Herb Society Meeting at Williamsburg, May, 2015, Part One!

Herb Purchases Made Right At Home with  Our Wide Windowsills!

The Plants Enjoyed Their Stay As Much As We Did!

The Colonial Garden and Nursery

A Colonial Gardening Shed

Colonial Ladies Deciding What to Harvest!

The Colonial Garden and Nursery

A Lovely Combination of English Daisies and Forget Me Nots!

Always a Retail Experience!

One More Photo of the Colonial Garden and Nursery!

Lemon Verbena Lady Visits the Blair House Herb Garden!

Lovely Work by the Tidewater Unit of the HSA!

A Very Traditional Dooryard Herb Garden in Front of the Kitchen

The Kitchen Gardens of George Wythe

Kitchen Garden at the Wythe House

Kitchen Garden of the Geddy House and Foundry

My Herbal Companion and I got a roaring start driving to Williamsburg and stopping at two beautiful garden and herb farms.  One called Surreybrooke in Middletown, Maryland and had lunch at The Main Cup in Middletown.  And then it was off to Glen Allen, Virginia where we stopped at Lavender Fields Herb Farm for organic herbs, flowers and veggies and their lavender lemonade.  So good!  Since it can be a long day since I do all of the driving, I like to break up the time with lunch and plant purchases.

As you can see by the first two photos, we had big success purchasing herb plants at both Surreybrooke and Lavender Fields.  Our hotel room had the perfect wide windowsills to hold all of our purchases to give them light.  We decided to stay at the Woodlands because it included breakfast each day of our stay.  The conference was held at the Lodge.  Only a bus ride away.  It was very convenient!

My adoptive mother and I came to Williamsburg many times when I was young.  I hadn't been since the early 90's when The Herbal Husband and I had Thanksgiving at The King's Arms.  It has changed a lot during the years I have been away.  It is a much more interactive town.  Where can you hear the Declaration of Independence being read for the "first time" to the colonists outside the Capitol after it was adopted?  Gave me chills!

So the Herb Society had optional garden tours on the second day that were filled immediately.  I told Bonnie that she and I would just walk around and see the gardens that were in bloom.  Before I knew it I had a small group that was listening and following me.

Our Merry Band of Herb Lovers!  Thanks Ann for Sharing This!

I had a plan, but the Herb Society did give us a map of the herb gardens that were available for viewing.  It made it easier for me.  We first stopped at the Colonial Gardens and Nursery where they have colonial women and men working in the gardens and explaining with traditional tools how gardening was done in the 18th Century and of course a retail experience with books, seeds, tools and plants.

Then we went to the most iconic herb garden in Williamsburg in front of the Blair House Kitchen.  Can I just mention here that the wonderful Don Haynie has moved here to become the Director of the Colonial Williamsburg Herb Gardens and his wonderful team of HSA volunteers from the Tidewater Unit had the gardens looking immaculate.  They of course have the gardening staff of Colonial Williamsburg at their disposal as well.  Well done, ladies and gentlemen!

We moved on to the George Wythe house and kitchen gardens that were adjacent to the Bruton Parish Church.  Wythe was a professor of law at the College of William and Mary to Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall and  Henry Clay.  The house was used during the Battle of Yorktown as Washington's headquarters.  It is one of the grandest and most impressive private houses in town.  The kitchen garden again was very utilitarian, but beautiful in its simplicity.

We then moved on to the James Geddy House and Foundry which was first a gunsmith shop and then after the son took over a shop for a silversmith, goldsmith and watch repairs and where there was a more modest kitchen garden at the back of the property.  So don't worry I'm not finished with the tour or the conference.  More to come.

We have the ickies and stickies back again.  Storms coming later today!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later. 

Not Sure Where to Start, Herbally Speaking!

I guess I should just call it what it is hooky!  Yes, I have been playing hooky with my blog!  I barely got the last post out.  So I will just try to bring you up to date on what has been happening.  I'm not sure whether to start in early May and catch you up or just start with what's happening in the garden today and work on the early and mid May posts later on.

You see when I went to Williamsburg, VA for the national Herb Society meeting in early May, we had a heatwave (high 80's every day) here in the garden and I came home to a blooming garden much more advanced than early May would have usually been.  And I brought back a lot of herb plants from visiting Surreybrooke in Maryland,  Lavender Fields Herb Farm in Glen Allen, Virginia and DeBaggio's Herb Farm in Chantilly, Virginia for the garden and for my container class at the end of May which I posted in late May.

Surreybrooke Has Lovely Garden Spaces and Unusual Plants!

Lavender Fields Herb Farm Has Organic Herbs!

DeBaggio's Herb Farm Closes July 1, 2015 for the Season

Can I just say about the three businesses above, they are all passionate about plants whether they are herbs, perennials, annuals, etc.  Surreybrooke is more than a garden center.  It is a destination and has wonderful gardens to walk through and a new pavilion for your special events plus tons of wonderful unusual plants.  Lavender Fields has wonderful organic herb plants, you can have lunch there (I think you have to preorder it.) and my friend Bonnie and I enjoyed their lavender lemonade on the last leg of the drive to Williamsburg!  The iconic DeBaggio's Herb Farm has a great selection of herbs, flowers, both annual and perennial and veggies!  They are the only one of the three that will be closed as of July 1 for the season.

So that's the skinny on the garden and herb farms Bonnie and I stopped both on the way to Williamsburg and going home.  It was the perfect combination.  I'll talk about the Herb Society meeting and other events in upcoming posts.  Now for a few photos of the herb garden and other happenings here in Glenshaw.

The Herb Garden This Morning!

Have Been Cutting Chamomile Flowers for Tea Bags.

Been Having Amazing Salads with Our Greens and Herbs

One of My Favorite Roses is Blooming, Rosa Mundi!

So you can see some of what has been going on in the herb garden.  Hope to get back into some kind of routine of posting.  Weather is warm and rain is coming.  Maybe another post tomorrow when it rains.  I'll post when I can.  Hope you are having a great day!  Talk to you later.

Herbs in Containers and the Long Vue Acres Garden Club!

Getting All of the Herb Combinations Planted!

A Jam Packed Table!

Packed Up For the Trip Home!

Had to Have a Map to Get Them Back in the Car!

The Herbs Looked Very Good in their Containers!

Yes, I am still blogging!  I just got caught up after my last post in a trip to the national Herb Society meeting in Williamsburg, VA.  Then I came back to temperatures in the high 80's while I was away and the gardens looked completely different.  And I was getting set up for my talk last night to the ladies and gentlemen of the Long Vue Acres Garden Club.  I think they had fun.  It got very happy and loud as I passed around snippets of herbs.

Colleen who is program chairperson won The Bountiful Container book which Maggie Stuckey so graciously autographed and sent to me.  This is a great book because you have two experts on edibles in containers.  It not only has plans of containers but also recipes and information on vegetables, herbs, fruits and edible flowers.

A Wonderful Book If You Are Going to Grow Edibles in Containers!

Just wanted to say again because I think this may have been lost in the discussion.  I used the shallow containers last night to get the most herbs packed in my presentation.  The containers you would have to use would be deeper so the multiple herb combinations could survive through the season.  Hope that is clearer.  I gave them a big handout to read and study.  So everyone has extra homework over the summer!  They were a great group!  I also wanted to mention that they gave me a lovely book called Herbs! Creative Herb Garden Themes and Projects by Judy Lowe.  Can you believe I don't have this one and I am excited to share it with you in some future post!  Thanks again Long Vue Acres Garden Club! 

A Wonderful Thank You Gift From the Club!

I also wanted to give a big shout out to my dear Herbal Husband!  He really helped get me ready and organized so that last night was fun and not stressful.  You are the best! 

So I'm going to work backwards and try to get you caught up in what's been going on in and out of the garden.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

A Beautiful Spring Here in the 'Burgh! Now on to Summer!

Really Once They Got Started the Daffodils Were Beautiful!

Part of the 100 I Got From White Flower Farm Years Ago!

I Love That Tulips Open and Close with the Sun!

Basil Blooming in the Kitchen!

Play Pen For the Hostas!

Koreanspice Viburnum!

A Cascade of Daffodils!

Finally Got Some Seeds Planted!

Apple Tree in Bloom!

Really Big Dandelions This Spring!

Seems like April flew by and May seems as though we are two weeks in already!  The temperatures are making me dizzy!  The hopes I had for a lovely spring were going along very nicely and now I'm not so sure.  We were 80 yesterday and more 80's to come this week!  Yikes!  Here comes summer!

The most significant element and I think I mentioned this before from the winter season was the number of deer in the yard has jumped exponentially!  We have some very lovely hostas that they thought were appetizers.  So The Herbal Husband made a make shift pen for the hostas to keep the deer out.  I think we are going to get a roll of rabbit fencing and raise the height so that the deer don't have a buffet every time they are browsing in the yard.  Have to keep reinventing because they keep learning how to eat despite what you do.

Exciting to get a basil through the winter on our kitchen windowsill.  It will go outside shortly.  I think it is not sweet basil and therefore, not as susceptible to downy mildew.  You have to think of everything these days!  I also have a mystery herb coming back in the herb garden near where the tangerine sage was last season.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed and I'll let you know the verdict in a future post.  There is still no scent coming from the leaves!  Stay tuned!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Four-Lined Plant Bug Damage Already and An Herbal Retail Experience!

Not An Herb But Four Lined Plant Bug Love Certain Perennials Too!

We have been slowly weeding and getting beds ready to plant seeds.  Yesterday, we came across the damage of the four-lined plant bug.  I associate the emergence of these pests with the blooming and leafing out of forsythia.  It is one of their favorites and it is blooming and leafing out all around us!  I did a post about them for Mother Earth Living called Herbal Pests:  The Four-Lined Plant Bug.  They really only do cosmetic damage and the plant starts to grow new leaves even before the bugs are gone, but it can be six weeks of herbal pain until they are gone.

Also got out and had an herbal retail experience at the local Garden Symposium co-sponsored by the Penn State Master Gardeners of Allegheny County, the Penn State Center Pittsburgh and Shady Side Academy.  Got several wonderful scented geraniums, a couple of lavenders and a clematis that is more like ground cover than a climbing vine.  Oh and a couple of agastaches.   

Herbal Retail Delights!

Latest Book from My Favorite Horticulture Teacher, Jessica Walliser!

My final purchase was the latest book from my favorite horticulture teacher, Jessica Walliser.  I have already read a bit and I loved your confessions, Jessica!  Will look forward to reading the rest and making a review in the coming days!

We had one of the more beautiful days today, sunny and warm.  Getting beds weeded and ready to plant seeds.  Although we are going to get strong storms tomorrow night into Monday.  So I told The Herbal Husband that we would work on clearing a second bed tomorrow and then postpone seeding until the storms pass on Tuesday or Wednesday.  At least we separated the seeds to be planted from the ones to plant later.  Never a dull moment.  Hope you are getting your gardens ready to go.  Maybe another savory post next time!  Talk to you later. 

Just a Glorious Day, Herbally Speaking!

Starting the Process Over Again, Trimming Back the Oregano From Last Year!

A Perennial Problem With Grass Invading the Thyme!

Very Excited!  The Tarragon is Back!

This 'Hidcote' Looked Dead, But There Are Signs of Life!

The Violets Are Starting to Bloom!

Some of the Kids Were Out for Some Fresh Air!

The Clematis We Thought Was Dead Has Even Come Back!  It's A Miracle!

It Was An Outstanding Day in the 'Burgh!

Just One Bit of Color from the Primula in the Herb Garden!

Honestly my whole energy level has been lifted by our weather.  We are having a string of beautiful days and even cloudy and warm makes me happy!  Today was such a day.  The sun did break through the clouds late in the day so the temperature gave the plants in the gardens another boost of energy!

As you may be able to see we are trimming plants back and in the process seeing life in some that we didn't think would come back.  A little 'Hidcote' lavender is finally showing signs of life.  It was nice to peel back the leaves and see that my tarragon is coming back.  Just a little progress is making me very happy!

We have the usual problems with grass invading the beds and in particular one that has some of my thyme plants.  I think I will just have to dig it up and start over again.  A chance for a new herbal retail experience!  Always a good thing!  Even some of the herbs in containers (better clarify the kids comment) got a breath of fresh air today. 

Spring has really taken hold here and it doesn't look like we are going to just jump into summer like some years.  I think we are just going to have a very lovely spring.  What's coming back in your herb garden?  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Will talk to you later.