I Can Never Buy Just One Herb!

A Mix of Pineapple Sage, Tomatoes, Lavender, Lemon Verbena and Viola in This Box!

Mostly Scented Geraniums in This Box!

Parsley, Summer Savory, Rue, Sweet Marjoram, Sage and German Chamomile in This One!

Well, Bonnie and I went on one of our annual herb buying trips to Beech Creek Botanical Garden & Nature Preserve in Alliance,Ohio.  I have been buying herbs from Paul and Melinda Carmichael since their days selling plants out of the back of a box truck at flea markets.  They grow great plants and have a very good variety selection considering they have down scaled somewhat since they sold Lily of the Valley Herb Farm a couple of years ago.

I am expecting a box from Well-Sweep Herb Farm to arrive this week and then the chaos of mixing and matching everything I picked out will begin.  I'm also getting some lemony additions from my friend, Carolee Snyder of Carolee's Herb Farm.  I have a bunch of herbal holes to plug and hopefully I will put the right combinations together.   When I visualize the space I have at the nursery and then get the plants home, it is just never quite the same space!  Always like to have that problem though, herbally speaking!  So I hope you have had a great day.  We certainly did!  Talk to you later.

My New Favorite in London, Liberty's!

An Unexpected Look for a Department Store!

Toasted Tea Cake at Cafe Liberty!

Old and New in the Liberty's Interior!

Somehow no matter how many times I have been to London, I can always find something new to explore!  My best friend, Mar, wanted me to buy her some fabric for quilting and she has always loved Liberty's.  Always loving architecture and married to an architect, it was a no brainer for me to fall in love with Liberty's as well.  I'll add an interior photo by my English herbal companion, Gloria as soon as I can.  Couldn't get a scone for our morning break, but we did have a toasted tea cake at Cafe Liberty that was for me like a toasted hamburger bun with fruit.  Not quite like a scone at afternoon tea, but still delicious.  I got quite used to morning or afternoon tea breaks.  So European and English!

Spring is a cool one this year!  We were in the 30's last night! Goes with the very cold winter we had.  Unfortunately the four-lined plant bug is back already!  Out looking in the herb garden this morning and I have quite a few holes to fill.  Yippee!  Bonnie and I are going to Ohio tomorrow to try and fill up the empty spots.  Also waiting for a box to come from one of my favorite herb farms in New Jersey, Well-Sweep.  Think I'm going to like my lemon themed gardens this year.  I also remembered a lemony herb that I lost this year named sorrel.  It loves this time of year.  Very easy to start from seed, but I'll be on the lookout for it in my travels to purchase herbs.  Thought I had weeded pretty well before I left, but the weeds can get the best of any garden in a hurry.  Hopefully, it will warm up in the coming days and make it nice to work outside.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

What You and I Missed While I Was Gone!

A Perennial Forget Me Not!

Daffodils Still Blooming in Early May!

Chives Starting to Bloom!

The Scented Geranium 'Charity' Planted in the Herb Garden!

Rosemary Planted Near the Wall in the Herb Garden!

A Dianthus called 'Chocolate'.  Doesn't Smell Like It Though!

Wire to Foil the Deer!

A Purchase from the Local Garden Club Plant Sale!

Volunteer Sunflowers Come Up in the Garden!

Fingers Crossed the Grapes Will Bloom and Flower!

Peony in Bud!

The Garden Looks Beautiful!

Well, hopefully you can see what a lot of work our garden can be especially when one of us is gone.  The Herbal Husband did a great job.  He was very happy to see me come home.  It has been raining so much that we can't get the lawn mowed.  We are going to have a field soon!  It is still cool here, but the forecast is looking by the end of the week it will be warmer.  Hope so!  Itching to get in the garden and do some weeding!  Well, I hope you are having a great weekend.  I'm going to try and intersperse England with the garden.  Talk to you later.

An Overview of My England Trip 2014!

Liberty's My New Favorite Shop in London!

Debs Cook and I Visiting with The Queen of Herbs, Jekka McVicar!

A Gardening Dynamo, Marion, our tour guide at the Bristol Botanic Garden!

My English Herbal Companion, Gloria and I in the Palm House at Kew Gardens!

My Favorite Meal Salmon Kabobs at Kazan's!

Scones and Dessert at The Claridges!

New Statue of Sir Hans Sloane at the Chelsea Physic Garden!

Afternoon Tea at St. Paul's Cathedral with Ros!

Royal Needlework School at Hampton Court Palace

A Bathroom with a View at Great Malvern!

Stonecrop Nurseries at the Great Malvern Flower Show!

Third Time Was the Charm at the Geffrye Museum for the Herb Garden!

A Return Visit to the Walled Garden at Fulham Palace!

Well, I know some of you (Carol) have been waiting patiently for my return.  I'm back but not on the same time zone as I should be.  So here is an overview of some of the stories I will be relating to you in the coming days.  Going to also try and catch you up in the herb garden.  I asked The Herbal Husband to take photos of the garden so you will get to see his perspective on the garden.  He was a bit overworked while I was gone.  I'll be back shortly with my adventures.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later. 

Herbal Spring and a Timeout!

Keep Cutting and Pulling Dead Herbs Out of the Garden!

Won't Have to Worry About the Arugula Crop This Year!

Some Sages Are Making an Appearance!

Germander Before Its Trim!

This is the Way All Herbs Should Come Back!  Again Germander.

My 'Silver King' Artemisia is a Mess, but Alive!

Very Happy to See the Feverfew is Coming Back!

I Thought I Lost My Rosemary-Leaf Santolina!  It's Alive!

 

So you know the drill by now.  I have left you with the first signs of an herbal spring in the 'Burgh.  I'm going to take a short break.  I'm leaving The Herbal Husband in charge.  The garden is in good hands!  Hope your spring is progressing well.  I will talk to you again soon.

It Will Be a Different Herb Garden This Year!

Moved this Primula into the Edge of the Herb Garden

The Green Pepper Basil Has Started to Flower!

The Mints and the Rosemarys Need Sunshine!

My Favorite, Lemon Verbena Growing New Shoots!

I Guess This Lemon Balm is Trying to Give Me A Theme for the Herb Garden!

Suddenly A Space Has Opened Up in the Herb Garden!

My herb garden was redesigned in 2005 and so nine years have gone by and I can tell that it needs some extra attention this year.  With the winter being as harsh as it was, I have lost some older woody plants.  Lavenders that weren't pruned correctly and sages that were just too woody to survive.  We had 10 days that were below zero and that is probably nine days more than we usually have.

So since I found a lemon balm that has sprung up in the herb garden, I guess the theme of my garden this year is a lemon one.  I have a good start with the lemon balm in the garden :) and a lemon verbena and a couple of lemon scented geraniums that are sitting on a west facing windowsill waiting to escape!  I'm planning a trip in a couple of weeks without The Herbal Husband and I hope that he behaves himself and shows restraint in NOT planting any of his plants in my herb garden!  He always finds a way though!

So I hope you have a great Easter weekend with your family and friends.  We are going to have great weather here and so I intend to be working to awaken my herb garden.  Please let me know how yours is coming along!  Happy Easter!  Talk to you later.

Herb and Garden Festival, Downton Abbey Costumes and Terrain!

Well, as I said in my last post, my herbal companion, Bonnie and I went down east as they say here.  We spent the afternoon at the 16th Herb and Garden Festival in York.  Where were we for the other 15 I asked?  Then we spent a beautiful day both outside and inside at Winterthur in Delaware on Saturday and ended our traveling herbal extravaganza at Terrain on Sunday.  This is just a small bit of our adventures.  I'll show you more later.

Posters from Past Herb and Garden Festivals

Duncan, our Garden Tram Operator at Winterthur

One of My Favorite Dresses of the Downton Abbey Collection

An Embroidered Map of Pennsylvania with the Counties!

The Garden Conservatory at Winterthur!

Terrain Decorated for Easter!

We had great weather and a fun time.  I'll write more in my next post.  That 4 letter word (SNOW) that I have come to hate is falling from the sky.  Fortunately for us, the ground is warm and it is just melting on impact.  So hope you are having a great day.  We do have spring flowers blooming in the garden.  Hope they don't get covered by snow!  Talk to you later!

Three More Daffodils!