Borage is a beautiful and beneficial herb to grow in your garden. Here
is a single bloom very close up.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Borage bloom
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Nasturtium "Alaska"
Here is a pretty and edible plant - the nasturtium. The leaves and
flowers have a peppery taste.
Garden column this week
Why grow herbs? There are many reasons to grow them. If you like to cook, there are herbs that will add oomph to many of your dishes. Some herbs I grow for the scent alone. Most herbs are simply very attractive. If you don’t have an herb garden, it is not too late to start one. A few square feet in a sunny area, or a few pots on a patio or balcony with plenty of sun is all that is needed. I am emphasizing sun because that is what herbs usually want most – the more the better.
Good drainage is essential; so don’t pick a spot that has standing water after every rain.
It is usually not necessary to fertilize herbs; doing so may even diminish their flavor.
The next thing to do is pick out the herbs you want to grow. Today and in the next couple of weeks I will discuss some good herbs to grow.
Parsley is a commonly grown herb, and can be used in so many dishes when cooking; I would consider it almost indispensable. I grew mine from seed this year after two tries, so they are still small, but they can certainly be purchased as plants. I find the large flat leaf parsley is better tasting than the curly variety. To use it, just pick some sprigs to garnish a plate or chop to sprinkle over all kinds of things – some simple boiled potatoes, a hot bowl of soup, rice pilaf, whatever! Parsley adds flavor and lots of nutrition. I like to pick sprigs to chew when out in my garden – it freshens your breath as well. Parsley is also said to improve the health of roses when grown nearby.
I have annual nasturtiums growing in pots here and there in my yard. Nasturtiums are beautiful cheery plants that like sun, soil that is not too fertile. There are both bush and trailing types; the trailing types can grow up to three feet long. The round lily pad like leaves are either a gorgeous bluish green or can also be variegated green and creamy white. The leaves and flowers can both be picked to add to salads or sandwiches, or just used as pretty garnishes for various dishes. Nasturtium leaves have ten times the Vitamin C of lettuce. The taste? Kind of fresh and peppery – very appealing. I like to eat a few leaves when out viewing my garden. The flowers can be stuffed with seasoned cream cheese or guacamole for an easily done fancy appetizer – serve that with your next Margarita! Even their seeds are edible, and can be ground and used like pepper.
Nasturtiums are easily grown from seed or can be bought started as young plants at plant nurseries. Plant them in the vegetable garden for their colorful blooms and their fresh looking foliage.
A must have for me is rosemary. The plant is actually a perennial in warmer areas, but either needs to be treated as an annual here or wintered over in a very sunny and cool window indoors. The plant is very attractive so can be a feature in an attractive pot. The leaves look like pine needles. One can cut sprigs and use them whole or chop them to add to any pork, chicken, lamb, beef, or rabbit. When I spent time in Italy as a child with relatives– Sunday dinner meant roasted rabbit with garlic, olive oil, and rosemary. I like to make a marinade of chopped rosemary and garlic, olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to use to marinate chops, chicken pieces, and roasts. Lemon juice is good added to the mix to flavor chicken pieces or whole chickens for lemon herb chicken.
The perennial herb thyme is also a very good cooking herb as well as being very attractive. Give it lots of sun and good drainage. There are many kinds of thyme – I like to grow the variegated, common, lemon or French thyme for cooking purposes. I also have some Elfin thyme just for looks that, as the name implies, is very tiny, growing in a pot with some other tiny plants. Elfin thyme or Wooly thyme would be excellent to grow between paving stones, as they grow thickly and remain very short. For luscious scents try lemon thyme, lime thyme, lavender thyme, or orange balsam thyme. They smell so good you will want them for the scent alone. I just bought three orange balsam thymes – one for me and two for friends. Thyme is good for flavoring fish, summer squash, scrambled eggs and more. Both rosemary and thyme can be easily dried and used all winter.
More herb talk next week…
Good drainage is essential; so don’t pick a spot that has standing water after every rain.
It is usually not necessary to fertilize herbs; doing so may even diminish their flavor.
The next thing to do is pick out the herbs you want to grow. Today and in the next couple of weeks I will discuss some good herbs to grow.
Parsley is a commonly grown herb, and can be used in so many dishes when cooking; I would consider it almost indispensable. I grew mine from seed this year after two tries, so they are still small, but they can certainly be purchased as plants. I find the large flat leaf parsley is better tasting than the curly variety. To use it, just pick some sprigs to garnish a plate or chop to sprinkle over all kinds of things – some simple boiled potatoes, a hot bowl of soup, rice pilaf, whatever! Parsley adds flavor and lots of nutrition. I like to pick sprigs to chew when out in my garden – it freshens your breath as well. Parsley is also said to improve the health of roses when grown nearby.
I have annual nasturtiums growing in pots here and there in my yard. Nasturtiums are beautiful cheery plants that like sun, soil that is not too fertile. There are both bush and trailing types; the trailing types can grow up to three feet long. The round lily pad like leaves are either a gorgeous bluish green or can also be variegated green and creamy white. The leaves and flowers can both be picked to add to salads or sandwiches, or just used as pretty garnishes for various dishes. Nasturtium leaves have ten times the Vitamin C of lettuce. The taste? Kind of fresh and peppery – very appealing. I like to eat a few leaves when out viewing my garden. The flowers can be stuffed with seasoned cream cheese or guacamole for an easily done fancy appetizer – serve that with your next Margarita! Even their seeds are edible, and can be ground and used like pepper.
Nasturtiums are easily grown from seed or can be bought started as young plants at plant nurseries. Plant them in the vegetable garden for their colorful blooms and their fresh looking foliage.
A must have for me is rosemary. The plant is actually a perennial in warmer areas, but either needs to be treated as an annual here or wintered over in a very sunny and cool window indoors. The plant is very attractive so can be a feature in an attractive pot. The leaves look like pine needles. One can cut sprigs and use them whole or chop them to add to any pork, chicken, lamb, beef, or rabbit. When I spent time in Italy as a child with relatives– Sunday dinner meant roasted rabbit with garlic, olive oil, and rosemary. I like to make a marinade of chopped rosemary and garlic, olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to use to marinate chops, chicken pieces, and roasts. Lemon juice is good added to the mix to flavor chicken pieces or whole chickens for lemon herb chicken.
The perennial herb thyme is also a very good cooking herb as well as being very attractive. Give it lots of sun and good drainage. There are many kinds of thyme – I like to grow the variegated, common, lemon or French thyme for cooking purposes. I also have some Elfin thyme just for looks that, as the name implies, is very tiny, growing in a pot with some other tiny plants. Elfin thyme or Wooly thyme would be excellent to grow between paving stones, as they grow thickly and remain very short. For luscious scents try lemon thyme, lime thyme, lavender thyme, or orange balsam thyme. They smell so good you will want them for the scent alone. I just bought three orange balsam thymes – one for me and two for friends. Thyme is good for flavoring fish, summer squash, scrambled eggs and more. Both rosemary and thyme can be easily dried and used all winter.
More herb talk next week…
Gardenia blooms
My gardenia has been blooming off and on for a while now. It wintered
over very well in a sunny window in my home, and is now enjoying the
outdoors all summer.
Old Garden Roses
Here is a bouquet I had for my Memorial day cookout featuring (from
left to right) Cardinal Richelieu, unknown!, Zepherine Drouhine, and
Constance Spry, with Lady's Mantle blooms for a pretty fresh green
accent.
Pulmonaria (lungwort)
The beautiful blue blooms of the Pulmonaria in April, grown with a
carpet of Lysimachia nummularia (Creeping Jenny).
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
A visit to a plant farm with my friend
A couple of weeks ago, Teresa, a dear gardening friend, called. “Let’s take a field trip to Greenfield Plant Farm,” she said. The next day we went. Greenfield Plant Farm grows all sorts of annuals and perennials, and sells them direct to the public and also to other retailers. Many of the plants sold at local garden centers are grown there.
I had never been there, as it is a little out of the way. Greenfield is located at 726 Stephens Road in Maineville, Ohio. They grow over 2000 different perennials, and also herbs, annuals, shrubs, and ornamental grasses. When we got there I was impressed by their display gardens, which are attractively and imaginatively designed. I was dazzled by the variety and quality of their plants. Teresa, an employee of a local garden center where I used to work, was dazzled as well. We both wanted “one of everything.” OK, so since we don’t live out in the country or have bottomless bank accounts, we had to narrow it down a bit.
The visit there has created a whole new interest for me that I look to develop further this summer, after my summer classes are over. There was a whole section there devoted solely to alpine plants and miniature versions of other perennials to grow in troughs. Here is just a partial list of the miniature versions of standard plants – Baby’s breath, Columbine, Dianthus, Eryngium, Delphinium, Artimesia, Coral Bells (Heuchera), Yarrow, Campanula, Delosperma (Ice Plant), and many others. The troughs, in various sizes, were sold there as well. Now I want a trough and some miniature plants to go in it. As troughs are rather pricey, I looked up how to make my own on a couple of sites on the internet. I will be attempting to make Teresa and me both our own troughs. (yes, she loved the minis too – who could resist?) There were also miniature versions of evergreen shrubs – one I looked at reached twelve inches in 10 YEARS! I will report to my readers on my trough project in a few weeks. I have one container that is a “trough” of sorts, and it is planted with some small plants. I will have to make another, as it is charming,
I f you are a sedum fan, they definitely have a sedum (or three or ten) for you. I counted more than 25 varieties of sedums, which are so perfect for hot dry locations. Houseleeks, hens and chicks, or sempervivums were also in this area – I saw six varieties. I need a Cobweb houseleek now (yes I do!) to go with my “ordinary” houseleek.
Red wagons and other wagon types were handy to carry selections made. Rows and rows of vigorous perennials tempted us at every turn. Some of the polyhouses had a great selection of unusual annuals. Then there was a row of roses, and I added a climbing Eden to my wagon. Eden is a Romantica Rose, bred by the Meidilland family of France with huge blossoms packed with cream/pale pink blossoms. Add disease resistance, heat tolerance, and ever-blooming – and then you know why I had to take it home. It will grow to eight feet wide and five feet wide. Ah, well, I don’t need to plant tomatoes in my garden next year, do I? That’s what my big containers are for! Two hours later we wheeled our carts to the checkout booth and assessed the damage to our financial situation. We decided we could still lunch at LaRosa’s on the way home.
If you love plants and are looking for the unusual and unique – this was definitely worth the trip. We are already planning to go again. After all, we need to use our $5 coupon we got last time. For more info and directions, hours of operation, etc. see www.greenfieldplantfarm.com.
Tomato hint – be sure to plant marigolds around your tomato plants. It looks pretty and deters harmful predators and pests in the soil. Other good companion plants for tomatoes are borage, dill, and horehound. I have marigolds and borage around some of mine. The borage is a lovely herb with pretty true blue flowers that self seeds and comes back every year. More about borage next week. The easy to grow and tasty herb basil is also good to plant near your tomatoes. I love basil, tomato, and sweet onion salads with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing – oops, getting ahead of myself here – the tomatoes have not even blossomed yet! I can wait.
I had never been there, as it is a little out of the way. Greenfield is located at 726 Stephens Road in Maineville, Ohio. They grow over 2000 different perennials, and also herbs, annuals, shrubs, and ornamental grasses. When we got there I was impressed by their display gardens, which are attractively and imaginatively designed. I was dazzled by the variety and quality of their plants. Teresa, an employee of a local garden center where I used to work, was dazzled as well. We both wanted “one of everything.” OK, so since we don’t live out in the country or have bottomless bank accounts, we had to narrow it down a bit.
The visit there has created a whole new interest for me that I look to develop further this summer, after my summer classes are over. There was a whole section there devoted solely to alpine plants and miniature versions of other perennials to grow in troughs. Here is just a partial list of the miniature versions of standard plants – Baby’s breath, Columbine, Dianthus, Eryngium, Delphinium, Artimesia, Coral Bells (Heuchera), Yarrow, Campanula, Delosperma (Ice Plant), and many others. The troughs, in various sizes, were sold there as well. Now I want a trough and some miniature plants to go in it. As troughs are rather pricey, I looked up how to make my own on a couple of sites on the internet. I will be attempting to make Teresa and me both our own troughs. (yes, she loved the minis too – who could resist?) There were also miniature versions of evergreen shrubs – one I looked at reached twelve inches in 10 YEARS! I will report to my readers on my trough project in a few weeks. I have one container that is a “trough” of sorts, and it is planted with some small plants. I will have to make another, as it is charming,
I f you are a sedum fan, they definitely have a sedum (or three or ten) for you. I counted more than 25 varieties of sedums, which are so perfect for hot dry locations. Houseleeks, hens and chicks, or sempervivums were also in this area – I saw six varieties. I need a Cobweb houseleek now (yes I do!) to go with my “ordinary” houseleek.
Red wagons and other wagon types were handy to carry selections made. Rows and rows of vigorous perennials tempted us at every turn. Some of the polyhouses had a great selection of unusual annuals. Then there was a row of roses, and I added a climbing Eden to my wagon. Eden is a Romantica Rose, bred by the Meidilland family of France with huge blossoms packed with cream/pale pink blossoms. Add disease resistance, heat tolerance, and ever-blooming – and then you know why I had to take it home. It will grow to eight feet wide and five feet wide. Ah, well, I don’t need to plant tomatoes in my garden next year, do I? That’s what my big containers are for! Two hours later we wheeled our carts to the checkout booth and assessed the damage to our financial situation. We decided we could still lunch at LaRosa’s on the way home.
If you love plants and are looking for the unusual and unique – this was definitely worth the trip. We are already planning to go again. After all, we need to use our $5 coupon we got last time. For more info and directions, hours of operation, etc. see www.greenfieldplantfarm.com.
Tomato hint – be sure to plant marigolds around your tomato plants. It looks pretty and deters harmful predators and pests in the soil. Other good companion plants for tomatoes are borage, dill, and horehound. I have marigolds and borage around some of mine. The borage is a lovely herb with pretty true blue flowers that self seeds and comes back every year. More about borage next week. The easy to grow and tasty herb basil is also good to plant near your tomatoes. I love basil, tomato, and sweet onion salads with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing – oops, getting ahead of myself here – the tomatoes have not even blossomed yet! I can wait.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Garden Column this week
Hi....I write a weekly garden column, so this will also be a part of my blog - at least once a week.
Here is this week's column:
School is out and children are home. Time to involve them in your gardening, if you can drag them away from the television, the computer, and video games. I know all about it, I have a tech savvy daughter who learns more every day from my husband who is a computer professional. She is now working on building a web site to share her interests – Japanese Anime (Inuyasha), Jim Carrey, and comedy in general.
Back to gardening – I do try to get her involved – and she did help me plant the flowers at my church a couple of weeks ago and did a good job. Next I am going to suggest she raise some miniature tomato plants and sell them instead of lemonade.
If you involve children in your garden, or if they just like to explore and play in it like my two grandsons James and Jonah, you want to avoid harmful chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides, and in this column I will talk about some alternative products I use.
Have you noticed an increased population of sowbugs/pillbugs/roly polies? They are overrunning my pots and garden. They have their place – they help process organic matter, eat dead plant material, etc. But they will also feast on young tender plant material if it is available. To contain their population to reasonable numbers, use Diatomaceous Earth, a product readily available in garden sections of stores. This is a wonderful product that is totally harmless to people or pets but will kill cockroaches, ants, bedbugs, fleas, boxelder bugs, carpet beetles, centipedes, crickets, earwigs, grasshoppers, ticks, millipedes, scorpions, slugs, and silverfish. Diatomaceous Earth is made of the fossilized remains of very tiny creatures called diatoms. It looks like a fine white powder, and the very tiny particles have microscopically sharp edges, which cut the exoskeletons of pests so they dehydrate and die in short order – all with no dangerous chemical residues. The way to use it is to dust it onto the areas where pests are seen – around plants on the soil, in potted plants, in your pets bedding and fur, along baseboards and windowsills, etc. In the garden it needs to be reapplied after rain. I am sprinkling it around all my hostas along with crushed eggshells to control slugs. I love my hostas and don’t want them decorated with lots of holes. Try Diatomaceous Earth for garden and home pest control; it is reasonably priced and readily available. Keep it in a “shaker” container with a label for convenience. To read more specifics about it, here is an informative web page - http://www.hydromall.com/happy_grower16.html
On one of my Internet gardening lists, someone said they use grits to kill ants. One simply sprinkles dry grits on anthills, the ants eat it, and then they “pop” and die. I think I will buy a box of grits and be ready in case I uncover another ant colony near my house.
Those pesky mosquitoes that come back every summer often mar evenings spent in the yard. Drain standing water, keep fish in your pond to eat larva, and use insect repellant. If, like me, you choose to avoid using harmful chemicals if at all possible, try Avon Skin So Soft as a bug repellant. I used this when we vacationed in Sanibel Island – the sand “fleas” were terrible, but if we rubbed Skin So Soft on our legs they left us alone. Skin So Soft can also be added to the rinse water when bathing your dog to repel fleas. Avon has also added some new products that have Skin So Soft in it to be sold as bug repellant, such as combos of it and sunscreen, and when I just checked out Avon’s website – I see that all the Skin So Soft specialty products are on sale. Just the regular Skin So Soft works well, though. You can purchase from the website - www.avon.com - or your Avon representative. I have no affiliation with Avon, other than I sold it for a few months about twenty-five years ago. I do have an interest in keeping myself, my family, and my garden free of harmful chemicals and I try to encourage as many people as possible to do the same. For more alternatives to harmful chemicals for various uses in the garden (and many other great products) visit www.gardensalive.com, which is located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
Here is this week's column:
School is out and children are home. Time to involve them in your gardening, if you can drag them away from the television, the computer, and video games. I know all about it, I have a tech savvy daughter who learns more every day from my husband who is a computer professional. She is now working on building a web site to share her interests – Japanese Anime (Inuyasha), Jim Carrey, and comedy in general.
Back to gardening – I do try to get her involved – and she did help me plant the flowers at my church a couple of weeks ago and did a good job. Next I am going to suggest she raise some miniature tomato plants and sell them instead of lemonade.
If you involve children in your garden, or if they just like to explore and play in it like my two grandsons James and Jonah, you want to avoid harmful chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides, and in this column I will talk about some alternative products I use.
Have you noticed an increased population of sowbugs/pillbugs/roly polies? They are overrunning my pots and garden. They have their place – they help process organic matter, eat dead plant material, etc. But they will also feast on young tender plant material if it is available. To contain their population to reasonable numbers, use Diatomaceous Earth, a product readily available in garden sections of stores. This is a wonderful product that is totally harmless to people or pets but will kill cockroaches, ants, bedbugs, fleas, boxelder bugs, carpet beetles, centipedes, crickets, earwigs, grasshoppers, ticks, millipedes, scorpions, slugs, and silverfish. Diatomaceous Earth is made of the fossilized remains of very tiny creatures called diatoms. It looks like a fine white powder, and the very tiny particles have microscopically sharp edges, which cut the exoskeletons of pests so they dehydrate and die in short order – all with no dangerous chemical residues. The way to use it is to dust it onto the areas where pests are seen – around plants on the soil, in potted plants, in your pets bedding and fur, along baseboards and windowsills, etc. In the garden it needs to be reapplied after rain. I am sprinkling it around all my hostas along with crushed eggshells to control slugs. I love my hostas and don’t want them decorated with lots of holes. Try Diatomaceous Earth for garden and home pest control; it is reasonably priced and readily available. Keep it in a “shaker” container with a label for convenience. To read more specifics about it, here is an informative web page - http://www.hydromall.com/happy_grower16.html
On one of my Internet gardening lists, someone said they use grits to kill ants. One simply sprinkles dry grits on anthills, the ants eat it, and then they “pop” and die. I think I will buy a box of grits and be ready in case I uncover another ant colony near my house.
Those pesky mosquitoes that come back every summer often mar evenings spent in the yard. Drain standing water, keep fish in your pond to eat larva, and use insect repellant. If, like me, you choose to avoid using harmful chemicals if at all possible, try Avon Skin So Soft as a bug repellant. I used this when we vacationed in Sanibel Island – the sand “fleas” were terrible, but if we rubbed Skin So Soft on our legs they left us alone. Skin So Soft can also be added to the rinse water when bathing your dog to repel fleas. Avon has also added some new products that have Skin So Soft in it to be sold as bug repellant, such as combos of it and sunscreen, and when I just checked out Avon’s website – I see that all the Skin So Soft specialty products are on sale. Just the regular Skin So Soft works well, though. You can purchase from the website - www.avon.com - or your Avon representative. I have no affiliation with Avon, other than I sold it for a few months about twenty-five years ago. I do have an interest in keeping myself, my family, and my garden free of harmful chemicals and I try to encourage as many people as possible to do the same. For more alternatives to harmful chemicals for various uses in the garden (and many other great products) visit www.gardensalive.com, which is located in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
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