Author: Lilac

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Herb Information: Check Out Jekka’s Herb Cookbook

Besides gardening, reading is one of my passions. My reading preference is non-fiction which includes cookbook reading. Reading cookbooks is my relaxation reading; I often do it while watching TV. Even though I rarely cook these days, I still enjoy reading recipes. I have a huge bookcase filled with cookbooks. I also have saved all my Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines. In spite of all the cookbooks and recipes I own, and in spite of all the recipes that are online, I cannot resist going to the cookbook section in our local library and checking out all the new cookbooks.

Today I found what looks to be a interesting and fun cookbook to read because it not only has recipes using herbs, it also has herb information. It is called “Jekka’s Herb Cookbook” by Jekka McVicar, a Firefly book publication that came out this year, 2011.

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Amazing Mazes

Sunflower maze by Need A Haircut

Do you like mazes? Or do you feel that you will be trapped in one forever?

When I received notification of the world’s largest sunflower maze, I felt that I had to add another post to my weekly blogging because this Thursday, August 25, 2011 is “New Jersey Audubon Day” at the East Coast’s Largest Sunflower Maze at Augusta, NJ Farm. The maze, located at 553 Ross Corner Sussex Road, Augusta, NJ will be open daily through this Sunday, August 28 from 9 a.m.– 6 p.m. Admission to the maze is $8 for adults and $5 for children.”  See here.

I thought it would be fun to check out some other mazes in the US and around the world.

People lost in the corn maze by E. Bartholomew

More and more corn mazes are appearing in corn fields. Apparently these mazes are a popular family fun time because I found some great corn maze sites.

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What’s Happening in TheGardenLady’s Garden

Pink Crape Myrtle by BFS Man

Since it is so hot outside, it is difficult even for TheGardenLady to want to be out among my flowers. I do spend a few hours daily watering the flowers, so I am out either early in the morning before or just when the sun comes up or close to eight in the evening when the sun is going down. And it is then that I admire my flowers. What is especially pretty now?

I think the Crape Myrtles- Lagerstroemia are stunning right now. Mine is almost completely covered with flowers. Since my crape myrtle is the shape of a shrub, not a tree, I have flowers from the bottom all the way to the top.

Next to the Crape Myrtle, my Brugmansia is starting to show off. I counted ten trumpet-sized flowers open this morning. Since I give away rooted branches in the fall, I try to keep in touch with the babies. One grandchild of my Brugmansia has been blooming its head off for its owners. Only about 3 ft. tall, it has been having at least 18 flowers at one time. Its owner gives it lots of Osmocote – which seems to be the brand of fertilizer that many nurseries seem to use.  See here.

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Where have all the butterflies gone?

Cabbage White Butterfly by wwarby

My yard is jumping with squirrels. The Liquid Fence I use seems to keep the deer and rabbits away, though I see deer as well as rabbits in the distance. A neighbor has 3 red foxes living in her culvert. They prevent deer and rabbits from entering her yard. And a reader from Chicago has raccoons living under his deck. So much of the animals’ territory has been reduced that all these animals are now in our backyards. And with this drought the animals are less afraid to come closer to our homes.

I have a lot of birds happily chattering and flying about or enjoying some to the plants- like the finches on the agastache.

But what has happened to the butterflies this summer? Has so much of their environment been destroyed that butterflies populations are dwindling?

The cabbage white butterflies came on schedule and seem to be as numerous as usual. I have a lot of their favorite nectar plants but none of their host plants.

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Flowering Sansevieira

Flowering “mother-in-law’s tongue” by malyousif

TheGardenLady received this question from Cathy.

What are the white flowers ghrowing out of my sansevieira plant?  My friend had this plant for years and she never got them.

Lucky you!

Sansevieria or  mother-in-law’s tongue, like many plants, DO have flowers. They are white or a pale yellow green and some are quite fragrant. Also, you might see nectar balls on the flower stem. These flowers come when everything in the culture is just right- right light, temperature, humidity, etc. Your friend might not have had them growing in this optimum situation or it might have been just ready to bloom when she gave the plant to you. You are lucky to be able to see the flowers in your home. This is not a usual event. So sit back and enjoy the flowers, even though they are not that showy.
See here.

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Unique Gift: Create Your Own Rose and Name It

Would you like this rose named for you?

Have you ever wanted to give the perfect gift to someone? Or have you ever wanted to honor someone special in the perfect way?

A group from Princeton, NJ, wrote to TheGardenLady with such a request. They wanted to honor a beloved mayor with a rose named after her. Where could they possibly find a rose breeder who would create a new rose that would be forever known and sold with the name of the person honored?

This is the Jalgoldie rose TheGardenLady would love named after her

TheGardenLady found the perfect rose hybridizer who will create and name this unique gift for you as he has for people like Loretta Lynn and other luminaries.  The rose hybridizer is Brad Jalbert of Select Roses in South Langley, Canada.  Brad has introduced more than 65 new roses to the world rose market (the two photos on this post are of roses that he created).  He has also co-written two books on roses Roses for British Columbia and Roses for Washington and Oregon as well as written many articles for rose bulletins in  Canada and the US.

You can learn more about Brad Langley’s work by going on line to his website and you can visit his large display garden in Langley, British Columbia, which shows and sells high quality garden roses and is a demonstration garden for the Canadian Rose Society.

Select Roses is able to ship only the custom named roses to most countries around the world.

If any readers purchase a rose named for someone special, please let TheGardenLady blog know about it with photos of your unique, new rose and also the name of the new rose with a description of that rose.

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More Questions about Knock Out Roses

Knock Out Roses by hozn

TheGardenLady received this question from Mary Jane about a problem she was having with her knock out roses.

I planted eight knock out roses in the sun last year and they bloomed. After blooming the first year I put mulch on the base of the rose bush and the ground was not frozen. This spring I cut them back slightly the first bloom was great. We went on vacation and had a bad rain storm and the roses stopped. What am I doing wrong.

Here is an answer to your question from the experts:

Knock Out® roses will go through a blooming cycle. In the northeast they typically come into their first flush of flowering around Memorial Day weekend. They may not bloom as much for a few weeks, but will then flush another round of flowers in two to three weeks. The can be in bloom all the way up until Thanksgiving depending on the weather.

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How Wasps Can be Beneficial in the Garden

wasps by myriorama

Everyone knows that honey bees or lady bugs are beneficial insects. But there are other beneficial insects in the garden that we often don’t think of as beneficial. These insects may be minor pollinators but the reason they are really beneficial is because they are predators of harmful insects. TheGardenLady is specifically thinking of insects in the wasp family. When people see wasps, they generally are fearful that the wasps will sting them or others on their property. But many of the wasps are so busy going about their work, they won’t sting unless they feel threatened.

There are predatory wasps that attack caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects and parasitic wasps that lay eggs in harmful insects and when the eggs hatch they eat the harmful insects.  See here.

One example of a beneficial wasp is the potter’s wasp which is a predator that gets rid of unwanted caterpillars.  See here.

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Battling Animals in the Garden – Part I

snoopy baby deer by AlicePopkorn

I wrote in a recent TheGardenLady column about the deer seemingly decimating my plants. For example, the hemerocallis or day lily shoots that have emerged this spring have been shorn aImost down to the ground. The same thing has happened to the leaves of the tulips that are emerging from the ground. It looks like they were mowed. I am hoping that the eating of the leaves will not affect the flowers which have not yet emerged. So I have sprayed a lot of Liquid Fence on these pathetic stumps of plants hoping to prevent more eating damage. There is other evidence of chewed plants. I based this blame on the deer because I have seen what looked like deer tracks in the mud and deer scat otherwise known as poop all over the lawn and garden.

But am I correct that it was the deer that ate my plants? I have a variety of wild animals residing in my gardens, so the blame could be on numerous animals. On the one hand, I am still excited whenever I see a wild animal on my property. But on the other hand, I am really upset when I see my plants eaten. I had written in one column that gardening is like a battle- a judicious battle.

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Problem with an Avocado Tree

Avocado Tree by usedcarspecialist

TheGardenLady received this question from Doug.

I have an avocado tree that I started from a seed. It is over 3 years old and about 4 feet tall. It is in a pot. Recently the leaves got brown on the tips and then the entire leaf dried up and fell off. Now new leaves have come out and look good, but they too are turning brown and looking dried up. What is the problem and what do I need to do to fix it?

It sounds like you may have had too much salt accumulating in the soil in the pot your avocado is growing in. It is recommended that you freely water the plant and let the water drain for several minutes- don’t let the pot sit in the water. The other option is that you repot your avocado in new humous rich soil. Good luck.  See here.

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