local Extension office. You'll get instructions telling you exactly how to achieve the right measure of acidity. Since it takes a while to adjust pH, go ahead and do this now, and start preparing the area where you are going to plant your new bushes. Blueberries are especially appreciative of organic matter. Till or spade in packaged or homemade well-rotted compost or even composted pine bark if you Loquat is perfectly suited grown in the Lowcountry cross between an leaves, distinctively marked with toothed edges and prominent veining, are glossy, dark green on top and gently dusted with brown fuzz on the back.

But it is loquat's winter flowering that has always appealed to me. Cream-colored blooms, less than an inch long, are arranged in upright clusters which are covered with fine brown hairs. These blooms start forming in summer but don't open until November or December when they permeate the garden with a delicious vanilla fragrance. I never really thought those fall blooms produced anything but beauty now I know better. So stroll through your neighborhood in the next few THE BOB SHIELDS FILE Bob Shields joined WLTX part time as a senior at USC in 1981, and he never left.

He'll probably be most remembered for the popular High School Player of the Week award. Though he is leaving TV. Shields isn't leaving sports. He'll still analyze sports on "The Early Game" from 7-9 a.m. Monday through Friday on WNKT-FM 107.5 The Game, cohosting with Tommy Moody and Benji Norton.

was Rodney Williams from Irmo, and nobody thought he was going to be much of a college player. He excelled in Danny Ford's system. (Former Sumter quarterback) Wally Richardson (who went to Penn State) deserves mention as well. A sports reporter has to: Be professional. Be true to your craft.

If you're not being honest, it will catch up to you. Be fair. I Devan Downey, Mike Jones and Murphy Holloway all came home. Why didn't they just stay in the first place? Was it the original coach at the time who was recruiting them? Is it the pasture's always greener on the other side mentality? Zam Fredrick is another one. In his case, maybe there's more to it because of his dad's involvement with the University of South Carolina and then perhaps not being hired at South Carolina.

In probably each case, it's probably a different to the Midlands' growing conditions. It is commonly where it's also called Japanese plum. Imagine it as a apricot and peach in flavor, texture and color. weeks and see if you can find a fruitful loquat tree. Fruit isn't produced every year, but May to June is the customary ripening window.

Get permission to taste one or two, and if you too are smitten, save the seed. According to one of my propagation books, soak the seed for 24 hours, then plant in a container, being sure to cover the seed with a bit of soil. Germination should occur in 10-28 days. Of course, I could purchase a loquat that is already up and running but what fun is that? I found out that commercially produced loquats are grown from seed, so I think I'm on the right track, propagation-wise. Another alternative is to take -hardwood cuttings from CAROLINA 19.

'SHARON THOMPSON an established tree summer is a good time to do this. One caution: loquats can be a bit messy, so site carefully. Fallen fruit, of course, is one consideration but fallen leaves are, too. Loquats shed some of their evergreen foliage during the summer, and the leaves are slow to decompose think of the clean-up a magnolia requires. Then there's the wildlife who will want to eat these fruits as much as you do.

You'll probably have to fight the birds for fruit; but after what I tasted, it will be worth the battle. Master gardener Sharon Thompson has been gardening since moving to the Midlands in 1978. THE STATE USC head football coach Steve Spurrier presents a football jersey to sports anchor Bob Shields, who is leaving WLTX after 30 years. answer for each one if he were to tell you honestly. I Sticking by predictions: I got out of the prediction game a long time ago because Irealized it's foolish.

You're never going to be right all the time. I Steve Spurrier will: Take the Gamecocks to Atlanta and play for an SEC championship. I believe it. I don't think he's going to stop banging his head until he gets to Atlanta. I'm not guaranteeing or predicting they'll win an SEC championship.

When I look at the recruiting, South Carolina football has never, ever had this much talent that I've seen. And I've been around it 30-plus years. When you flub on the air: You excuse it and you move along. That's all you can do. Certainly there have been moments where it hasn't been smooth moving from a blueberries and select two varieties.

Blueberries can self-pollinate, but you'll get better fruit set if you plant at least two varieties. Late next fall, plant your bare-root or container plants and judiciously prune them back to encourage bushy, thick growth. Don't apply fertilizer at that time -it's easy to burn those shallow, tender roots. Do apply mulch such as pine straw to moderate the soil temperatures and discourage those ever-ready-to-germinate weed seeds. The first two years you should try to follow basic pruning and fertility practices.

Navigate back to that same website for Clemson's Home and Garden Information Center and print yourself a copy of the fact sheet on growing blueberries. If you feel overwhelmed, remember that it won't be long before you can have your own tin pail and enjoy those little pings as the first fruits of your labor hit the bottom of the bucket. Amanda McNulty is a Clemson Extension agent in Sumter County. She will answer your gardening questions in this twice-monthly column. Send your questions to SATC top and gay Anthony wedding (Willie of Stanford Garson, FROM PAGE D1 Mario Cantone), replete with a chorus of men in Carrie (Sarah Jessica white tuxes crooning show Parker) fears her marriage.

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That's not how I want to stuff here, like the over-the- remember them. bump to continuing on. 1 After 30 years, I still like: High school football. You go out to a high school game, it's not just the football players. It's the cheerleaders.

It's the band. It's the moms and dads. It's kids behind the stadium playing with a miniature football. They've got their own game going on. It's more than just the game itself.

It's about communities. My greatest TV memory: The last time the College World Series was on CBS just happened to be the first year that Ray Tanner took the Gamecocks to Omaha. We had a half-hour live pregame special that led right up to network coverage. They're arriving to go play for the national championship, and Ray Tanner couldn't have been more gracious. (Shields got a live interview.) MEMORIAL Days Deadlines Please Refer to this Memorial Day Deadline Schedule when Planning Ads Publication Date Deadline Saturday May 29 Thurs.

Sunday Prerun May 30 Wed. Sunday May 30 Thurs. Monday May 31 Fri. noon Tuesday June 1 Fri. noon Wednesday June 2 Fri.

Thursday June 3 Tues. Neighbors June 3 Thurs. Weekend June 4 Tues. Offices will be closed May 31st The State.