Cultivating Tri-color Sage
March 6, 2010
Cultivation of Tri-color Sage
Site: All sage plants like full sun with a light, dry, alkaline, well drained soil.
Propagation: Garden sage can be easily started from seed. All forms take easily from cuttings, rooting time is about four weeks in summer, I recommend using a cutting from a plant you like the look of for this variety.
Growing: Plant 18 to 24 inches apart. Prune frequently to attain bushy plants. If leaves begin to yellow, roots need more space. Sage can be grown indoors if you have enough sun. Lightly prune plant back after flowering in June. Tri-color is not allways hardy above zone 6, so depending on protective snow cover you may need to treat it as an annual.
Harvesting: During the growing season, singular leaves can be picked straight from the plant after it has reached 5 to 6 inches. Branches can be cut after it is 8 to 10 inches tall.
Culinary Uses: Sage has a very strong flavor. Its main role is to accompany onions in the traditional stuffing for poultry. It is also a wonderful accompaniment to veal and pork and goes well with sausage, kebabs and some bean and tomato dishes. Be...
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cooking, cultivation, gardeing, herbs, sage, tri-color sage
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Cultivating Calendula
March 3, 2010
Cultivation of Calendula / Marigold
Site: Grow Calendula in a fine loam in a sunny area. Calendula like rich, well drained soil, but are very tolerant of average to slightly poor soils. Improving your soil quality will produce much healthier plants and flowers, so add plenty of compost. Add a general purpose fertilizer once a month.
Propagation: Calendula are grown from seeds. Sow seeds early in the season and cover lightly with 1/4" of garden soil. They germinate easily and will grow quickly, producing their first of a continual display of blooms by mid-summer.
Select a location in your garden where they can grow undisturbed for years and years, as these flowers will drop their seeds and reseed your flowerbed each year. Space plants 15" apart.
Growing: Once your Calendula is established, it should grow well, even if left unattended. Water during dry periods, once or twice per week. Add mulch around the plants to keep weeds down.
Early in the summer, the plants will begin to produce large flowers on long stems and will continue to produce flowers even after the first light frost.
Calendula is a somewhat hardy. It will not be harmed by a light frost either...
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calendula, cooking, cultivation, gardeing, herbs, marigold
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Seeds & Pods
January 17, 2010
Just because a flower doesn’t bloom in winter doesn’t mean it can’t still provide interest to the garden. These plants all have seeds or seedpods that catch the eye in the garden, or catch the snow and make beautiful sculptures in the landscape.
A tree you can utilize in the garden to provide winter interest is the Golden-Rain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata). Hardy in zones 5-9 this medium tree grows to a maximum of 30-40’ tall. Tolerating otherwise difficult areas this deciduous tree has brown Japanese lantern-shaped seedpods decorating it throughout the winter. These delicate looking seeds add an element of elegance to a winter landscape.
Purple-leaf Hazel (Corylus maxima ‘Purpurea’) is a large shrub that provides a winter focal point. This upright shrub grows to 20’ tall in zones 5-8 and in the winter is covered in beautiful purplish catkins. It also produces edible hazelnuts making it an excellent addition to the garden.
A group of shrubs that holds interest during the winter is the Hydrangea spp. Whatever your favorite variety of this beloved flowering shrub happens to be, the large blossom clusters form lasting dried flower heads that benefit the winter landscape. Just let the...
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gardeing, landscaping, planning, seed pods, seedheads, seeds, winter interest
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Gardening in WINTER! part 1
January 2, 2009
I wrote this particular blog entry more than once over the last two weeks. But this morning as I put fingers to keys I realized where I wanted to start the New Year.
January is the most optimistic month for Gardeners. I believe we suffer from a short-term memory loss over the holidays. That’s the only plausible explanation I have for being so eager to start all over again on the herb garden. It seems like only yesterday that I was utterly exhausted from making repeated trips to the compost pile with the wheelbarrow. Work did not end when daylight failed as I harvested into the dark with a miner’s light on my forehead. But here I am basking in the joy of preparing for a new year. I can’t wait for the flood of catalogs to begin arriving so I can pour over them for hours and plan for the New Year! January is a time to make decisions about what you want to grow in your herb and vegetable garden. And this can be the most fun you can have indoors with a garden!
My only solace is a...
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gardeing, garden journal, herbs, january
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Summer Care for Herbs
June 17, 2008
In the midwest right now the rain is abundant. Almost too abundant. and int he Southeast it is dry, more htan 27" of rainfall too dry according to my father. As a result of those extremes, I wanted to give some wet and dry weather tips for herb care.
When the weather and the ground are wet the biggest care you have with herbs is surface mold. Also known as powdery mold as it looks like flour has been sprinkled on the leaves. There are two things you can do to reduce the occurance of this mold. Good air circulation is key. Cut a few of the banches closest to the ground. They are usually muddy, and yellow or brown anyway. This will allow air to help dry the too moist soil and get air moving around the plant. Also you can thin out the branches of your plants. This selective cutting gives you fresh herbs to cook with in the early season and lets air move through, drying leaves and keeping away mold and mildew. It will also result in a bushier plant later in the season. Remember that plants with "wet feet" will suffocate from lack of oxygen, so try to...
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dry climate gardening, gardeing, herbs, rain
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