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No, not a dance party in the garden, an actual round ball with a “garden” in it. Well, “garden” may be a bit of an exaggeration but it IS planted. This idea began last Christmas when I saw a cone of chicken wire planted with various succulents. It was in a store window so I didn’t take it apart to see how they had made it but I assumed that it was stuffed with sphagnum moss.

I’ve been wanting to try it ever since so when Rivers (my 11 year old grandson) and I were looking for a project, this seemed to be the perfect solution. And it worked great!! though it was one of those rare projects that took less time (though more money) than I’d anticipated.

To begin with, I didn’t really want to make my own chicken wire cone and I couldn’t find one at the store but what I did find was a beautiful wood vine ball that I thought would work well.

We bought two bags of sphagnum moss (and should have bought three) and a bag of green moss and 6 small succulents (and should have bought more!). We then soaked the moss in water, trying our best to get it saturated.

Then Rivers used his (slightly smaller) hands to carefully stuff the ball with the moss. Once filled, he put the green moss on the outside, then we worked together to create cavities for planting the succulents.

You could use any plants you like, though I tend to like the ones that are almost flat rather than the ones that are taller. They seem to keep the shape of the ball better. We got ours at Home Depot ( on sale!) but these small succulents are readily available many places. They take very little water and will thrive with low to medium light.

I have to say that the results exceeded my expectations! I placed it in a clay saucer and it has provided a beautiful centerpiece for the coffee table. But, of course the best thing was that Rivers left the soccer field long enough to do a project with me! I’m a lucky lady.

Being an independent minded sort of person, I’m aways thrilled to celebrate Independence Day!! Yay for Freedom!! When the family came for brunch over the weekend, I wanted to fix something that was in keeping with the season so the kids and I made a “breakfast tart” in the shape of a flag.

The granola base was easy to do, using store bought granola. You could make your own from scratch, of course, but there are some really good brands of organic granola available now. Mix 1 1/2 cups granola with a stick of melted butter and 3 tablespoons brown sugar or honey and press into a rectangular pan. You could also roll out a tart or pie shell and cut it into a rectangle and use this instead.

The blue and red parts were easy; blueberries, of course, and raspberries. It was the white that was the stumbling block. I thought I was going to use vanilla yogurt over the granola and put the stars and stripes on top of this, somewhat like a yogurt parfait. But all that yogurt that I thought was in the ‘fridge wasn’t. I didn’t want to go to the grocery so I kept rooting around until I found a can of spray whipping cream. The kids were thrilled and it was fun for them to squirt out the stripes. The whole thing was fun and easy delicious. Even though it was a bit crumbly, we ate the whole thing!

Aside from the obvious holiday connection, this is the perfect time of year to use a lot of blueberries. They are in full production in Georgia and the berries are big and sweet. Last week, I spent a morning at Cool Springs Blueberry Farm in Gainesville and picked almost 2 1/2 gallons of berries.

There are two types of blueberries – rabbit eye, which is native to Georgia, and high bush, which grows from Georgia all the way into New England. Rabbiteye is a great species to use in a home garden, though be sure to plant more than one variety for better cross pollination and increased production.

Compared to picking wild huckleberries, which are about the size of a pin head (well, almost) picking these lucious big berries was quick and easy. No thorns, no chiggers – and no grizzly bears! What a way to celebrate the Fourth of July. Happy Independence Day to all.

Check it out at http://coolspringsblueberryfarm.com

My husband, Jack, and I were lucky enough to go hiking in the southern Appalachians this past weekend and were even luckier to see the flame azaleas in full – glory – bloom.

Rhododendron calendulacum is not all that rare and you’ll see lots of them if you drive the Charohala Skyway near the Joyce Kilmer National Forest in North Carolina. But, there is huge variation within the species that offers different colors of bloom in the wild and these variations are becoming increasingly threatened by loss of habitat and the invasion of non-native species

Thanks to the efforts of several volunteer organizations, including Partners of Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness and the Mid Atlantic Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society, a grand diversity of the flame azalea is being kept alive and well, particularly on Hooper’s Bald where they are abundant.

On this grassy bald, volunteers have kept invasive plants at bay and have worked for years to hand pollinate select forms and replant seedlings back into the wild to help maintain a great diversity. Their efforts are apparent in huge 10 foot specimens that sport 3 1/2 inch flowers in colors ranging from bright red to yellow to orange and salmon.

I was really interested in seeing that the azalea, like the oak trees in Oregon, held “galls,” growths on the tree that look like misshapen fruit. Unlike the oak gall (see my blog about this from May 20, 2019) azalea galls are not caused by a wasp but by a fungus. When ripe, they are full of water and some people consider them edible, though there is some controversy about this. Though the gall may or may not be toxic, azaleas and rhododendrons are poisonous and should never be consumed.

A “bald” is a phenomenon unique to the southern Appalachian mountains and scientists still can’t quite figure them out. It’s basically just an open place at the crest or side of a mountain. There are two kinds of balds, grassy and heath, and both are devoid of trees.

In more northern regions you would call it an alpine zone but in the south, it’s much too warm for this designation. The forest service has called it an “ecological enigma and a conservation dilemma.” Theories about the origin of the balds includes grazing by prehistoric mastodons and wooly mammoths but no one knows for sure. They do know that European settlers who used the balds for grazing cattle helped maintain them.

But now, many of the balds are found within the Great Smoky National Park and in National Forest land where, of course, there is no grazing and many of them are succumbing to the national progression of succession. We saw evidence of this when we hiked up “Bob’s Bald” and found not only the flame azalea but also acres of Canadian blackberry bushes overtaking the native plants.

The Forest Service, working with volunteer organizations, is trying to maintain these beautiful ecosystems by cutting back invasive shrubs and trees seedlings (which is where the conservation dilemma comes in) but the task is daunting. Most balds are at elevations of above 4,000 feet (Hooper Bald is 5,429) and are accessible only by steep trails.

But hooray and thanks! to all the people who work tirelessly to help the environment in so many different ways. Thanks to them, I’ll be able to show my grandchildren the glory of the flame azalea on Hooper’s Bald.

The beebalm in my garden began blooming this week and with it came the first hummingbirds of the season.  No matter how many times I have sat and watched these little bundles of joy and energy, I am still in awe of what they can do. 

 

Of course the hummingbirds on my flowers are ruby throated.  The brilliant colors on the throat are not from pigments but are caused by refracted light.  The angle and the amount of light directly influences how dull or sparkling these birds appear.

I say “of course,” because the ruby throated is the only hummingbird to occur in the eastern part of North America.  There are 24 species of hummingbirds that have been known to at least visit the United Sates, if not breed here.  Only 8 species do that.  The other 317 species of hummers in the world live in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Hummingbirds are truly amazing, especially for their size.  Each day that have to eat half their weight in sugar.  Granted, that’s not much as a ruby throated weighs only 3 grams (to give you some perspective, a nickel weighs 4.5 grams). They can fly backwards and when going forwards can fly at a horizontal speed of 30 mph.  In a vertical dive, they can reach 60 mph.

The smallest hummingbird, the bee hummer, lives in Cuba and is only 2 1/4 inches long.  Not surprisingly, hummingbirds lay the smallest eggs of any bird.  The ruby throated egg is about the same size as a jelly bean.

Hummingbirds perform heroic feats of migration. The gold medal winner is the rufous which travels 3000 miles from Alaska to Mexico every year. The ruby throated crosses the Gulf of Mexico, clocking in an impressive 500 miles a year.

It’s relatively easy to attract hummingbirds to your garden. They love brightly colored (more than just red!) tubular flowers such as trumpet fine, foxgloves, impatiens, petunias, cardinal flower, salvia and day lilies.

Everyone knows that wine comes from grapes and most people know that beer comes from malted grains, usually barley. But when you think about it, all alcoholic beverages come from some kind of plant. Well, that’s not entirely true, the poor nomads in Eastern Asia, lacking agriculture, fermented mare’s milk but it’s the exception rather than the rule. So, let’s raise a toast to the garden!! Without which our libations might be limited to fermented mare’s milk!

Humans have been drinking alcoholic beverages since before we could write. Anthropologists believe that even before we were fully human, our ancestors were picking up and enjoying the buzz that came from fermented fruits. As we became better at manipulating the fermentation process, we became more and more enamored with the effects of drinking.

Remnants of wine made from rice, fruit and honey have been found in a jar in China dating back more than 9000 years. Chica, a South American drink made from wild potatoes and wine made from palm trees in Africa also indicate that humans’ love affair with alcohol is thousands of years old.

Almost all liquor is made from yeast, water, some kind of fermented grain and flavoring. Manipulating these ingredients to produce the finest beverages has been the goal of mankind for a long, long time. Different plant material produces different results. In general:

• rice makes sake
• barely makes scotch (and beer)
• agave makes tequila
• sugarcane makes rum
• corn makes bourbon
• grapes make wine

Vodka, on the other hand, can be made from any starch or sugar-rich plant including sorghum, corn, rye, wheat, potatoes, molasses, soybeans, grapes, rice and sugar beets.

Amy Stewart, in her excellent book The Drunken Botanist says that “sorghum is probably the plant used to make alcohol more than any other.” Sorghum beverages range from homemade beer in Africa to a Chinese high-proof liquor.

The experts use all kinds of plants for flavoring – hops for beer, juniper for gin (it’s not legally gin unless it has juniper in it), smoky peat for scotch. But even if you’re not an expert, you can flavor your own liquors with many things right out of your own garden. If you want to infuse your own drinks, start with white spirits such as rum, vodka or gin and use what’s in season – berries, elderflowers, edible flowers or herbs.

You can add the plant material directly to the alcohol or you can make a simple syrup from flowers such as roses, violets, hibiscus, lavender or chamomile and add this to the liquor. Either way, it can be the garden in a shot glass.

So, if you didn’t think that you were a plant lover, think again. If you love your evening cocktail or a beer on a hot Saturday afternoon or a glass of wine with dinner, then you love plants! Unless, of course, you prefer fermented mare’s milk! Cheers!!!

Here’s a recipe for Rose Liqueur. Enjoy!

• 3 cups fresh rose petals (be sure they haven’t been sprayed!
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cups vodka

Place rose petals and the vodka in a large jar with a tight-fitting lid. Steep for 2 days. Add sugar and spices. Steep for two more weeks, shaking vigorously a couple of times a day to dissolve the sugar. After 2 weeks, strain through a coffee filter, transfer to clean bottles and allow to sit 2 more weeks before using.

Don’t forget to check out the Nature Based Etsy store. You can get a bag to tote around all that liquor! http://www.naturebasedstore.etsy.com

There are hundreds of gardening books and thousands of gardening blogs. Information is abundant and accessible. But can you trust it all? Even this blog? In spite of my most sincere and energetic efforts, I’m sure that over 40 years of garden writing, I’ve made mistakes or stated unverified “facts.” It’s hard to know sometimes what is accurate or not and new information is always being uncovered. The truest and most reliable source is personal experience.

But when it comes to gardening, your “truest” experience and mine may be completely different because though gardening is a science, it is also an art and much depends on the “canvas” you are working with.

All of this came to mind when I was walking through my garden with a friend. When she saw an entire bed of elephant ears popping up, she stopped. “Did you just plant all those?” I grinned, “Nope, this is the fourth year they’ve come back.”

Being a relatively new gardener, she’s still more into the science than the art and said “But, they said elephant ears are annuals.” And she’s right. In Atlanta, Georgia and more northern regions, when you buy these big bulbs that produce stunningly large, interestingly marked leaves, the tags say “annual.” But, technically they are not.

Elephant ears are from the family Alocasias which originated in tropical areas of Southeast Asia. I planted the species Cococasia Esculenta illustris and, if you read the literature about this, it says that they are reliably hardy in horticultural zones 8 – 12. Atlanta is in growing zone 7b which means that really my elephant ears should not be coming back year after year. But if I’d paid attention to what “they” said, I would have missed out on 4 years of splendidly beautiful, dark, dark arrow shaped leaves and lots of fun. (If you want to know what your exact growing zone is – by zip code – click on the following link https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/)

Like many of our summer bedding plants (such as vinca and marigolds?) elephant ears are really tender perennials rather than annuals. The definition of an annual is a plant that completes its life span within a single year. A tender perennial, on the other hand, is a plant that originates in a warm climate and can live for years but is sensitive to or killed by cold temperatures. To make things easier in colder regions, nurseries and garden stores simply call them annuals.

Elephant ears fall into this category, but in the little pocket of ground in which I planted three bulbs four years ago, they some how survive. It’s not particularly sheltered and we have certainly had very cold weather the past few years, it’s just……magic. It’s a case where the books say it won’t happen, and it did.

On the other hand, the books also say that Swiss chard will “withstand heat” and that you can grow it throughout the summer. Hmmm, tell that to my Swiss chard which is wilting and bolting in spite of being well watered. So, the science tells me it will work, but I guess there’s dark magic in the gardening world as well.

For the most part, I believe in planting what’s appropriate for my growing region. Just because I’ve had good luck with elephant ears, it doesn’t mean that I’m going to try to make my garden a tropical paradise with palm trees and bananas. Especially as our weather patterns become more and more erratic, it’s better to keep the backbone of my garden plants that are reliably hardy for where I live.

I’m grateful for the body of knowledge about gardening that precedes me and hope that I am accurate and correct with the information that I add to it. But don’t believe everything you read, not even here. Try it yourself. Armed with common sense and a large measure of magic, no telling what you’ll discover!

And for my part, I’ll continue to spend as much time as possible in the garden, trying, experimenting, failing and succeeding and reporting back to you as accurately as possible. But mostly, I’ll just enjoy the magic.

Laura

P.S. I’m thrilled to announce that Nature Based now has an Etsy store. I’ve put many of my botanical designs on gifts and products and would love for you to check them out. http://www.naturebasedstore.etsy.com

My husband Jack and I were hiking in southern Oregon last week when we saw the most interesting sight. It looked like bright orange / red fruit growing on oak trees. I thought they were probably oak galls but I’d never seen a gall so large or so bright. I texted a picture to my friend who confirmed that, yes, these were fresh galls.

An oak gall is an interesting phenomenon. A female wasp from the Cynapid genus (that doesn’t sting!) lays her eggs in the twigs, branches or leaves of an oak tree. The tree tries to protect itself by growing tissue around the eggs and, in doing so, provides both cocoon and nutrition for the larvae that develop. The galls can house from one to several individuals. Different species of wasps use different species of oaks, resulting in a wide variety of galls. Some small ones look like bumps on leaves while the ones we were looking at were up to 4 or 5 inches across.

The larvae feed on the tissue surrounding them, pupate and eventually turn into an adult which drills a hole in the gall to escape. It takes about a year to make the journey from egg to adult. Once the wasp escapes, the galls dry, harden and turn brown.

But the usefulness of the galls has just begun when the wasp flies away. Galls are extremely high in tannic acids and have been mixed with iron sulfate to make an incredibly intense blue/black ink. This was the ink of choice from the 5th to the 19th century and many, many manuscripts from medieval times written with gall ink still exist today. This includes one of the oldest, most complete bibles.

You, too, can make your own gall ink. Take mature galls and crush them, soak that in water for 24 hours, then strain. Mix the resulting liquid with sulphate of iron (found at a gardening store) and a fixative of gum arabic (found at the grocery store) and you’ll have a beautiful ink that will last for centuries. Have fun!

In their rush to find out what’s cooking in “LaLa’s Kitchen” my grandchildren rarely take time to notice flowers. So, when 9 year old Ellie commented on the tuberous begonia growing just outside the back door, I was pleased and excited and ran out to buy her her very own tuberous begonia.

I could have started her gardening career with a slightly easier plant. Tuberous begonias are “goldilocks” plants – needing everything just so; not too hot, not too cold, not too sunny, not too shady, not too wet, not too dry. I generally feel as if I don’t really grow these finicky plants as I do to put them in a container and hope that they live as long as possible. So far this year, though, I’ve had pretty good success.

At one point I thought I was losing it as an entire stem looked limp. I quickly watered again, compounding the error as the stem wasn’t dry but was actually rotting from excessive moisture. I brushed the soil away from the base of the main stem, making sure that no stems were resting on the damp dirt and (at least for the moment) problem solved! I amputated the rotting stem but managed to save the main plant.

Begonias make up a mega genus of over 1800 species, not counting the countless hybrids and varieties that have been developed. Most of the species are native to moist subtropical and tropical areas. If you want to grow begonias, mimic their natural habitat which is that of an understory plant. Most thrive in filtered sun, moist soils and warm temperatures. Almost all begonias are perennial but are treated as annuals as they will not tolerate cold or frost.

Begonias make superb bedding plants for shady areas and, if given an occasional shot of organic fertilizer, will bloom from frost to frost. Many of my begonias, such as a stunning “Plum Paisley” I treat as house plants, dragging them outside when the weather warms and back inside when the temperatures cool.

Begonias are very easy to propagate, especially if you just divide them. It’s sort of like growing grass, though, if you fertilize and care for your potted begonias, they’re going to grow so fast you’ll have to divide them frequently, just like fertilizing grass means more mowing.

Will Ellie’s tuberous begonia spiral her into her grandmother’s passion for gardening? I doubt it. But I can always hope.

Let me say this first thing; my favorite way to eat carrots is in cake. I love them other ways too – fresh and raw, cooked with butter and parsley, chopped up in salads, juiced, purreed and souped – but the best is carrot cake. Dump shredded carrots in with maple syrup, eggs, flour etc. (more precise directions follow in the form of the world’s best carrot cake recipe) and you can end up with something to celebrate, or celebrate with.

Carrots are really, really old. Cultivated carrots were selectively bred from wild carrots, Daucus carota, which are native to Europe and Southwestern Asia. The first carrots were actually prized for their leaves and seeds, not for the root. Archeologists have found carrot seeds in Switzerland and Germany that date back to 2000 to 3000 BC.

The modern carrot, which was purple, originated in Afghanistan in about the 10th century. It was brought to Colonial America in the 17th century.

Called one of the “World’s Healthiest Foods” carrots top the charts in health benefits. My Dad always told me that I could see in the dark if I ate carrots, which was not exactly true, but did result in my eating an impressive number of carrot – who wouldn’t want to see in the dark? What is true is that carrots are chock full of vitamin A, which will help prevent vision loss.

Carrots are fun to grow with kids as they germinate relatively quickly. It takes a little longer (70 – 80 days for many varieties) to actually get a carrot. Carrots need deep, loose, well drained, sandy soils. If grown in rich, rocky soils you’ll end up with hairy, misshapen roots.

Carrots now come in an impressive array of colors, shapes and sizes. In addition to orange, you can now get carrots in purple, red, white, yellow and black. You can get tiny carrots, smaller than your little finger, or carrots that have been crinkle cut, shredded or matchsticked.

I love what Thich Nhat Hanh had to say: “If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine.” I’m hoping that it is true with getting in touch with a piece of carrot cake as well.

Carrot Cake

(This is a variation of a “vegan carrot cake” recipe that my daughter gave me years ago. I usually use real eggs but if you eat “vegan” you can always use an egg substitute. I also love to sweeten it with maple syrup and honey but you can substitute the same amount of brown and white sugar and it works splendidly.)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup maple syrup (OR light brown sugar)

3/4 cup honey (OR white sugar)

3 eggs (OR egg substitute)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup light tasting olive oil (or other vegetable oil)

2 cups finely grated carrots

1 can (14 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup nuts and / or raisins (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients, except sugars
3. In a mixing bowl, mix maple syrup and honey (or sugars) eggs, and oil.
4. Add dry ingredients and blend well.
5. Add carrots, coconut and nuts and raisins, if using
6. Prepare three 8 inch round cake pans (or one 13″ x 9″ sheet pan). Pour batter into pans and bake 25 – 30 minutes for rounds, 40 minutes for sheet or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool before frosting.
7. Frost with cream cheese icing (Mix together 8 ounces cream cheese, 1/2 stick butter, 4 cups XXX sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 3 or more tablespoons milk.)

I’ve had divisions from my grandmother’s peony plants for 40 years. I’ve moved them from one home to another, planted them in various gardens and tried to grow them in countless different spots but it wasn’t until this year that they really bloomed. As if to make up for lost time (as in FORTY years) they put on a show stopping extravaganza. I watched last night as a woman, walking down the street stopped to look at my peonies, then leaned over to smell their delicate scent. It was as happy as if someone had told me how cute my grandkids are!

There are two reasons that Grandma’s peonies bloomed to well this year. The first is that, after years of talking and writing about the importance of a soil test, I actually did it and found out that my soil is achingly empty of potassium. I corrected this with a balanced organic fertilizer. The second, and far more important reason is that I finally put them where they receive enough sunlight. There is no getting around the need for sufficient light for stupendous blooms.

In addition, I made sure they had plenty of good air circulation and well drained soil. Peonies don’t like wet feet!

Although mine are the old fashioned full, white variety, there are numerous cultivars of peonies that come in white, pink, red, coral, maroon, striped and yellow. These generally grow to a height of about 3 feet. There is also a “Tree Peony” that grows 5 – 6 feet tall.

In the sunny South, peony blossoms only last a few days, making the season a very short one. Is it worth it? They are a lot of trouble as they need staking and support when they come into bloom. Ahhhh, but when they do bloom? Yes! It’s worth it!

In many ways, my grandmother was an unlikely candidate to be a peony lover. She was a stout, no nonsense kind of woman. She and my grandfather lived on a farm near Jeffersontown, Kentucky and her life was not easy. Looking back on it, her life was particularly challenging when my family (all 7 of us!) descended on her small house and organized life. It must have stretched her patience to have five small children running enthusiastically through her house and garden and an extra seven hungry folks to feed three times a day.

So, it made me wonder why my grandmother loved peonies so much. They are the “prima donnas” of the garden, needing care and attention and plenty of support as they come into bloom – sort of the opposite of my grandma who stoically did everything herself. It seemed that she would want to grow things that were more like herself – hardy and low maintenance. But then it occurred to me that the peonies might have represented something from another world for Grandma. That staking, fertilizing, watering and weeding these exquisitely beautiful flowers was her way of escaping the practical “low maintenance” part of life and expressing her love of pure beauty.

I wish I could ask her. I wish she could see that I finally succeeded in growing her peonies. I wish that we could stand together and celebrate pure beauty. I miss my grandma but I’m so happy that I have this living, beautiful reminder of her.

Happy spring.

Laura