A Lot More of the Chicago Botanic Garden!

When I do the posts for The Herb Companion, I just don't get a lot of space to express how wonderful some of these gardens are.  As I was submitting my post last night and I clicked the button, I wanted to say the Chicago Botanic Garden is much more than I wrote about in my post.  So here is the more you may have been looking for. 

LVL Arriving at The Visitor Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Views from the Visitor Center of the Lake

All Dressed Up for Halloween!

A Very Cleverly Designed Garden Railroad

Fallingwater in Natural Materials

An Edible Corner with Lettuces, Calendulas and Purple Kale, I think!

Herb Garden at the Kitchen Amphitheater

The Regenstein Vegetable Garden Growing in October, 2011

Beans and Nasturtiums Blooming Away!

Two Containers Enough for a Small Vegetable Garden

Formal Knot Garden

Plant Science Center and Sun Evaluation Gardens

Green Roof Garden on the Plant Science Center Roof

Love That Rosemary Growing with Annuals

Circle Garden

Desert Greenhouse

English Walled Garden

More of the English Walled Garden

An Annual Border Still Growing in the October Sun!

So I hope this gives you a better sense of what a wonderful garden the Chicago Botanic Garden is.  They are having an Herb Garden Weekend coming up on July 28-29, 2012.  So if you are lucky enough to live in the area and have the time, I think you would enjoy the experience.  The Herbal Husband was out working in this heat and humidity.  I think I'm the luckier one today!  Inside, typing in the AC.  Just saying!  I have to find a way to get my butt out of bed in the morning and walk!  I'll work on that!  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.

The University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and The Holt Physic Garden

Moongate and Tunnel to Physic Garden

The Food Garden

Another View of The Food Garden

The Arbour Garden

The Europe Section of the E. H. Lohbrunner Alpine Garden

The Yew Hedge Surrounding the Physic Garden

The Entrance Plaque of the Physic Garden

The Doctrine of Signatures Principle

Galium odoratum-Sweet Woodruff

Achillea millefolium-Common Yarrow

Viola odorata-Sweet Violet

Primula veris-Cowslip

Helleborus niger-Christmas Rose

Angelica archangelica-Angelica

Artemisia absinthium-Common Wormwood

I got to visit The University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and the Physic Garden that is a small piece of that garden with The Herbal Husband's nephew's wife, Moray last May.  It was a bonding experience.  J-A, you picked a great girl!  The Botanical Garden contains an Asian garden, the perennial borders, the winter garden, the alpine garden, native garden, contemporary garden, arbour garden, food garden and, of course, what I really wanted to see was the Physic Garden.

So we didn't waste time, we went through the Moongate and headed to the Physic Garden.  Again this garden is an intimate space, but full of wonderful herbs. On the way we passed through the Food Garden, the Arbour Garden and the Alpine Garden.  I have given you just a slice of the entire herb garden.  The Doctrine of Signatures principle is a foundation of the garden.  It is an ancient belief that plants are marked with a divine sign indicating their purpose.  For example, lungwort resembles a diseased lung and so it indicated use of the plant for pulmonary complaints.  Sweet woodruff was used for sweet smells when bundled.  Common yarrow was used by Achilles to bandage his soldiers.  Sweet violets were used as plasters and poultices.  Cowslip wine was used as a remedy for insomnia.  The Christmas rose was used to treat melancholy.  I put angelica in the mix because it was just such a beautiful blooming plant and it can give you contact dermatitis if you clip it on a sunny day.  Common wormwood is a cerebral stimulant that can be dangerous in  large doses.  I'm sure you all know that Maude Grieve's Modern Herbal is online at Botanical.com to get more information on these or any herbs.

I'm doing these travel posts in anticipation of my new guest blogger post for The Herb Companion being published.  So I'm continuing to get more photos together from my Chicago adventure last fall.  So stay tuned.

Vacation Photos of the South of France and Lavender!

The Village of Monieux, France

A Hedge of Rosemary!

Lavender Co-operative in Sault

Views of the Lavender Fields below Sault

A Private Kitchen Garden  in Sault

More Lavender Fields

The Red-Ocre Soil of the Lavender Fields

Abbaye Norte-Dame de Senanque Outside Gordes

Lavender at the Musee de la Lavande

Production Gardens of the Musee des Aromes

Production Gardens of the Musee des Aromes

Sharon Lovejoy's Favorite Village in the south of France, Saignon

I really haven't share enough of my trips to Vancouver or Europe last year.  So in anticipation of my guest blogger post being posted on The Herb Companion website, I'm going to be publishing more photos of my visits to both Vancouver and Europe last year.  Because we are in the midst of July and this is when we got to see the lavender blooming, I'm sharing some favorite views of the south of France.  There will be more to come.  This is just the first wave.  I did drive for your safety and mine.  Really it is the only way to see some of the small villages and get the feel of the south of France.  Many of the villages sit up on rock ledges and small mountains.  It was beautiful weather and a beautiful place.  Here are some links for the places we visited.  Abbaye Norte-Dame de Senanque is a beautiful 12th century abbey where the monks grow both lavender and keep bees for their livelihood.  Musee de la Lavande is of course the Museum of Lavender near Gordes.    Musee des Aromes is a perfume museum and distillery of lavender and other fragrances near Graveson.  Dear Sharon Lovejoy pointed in the direction of Saignon and we were not disappointed Sharon.  There was even a wedding there in the church.  A very special place.

Hope you are having a great day.  We have the ickies and stickies back!  It is really icky this time!  Will show you what else I have been up to in the coming days.  Talk to you later.

I Guess I Need to Talk About Powdery Mildew on Phlox and Bee Balm

Pat from Thoughts From Taylorsoutback mentioned her issues with bee balm and I thought I should write an answer for her and others that may have the same issue.  Below is my favorite book when it comes to the maintenance of perennials in the garden.  Tracy DiSabato-Aust's book, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden is my bible.  I should be reading the "bible" every day in the summer!

Tracy explains that powdery mildew on phlox and monarda is caused by high humidity and lack of air circulation.  Also temperature fluctuations like warm dry days and cool nights work in favor of powdery mildew.  She writes that cutting back the foliage after blooming may provide new disease free foliage.  You must if you are going to cut the foliage back, give the plant some extra moisture.  Also remember to disinfect your pruners in a 10% bleach solution (1 part bleach/9 parts water) or at the very least wash them with soap and water to restrict the chance of spreading the disease further.  Tracy says that thinning may help to provide more air circulation, but also may not.  She found with phlox that thinning the plant to provide air circulation did not always work well.  She feels that choosing resistant varieties of both plants is the way to go.

 Some resistant forms of Phlox paniculata include 'Bright Eyes', 'David', 'Eva Cullum' 'Fesselballon', 'Flamingo', 'Franz Schubert', 'Katherine', 'Look Again', 'Orange Perfection', 'Pax' ('Peace'), 'Prime Minister', 'Sandra', 'Speed Limit 45', 'Sternhimmel', 'Tenor', and 'The King'.  Phlox maculata is resistant to powdery mildew.  Varieties include 'Alpha', 'Miss Lingard', 'Omega' and 'Rosalind'.

The monarda didyma varieties that are resistant to or only slightly affect by powdery mildew include 'Jacob Kline', 'Blue Stocking', 'Colrain Red', 'Gardenview Scarlet', 'Marshall's Delight', 'Sunset' and 'Violet Queen'.  I'm going to leave it up to you to find and google a variety you are interested in planting.  Hope this clears up powdery mildew for us all!  Rainy (Yay!) day outside.  Hope you are having a great day.  Talk to you later.