Herb trio brightens my windowsill

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HERB PLANTERMy sister-in-law gave me this sweet set of Rae Dunn pots for Christmas. They sat empty for weeks as I recovered from ankle surgery, and I pondered what to fill them with once I was up and about again.

Succulents? Always a good idea. Orchids? Probably not, the pots don’t have big enough drainage holes for orchids. African violets? Get real—I’m lucky to keep alive the one I have (knock wood). Grocery store primroses… I love them! They would look cute in white pots. But I like to put primroses on the dining room table. These pots are oblong with lettering on one side, not the best setup for a centerpiece.

I continued to consider my options. Then while writing an article about herbs de provence, I started thinking about photos to accompany the article. I would need to take pictures of potted herbs. Bingo! Herbs would look great in the pots!

Finding fresh potted herbs is a challenge in February. Sometimes grocery stores have them, but it’s hit or miss. They don’t usually carry a wide array of herbs either. I remembered visiting Chapons Greenhouses in the dead of winter a couple years ago, and they carried a nice selection they had grown on the premises.

So off I went. Turns out Chapons had lots of terrific-looking herbs and I enjoyed looking around at all the plants in the greenhouse too. I chose three herbs that are in herbes de provence blends—basil, rosemary and parsley. I brought the herbs home and they fit perfectly into the new pots.

I took the photos and sent in my article, and now I have this sweet trio of useful herbs on my windowsill just an arm’s length from the chopping board. I love tossing roughly chopped parsley into green salads, where it adds a pungent depth to the greens. I’ll snip the rosemary to roast with root vegetables like carrots, potatoes and parsnips. I used a lot of the basil in a vegetable soup I made for a soup exchange (think cookie exchange except with soup).

If you want fresh herbs for your kitchen windowsill, find a few decorative pots you like (make sure they have drainage holes). Then visit a local garden center that carries fresh potted herbs. Choose those you enjoy and that have similar light requirements (most herbs like a sunny spot). Pay attention to watering requirements too. In my trio, the basil and parsley need a bit more water than the rosemary.

Fresh herbs in fun pots make great gifts too!

Plant a succulent container

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I’ve been playing around with decorative containers planted with succulents lately. Succulents are fun because they are easy to care for, plus they look really cool. They’re pretty fool-proof if you think you have a brown thumb. Here’s what you need to know to make your own:

Materials you will need:

  • A shallow container that has a drainage hole. You can buy one or use your creativity to come up with something clever. For example, you can use an old colander or sieve, or drill some holes in an old cake pan or vintage wooden box. Visit the thrift store or hit garage sales and see what you can find.
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I planted these succulents in a piece of an old log I found in the woods. Use your imagination while scouting for trays for your succulents!

  • Dampened sandy potting mix. You can buy bagged cactus mix or mix your own using two parts potting soil to 1 part regular sand from the home improvement store. Dampen it before using.
  • Piece of window screen large enough to fit over the hole in the container, so the soil doesn’t run out.
  • Plants. Most garden centers carry a selection of succulents in a variety of shapes, colors and patterns to choose from. If you want to place your container outdoors, make sure the plants are hardy for your area or you’ll need to bring them in for the winter. A few plants go a long way, plus they will continue to grow in the container, so you don’t need too many. It’s a good idea to plant in odd numbers—3 generally suit a small container, and 5 or 7 may fit a large container.
  • Ornaments such as stones, driftwood, marbles, etc.
  • Top dressing of gravel, pebbles, sand, or moss.

Here’s how to put your container together:

  • Use your creativity! Think about a style to enhance your décor. Succulent trays can be little vignettes that transport you to a different time and place. They can be inspired by an Asian vibe, the desert, a lake or a river, or you can go with a contemporary feel. Check Pinterest for loads of ideas.
  • Place the piece of screen in the bottom of the container.
  • Fill it about half full of soil, then smooth it out with a spoon or other small utensil. You can sculpt the soil if you want to include hills and valleys.
  • Remove each plant from its pot, shake off the soil, and trim any roots that seem excessively long. Scoop a hole in the soil, add the plant, then gently backfill the soil. Repeat until you have planted all the succulents you want to include.
  • Smooth and sculpt the soil. You may need to add or remove some.
  • Dress the soil surface with gravel, pebbles, sand, or moss for a finished look.
  • Clean any debris from the plants and edges of the container with a small, soft paintbrush.

Aftercare:

  • Place the tray in a sunny spot or somewhere that has bright light.
  • You don’t need to water your succulent tray very often, maybe once a month.

 

Buffalo Wins My Heart

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Last week I attended a garden communicators’ conference in Buffalo. Why would we go to a town known more for its epic snow than gardens, you may ask? Well, because quite simply, Buffalo has great gardens. Lots of them.

The city hosts Garden Walk Buffalo one weekend in July, where more than 400 gardeners graciously open their garden gates to more than 65,000 visitors from near and far. It’s all voluntary and free. We arrived after this year’s event, but were welcomed into a number of the gardens in three parts of the city: the Cottage District, Elmwood Village, and Lancaster Avenue.

 

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Can you believe that the gardener who created and maintains this garden is color blind?

 

These small, urban gardens were a delight, all brimming with gorgeous flowers, foliage, and creativity. The passion, care, and skill each gardener put into their tiny space came through loud and clear. Most were there to greet us and tell us the story of their garden. It all felt wonderfully personal and warm.

 

However, something even more magical unfolded on the streets. Like most cities, Buffalo has had its share of problems. But as we walked from garden to garden along charming streets, it quickly became apparent that whole communities have embraced gardening, and the result is some astonishingly effective urban renewal.

House after house was graced with lovingly tended small gardens and overflowing window boxes, hanging baskets, and containers. These gardeners even planted the hell strips (space between the sidewalk and street).

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Even the hell strips are colorful and fun!

The homes were modest but neat and maintained. Common spaces were clean. Residents had also taken responsibility for planting and maintaining beautiful gardens in the islands between streets. Buffalo is living proof that

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gardening can be a powerful force for grassroots urban renewal and community building.

Aside from Garden Walk Buffalo, there are additional open gardens and garden-themed tours, festivals, exhibits, and education events in the Buffalo-Niagara region from June through August. It’s also fun to cruise around the many parks, parkways and traffic circles designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead, the father of U.S. landscape architecture. The Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens is lovely, and Frank Lloyd Wright aficionados can enjoy the Martin House in Buffalo and Graycliff, just 20 minutes south of town. Niagara Falls is just 40 minutes north of Buffalo too. Wherever you go around Buffalo, you are bound to run into great gardens and friendly gardeners.

Eating babies

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IMG_9284While thinning beets in my garden the other day, I stopped to consider the little plants I was killing. The slim red root that would never grow into a round beet. The first tiny seed leaves and larger dark green adult leaves. They looked so fragile, uprooted from the soil. I knew that thinning the crowded seedlings was necessary if the chosen few I left in the ground were to mature into beets for my table. I felt some remorse for the ones I pulled out.

Then I wondered how these babies would taste. Afterall, you can eat beet greens and we grow beets for their roots. The pulled seedlings were nothing more than tender young leaves and immature roots. I brushed the soil off one of the tiny roots and tasted a leaf. It was crunchy and mild. I ate the rest of the leaves with the root and decided it was pretty delightful.

Mature beet greens are slightly bitter and tough, and are best sautéed with garlic and olive oil. But as I munched another seedling, I decided its delicious crunch and fresh green taste would be best raw, in a salad.

On my way from the garden I picked a few nasturtium flowers to add to the salad. Nasturtium flowers are tender and have a slightly peppery taste. Their bright yellow and orange petals add beautiful color to dishes.

The salad I made for dinner guests that evening consisted of rough chopped romaine lettuce, sliced cucumber and orange bell pepper, the little beet seedlings—washed and chopped in half—and a handful of nasturtium petals. I tossed it with a simple lemon dressing (recipe below).

You’d probably pay a fortune for this early summer treat in a fancy restaurant, but I will look forward to making it at home every time I sow beet seeds. In fact, I might be making room in my garden for an extra row of beet seedlings from this point on, just so I can eat the baby plants.

Simple lemon salad dressing

  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons brown mustard
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground pepper

Shake all together in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Taste and correct flavors as needed. Dress salad and toss just before serving. Any leftover dressing can be refrigerated to use later.

Pictured here are golden beet seedlings and nasturtium flowers. I grew two other kinds of beets, Detroit Red and Chioggia, and they were tasty too.

 

Doves on the swing

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Birds enliven our gardens. They fly, dart, and interact with one another. Their songs add beautiful sounds. They are helpful to us gardeners as they eat huge amounts of insects, especially while raising chicks, which helps keep their numbers in balance. It’s a delight to find nests in trees and shrubs when the leaves fall in autumn. I love to look closely to see how birds wove found bits into the nest structure: twigs, grass blades, and even ribbons of littered paper and plastic. Once I found a string still tied to bamboo skewers I had used to mark seeds I direct-sowed in the spring garden. I had wondered what had happened to that little rig…

If we’re lucky, birds make their nest where we can witness the construction process, along with eggs and raising of chicks.

A few days ago, I hung hummingbird feeders as I usually do in mid-April to welcome the weary little birds on their return north. As I stepped onto the front porch, feeder in hand, I nearly collided with a mourning dove, who flapped madly to get out of my way. I then noticed a puzzling amount of sticks and tangles of dried grapevine on the porch floor, and looked up. In the swing, still hung high for the winter, was a flat, haphazard nest with one white egg poking up. Robins have tried to nest in this same spot before, but I removed the start of those nests and lowered the swing to discourage them. But I was too late to dissuade these birds.

Mother dove is now a constant presence incubating her egg (or maybe eggs by now) just outside our living room window. We carefully peek to see how she’s doing, and she replies with a blink of her big dark eye. According to the Cornell Ornithology Lab website (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mourning_Dove/id), it will be another week before the chicks hatch, then another couple weeks until they fledge. Guess we won’t be using our porch swing for a while.