Scented Geranium Flowers and Redbud Too!

Mint Scented Geranium in Bloom!

Cercis canadensis, The Eastern Redbud, One of My Favorites!

Gosh, time is flying by and the heat has come again to the 'Burgh!  That means that gardening will begin in earnest soon.  Got out and weeded some and need to dig grass out of places it shouldn't be in!  You know the same old tasks!

The mint scented geranium that lives in a container and in our garage in the winter has started to bloom.  Beautiful pinkish white blooms and then the scent of the mint scented geranium hits you!  Just glorious.  Also if you have a shady garden, this is the one scented geranium that needs shade.  That is why we have it in a container.  Do you have an herb that has been inside that is a favorite?  We have had a bunch of casualties of the herbal variety this winter.

My favorite tree with edible flowers is blooming right now, the Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis).  Thought we might lose the blooms in the last (I hope!) cold spell the other day and they weren't quite open which helped them survive.  The flowers taste like lettuce in a salad.  The blooms are closely held on the branches unlike other blooms of trees.  This tree does come with its issues.  It is really native to limestone outcroppings of the Carolinas.  Soo it is probably at its upper reaches when it resides here.  It gets canker and when it gets below zero a ways (like 22 degrees below zero), it will not survive.  Other than that, it has heart shaped leaves that turn a bright yellow in the fall.  What's not to love?  We have lost several over the years and they keep seeding and coming back which is a good thing!  So do you have a favorite tree that is in bloom at the moment.

Our landscape is coming alive finally.  Only three weeks until May?  Yikes!  Just crazy how the time is flying by.  So I will try to be posting more as we get into the garden and work.  Let me know if you have any questions or concerns, herbally speaking in the new season.  Talk to you soon.

I Thought Being Canadian Might Help, Herbally Speaking!

This Sweet Basil is Sadly Getting Downy Mildew!

We bought this sweet basil at Trader Joe's in June and I thought because it was grown in Canada, we might have a chance to enjoy it.  The Herbal Husband and I are always seduced by a beautiful plant especially basil and this certainly was one.  Although I am gun shy when it comes to buying sweet basil plants these days because of disease.  Even one that I thought was a hybrid that was more resistant has gotten it.  I really have been shaken to the core by downy mildew of basil.  Unfortunately it is here to stay for those of us in the northeast and some states where it exists but has not been diagnosed yet.

What I call the scented basils, lemon, lime, cinnamon, Thai, Holy etc.  All of these basils seem to be resistant to the disease.  Such a beautiful plant that will be gone shortly!  It is getting tougher to grow favorite herbs all of the time! 

We mowed and are still weeding parts of the front and back gardens.  Those two weeks that I was in England, I am really paying for it now!  Today was a beautiful day with warm temps and low humidity. The ickies and stickies come back tomorrow.  Hope you have had a great day.  I will work on that giveaway box for you and let you know the details and how you can win it shortly!  Talk to you again soon!

Downy Mildew on Sweet Basil!

Leaf of "Organic" Sweet Basil with Downy Mildew

Underside of Same Leaf with Downy Mildew

A Whole Mess of Sweet Basil Seedlings with Downy Mildew! :(

I Really Don't Know Why This Basil is Doing OK!

The Experiment of Keeping the Sweet Basil Inside Has Not Helped the Downy Mildew!

I'm Encouraging The Herbal Husband to Get Rid of It!

Well, I can finally take a break from picking raspberries and making jam.  Never had this many great raspberries this early!  I did want to address this topic because it could be devastating to your sweet basil plants.  It is called downy mildew.  It exists in some vegetables, perennials and in the cruelest choice possible for herb lovers to sweet basil.  The good news is that at the moment the disease does not seem to affect other basils varieties, lemon, Thai, cinnamon, etc.  As Dr. McGrath calls them the fruit and spice varieties.  The other good news is that you can eat the diseased leaves and not die!   The Herbal Husband and I are living proof of that.  Also, in an ironic twist, the sweet basil that The Herbal Husband saved last fall from being dried by another local garden center was planted in the herb garden just recently and is doing fine at the moment.  Leaf moisture and humidity and limited air circulation are catalysts for downy mildew and we are having all of those at the moment!  So I will let you know if this basil gets the disease!  Fingers crossed!  The one big symptom of this disease is yellowing of the leaves which is a sign of a nutrient deficiency.  You can put a leaf that is showing symptoms but no spores in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel in the dark overnight to see if the spores will appear.  Good air circulation and sunlight will help keep your basil plants healthy.

The Herbal Husband has moved the seedlings in the container from outside to an inside western windowsill.  So as an experiment, he is still harvesting the leaves and the seedlings still have the disease.  A postscript to this story.  The downy mildew on the basil hasn't gotten better inside.  I keep gently nudging The Herbal Husband to get rid of it.  Surprisingly, the sweet basil from last fall that was inside until recently has done well outside now that the downy mildew is inside!

This is one of those diseases that you have to start spraying from the start.  Click on the link above for solutions and to participate in Dr. McGrath's study at Cornell University.  One solution for organic gardeners would be Neem oil.  Unfortunately we thought we were buying organically grown at a local garden center.  I think we will have to wait for a resistant strain of sweet basil and they are working on that.  The use of light in greenhouse situations for commercial growers has been found to be effective in limiting growth of the disease.  In any case you need to destroy your plants and preferably on a sunny day so that "the disturbed spores are killed by UV radiation."

It has really been rainy here!  We had almost 3 inches last week and an inch overnight!  I wish we could share it with the western states that need it so badly.  Hopefully you are having a great weekend.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who lost their lives recently.  I will try to be more present and showing you what has been going on in the herb garden!  Talk to you later.