Thursday, July 28, 2005
Scented Geraniums
I wish I could see how everyone’s gardens are doing. I see many front yard gardens that look absolutely gorgeous and unique. In my tiny vegetable garden, the tomatoes are getting bigger, but not coloring yet – still green. I have picked a few yellow summer squash, some beans, some peppers, and I see my cucumber vines are loaded with tiny cukes. I had a question from a reader who is unhappy with how peppers grow in Ohio as compared to Texas. The peppers I planted in containers look fantastic and are hung with lots of ripening peppers. This has been my experience in the past as well. The few I planted in the ground grew much more slowly and don’t look as vigorous, or produce as well. I don’t know why this is, but will continue to plant peppers in containers with fresh potting mix (I prefer Ferti-Lome) and some Osmocote (long acting fertilizer) and supplementary feedings of fish emulsion and seaweed powder.
About three weeks ago I purchased some scented geraniums (officially Pelargoniums) from a local business on Grand Ave. I was so impressed by the vigor of the geraniums and the variety I actually bought nine. Yes, I nearly always get carried away during plant shopping! Scented Geraniums are considered herbs, and are very easy to grow. I simply potted them all up in some clay pots and set them on a plant stand in a sunny area. I love to stop and smell the leaves each time I walk by. There are many cultivars (over 150, with about 50 variations of the rose-scented alone) of these scented geraniums. The plants originally come from South Africa. The varieties I purchased were – “Skeleton Rose,” “Snowflake”(with variegated velvety leaves), “Round Leaf Orange,” “Mint,” “Old Fashioned Rose,” “Velvet Rose,” ”Citronella,” “Apple,” and “Crispum Lemon.” They all bear attractive small delicate flowers as a bonus to their lovely leaves and yummy scent. I love to tear off a leaf and carry it to sniff as I go about my day. These can be wintered over in your house during winter, as they are not hardy. To prepare for winter, cut back by half or so, and place in a sunny window or under grow lights until late April, when they can be set outside again. What else can you do with the leaves of scented geraniums? One, you can add some of the leaves to your bathwater. Two, you can dry the leaves and add to tea mixtures or to potpourri. Three, you can place fresh leaves at the bottom of cake or muffin pans before adding the batter. As the product bakes, it will be infused with the scent of the leaf. When I got married, I harvested a few dozen of the highly attractive and fragrant leaves from a huge scented geranium my mother has, and had the cake baker decorate my cake with the leaves along with a few dozen roses. The effect was gorgeous and Victorian looking. If you would like to view excellent pictures of various types, try this website – www.hobbsfarm.com - they sell all sorts of geraniums – miniature, scented, fancy leaf, etc.
Another reader thought her Tricyrtis (Toad Lily) looked a little burnt on the edges, and wanted to know if she should add Miracle-Gro. Toad lilies occasionally do this in the first year, so I recommended she leave it alone. Sometimes one can hurt plants with too much “fussing.” Perennials do not need any fertilizer per se the first year. I do (if I have it on hand) use bone meal or Triple Super Phosphate in the planting hole initially. This stimulates good root growth and helps the plant get established. After that, I never actually “fertilize” perennials – I merely sheet compost as I described in last week’s column, or add some cow manure once a year. This is sufficient for perennials. For annuals, including vegetables, I do as I described for the peppers earlier – Osmocote, fish emulsion, and seaweed powder. I add nothing else, except monthly Epsom salts for roses, peppers, and tomatoes. Be careful of over watering as well. For most potted plants, wait until the soil is dry to water again. I gave my oldest daughter Sarah several containers of annuals for her apartment deck. She was enthusiastically watering daily (she is a chemist, not a gardener - yet!), and they started looking bad, until I found out and told her to cut back some on the watering. Next week - all about Dianthus and time to think about next spring!
About three weeks ago I purchased some scented geraniums (officially Pelargoniums) from a local business on Grand Ave. I was so impressed by the vigor of the geraniums and the variety I actually bought nine. Yes, I nearly always get carried away during plant shopping! Scented Geraniums are considered herbs, and are very easy to grow. I simply potted them all up in some clay pots and set them on a plant stand in a sunny area. I love to stop and smell the leaves each time I walk by. There are many cultivars (over 150, with about 50 variations of the rose-scented alone) of these scented geraniums. The plants originally come from South Africa. The varieties I purchased were – “Skeleton Rose,” “Snowflake”(with variegated velvety leaves), “Round Leaf Orange,” “Mint,” “Old Fashioned Rose,” “Velvet Rose,” ”Citronella,” “Apple,” and “Crispum Lemon.” They all bear attractive small delicate flowers as a bonus to their lovely leaves and yummy scent. I love to tear off a leaf and carry it to sniff as I go about my day. These can be wintered over in your house during winter, as they are not hardy. To prepare for winter, cut back by half or so, and place in a sunny window or under grow lights until late April, when they can be set outside again. What else can you do with the leaves of scented geraniums? One, you can add some of the leaves to your bathwater. Two, you can dry the leaves and add to tea mixtures or to potpourri. Three, you can place fresh leaves at the bottom of cake or muffin pans before adding the batter. As the product bakes, it will be infused with the scent of the leaf. When I got married, I harvested a few dozen of the highly attractive and fragrant leaves from a huge scented geranium my mother has, and had the cake baker decorate my cake with the leaves along with a few dozen roses. The effect was gorgeous and Victorian looking. If you would like to view excellent pictures of various types, try this website – www.hobbsfarm.com - they sell all sorts of geraniums – miniature, scented, fancy leaf, etc.
Another reader thought her Tricyrtis (Toad Lily) looked a little burnt on the edges, and wanted to know if she should add Miracle-Gro. Toad lilies occasionally do this in the first year, so I recommended she leave it alone. Sometimes one can hurt plants with too much “fussing.” Perennials do not need any fertilizer per se the first year. I do (if I have it on hand) use bone meal or Triple Super Phosphate in the planting hole initially. This stimulates good root growth and helps the plant get established. After that, I never actually “fertilize” perennials – I merely sheet compost as I described in last week’s column, or add some cow manure once a year. This is sufficient for perennials. For annuals, including vegetables, I do as I described for the peppers earlier – Osmocote, fish emulsion, and seaweed powder. I add nothing else, except monthly Epsom salts for roses, peppers, and tomatoes. Be careful of over watering as well. For most potted plants, wait until the soil is dry to water again. I gave my oldest daughter Sarah several containers of annuals for her apartment deck. She was enthusiastically watering daily (she is a chemist, not a gardener - yet!), and they started looking bad, until I found out and told her to cut back some on the watering. Next week - all about Dianthus and time to think about next spring!
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Sheet composting
The other day I was talking to my mother, who has quite a bit of yard space, more than I do. We were eating my small crop of beets and beet greens grown in a large pot, which were quite delicious. Next year, I said, you should plant beets, just make your garden bigger. Make it bigger the easy way. Now, I must admit, this method that I will discuss is not original, but I originally read about it in the book, “Lasagna Gardening” by Patricia Lanz, and have read more information about this type of gardening in the books by Ruth Stout, written about thirty or forty years ago. Some of the methods proposed by these authors I have already discovered on my own, mainly due to my own lack of time and quite frankly – also my aversion to unnecessary hard work. The idea is to never have to plow, till, or double dig, and to let earthworms and time do the work for you – like what occurs in nature. The method works very well, as I have tried it in several areas of my garden. It smothers the weeds and creates rich friable loose soil. It also lets one water less frequently, as rich loamy soil with a mulch of some sort retains water very well. A plant with good healthy soil is most resistant to disease and pests.
I started with a terrible weed infested hard packed and gravelly area next to my driveway. I could not even get a shovel into it, so digging it up was not even an option. One begins by laying down a thick layer of newspaper (no slick inserts) and/or cardboard from boxes. Wet the newspaper and cardboard, and then add all the organic material you can get your hands on. There is no set formula. I added bags of cow manure, top soil, and shredded leaves, about eight inches thick. More is better. Then just let it sit there. You can plant some things right away, thought it is better to give it a few months. You can begin this at any time, but now through fall is a very good time. After a few months, time and earthworms will have done the work, and you will have some very good soil and a new or enlarged garden bed. Add more organic material every year, right on top. What type of material?
Horse or cow manure, the dirty litter from rabbits or guinea pigs, all your vegetable scraps from the kitchen, used coffee grounds, eggshells, shredded leaves, grass clippings, pine needles, peat moss, bags of compost, shredded paper, leftover potting soil, regular mulch, hay– in short , as long as it is vegetative matter, it will work. Once you have plants in place – whether they are vegetables or flowers or shrubs – you still keep adding these materials. Even when you have weeds, just pull them and lay them on the soil – to decay and add nutrients to the soil. The same with plants that are done for the season, just lay them on the surface of the soil after you cut them down, leaving the roots in place to decay and also add nutrients. If you use this method, sometimes called “sheet composting, you won’t need a compost pile, and you will need little, if any, commercial fertilizer. Your soil will become rich and loose, and easy to plant. The places where I have done this for the last ten years have wonderful soil to a depth of a foot or more – and all with no tilling or digging – the earthworms will do all the work for you. The only digging I do now is to dig a big hole for a large plant or to transplant an established plant to a better location.
Would you like to know of a perennial that will grow practically anywhere, requires no care and little water, multiplies yearly, has no disease or pest problems, and will yield beautiful blooms and lush foliage that stays attractive all season long? I am talking about daylilies. There is nothing bad to say about them. Yes, we have all seen the ordinary “Stella d’Oro” daylily in practically every landscaping job, but there are so many other daylilies in gorgeous colors – pink, red, claret, lemon yellow, peach, two tone – many have double form, and some are even fragrant. Many are repeat bloomers, and most bloom for a long time in mid summer. I have quite a few and most of them are blooming at this time. I go out every morning and check out the new arrivals. The daylily is called that because each bloom lasts for one day. They can be planted at anytime one can stick a spade in the soil. My friend Teresa who works at a large garden center in southeast Middletown told me they recently got a shipment of 900 fresh daylilies – many different and unusual cultivars that are hard to find. Go check them out for some fresh new color!
I started with a terrible weed infested hard packed and gravelly area next to my driveway. I could not even get a shovel into it, so digging it up was not even an option. One begins by laying down a thick layer of newspaper (no slick inserts) and/or cardboard from boxes. Wet the newspaper and cardboard, and then add all the organic material you can get your hands on. There is no set formula. I added bags of cow manure, top soil, and shredded leaves, about eight inches thick. More is better. Then just let it sit there. You can plant some things right away, thought it is better to give it a few months. You can begin this at any time, but now through fall is a very good time. After a few months, time and earthworms will have done the work, and you will have some very good soil and a new or enlarged garden bed. Add more organic material every year, right on top. What type of material?
Horse or cow manure, the dirty litter from rabbits or guinea pigs, all your vegetable scraps from the kitchen, used coffee grounds, eggshells, shredded leaves, grass clippings, pine needles, peat moss, bags of compost, shredded paper, leftover potting soil, regular mulch, hay– in short , as long as it is vegetative matter, it will work. Once you have plants in place – whether they are vegetables or flowers or shrubs – you still keep adding these materials. Even when you have weeds, just pull them and lay them on the soil – to decay and add nutrients to the soil. The same with plants that are done for the season, just lay them on the surface of the soil after you cut them down, leaving the roots in place to decay and also add nutrients. If you use this method, sometimes called “sheet composting, you won’t need a compost pile, and you will need little, if any, commercial fertilizer. Your soil will become rich and loose, and easy to plant. The places where I have done this for the last ten years have wonderful soil to a depth of a foot or more – and all with no tilling or digging – the earthworms will do all the work for you. The only digging I do now is to dig a big hole for a large plant or to transplant an established plant to a better location.
Would you like to know of a perennial that will grow practically anywhere, requires no care and little water, multiplies yearly, has no disease or pest problems, and will yield beautiful blooms and lush foliage that stays attractive all season long? I am talking about daylilies. There is nothing bad to say about them. Yes, we have all seen the ordinary “Stella d’Oro” daylily in practically every landscaping job, but there are so many other daylilies in gorgeous colors – pink, red, claret, lemon yellow, peach, two tone – many have double form, and some are even fragrant. Many are repeat bloomers, and most bloom for a long time in mid summer. I have quite a few and most of them are blooming at this time. I go out every morning and check out the new arrivals. The daylily is called that because each bloom lasts for one day. They can be planted at anytime one can stick a spade in the soil. My friend Teresa who works at a large garden center in southeast Middletown told me they recently got a shipment of 900 fresh daylilies – many different and unusual cultivars that are hard to find. Go check them out for some fresh new color!
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Silk ribbon embroidery pillow
Here is a silk ribbon embroidered pillow I made for my aunt in
Switzerland a few years ago. It has some of the flowers of Switzerland
on it.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Monday, July 04, 2005
More herb talk
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) is an easily grown bushy herb that grows to about two feet in height and about a foot wide. Its foliage is redolent of the scent of lemon. It has tiny white flowers in midsummer, and it also self-seeds - so once you plant one, you will always have replacements for this annual herb.
The British herbalist Culpeper wrote about this herb in the seventeenth century - "...[Lemon Balm] causeth the mind and heart to be Merry...and driveth away all troublesome cares." Like most herbs, it is antibacterial and antiviral, and is also slightly sedative – calming in other words. It also is good for digestion. If you are nervous or worried on occasion (and who isn’t sometimes?) make a tea with a few torn leaves of Lemon balm – drink with honey, and relax. It will also help your vegetable garden by attracting bees for good pollination – thereby increasing your yields.
I grow basil in the garden yearly. If you grow tomatoes, you need to grow basil as well, as the marriage between basil and tomatoes is well known. We associate basil with Italy and Italian cooking, but it is originally from India where it is known as tulsi, which in Hindi means Sacred Basil. Basil is also used in Thai cooking. Basil is good added to nearly every tomato dish, including sliced tomato sandwiches. Just lay a few leaves of basil on the tomato for a lovely flavor. To use in cooking, stack a few washed leaves on top of each other, roll up and slice thinly to create shreds. Add near the end of the cooking process. I love fresh tomato salad – sliced sweet onions, feta cheese, fresh wedges of tomatoes, torn basil, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil all combined. Basil comes in many varieties and is easily grown. Sun and good soil is all you need, and if you are short on space – grow it in a container. It will grow to two feet or more in height. Bush Basil is a small version easily grown in a pot. Keep pinching off the flowering tops to keep any variety of basil producing all summer. If you dry basil leaves, much of the flavor is lost. Basil is best preserved by pureeing the leaves with water or olive oil; freezing in portions (such as in ice cube trays) and keeping in zip lock freezer bags. That way you can enjoy your homegrown basil all winter.
My German mother mentioned that she remembers that in her childhood, they frequently used an herb called Bohnenkraut (meaning “bean herb” in German) to season beans. It was even sold alongside the fresh beans. After she searched a bit on Google, she found it is the herb known here as summer savory (Satureja hortensis). One of savory’s benefits, along with enhancing flavor is aiding in digestion. It is also supposed to be an aphrodisiac, the Latin name Satureja coming from Pliny the Elder in the first century. Pliny was a Roman scholar who wrote a 37 volume Natural History. (He died from volcanic fumes while trying to investigate the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius) He named this herb after satyrs, who were known for their sexual appetites. Satyrs supposedly lived in meadows of savory – hence implying that savory made them passionate. Another use for savory?
Veronicastrum siberica is a lovely elegant perennial now blooming in my garden next to my “David” phlox and several roses. It is five feet tall with whorls of long leaves placed symmetrically on the stem. It originates in Russia and is very hardy and healthy. There is also a native version with white blooms known as Veronicastrum virginicum. This plant looks great in the middle or back of a garden bed.
The British herbalist Culpeper wrote about this herb in the seventeenth century - "...[Lemon Balm] causeth the mind and heart to be Merry...and driveth away all troublesome cares." Like most herbs, it is antibacterial and antiviral, and is also slightly sedative – calming in other words. It also is good for digestion. If you are nervous or worried on occasion (and who isn’t sometimes?) make a tea with a few torn leaves of Lemon balm – drink with honey, and relax. It will also help your vegetable garden by attracting bees for good pollination – thereby increasing your yields.
I grow basil in the garden yearly. If you grow tomatoes, you need to grow basil as well, as the marriage between basil and tomatoes is well known. We associate basil with Italy and Italian cooking, but it is originally from India where it is known as tulsi, which in Hindi means Sacred Basil. Basil is also used in Thai cooking. Basil is good added to nearly every tomato dish, including sliced tomato sandwiches. Just lay a few leaves of basil on the tomato for a lovely flavor. To use in cooking, stack a few washed leaves on top of each other, roll up and slice thinly to create shreds. Add near the end of the cooking process. I love fresh tomato salad – sliced sweet onions, feta cheese, fresh wedges of tomatoes, torn basil, and balsamic vinegar and olive oil all combined. Basil comes in many varieties and is easily grown. Sun and good soil is all you need, and if you are short on space – grow it in a container. It will grow to two feet or more in height. Bush Basil is a small version easily grown in a pot. Keep pinching off the flowering tops to keep any variety of basil producing all summer. If you dry basil leaves, much of the flavor is lost. Basil is best preserved by pureeing the leaves with water or olive oil; freezing in portions (such as in ice cube trays) and keeping in zip lock freezer bags. That way you can enjoy your homegrown basil all winter.
My German mother mentioned that she remembers that in her childhood, they frequently used an herb called Bohnenkraut (meaning “bean herb” in German) to season beans. It was even sold alongside the fresh beans. After she searched a bit on Google, she found it is the herb known here as summer savory (Satureja hortensis). One of savory’s benefits, along with enhancing flavor is aiding in digestion. It is also supposed to be an aphrodisiac, the Latin name Satureja coming from Pliny the Elder in the first century. Pliny was a Roman scholar who wrote a 37 volume Natural History. (He died from volcanic fumes while trying to investigate the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius) He named this herb after satyrs, who were known for their sexual appetites. Satyrs supposedly lived in meadows of savory – hence implying that savory made them passionate. Another use for savory?
Veronicastrum siberica is a lovely elegant perennial now blooming in my garden next to my “David” phlox and several roses. It is five feet tall with whorls of long leaves placed symmetrically on the stem. It originates in Russia and is very hardy and healthy. There is also a native version with white blooms known as Veronicastrum virginicum. This plant looks great in the middle or back of a garden bed.
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