Watering Herbs in Containers 101

I promised some of you that I would do a post on watering your herbs and or plants in containers this time of year.  This is one of the eclectic collections of The Herbal Husband.  We tend to have benign neglect for the aloe veras and Christmas cacti in our house  The aloe looks good, the cacti needs some fertilizer.  This is a paragraph or two about watering your herbs in containers inside and out.  It would apply to most plants in containers with the possible exception of African violets.  When you water African violets, you need to move the leaves apart and try not to get water on the leaves.  That can lead to disease.  Water violets from the bottom if possible.  Always use that index finger in several places to make sure that the plant needs to be watered at all.

Watering is a very essential part of growing herbs in containers.  During the summer season,  if you use terracotta pots, they will dry out a lot faster than other kinds of pots.  Make sure you are getting one of your index fingers down to the second knuckle to make sure your container needs to be watered.  Place it in several places around the pot.  That is the best and cheapest way to tell when you need to water.  If at all possible, site your containers near a source of water.  I would like to place my containers throughout the garden.  Somehow they are lined up on the patio at the end of the day.  There are all kinds of aids now to help in watering your containers.  Polymers, mats with polymers in them, self-watering containers and irrigation systems can give you help.  At home, we use an old-fashioned method--the watering can.  I think it is beneficial for you to see whether your plants thriving, whether outdoor or indoors, or stressed and maybe because of being stressed are being attacked by diseases or insects.  When you water, you want to water the entire pot until water comes out of the bottom of the pot.  The Herbal Husband waters a little bit over the top and then in the bottom of the pot.  That can create a dry middle.  We repotted a plant one season and the middle was totally dry.  You must make sure that water runs out of the bottom especially on very hot days.  If you are on city water, you want to let your water sit at least overnight or use distilled water.

If you are away from home a lot, you may need to get a system which will help you water.  Pat from Thoughts from Taylorsoutback uses the Claber 8053 Oasis 4-Program/20 Plant Automatic Drip Watering System and it works very well for her while they were traveling in Alaska.  You can find it for sale on amazon.com.  The Herbal Husband and I are going to use these when we are away this season.  In the heat and drought times, we water twice a day consistently.  It is also important to combine your plants so that their water needs are met.  Dropping or wilted plants may be a sign of water need; but may also need a bit of shade in the afternoon.  Once the sun goes down, they may perk back up.  Do not automatically water them.  If you use a lot of plastic containers, you might try grouping them together.  Shading the posts that heat up with others that remain cooler like terracotta or concrete may help.  You should also try to use larger containers because they will not dry out as quickly or heat up.

Inside you must be sure you either have a great southern exposure and clean windows or an artificial light source of some kind.  Also if you place tender herbs on windowsills in the north, make sure that on very cold nights, you move them off those windowsills to a warmer place.  Rosemarys are easily under or overwatered.  Either way they are dead.  Mist the leaves and then water the roots when needed and keep them in a cooler spot.  A garage with a southern exposure has worked very well.  Our 'Spice Islands' rosemary is going through trauma at the moment.  It has some black leaves and that is either over or under watering.  The Herbal Husband has admitted that he may be losing his touch in the watering department.  Lemon Verbena Lady to the rescue!  I'll just make sure that I'm monitoring from afar and make sure plants are OK.  As I said earlier, the two of us watering is difficult when we have different watering styles.  If you have questions on this subject, as always I am always here to answer them.  This quote thing is getting to me, but I will marshal on!  One of the herb books that I should read again is Henry Beston's Herbs and the Earth in it he talks about herbs.

"In its essential spirit, in its proper garden meaning, an herb is a garden plant

which has been cherished for itself and for a use

  and has not come down to us as a purely decorative thing.. . .

It is not use which has kept the great herbs alive, but beauty and use together."

Just keeps snowing.  Talk to you later.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

This is a loaded spice cupboard.  You would think that especially when I love herbs and spices the way I do.  The Herbal Husband and I are definitely pack rats in the best and worst ways.  I hope that my latest guest blog entitled New Year, New Herbs, New Spices will give you the focus to get into your spice cupboard and pitch those old, ancient herbs.

It still looks crowded, but we both know what's there.  Still have to come up with the lists.  I'm going to tape them to the inside of the door so we know what is on each shelf.  Hope you are staying warm or cool wherever you may be.  More snow on the way for us just in time for my annual physical!  Always an adventure.  Forgot the quote AGAIN!  Here it is from Mrs. Reppert's TwelveMonth Herbal.  Love, love this book.

My favorite part (of Taoism) is the teaching that

says to stay away from self-help for the sake of self-help

...otherwise known as what you haven't read

about won't hurt you.

 --Kermit

One Frog Can Make a Difference

Talk to you later.

The Herbal Jungle in the Basement!

When I do the laundry or work in my workspace in the basement, I'm surrounded by fragrant trees and scented geraniums.  We have a bay rum (Pimenta racemosa), allspice (Pimenta dioica) and bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) in the back.  We switched the bay rum and the kaffir lime that was in the garage.  The bay rum needed a cooler space and room.  It wasn't getting enough water and it was drying out!  The kaffir lime in the garage was dropping leaves and needed more heat in the basement.  Hopefully it will work.  BTW, the scented geraniums are 'Logee's Snowflake' and they are in their fourth season coming up.  The lavender is a sweet one that is struggling.  I'm thinking it has had not enough water and then too much.  I may do a post in the near future about water your containers.  We have two different watering styles in this house.  It can be a problem!  Hope you are keeping warm or cool wherever you maybe.  The quote of the day is from Mrs. Reppert's TwelveMonth Herbal:

Yes, in the poor man's garden grows
Far more than herbs and flowers,
Kind thoughts, contentment, peace of mind
And joy for weary hours.
--Miss Howitt

Talk to you later.

Getting Ready for the Season!

My workspace in the basement is ready to go.  Got new shelving and composted old dried flowers and herbs.  Actually know where everything is!  Planning on doing some new tea blends and maybe some crafts for Christmas ornaments in the coming year.  I will be sharing the recipes with you.  Hopefully, it won't be a catch all as in other years.  My secretarial organizational skills need to kick in!  Another beautiful cold day here!  Watching the playoffs.  Seeing who the Steelers are going to play!  Stay warm or cool!  Talk to you later.  The quote today is from China Bayles' Book of Days:

The garden is never dead; growth is always going

on, and growth that can be seen, and seen

with delight.

--Henry Ellacombe, In My Vicarage Garden, 1902

One of Those Perfect Winter Days!

It is very cold, crisp and sunny just like a New England winter day!  We are having lake effect snow at the moment.  So I wanted you to see an actual sunny day in the 'Burgh.  As I keep saying we don't have many of them in winter.  The clouds are coming back in as I write!  All the Herbal Husband's hard work shoveling is going to be up in smoke or a big snowball!  Hope you are staying warm wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.  Somebody's got to remind me to give a quote!  Here it is from Mrs. Reppert's Twelve Month Herbal:

Fortune may find a pot but your own

industry will make it boil.

A Bag Full of Nigella Pods and the Epiphany!

When I was working on my artemisia tree, I discovered a plastic container that had eucalyptus, teasels and these nigella pods.  When I was drying all of my flowers for wreathes, etc. in the good old days, I grew these not only for the pods but for the blue flowers in the garden.  I just love them.  Nigellas are very easy to grow from seeds and Renee's Garden has three different varieties.  Check them out at the link.  I was thinking of using them hot glued on a Styrofoam cone like a Christmas tree?  Will let you know if I do it.  I have cleaned up my work space in the basement so anything is possible!

Epiphany or twelfth night is today.  It is when the three kings arrived to give the baby Jesus their gifts.  In some countries it is the night when gifts are given.  Mrs. Reppert talks of burning some of the essences as a Christmas tradition.  I know her daughters remember it well.  Here is today's quote from Mrs. Reppert's Twelve Month Herbal:

And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto

Him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

--- Matthew 2:11

Sorry about the quality of this photo.  It is of the Pittsburgh Creche and it is an exact replica of the Creche at the Vatican and the only replica in the world.  It is in the plaza of the office building where I used to toil in downtown Pittsburgh.  Check the link above for a post I wrote in 2008.

Got my County Gardens magazine with the spread of Sharon Lovejoy's garden!  You know what I'll be doing later on.  Hope you stay warm today.  More snow on the way for us.  It is winter!  Talk to you later.

I'm Suddenly Obsessed with Rue, But First How to Get Rid of the Stink Bug!

You probably should click on this to see who has the brown marmorated stink bug in its grasp!  I used to be afraid of all spiders, but now they are my buddies.  This one took care of this stink bug in no time.  Pretty cool.

Now on to rue.  I took a look in Arthur O. Tucker and Thomas DeBaggio's book The Encyclopedia of Herbs and they say in part.  "In the spring, after the first year of growth, prune the stems of rue 6 to 8 inches above the ground.  Follow this procedure each spring and a well-shaped, handsome plant will result.  Beware, though:  rue can inhibit the growth of nearby plants, and Italian researchers have even isolated potential allelochemicals that could be used as pre-emergent herbicides."  They go on to say:  "Rue is a magnet for black swallowtail butterflies, which lay their eggs on the plant's leaves; these hatch a colorful yellow, chartreuse and black caterpillar that may defoliate the plant if the gardener is unaware.  Garden rue has an unusual horticultural use as  breeding area for the tiny parasitic wasp Encarsia formosa, which serves as a natural control of whiteflies in the greenhouse.

OK, enough about rue!  I'll keep looking about rue's effect on other plants.  Hope you are staying warm wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

From China Bayles' Book of Days, here is today's quote:

A Gard'ner's work is never at an end.  It begins with the year, and continues to the next.

--John Evelyn, 1620-1706

Signs of Spring, Herbally Speaking!

Well, for those of you who wanted me to find them a sign of spring.  Here it is!  My lemon verbena has started to sprout!  It usually waits until the end of January or the beginning of February.  Guess it is anxious as well to get growing.  It is in the warmth of the basement at the moment, but when it has bigger leaves I think it should be moved.  It will need a sunny location with good air circulation and that may be the garage rather than a south facing windowsill.  Last year our lemon verbena came down with a case of whitefly and maybe spider mites as well.  They can both definitely stunt the growth of a plant indoors.

OK, here is another resolution that you may already take for granted.  I will always be available to you for your questions.  I hope you avail yourself of this resolution.  I love to answer your comments, but especially your questions.  Thoughts from Taylorsoutback  gave me a good question about rue.  She found a renegade rue plant and moved it in her garden.  She asks: 

". . .I pulled the rue out and relocated it...have heard it is sometimes not friendly with other herbs. Have you had any experience with this?"

 Here's the garden in late June of this year.  In the left hand bottom corner of this photo is my rue.  You might have to click on the photo to get a better view.  Like Taylorsoutback, I love its green-blue foliage.  It doesn't get huge and it sometimes doesn't last long in my garden, but I still love that color.  OK, back to the question.

In Louise Riotte's book, Roses Love Garlic, she says in part:

"Herb of Grace, Rue (Ruta graveolens)

This is a very bitter-tasting herb, strongly aromatic, and once important for medicinal purposes but no longer taken internally.  Contact can cause a rash if you are allergic.

Plant rue with roses to foil the Japanese beetle.  It is also helpful grown with fig trees. (I'm not sure how that works.)  Cats detest rue, so but it on your upholstered furniture to keep them from clawing.  Use against fleas in the dog's bed, and a few sprigs hung in a room will drive out flies.  Rue and basil are incompatible."

Please add anything to the conversation, you might know about rue, especially other incompatible herbs.  In the meantime, I will keep reading.  This is how we all learn.  Working on laundry and cleaning.  New year, new routine!  No, I did clean and do laundry last year!  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Each year is a fresh beginning,

A brand new undertaking...

New friends to know, new ways to go

In the life that we are making

 --- Unknown

The quote is from Mrs. Reppert's Twelve Month Herbal from yesterday. 

Book of Days and the Language of Flowers!

In a similar theme as yesterday, here is another favorite Book of Days called China Bayles' Book of Days from Susan Wittig Albert and China Bayles.  January 3rd is talking about the language of flowers made very popular in the 1800's by the Victorians.  I got some language of flower books for Christmas from The Herbal Husband.  Here is my favorite of those.  It's dated 1847 and is called Flora's Album.  I love the dianthus print in the front.

A modern version of  Flora's Dictionary is by my dear friend, Kathleen Gips and can be ordered in time for Valentine's Day or any other special occasion from her Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.  This last photo is of a tussie mussie that I made for my best friend's mom's 90th birthday.  I love to do tussie mussies for friends' birthdays and when I go visiting in the hospital.

I'm very excited about an upcoming exhibit at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation starting in March (I think).  It will be about the language of flowers exploring the powerful symbolic and unspoken meanings of flowers in recent centuries.  Got to read up on my history, etc so I'm ready!  Here is the quote of the day from China Bayles' Book of Days from William Shakespeare in Richard II:

Here in this place I'll set a bank of rue,

sour herb of grace;

Rue, even for ruth, shall shortly here be seen. . .

Rue means pity, compassion, mercy, as well as for repentance and remorse.  Rue only means a skin rash for me!  Well, off to run errands.  Hope you are having a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.