September song with
promise of shorter days and
cooler nights splendor...
David and I are currently taking a landscape design class. One question that came up asked us to consider what design services were we thinking of providing? As I reflected on my own experience, and what have I learned that could be of remote interest to others. What could be my niche? Well, the most fun I've had is learning about herbs and appreciating not just their beauty but their various uses.
No matter what level of gardening you enjoy, now that we are all spending more time at home, looking to squeeze as much from our dimes as we can, please consider growing more herbs. Not only are they spectacular specimens in the garden, they are of ultimate practicality. I see myself of assistance to those who love to cook from their own Italian and Mexican gardens (happily assisting in my personal crusade to pepper the planet with salsa gardens) and surely some must have considered by now tea gardens. How satisfying it would be to come home after a stressful day, snip a handful of mint and relax with this refreshing tea? Yes, there are decorative ways to contain its wandering habit.
If I had to pick just one to entice you with, it would have to be lemon verbena.
I want to share with you a great article I found above with uses and recipes for this amazing herb. Allow me to wax poetic about its unique long lasting fragrance. A multitasker to be sure, used in potpourri, cooking, baking and delicious tea! Can you just imagine using this lovely syrup in your late summer beverage? Are you like me and enjoy orange peel in your coffee, then why not try a sprig of lemon verbena in your next carafe? Who do you know would enjoy a humble gift of lemon verbena vinegar? Even if you only tuck some leaves in your sugar bowl, wouldn't it be worth it? Alas, this herb does not winter well in our cold climate, so please give it serious consideration on your spring planting list. Your welcome.
So will there be any tea waiting for me tonight?
ReplyDeleteTerre so glad you linked this to fb...love the good smelly herbs..many of the gardens I pass on my daily walks have herbs nicely close to the sidewalk...I come home with hands smelly of rosemary and lavendar...I love catching a whiff of dill as I step past..
ReplyDeleteDo you know anything about ground cover herbs? specifically 2 small spaces on either side of a walk, the doggie loves to eat the grass but the grass isn't happy there...camomile or thyme? doggie safe?
I've bookmarked you, thanks!
I love to search for stuff on the Internet. I like to search for images of plants at Flickr, and likewise try to properly identify pictures of plants I post. My pictures are uploaded with the most liberal Creative Commons license. The default setting for Flickr photos is to assert copyright. The nice thing is that many people post their images to Flickr under one of the creative commons licenses, so they can be a source for images for your blog. flickrCC is one way to search for images at Flickr that have some sort of CC license.
ReplyDeleteI searched Flickr for lemon verbena. I saw some pictures which actually were lemon balm, a common confusion. So you can't always take the pictures as definitive. Nevertheless, I find Flickr a good place to see pictures of particular plants as my curiosity leads.