Spring 2004 Newsletter

    This is the first year that I can remember winter zooming by. In the past, it has been a tedious, lonely process. But this year, the days flashed by. On the one hand, I prayed that it wouldn’t snow anymore. On the other, I can’t believe it’s time to touch each budding leaf as it swells.

The fragrance from the difficult daphnes, shade-loving sweetbox and exotic edgeworthia nearly knocks you down as you enter the cold frames where they await their freedom. The mahonias shout at you with lovely pastel yellow spikes of bloom and the camellia blossoms peek in delicious pink and red shades from amongst the protection of the glossy foliage.

In the front garden, the illicium anisatum is happily winding up it’s showy bloom days (God, it makes me happy when it blooms), and the hellebores are nodding at me in shades of mauve, white and deep purple from beneath the ash. Today though, the wintersweet (Corylopsis  spicata) is taking center stage with the light yellow chains of blossoms against its twisted contorted form. What a fantastic performance!

We recently wound up our trips here and there for garden shows and herb fests. Our classes will begin soon, and we are excited about the offerings we have. Hope that you can all attend. (See the green insert.)

We also hope to wind up the construction efforts around the greenhouse soon. Sorry for any inconvenience, but we decided that having a boulder roll through the greenhouse would be a horrible idea. So, the new retaining wall is slowly moving forward. We are also laying a patio on the end of the greenhouse closest to the water gardens. What  a learning experience for Kevin, Tim and myself. Thanks to Gino Cella and Richard Nifong for their patient participation.

I’m already drooling over my baby basil plants and imagining pesto sauce, fresh basil in my salads and well, maybe I’ll just rub it in my hair for the sheer delight of smelling it.

Our heirloom tomatoes and hot peppers are also peeking out of the flats. (See box for a list of babies we are praying over.

Get ready for spring everyone…it’s just around the corner!

                                                                                            Happy Gardening,

1.  Mash freshly chopped chives, basil, tarragon or dill into butter for veggies or grilling.  (Zucchini fans – slice lengthwise leaving stem end intact. Use tarragon buter and grill).

2. Add oregano, basil or rosemary and thyme to a small bowl of olive oil. Heat briefly in microwave to infuse the oil with flavor.  Use as dip for French bread.

3. Vinegar – 1 cup fresh pack herbs – 3 cups wine vinegar.

4.  Freezing with water – Fresh basil.  2 cups fresh basil per 1 ½ cup water. Freeze in ice cube trays. Store cubes in baggies.

5.  Chop a handful of chives into mashed potatoes.

6.  Dry peppermint until crumbly. Add 1 Tbsp. to chocolate cake mix.

7.  Quick side salad. Add fresh chopped chives, parsly and thyme leaves to grated carrots with a dab of red wine vinegar. Salt and pepper.

8.  Lemon grass tea – Tsp dried or Tbsp. fresh per cup.

9.  Betony – dried leaves: use tea to aid with digestion and flatulence.

10.  Chop fresh basil leaves into tossed salad. healing.

11.  Add sprigs of fresh spearmint when brewing iced tea.

12.  Quick and painless appetizer: Bake a can of hungry jack biscuits. Pull apart into layers. Top with dollop of cream cheese. Sprinkle with   dill weed. Top with slice of cucumber or large cooked shrimp.

13. Use sage or rosemary stems for skewers when grilling. (Soak in water first for a little while.)

14.  Stuff the cavity of your chicken with rosemary before roasting.

15.  Throw fresh calendula petals in fruit salad or steam dried ones in rice for a saffron substitute.

16.  Add pennyroyal to the dog’s bed to combat fleas.

17.  Too much rosemary? Cut long stems for flower arrangements.

18.  Mix 1 cup borax wiht1/2 cup dried peppermint or rosemary and several tablespoons of lavender flowers or rosebud petals. Put in muslin bags and add to bath water.

19.  Chop fresh comfrey, rosemary, lavender or sage into an equal amount of Epsom salts. Use in a warm footbath to soothe tired feet.

20.  Rub mashed comfrey or betony leaves on small cuts, external wounds or bruises to speed healing.

Spireas for Spring

    Although there are spireas for every season, two of them warm our hearts in early spring. The first lacy white blooms appear during the 2^nd week of March and by the 4^th week, they are in full glory.

Spirea thunbergii “Fujino Pink” has Attractive pink buds that open into flowers reminiscent of soft pink apple blossoms. A vigorous grower, foliage offers a spectacular apricot color in fall.

    Another favorite is Spirea thunbergii ‘Ogon’. The narrow golden leaves that peep through the white lace blooms make this one of the most attractive spireas available. Although they fade to chartreuse, the new growth remains golden.

Both are graceful, arching shrubs that reach from 4’ –5’. What a way to start the season!

Many of you know that along with the gardening magazines, I eagerly await each issue of Food and Wine            magazine. With the onset of spring, I look forward to having fresh local greens again, and spinach is one of my favorites. A recipe in last July’s issue turned out to be superb, even though I had to modify it to match my available ingredients. Here is the version that I fixed.

Fried Ginger and Spinach

3 lbs fresh spinach leaves

1 cup chopped, peeled fresh ginger

2 Tbsp. canola oil with several shakes of hot sauce or    

   chili powder added.

½ cup peanut oil

3 Tbsp. low salt soy sauce

1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar or rice vinegar

Pinch of sugar 

1. Chop the ginger and mix with the chili oil in a small food processor. Set aside.

2. Stem the spinach leaves and blanch in boiling water about 45 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water. Squeeze dry and chop into a shallow dish.

3. Mix soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Drizzle over spinach, stir to coat and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

4. Heat the peanut oil over moderate heat and sauté the ginger until golden. Drain ginger on paper towels.

Sprinkle over spinach to serve.                           Wow!

    We’re continuing to pot up our new babies and explore their qualities with excitement.

     The ‘Snow Fairy’ Caryopteris promises to be a hit with creamy white edges to deep green leaves. This ‘Bluebeard’ relative gives us wispy blue flowers that curl above the foliage in late summer until frost. Tony Avent notes that the crushed foliage smells like cat urine…but that’s the only thing that doesn’t excite me about this plant. (Gosh Tony, what a nice selling point!)

            For the herb lovers, we are adding ‘Blue Fortune’ Agastache, an anise hyssop that promises lavender-blue flowers from June until September to attract   both butterflies and bees. The leaves smell of licorice when crushed or bruised (better,huh!). This plant is an offspring of the United States native A. foeniculum crossed with A. rugosa of Korea.
              ‘Amethyst’ Oakleaf Hydrangea promises a more compact habit at 6’, and sports 6” long white flowers that will turn wine-red with age. This is one of Professor Dirr’s selections and shows great promise for the landscape. Flowers dry well, too.

            We also are excited about the two cultivars of English Elm that we have been growing…‘Argenteovariegata’ has creamy white and green leaves while ‘Louis Vanhoutei’ is chartreusey yellow-green. Right now, we have them tree-formed but many sources recommend using this elm as a hedging plant.  We shall see…

            This also seems to be the year for the Andelynsis conica ‘Nana' False Cypress. Looking like short, skinny blue Christmas trees last year, they are beginning to fatten up a little and gain in stature. (Wish I could gain in stature when I chub-up.) Now they are beginning to look like terrific pyramidal growers for foundation plantings or accents in the rock garden with a deep hue of winter purple-blue and blue-green shade for summer.

            Who knows what’s next?