Wednesday, August 31

The Beauty of Weeds


When life is not coming up roses


Look to the weeds

and find the beauty hidden within them.




Daisies are one of my favorite wildflowers, a.k.a. weed. This is a wild, or OxEye daisy that grows in small bunches on our property. I never know when they will pop up, or where I will find this sunny flower. I did have some success transplanting a couple of roots to one of my flower beds, but they seemed to be fairly short lived. This year I found a small grouping near our large oak tree. It was a lovely, bright spot in a meadow of green.

~Brenda

Wednesday, August 24

Edible Flowers in the Herb Garden

When buying herb plants and seeds I always look in the flower sections. Many herbs are also considered edible flowers. They are beautiful and can be used in salads, as a garnish, in vinegar, herb butter and much more.  

Calendula and Nasturtium varieties will often be listed in the flower sections of seed catalogs. 

Below are some of the edible blooms I'm growing in my garden.

I've planted three lavender plants in my herb garden. Lavender can be dried easily and used in teas, dessert, sachets and balms.


Calendula petals are edible and medicinal. The flowers turn to seed fairly quickly, but at the stage shown in the picture they can be harvested by snipping them off the plant at just above the first set of leaves. The petal pull away from the center easily and are ready to use in salads.  They also can be used in recipes for lotions and balms.


Nasturtiums are one of my favorite herbs because it's easy to sow and grow. Cherry rose, below, is a lovely variety.  


The Alaska variety is another good choice with it's pretty variegated leaves. The blooms and leaves can be used in salads, or as garnishes.


There are many other flowers and herbs that are edible such as:

Chives
Basil 
Borage
Mints
Chervil
Fennel
Dill
Thyme
Rose
Oregano

~Brenda

Saturday, August 20

Blooming Herbs and Flowers

Today I'm sharing more pictures of the herbs and flowers I planted this garden season. Everything is doing well. I do need to get out and deadhead the calendula and the snapdragons, which will bloom right up until a hard frost.


CALENDULA


LAVENDER


CALIBRACHOA


JOHNNY JUMP UP
&
LEMON VERBENA


MOSS ROSE



NASTURTIUM


Thursday, August 4

Growing Culinary Herbs Again

Since leaving behind my herb garden in the city I've struggled with creating another garden. I think it's much like an artist looking at a blank canvas three times larger than they've worked with in the past.  I was overwhelmed.

We went from a city lot to ten acres in a rural area with a large field, horse pasture, a small wooded area and a bit of wetland scrub. At the time I had visions of grandeur where I created large, amazing gardens, a pond and fields of wildflowers.  While some of that may yet become a reality as money becomes available, it wasn't a realistic plan. My imagination was much larger than our wallet.

However, after much experimentation I finally turned part of our yard into a garden area, starting with a round herb bed.

Last year we placed the blocks and put down plastic to smother the weeds and grass. This year, in early spring we bought a yard of planting soil, which was a step up from topsoil. I worked in an organic fertilizer and allowed the bed to sit for about two weeks. This was the bed after I added a few pansies and the "centerpiece" of the bed, which is the top of a cast iron chiminea we've had for over ten years.




It's shaded in the morning, but only before about 11:00 a.m. or so. The rest of the day the bed is in full sun. Here is the herb bed now:



I planted annual herbs and flowers until the perennial herbs fill in the bed. I included:

Pansy
Moss Rose
Calendula
Nasturtium
Petunia

The perennial herbs include:
Oregano
Thyme 
Sage
Lavender
Catmint (Nepeta)
Chives

I also planted lemon verbena, although in Zone 5 it can't be overwintered. I simply couldn't resist the wonderful fragrance. I also planted basil in a long "windowbox" type planter and dill in another pot. 

I've been watering the herb bed in between rains. The containers always need more watering. After the perennials establish themselves they won't need extra water. Which is one of the many reasons I love herbs. They are easy to grow, lovely, fragrant and useful.

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