From T to V - and I don't mean TV

I wanted to share with  you information on some herbs you may not be familiar with. Rather than watching TV, I did a bit of research utilizing my wonderful herb books I've accumulated over the years. Most of my books I've bought from Lucia and Michael Bettler of Lucia's Garden out of Houston, Texas. I highly recommend checking them out on line or in person if you are ever in Houston.


Tansy blooms dried are
popularly used in arrangments and wreaths.

 T for TANSY
Tansy Tanacetum vulgare – known as Ponso in Spanish. Hill and Barclay, authors of Southern Herb Growing explain it grows 3-4 feet, “is best grown in full sun, ordinary soil and likes to keep its feet dry.” It “spreads by means of rhizomes like the mints although it’s not as invasive.” The camphor fragrant evergreen fern like foliage has bright yellow flowers all summer. The button like flowers can be used as a dye and are used dried in arrangements.
Author Lesley Bremmess of the The Complete Book of Herbs recommends growing it near fruit trees to repel insects. It has been said it was used in medieval times as one of the strewing herbs, strewn on the floor and walked on to repel flies and ants.

Interesting to Note
• Tansy is a larval plant for the Painted Lady Butterfly.
• In The Language of Flowers, TANSY symbolizes everlasting life.
 

 



Vetiver shown in pots in the greenhouse. Vetiver does well in our
southern landscape. Cut back in the spring.

 V for VETIVER
Vetiver makes a great clumping grass and is grown for its root. It is said to repel ants and termites and good to plant around buildings.

The fragrant root is used in:

• perfume
• sachets and
• potpourris.

Hill and Barclay of Southern Herb Growing note “in tropical India, Vetiver roots are woven into mats, and other useful objects. The exotic aroma is similar to that of sandalwood.”

 I have instructions on making a rosemary angel that utilizes the Vetiver leaves for the arms, head and body. I bet these would be fun to make and smell delightful.

My mother has it growing in full sun at South Padre Island. It looks similar to pampas grass and does well here in South Texas. I'll have to get a picture of hers and share it with you.

Texas Ebony

  

A flowering Texas Ebony against a clear blue sky.

With the recent rains you may have noticed a profusion of blooming trees - our native tree, the Texas Ebony, its evergreen leaves unrecognizable when in full bloom.

Brad Doherty took some wonderful photos that were published in The Brownsville Herald June 29, 2011 with an article entitled Texas ebony trees in full bloom. Unfortunately the link doesn't show all the photos. One in particular I wish you could see included a blooming ebony branch in a tall oriental vase. Now that's what I call a unique arrangement that really makes a statement.

I can't wait to try this after our next rain, which I hope comes again soon.

Ala Casa Calabasa

 Something my hubby says to me when he's ready for me to get going.

(it rhymes but literally translated means "to the house, squash!")

Just picked garden fresh zucchini & okra.

We have lots of fresh zucchini in the garden and were blessed with a gift of goat cheese recently so was excited to run across this “Lemony Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza” recipe from the blog Smitten Kitten and thought you’d also enjoy trying it. Experiment with different herbs besides basil. Remember don’t overdo the herbs to begin with. You can always add too but harder to take away.

One comment suggestion: substitute the pizza dough with pitta bread.

Nice Slow Steady Rainfall

That’s what we are finally getting - have had 1 ¾ inch total rain today. So soothing, peaceful and welcome.

Rain Check
A friend invited me to an event this week and I asked her to give me a rain check due to a conflict in my schedule. That coupled with the rain had me looking up what exactly is a rain check. First I found that rain check is two words instead of one. In looking up rain check, www.answers.com listed the following definition and explanation:

1. A ticket stub entitling the holder to admission to a future event if the scheduled event is canceled because of rain.

2. An assurance to a customer that an item on sale that is sold out or out of stock may be purchased later at the sale price.

3. A promise that an unaccepted offer will be renewed in the future: declined the invitation to dinner, but asked for a rain check.

Rain Check - BackgroundIt seems the term rain check came about in the 1880’s when baseball games were rained out and attendees were given rain checks to cover a future admission.

Rain, Rain, Come Today
Just this week I had changed the lyrics of Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day to Rain, Rain, Come Today and posted on FB. It has been so long since we’ve had a rain here, that I cannot remember when the last time was.

I’d have to say my garden and I are truly thrilled and not willing to take a rain check on this wonderful rain! The soil will be much improved due to the flushing of all the built up salt from the lack of rain. I expect everything will be growing like gangbusters after this.

I’ve put out my glass pitcher to capture rainwater to use as a hair rinse. It’s amazing to me how cold rainwater stays when saved like this.

Nursery Rhyme
Here’s a new twist on an old favorite rhyme that fits the weather this evening:

It's raining, it's pouring,
I’m fixing to be snoring.
I laid down my head
when I went to bed
and I slept late in the morning.

Be Happy - Water Smart

Our Zinnias are in Bloom, Yeah!!

Thanks to my wonderful hubby, we have zinnias blooming

in all different brilliant colors in the garden.

Well, gardening in South Texas has its challenges

with the heat and lack of rain these days.

We all need to keep hydrated and so do our plants.

Following are some tips I've learned that you can do too

to keep you and your Zinnias happy.

Tips for Happy Gardener & Garden

 DO

• Add compost and other good stuff to enrich your soil when preparing your garden bed - this helps your soil retain water
• Build raised beds for better drainage
• After planting use 1-2" or more of mulch - spread around the plants after planting but don't bury your plants with mulch
• Use soaker hoses/drip irrigation when possible (with timers in case you forget to turn off the water) less water evaporation
• Water early morning slow and deeply. Over 90% of plant diseases are fungal related so watering early eliminates alot of problems that are caused by watering late in the day.

  

DON'T

• Let the weeds suck out all the water from your plant - eliminate them using mulch immediately after planting and weeding periodically.
• Water sidewalks, driveways, streets or curbs – concrete - no matter how much you water them, they still won't grow

Benefits of Mulch

• Mulch keeps soil cooler so the water doesn’t evaporate from the soil as fast so less loss of water
• As mulch breaks down it adds to the soil
• Keeps weed growth down
• When weeds do come up, they are a whole lot easier to pull out from the mulch - that means less weeds and easier removal

Placing bags of mulch around the zinnia bed in preperation for putting
around the plants. For the most benefit, you have to remove
the mulch from the bags (he he).



Mulched Zinnia Beds. Happy Zinnias!

Happy Zinnias, Happy Gardener!



Birds of a Feather

Standing on my back porch this morning, sipping herbal tea - looked over to see a peacock strolling down a pathway with its beautiful colorful plumage. Thought "What a great way to start out the day!"

Imagine my surprise to see such a colorful bird strolling along.

We seem to attract all kinds of animals to our place. My husband said the daughter of one of his regular customers asked her when were they going back to the zoo?

(meaning our place.)

Back to the Zoo
We’re not actually raising any of these interesting animals but our neighbors are. One neighbor has had donkeys for as long as I can remember. Now they are down to one donkey and a peacock. Our other neighbor has/had chickens. Most recently their rooster was a common sight roaming the greenhouses and grounds.
 The rooster has since disappeared – he may have gone on to fulfill a higher purpose for our neighbor – he was pretty plump last time I saw him.

The peacock put on quite a show for Herbie's enjoyment.

Google Peacocks
Not knowing much about peacocks,  I googled online. According to the National Geographic website's Fast Facts: peacocks are omnivores with an average life span in the wild of 20 years. They are “ground-feeders that eat insects, plants, and small creatures.” (hopefully not weenier doggies)

I can surely vouch that they have a very distinctive call that can be heard early in the morning and throughout the day.

According to TropicalBirds.com, peacocks can grow to 50 yrs of age. They need adequate perch and roosting room. The neighbor's peacock seemed to enjoy being perched on our compost pile, the fence and in the fenced back yard. I guess that’s why the peacock likes our area so much as there are lots of places to perch, and yes, they can fly.

Herbie and Daisy curiously checked him out but didn't bother getting too close. You might say the peacock kept Herbie a tail length away. His tail seemed to be a good 5 feet long. “The tails (in males) molt every August. A male adult peacock takes three years to develop the full birds eye tail span.”

Facts about Indian Peacocks by Rosemary Drisdelle explains the bird with the beautiful display of feathers is the male peacock. Females are called peahens and babies are called peachicks. Driselle explains they “can live for at least 15 years in captivity but probably not that long in the wild.” Following is an excerpt of history, facts and little more about them that she listed:

Interesting Info
• The natural habitat of peafowl is dry open forest. The birds remain on the ground most of the time and do not fly long distances.
• In the wild, peafowl nest and feed on the ground, but roost high in the trees, ascending early in the evening.
• The eerie call of the peafowl is often heard when rain is approaching.
• Peafowl tend not to get on well with other domestic animals.
• Peafowl eat insects, seeds, plant seedlings, fruit, and small reptiles.
• Because of their taste for seeds and insects, peacocks and peahens are drawn to gardens and compost piles, where they can become a nuisance.

Driselle also explained that “domestic peafowl are valued in India because they eat young cobras.” I feel safer already.

The End

Ice Storm in South Texas

We are still recuperating from our recent mid 20 degree icey weather last week. Donny was up three nights in a row making sure nursery stayed above freezing running propane heaters and a generator when the electricity went out.

Herb plants survived the unusual freeze we had, thanks to our cold weather protection.

Neighbor's iced over mesquite trees run along the fence line.

Most everything covered with a layer of ice before it melted.

Water melting from heated greenhouse formed icicles.

Broccoli, cauliflower and romanesco plants covered in nature's blanket.

 

Live oak covered in ice.

Purple cauliflower

Icicle Man goes amuck.

Mesquite tree lined roadway shimmering from the ice covered branches.

Watered garden well. Placing large plastic pots over herb
shrubs then covering with serapes helped protect newly
planted and existing herb garden plants from the freeze.

This is most unusual weather for our normal sunny, breezy, South Texas - I think everyone is still finding out what if any damage they've had from this cold snap.

Hope you fared well, wherever you may be.