Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

This is a 'Brother Cadfael' rose.  It didn't make my top five favorites, but it is definitely in the top ten!  Here is a link for my guest post for The Herb Companion magazine called Celebrating the 2012 Herb of the Year:  5 Favorite Roses.  Have been picking raspberries all afternoon and I need to pick more tomorrow!  I see raspberry jam in my future!  The berries have been magnificent!  It was a beautiful day here in the 'Burgh!  Hope you had a great one as well.  Talk to you later.

My Favorite Herb Magazine and A Giveaway for You!

Here is the latest issue of The Herb Companion magazine.  I'm in it!  They reblogged a couple of posts I did and called it 4 Reasons to Love Lemon Verbena.   This issue has a very nice article about the lavender book I just reviewed for Timber Press and other interesting recipes and articles.  Sooo here is your chance to win a copy.  I have six (not five or ten) extra issues.  Even if you are some place other than the US, you can win!  So leave me a comment here or on Facebook.  The only exception is if you already subscribe to The Herb Companion.  I would like to give the issues to nonsubscribers, please.  This contest is going to be quick.  It will end on Friday, June 1st at 10:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.  Good Luck!   It has been hotter than Hades here.  We just had a big thunderstorm although it didn't cool it off much.  Hope you have had a great day.  Talk to you later.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

We are having just gorgeous weather to go and buy herb plants at herb farms across the country.  I have done two posts with a list of herb farms throughout the U.S.  Not every state unfortunately, but maybe you have a favorite that I missed.  Please let me know.   The photo above is from Stream Cliff Herb Farm in Cominsky, Indiana.  I was lucky enough to visit the year the International Master Gardener Conference was in Cincinnati, OH.  This is the first part called Herb Farms A-Z:  Finding Farms that Sell Herb Plants-Part One.

The second part of the post was published today and funny it is called Herb Farms A-Z:  Finding Farms that Sell Herb Plants-Part Two.  This is one of my favorite places to visit in Chagrin Falls, OH and it's called The Village Herb Shop.  Kathleen Gips, the owner, sells herbs from Mulberry Creek Herb Farm and I forget the other herbs she sells.  Her gardens are tended by her customers in classes throughout the season.  They always look great each year.  Got to run.  We mowed and planted new plants.  It's looking good.  I am an herb plunker and I can't change!  Just wanted to add  to the Pennsylvania list, a local herbalist, Joanie Lapic from Everlasting Gardener that she has herbs for sale as well.  The Everlasting Gardener is located in New Brighton, PA.  So if you are in the Pittsburgh area, check out the Everlasting Gardener.  I think I can feel a PA road trip coming soon!  Hope you have had a great day.  Talk to you later. 

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

This is the first of my guest blogs for The Herb Companion Magazine called Herb Catalogs:  Ready, Set and Plant Those Herbs, Part 1.  It takes you back to when I started my herb garden 22 years ago!  The Sandy Mush Herb Nursery was the herb catalog that brought a box full of herbs to my door all those years ago.  I also talk about Goodwin Creek Gardens in Oregon and Well-Sweep Herb Farm in New Jersey.  Both mail order herbs to your door.

Herb Catalogs:  Ready, Set and Plant Those Herbs, Part 2 is also on the Herb Companion blog site.  It talks about Mulberry Creek Herb Farm in Ohio.  Also there is an international connection with Richters in Ontario, Canada.  Yes, you can bring plants back to the US with the right paperwork.  Finally, I talk about a cherished name in the herb world, DeBaggio's Herb Farm in Virginia.  So please check out my posts and let me know what you think.  I have another two part guest post coming in the next couple of weeks for The Herb Companion, a kind of national list of herb farms that sell plants.  So stay tuned.  Getting warm here and maybe down right hot!  Not hot enough or consistent enough to plant tender basil seeds.  Still might get into the 30's briefly.  Watch that long-range forecast this time of year.  Very important.  Talk to you later.

Just Wanted You to Know!

My latest post is up for The Herb Companion and it will take you back to when I spent the first bit of money to buy for my herb garden 22 years ago!  It is called Herb Catalogs:  Ready, Set and Plant Those Herbs, Part 1.  You can always click on links for my latest post on the right hand side of this blog.  So you may have guessed already that there is a Part 2 coming and it may be later today!  I was busy with those posts!

Well, fortunately for us, the forecasters were just enough off their games that we haven't had any snow!  It has been rain, but it is damp and very cold for this time of year after 70's and 80's.  Thank you to whatever heavenly being you pray to for saving our blooming plants so far!  I don't think we are out of the woods yet, but we are getting close.   The Herbal Husband went out last night and put an extra protection over the lemon verbena I showed you the other day.  Maybe too much, but I remember one year I had a pineapple sage come back and we tried to protect it with leaf mulch and ended up chopping it in half.:>(  It was horrifying!  So I did not want anything to happen to my little lemon verbena! 

OK probably overkill, but just making sure! I'm putting the final touches on the annual herb list so I think it may be posted tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.  Hope you are warm and toasty wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.  BTW, if you think that Lemon Verbena Lady's Herb Garden is a great gardening blog, please click the link above and vote for me as one of the top gardening blogs on ecollegefinder.org!  They are picking three top gardening blogs!  No cash just the glory of saying I'm one of the top gardening blogs!  One vote per visitor and voting ends at 5:00 PM EST on April 30, 2012.  Thanks!

A Edible Flowers Potpourri, A Recipe and an OMG Moment Too!

Borage (Borago officinalis) has a wonderful blue flower and is great to make ice cubes for summer drinks.  Has a slight cucumber flavor.  If you need a plant that takes up space in your garden, borage may be the ticket.  Here is a slightly closer photo of the flowers.  You always want to eat organic, non-sprayed flowers, remove those reproductive parts in the center.  It would be the black tips of the borage or eat the petals only.

They are just so pretty in the garden, but they do reseed and can be an issue if you aren't looking for a plant to take up space, this may NOT be the one for you.

Calendulas are the poor man's saffron (Calendula officinalis).  They were used in the early times as color in lots of different dishes.  It does not give the taste of saffron.  You should just be eating the petals of this flower.  We use them in our salads and cookies (a recipe is in the link below).  Way back in 2008 when I started this journey I did a pretty complete post on calendula.  Here it is again, Herb of the Year-Calendula.

Daylilies are one of my favorite edible flowers.  Oh, no, wait, I like nasturtiums more.  Oh, no, well, you get the idea.  That's why I'm giving you a potpourri of flowers.  Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.) are one of those edible flowers that the whole species are edible.  They make fantastic cups.  You need to take those reproductive parts out of the center and then you can fill them with your favorite salad.  They are also good in a champagne flute filled with ice cream or sorbet and chocolate or fruit sauce.  The lighter colored ones are better.  The red ones tend to bleed their color.  This one in the photo above is called Frans Hals after the artist of the same name from I think the 1950's.  I have the orange one that is along roadsides called (Hemerocallis fulva).  Don't be eating this one from the roadside, because they do spray with pesticides along the roads.  Also it is a very good erosion control for some people, but it has made the invasive species list in some parts of the United States.

My bee balm (Monarda didyma) was blooming the other day when Jekka was in the garden!  I just love this flower.  The hummingbirds love it and it blooms for awhile.  I bet a month or so.  It has blocked off one of the entrances to the back garden and we have let it.  I'm hopefully going to be able to make some bee balm couscous salad before they complete fade away.  It is from Jekka's latest Herb Cookbook.  Again, just use the petals in salads, both greens and fruit.  If you use them in a different way in cooking, please let me know.

The lemon balm is FULL BLOOM!  What you should never let your lemon balm do!  I'm going to be removing lemon balm everywhere next season.  My perennial problem.  Worse than garlic chives.  But my garlic chives are catching up to the lemon balm.  Well, up in the upper corner of my blog, I have posted a new connection for my latest post for The Herb Companion.  Hope you enjoy it.  Muggy and rainy out.  Hope you have a great day wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

Getting Closer to the Big Day!

Last September I was lucky enough to go to Open Garden Days at Jekka's Herb Farm in Bristol, England and meet these two lovely ladies.  On the left is Jekka's daughter, Hannah and, of course, Jekka.  We are getting closer to when Jekka will be visiting Pittsburgh and speaking to the Herb Society of America on June 24.  I just received Jekka's latest newsletter and I spotted her new blog.  Well, when I visited last year, she mentioned me in her September blog.  It took me until now to spot it!  Her new blog talks about chives and that's what my upcoming guest blog for The Herb Companion will be about next week.   GMTA, herbally speaking!  Stay tuned.  Got to get outside and walk before it rains again.  Horseradish jelly didn't gel like last time!  Going to experiment when I come back with a solution.  Keep your fingers crossed it works!  Talk to you later.

Got a Request and Have Gotten It Before, Herbally Speaking!

I got a request from a new follower and others in the past to write a blog devoted to planting a new herb garden.  Also talking about growing herbs in containers as a foil against deer.  The good news, Linda, is that deer mostly don't eat herbs. The one herb that they do eat are roses because they know they are an edible flower!

Maybe I should be doing a blog called Lemon Verbena Lady's Herb Gardening 101.  I just did a 2 hour and 15 minute talk on it and it could translate into a blog I suppose.  Well, I have thought about doing a book/booklet.  I'm trying to concentrate on this blog, my blog on The Herb Companion magazine and I'm supposed to be blogging for The Herbal Bouquet.  Not doing that very well!  Linda who just asked is from Georgia and Becca who is a follower from Alabama has asked for me to write about the herbs in my garden and how I use them.  My blogging friend, Taylorsoutback, from Wisconsin, would like to hear me speak.  So would Tufa Girl in Texas.  She is always trying to motivate me to do a booklet/book, a podcast, something, anything on herbs.  So Linda, you aren't the only one who is trying to get me to write, speak something about starting an herb gardening.  I'm going to think about it.  If you have a suggestion, please let me know in an e-mail or a comment.

P.S. There is a new post on The Herb Companion Website.  Just click the photo to get to the new post.

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine-A Journey to Fenton House!

Here are the additional photos of Fenton House in Hampstead, England.  The first three were during the walk to the house from the Tube Station.  The next ones around the house and inside.  The last photos are of the three distinct gardens, the formal, the perennial borders and the kitchen garden.  It is really a lovely house and gardens and one if you are in the London area, you should not miss.  My English Herbal Companion and I had a great time. This is my last post on my England trip from last September.  Here is the link to the guest post called Herbal Travels:  The Fenton House Garden in England.  Hope you have a great day.  Talk to you later.

Found my Favorite, Lemon Verbena on the Way to Fenton House

The English Make Good Use of the Window Box for an Herb Garden!

What Not to Do With Trees in Containers!  Not Part of Fenton House!

The Front Gate of Fenton House

Big Bowl of Lavender as a Room Freshener

A View of the North Garden from the House

A Yew Hedge Forms the Entrance to the Gardens

Quite a Lavender Hedge!

A View of the Cross Borders.  I Spy Some Purple Sage!

Staircase to the Rose Garden with a Thyme Surprise!

The Rose Garden

 A Glasshouse

 A Flower Border in the Kitchen Garden!

The Orchard Waiting for the Apple Festival

 One of My Favorite Edible Flowers, Sunflowers!

 Nice Looking Lettuces for September!

My Favorite, Lemon Verbena

Part of the Herb Garden

 A Peek Over the Wall into the Kitchen Garden

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine!

This is going to be a year of renovation in my herb garden.  So here is my latest guest post for The Herb Companion Magazine called Addicted to The Herb Garden Planner.  This plan in the photo needs some help, but it is a good first version.  The software is just so much fun to play with.  You can get a 30 day free trial.  So I hope you will give it a try.  Here is a link for The Herb Garden Planner.  Hope you have as much fun as I have so far.  P.S.  The horseradish jelly was very good.  I'll post the recipe over the weekend.  Here's the quote of the day from Don't Throw in the Trowel by Texas Bix Bender:

Anybody who thinks that gardening begins in the spring has wasted the fall and winter.

Talk to you later.

I Don't Think This is Too Good-Herbally Speaking!

If you remember at the end of last year, we got this new container for my 'Linear Leaf' thyme.  Now I'm not so sure this is a good thing.  In fact once I get this posted, I'm going outside and remove the snow and try to siphon off the water and ice that has collected!

Well, I got the block of snow off, but there is a frozen layer of ice that I couldn't chip through.  I started to, but the plant was getting damaged!   Yikes!  Just hoping that it gets warm enough to thaw the container!

Been playing with the Herb Garden Planner feature at The Herb Companion magazine website.  I'm recreating the overabundance of garlic chives and angelica and thinking about how to make it more herby!  More over the top herby if that can possibly happen!  Hope you are out from under your snow and cold!  It is a bright sunny day again here.  Will post a photo of my herbal rescue later on!  From Mrs. Reppert's TwelveMonth Herbal: 

Alone in distant woods or fields, on a cheerless day like this,

I come to myself...I wish to know something; I wish to be

made better.

- Thoreau   1857

Guest Blogging for The Herb Companion Magazine-The Chelsea Physic Garden!

Obviously, The Garden of World Medicine!

The Rock Garden and Pool

A Contemplative Garden

Two of My Favorites, Nasturtiums and Chard!

Beans on the Tripod with a Flower Pot Hat!

Lemon Gem Marigolds, Lettuce, Corn and Chard!

A Stand of Perilla!

A Bed of Herbal Remedies or a Hedge of Lavender!

A Hedge of Green Santolina!

A Lavender Collection!

A Tropical Walkway in the Greenhouse

An Educational Cart in the Garden

A Monkey Puzzle Tree

Meadow flowers at the Chelsea

Very Exacting Flower Beds!

Just wanted to post these photos as promised in my guest blog for The Herb Companion magazine called Herbal Travels: The Chelsea Physic Garden of London.  Hope you had a great day!  Talk to you later.