The Spearmint Lives On!

A Tiny Bit of Green in A Lot of Brown!

Wow!  Where has November gone?  I certainly didn't have a lot to say, did I?  And now The Herbal Husband has gone to visit family and friends in Peru!  I guess that is the good news and bad news.  I know I take for granted what he does for me around here each and every day!  I am exhausted chasing those darn squirrels away from the peanut caddy!!

I was out on the street brooming the leaves from our neighbor's giant oak tree into the front beds.  It is a wild and crazy thing.  The spearmint is surviving in a sea of brown!  I did get some lemon verbena and Texas tarragon cut and hanging in the basement to dry.   So I will be down in the workroom some day next week.  I really need to work on some herbal tea blends.  I have been drinking too much black tea!  Never!  But this is an herbal blog and I need to start using what I dried!

We are having spring type weather here.  It was 65° yesterday!   Supposedly the bottom will drop out next week.  I really do enjoy sweater weather.  Now on to the important stuff.  I didn't get to do a blogiversary giveaway in August.  I will however be doing a monster Herbal Christmas giveaway soon.  Please stay tuned!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Looks like turkey leftovers are tonight's dinner.  Talk to you soon.

Going Big in the Herb Garden!

The Elecampane Has Started to Flower!

One of the activities I do when I am not blogging in the winter is get out my copies of The Herb Companion magazine and come up with topics.  I have always been interested in herb garden design.  In the end I am basically just an herb plunker, herbally speaking!  But this winter when I pulled out my magazines, I came across a wonderful array of lists and plans of herb plants for different situations.  Maybe this will be my light bulb moment, herbally speaking!  I was attracted to the elecampane when we were in France in 2011 and stopped at Chateau Val Jonais.  Bonnie was kind enough to give me hers and now I need to plant some others to give it a bigger punch!

The Elecampane Made a Statement at Val Jonais!

I was just reminded that as a guest blogger for The Herb Companion aka Mother Earth Living, I wrote a post called Growing Big Herbs:  Angelica, Borage and Tansy.  That post talked about the tansy attracting all of the ladybugs and their eggs into the herb garden among other benefits.  So big is just not taking up space.  In this post I also referenced the article that I found this winter by Rob Proctor from a January 2000 magazine called Big is Beautiful:  Grow Big Herbs for a Beautiful Garden.  As I get older and want to do less weeding, I am looking to bigger fuller herbs and herbal shrubs to take up spaces and make a statement.  Hopefully, you will find the right combination of herb plants from his list for your herb garden.  Don't forget to use the Mother Earth Living website because they have the archived articles from The Herb Companion magazine available to you.  I will try to keep sharing my finds in posts along the way!  Also if you go to my home page that gives you a page of my guest posts for The Herb Companion and Mother Earth Living!

The rain just continues to fall and the ickies and stickies are back.  I have made several batches of raspberry jam already.  So there is a silver lining in the rain.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  I will talk to you later.

Sporadic Blooming, Christmas in July and Raspberry Jam!

Butterfly Bush Starting to Bloom!

My Favorite is Blooming This Season.  Second Year Plant in the Ground!

Swordleaf Elecampane, a Shorter Version of Elecampane!

Echinacea, a Staple in the Herb Garden

Monarda Blooming in Time for the Fourth!

I Thought This Monarda Was a Lighter Color Last Year!

Really 'Hot Papaya' Echinacea!

'Hall's Pink' at the Mailbox

The Really Big and Tall Elecampane!

After 27 Years in the Stash Box, Three Herbal Bouquets Finished!

An Apple Tree Ornament!

A Christmas Lantern Ornament!

The Start of Jam Season!

Really can't believe that it is July already!  We are still getting rain.  So the weeds are monstrous but there is sporadic blooming going on.  As I sit here typing, the skies are darkening again and we are about to have another rain storm.  Our blooming is spread out through our gardens, but not nearly enough to make a statement.  Will have to work on that for next year.

We do have some butterflies and bees, but they are not as present as in other years.  I think that has to do with all of the rain we are getting.  Hopefully starting tomorrow, we will have a few dry days so that the butterflies and bees will be visiting. 

One of my friends asked on Facebook if Monarda reblooms.  Yes, if you pick the petals off and keep the head intact, the flowers will rebloom.  You can use the petals in salads or dry them to put in your tea blends.  The leaves of the monarda do get mildew in this area and once the blooming has finished you can cut the leaves back and it will generate a new crop of mildew free leaves.  My two different varieties of elecampane are blooming.  The small one is in the herb garden and the large one is back in the flower bed I began last season.  I like the large enough to get more for next year.  I think I will continue to go big in the back beds and let plants take over.  Elecampane doesn't take over, but it does have a large presence.

I have been concentrating on my stitching because of the heat, humidity and rain.  As you can see, I have completed the three herbal bouquets from cross stitch magazines that are from 1990!  They each took about two weeks to finish.  Very excited!  I am also working on some small projects including the Christmas ornaments shown above.  Very happy and fulfilled to be stitching again.

And the raspberries have started to produce and I have already made two batches of jam.  Really raspberries are like clockwork.  I made my first batch of jam around the same time last season.  Christmas presents will include jam this year.   So hope you have had a great season so far in your herb garden.  Let me know what you are up to!  Also as always, I am up for any herbal questions you may have.  Hope you are having a fabulous day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

You Might Have Missed This, Herbally Speaking!

Photo Above is Double White Feverfew!  Borage Flowers, A Bee Favorite!

Clary Sage, Lamb's Ears and White Rose Campion in Bloom!

Apothecary's Rose!

Viburnum nudum 'Winterthur'

Calendula and Golden Feverfew!

One of My Favorites, Golden Feverfew!

The Pink 'Fairy' Rose is Outstanding!

The 'Hot Papaya' Echinacea Has Come Back

The Roadside Day Lilies Have Started Their Display!

Part of the Old Grape Arbor Made Into a New Entrance!

Another Part of the Grape Arbor Into the Front Garden!

Our Deterrents!

Well, June is a week from being history.  I have been struggling mightily to blog.  This post has been a challenge.  I did want you to see what is going on in the garden.  Lots of blooming!  And as I look outside, lots of rain!  Cindy has made its way to the 'Burgh.  We really didn't need her!  It has been raining so much that I mowed in the rain earlier this week.

This is one of my favorite times in the garden.  Lots of herbs are starting to bloom as you can see above.  The bee balm will be in its glory for the fourth of July!  Also wanted to show you the extra items The Herbal Husband made with the old grape arbor.  I think they both add character to our already quirky garden.

We are having a surge in wildlife in the garden, including but not limited to, a groundhog (eating on the driveway), skunk (several sightings at night), possum (having dinner out of our recycling can), raccoon and yesterday a doe brought her two fawns with her for a visit plus the three or four feral cats that roam the gardens.  It's a zoo!

Hope you are having a great day without rain!  I have definitely had enough rain, but the weeds are enjoying the extra rain as always!  Will talk to you later.

A Rainy June, Herbally Speaking!

My Purchases from Beech Creek Botanical Garden & Nature Preserve!

Basil in a Container Until the Temperatures Heat Up!

Beneficial Insect Found the Calendula Flower Right Away!

And So Too the Rue Flowers!

The Lemon Balm Scented Geranium is Flowering!

I Know I Have Written About This Rose!  Can't Remember the Name!

The Yarrow is Blooming As Well!

My herbal companion, Bonnie and I had a splendid day at Beech Creek Botanical Garden & Nature Preserve in Alliance, Ohio.  We were pleasantly surprised by the school buses with children learning about nature and gardening.  They don't have nearly the selection of herbs that they did at their previous location, Lily of the Valley Herb Farm.  The quality of their plants is very good.

Well, well, well, June is busting out all over here in the 'Burgh!  We have had so much rain over the past few weeks.  Almost every day The Herbal Husband reports that we have received an inch of rain!  My weeds are letting me know how good it is for them.  I have voluminous amounts of weeds in the bad bag and still it keeps raining.

As you can see from the sampling of herbs and flowers in the photos, the rain has helped in great measure to liven up the landscape.  The mild winter helped as well.  I had verbena bonariensis come back from the plant itself.  I think they generally self sow here.  I have also lost some plants that I thought would come through.  The French tarragon had two very tiny stalks.  They didn't last.  Although my Texas tarragon that was in a container in the basement all winter is flourishing!   I thought a chocolate flower that never is hardy here, was going to make it through.  Sadly it died.  I also wanted to mention that we put the sweet basils I purchased into a container because we have not been consistently in the 80's in the daytime and the 60's at night.  Basils do not enjoy cold soils!  May was a beautiful month for gardens here and June is on pace to be equally as nice.

Hope you are having a great day in your herb garden and you will stop by from time to time to check out what is going on in my herb garden.  I have started the process of cutting my chive blossoms.  Make some chive blossom vinegar if you have some that haven't gone past!  Just go out and enjoy the beauty of your herb garden every chance you get.  You will get pleasure from growing fresh herbs!  Talk to you soon!

All Mixed Up, Herbally Speaking!

The Angelica Is Taking Over!

Not Quite Lemon Verbena! :(

May already here in the 'Burgh!  Just can't seem to find the extra time to blog at the moment.  Everything has just exploded here.  Blooming bushes are REALLY blooming!  Weeds are REALLY big!  And herbs I thought would survive, didn't; and herbs I thought would not live, survived.  The angelica is just big and bigger!  I said to The Herbal Husband at the end of last season that we were losing the angelica!  Not so fast.  It has come back with great gusto, herbally speaking!  It is going to start blooming shortly.

My great experiment with the cover on the lemon verbena outside did not work.  A field mouse or rodent of some kind made a nice little house under the cover and dug up the lemon verbena.  What is coming up in that space is the Greek oregano which is already being attacked by the four lined plant bug.  It has the most damage at the moment.  I have the wild oregano along the driveway and it hasn't been attacked yet.  I give up trying to figure this out!

So I was looking up on the hillside and herbs I thought would come back haven't and I think the chocolate flower that isn't particularly hardy here, did!  Who knew I would be excited about a chocolate flower coming back to life.  We decided not to have much of a vegetable garden and so what is coming up in those beds, wild garlic and onions!  Grass abounds where it shouldn't be.  Deer are making beds (no pun intended) where some of the only perennials are planted!  It figures!  So we have a lot of work to do and if it would stop raining maybe I could get started.

Got caught up with some of my book reading, Laura Childs tea series and Susan Wittig Albert and the China Bayles novels.  Of course the stitching is progressing.  The coverlet is on course to be done in late June/early July.  We are waiting for a big rainstorm to hit later today.  Still have chances for frost!  So if you are in the Pittsburgh area, watch the forecast before planting some of those tenders outside.  Hope you are having a fabulous day.  I will try to blog a bit more!  Talk to you later.

Will Try This Again, Herbally Speaking!

Lovage is Popping Its Leaves Up!

Don't Forget to Leave The Dandelion Flowers for the Bees!

Angelica is Quite Perky on a Sunny Day!

Square Eleven Done!  One More to Go!

Seems like a while since I have been by.  The weather has continued to be up and down.  We finally have daffodils blooming.  Some of the bushes and trees that had started to leaf out will have to start again.  We covered a lot of plants with ornamental grass clippings.  Will probably have to pull more grasses than normal this year because of seeds growing.  We have gotten out in the front garden and clip things down and took out a redbud that had died.  It was right by the walk and I don't want anything to happen to the mailman or delivery people!  We had one car stop while we were working and tell us how much she loved our garden!  That really means a lot!  Thanks to her!

So the lovage is up in the main herb garden.  We had planted one in the back gardens and I don't see signs of it.  The angelica is up and looking very happy.  Hope the building of the new arbor doesn't hurt their leaves!  We looked for signs that the lemon verbena has come back that we left in the ground.  No signs of life yet.  And please, please don't take out all of your dandelions.  Leave some flowers for the bees.  It is one of the first flowers of the season for them.

Been very intently trying to finish this cross-stitch throw.  Coral bells is square eleven as you can see in the photo.  I am working on the twelfth and final square.  Hoping to get it done by Friday.  We shall see.  There is still a chill in the air here.  So we will move with baby steps to get covers off.  Hope you are having a fabulous day wherever you may be.  Still have so much to say and hopefully will get back on track soon!  Talk to you later!

The Gray and Green of the Herb Garden Even in Winter!

Still Trying to Make the Germander a Hedge!

I Love the Gray of the Artemisia!

Wow, This Lamb's Ear Has Taken Its Share of the Herb Garden!

Always A Green Source in Winter in the Herb Garden, Salad Burnet!

Well, I didn't think I would be sitting here talking about 40's, 50's even maybe 60 degrees in the herb garden in February.  We may get up to 1/2" of rain tomorrow before we head back to more seasonal temperatures!  I got a memory of February past in my Facebook account this morning that went back to 2011. We had a lot of snow that year. This year not so much.  That is a bit worrisome.

It is such a nice day that I ventured out and took some photos of my favorites in the herb garden this time of year even when it is very snowy.  I also wanted to try and get a list together of moving herbs so that we are on top of it this season.  I need to think about the oregano population in the herb garden.  It is spreading everywhere and taking space where I could have other varieties and you know how I like other varieties of herbs!

Two of my favorite green plants even in the cold of winter are germander and salad burnet.  Germander is a traditional hedge in the herb garden and mine is looking more like a small hedge each day.  And salad burnet that gives you a cucumbery taste in salad and makes a lovely vinegar.  It does not taste so much like cucumber this time of year.  It keeps you in suspense!  The gray favorites are artemisia and lamb's ear.  The artemisia was transplanted late in the season last year and hopefully it will make a hedge similar to the germander.  The lamb's ears are volunteers that need to be moved around.  It will continue to grow out of scale again where I could plant other herbs!  What are your favorite green and gray herbs in the winter garden.

Almost the second week of February and I have been busy with my stitching.  Here is where I am on the afghan.

Square One of Twelve!

I think it will be close to two months of stitching to get all of the squares done.  I will be sprinkling posts in and among the stitching days.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be!  It is another blue sky day and I may get out and take a walk since it is so nice.  Rain tomorrow and maybe even a clap of thunder!  Talk to you soon!

Getting an Early Jump on 2017--Herbally Speaking!

The Rue is Doing Nicely Next to the Lemon Verbena!

The Santolinas Are Also Doing Well!

Always Love to See Salad Burnet in the Winter Garden!

A Bit Too Late to Trim the Germander!

I Am Hoping We Will Have More of These This Winter!

My First Selfie of the Year!

Well, here I am doing what I said I wasn't going to do, post!  We don't get many sunny days in the winter here in the 'Burgh.  I had to take exception and show you what is going on in the herb garden.  I love the textures and color differences in the herb garden even in winter.  So many herbs stay green or gray throughout the winter which is always a plus when it is snowy and cold.  Some have taste like thyme and sage.  The salad burnet while looking pretty loses its flavor.  By the time I think to trim the germander to make it more hedge like, it has flowered and attracting bees and you know the rest.  The santolinas on the wall got moved from the bed in the back.  They are just small balls at the moment.  Hoping this season, they will get a bit larger.  I am going to talk about what we are trying with the white container and the lemon verbena maybe next time I am here. 

I actually took a walk yesterday to try and lose the pounds that I put on with that rediscovered food group at the holidays, COOKIES!   It was a glorious blue sky day here!  So I will be around periodically.  Always here if you have questions.  We are back to gray skies and rain here.  Cold is coming by mid-week.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you soon!