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Recent News... Just for Pope Gregory... |
2005-09-05 - 12:57 p.m. Bambi and Thumper � 17. Hostas � zip. It�s been a quiet weekend in Lake Woebegon � I�ve even had time to read Roland a few of the Woebegon monologues, which make him groan and chuckle. This morning�s included the story of a duck herd who laughed at their owners jokes - wak, wak, wak. Poor Roland. Ah, he scrapes along okay. I made him amazing pork Friday night. Then, cause the meat was taking so long on the grill, I made pasta carbonara from scratch. Girl�s gotta keep busy. This morning we had crab cakes for breakfast, since I bought Baltimore company crab meat during our Costco odyssey yesterday � the small print on the can proclaimed the product contained crab meat from Indonesia � so much of the mystique of Maryland crab. The weather, which anyone who�s reading this inside at a computer might not know, has been fabulous all weekend. Without the haze of humidity, the sky glows a gentle autumn blue, and the heat sits lightly on the land. It�s the day I always imagined inspired Tom Sawyer to skip school and take his rod to dangle in the lazy water. The breeze nips just a little, letting you know autumn awaits. This will probably cheer Kymber, who�ll be happy to see the ducks migrate southward, out of her orbit for several months. I, however, who loves fall because the colors compliment my hair, will be sad to see the seasons roll because I�ll have to give up the garden. I�ve always joked with Lis that I didn�t know much about gardening, but it turns out I was lying. Compared to my mother, my grandmother and my grandfather, I am an idiot about growing things. But, in this urban world, well, my ability to say coleus and caladium frightens and amazes. Nearly a decade of living urban, and I�ve only been fooling with the landscaping around the house since my mom and I started gardening with the truck, making the job more like farmwork. Apparently, I should have put in an herb garden years about because the ability to grow food makes me enjoy digging about in the dirt. Blood will out, I suppose. My mother�s people having been farming since before America was a country. With the weather so perfect, I�ve been inventing outdoor chores just to putter about the yard, which is why, after several hours of weeding �
- I persuaded Roland spreading fresh mulch sounded like more fun than watching a movie and would keep the weeds from coming back. Now, the rest of this entry will be a monologue about the herb garden, not cause I imagine you care, but because I need somewhere to write down what grew well and what died on the east side of the house so I can plan for next year. Besides, I need the notes. Next year I�ll make mom help me put vegetables on the west side. Who needs all those evil azaleas anyway? You can skip the rest. I�ll talk to y�all tomorrow. The east garden Hyssop (Anise Hyssop. Perennial. Ht: 3�. Sp. 15�. Full sun) grows much taller than I realized � yes I know the tag said 3�, but who believes the tags? It tastes like anise, which smells nice at a distance since liquorice and I are not close friends . But the hyssop bush has become moody since it�s two weeks at the star of the Pennsic garden. Now, it wilts when not watered daily. Sigh. It was such a trooper, now it�s become a diva despite its promises of drought and heat tolerance. The parsley (Italian flat-leafed of course, who likes the curly stuff?) got choked out by the bitter clover. I rescued the remaining plants and we�ll see how they fare the last of the season. Thyme (thymus citriodorus Ht: 6� Sp: 6� Sun to part shade) given a bit of earth has spread itself like a French hussy and, despite promising late blooms, has never delivered (Sorry. Moulin Rouge soundtrack currently playing.) You�d think a plant I bought at the Cathedral gardens would behave better. The marjoram (Origanum Majorana, Ht: 12� Sp. 12� Full sun), strangely, looks slightly yellow no matter how much water it�s given. I don�t know what it wants. Its flavor�s been mild, underscoring it�s lack of flourishing. The basil (sweet basil �genovese� ocimum basillcum. Ht: 24-30�. Sp. 18� Full sun) like the mobsters of Italy, took over its small area and had to be tied back. Roland: Why is the basil so tall? I�m used to it being short and bushy. Lemon balm (Ht: 24�-36�. Sp: 18�. Sun to part shade) grew only a foot tall, but spread nicely. Two plants, and I have more lemon balm than two people could possible use � though it�d help if Roland actually liked putting lemon balm in his water and tea. Perhaps, it�d help more if Roland liked tea. Rosemary is, as always, a trooper. Slow growth of course, so I should give them more room. Probably move them to the back, since they will eventually become huge bushes. The little sorrel plant barely had a chance. I think the baby bunnies have been its closest friends all summer. It�s still only ten inches tall and has the chewed on look. Poor sorrel. Next year, I promise I�ll do better applying �deer-away� and �rabbit repellant�. The Cuban oregano seduced me in the nursery with its variegated and fuzzy foliage. I imagined it would grow tall in its spot against the house, providing a visual back drop against all the green. Alas, it�s stayed short and spread. Since you can�t eat it � a fact Roland mocked me about � and it didn�t turn out pretty this annual won�t be invited back next year. However, it�s common cousin Oregano (origanum vulgare. Ht: 12-36�Sp 12-36� Full sun) having flourished as ground cover and dinner companion, can stay as can the Mediterranean kinsman, Greek Oregano. Common sage (perennial, ) has been more yellowish than is probably healthy. The flavor is good Lavender (lavandula intermedia Provence� Ht: 18-36: Sp: 12-24� Full sun) , planted because Practical Magic says you should always have some by the garden gate, has done well by the cypress bush. I don�t have a gate, but it marked the end of the lettuce patch which (damn bunnies) only managed to sustain lively weed path of fescue and bitter clover. It�s short cousin (Perennial �Lady� Lavanduila angustifolia. Ht: 10� Sp: 12-18� Full sun) makes a nice height variation in the lavender patch Now, if I could just get the damned �Lavender�s green; lavender�s blue� chorus out of my head. Maybe I should get a garden gate. The foxglove (Perennial digitalis purpurea Ht: 3-5� Sp. 18� Sun to part shade) stayed a stubborn 12� tall, no dramatic blooms just a round of green leaves. Reynard says it�s bloom is biannual (twice a year. �) so I should expect a payoff next year. I think the nursery should have Reynard write their tags. The nandina berries (nandina domestica �monum�. Ht: 4-5�. Sp: 3�. Full to partial sun) is a bamboo like tree my mother picked out for under the laundry room window. It�s happy there, a good slow grower next to the foundation, though it�s new growth is a lighter shade than the dark green leaves developed in the nursery�s full sun. St. John�s Wort (hypericum androsaemum �glacier� Ht: 36�, Sp: 18�. Full sun to partial shade) I told my mom I wanted for ground cover next to the nandina berry tree. Really, I wanted it because it�s a plant that turns up in Brother Cadfael novels. And it was pretty. However, it�s position just to the right of the laundry room window places it near the dryer exhaust vent. Poor thing looks undignified with the occasionally lint fuzzy clinging to the leaves. Probably explains the leaves being on the brownish side. The bishopsweed (perennial. Aegopodium podagraria �varigatum� Ht: 10-12� Sp: 18�. Sun or part shade) was an impulse buy in the ground cover section for it�s variegated foliage. I�m a sucker for interesting foliage, damn Cuban oregano and now the bishopweed. It died for no reason I understand. My other impulse buy, bugleweed (perennial, ajuga r. �burgundy glow�, Ht: 6� Sp: 12� sun or shade) did well, but not well enjoy to divide it. Now, the puzzlement and shame of the garden is the potted mint that is brown and dying. Yes, I have managed to kill mint. I blame the damned strawberry pot which mom told me not to buy because it wouldn�t hold water worth a damn. The front yard The coleus and caladiums continue to flourish in the darkness under the cherry tree. Ferms and hostas are also happy there, though the hostas would be happier is the deer would stop eating them. Sweet potato vine does nicely when the Bambi menance is persuade to leave it be. The perennial plum bells and astilbes did not come back strong � maybe because it�s been a drier year and I don�t water regularly. The impatients mom, who loves the things, put in as her price for helping this year did better than expected with so little sun until they attracted the local herd and were gobbled down by the deer. The manhattan eloyius (our front hedge), usually always in need of a haircut is looking unexpectedly scraggly. Maybe the sycamore is overshadowing it too much and has cut off it�s two hours a day of light. � � � 
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