Triple Oaks Nursery & Herb Garden Newsletter
 Summer news
August 2013
In this issue
Look what you can plant now !
Elderberry/ native plant
Classes
Nows the time to plant.
Dear Triple Oaks Friend,
As we continue over the years with our newsletter we appreciate your comments and notes of response. Remember that you may email us any of your garden questions and we will answer them.
We will continue to share information with you on a weekly basis. If you feel a time has passed and you have not gotten a newsletter check spam or in the case of gmail promotions.
We appreciate you sharing our letter with friends or suggesting that they sign up.
To chat with other gardeners or us post on our web site forum.  This is another good place to ask questions as many other gardeners will also answer. click here for forum.

I love to share recipes and often do.  Lemon herbs are great when steeped in hot water and then iced.  Add some lemon herbs to your life.click here to learn more about our lemon grass 
We have some nice plants  now.

Make and take our refreshing light potato salad using oil and vinegar and fresh green herbs. click here for directions

Watch for our two Gloucester County College courses here this fall, one is all about native plants and the other harvesting and using herbs naturally. Both are 6 Wednesday evenings and one Saturday morning. Sign up now.
Enjoy nature, watch the sun rise, watch the sun set, listen to the birds and look for butterflies.
Enjoy the fleeting days of summer.

Native Plants Naturally Class
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monarch larva
we still have butterfly weed in bloom.
Look  what you can plant now! 
 
spicebush larvae
plant a lindera benzoin ( spice bush) now to attact these larva
butterfly spice bush
they hatch into the spice bush butterfly
rosa rugosa
Rugoso rose  blooms smell like roses , are disease resitant and grow in sandy soi.
Clethra are fragrant natives!
franklinia
these natives are in bloom now too Franklinia
cardinal flwoers
hummingbirds love cardinal flowers , so do I!

 
elderberry guide, Herb Society of America
Elder native herb! pick herb of the year!  

Elderberry plants are covered with fruit both in the garden and in the wild.   According to herb society member Elyse Cramer the  scrawny one one she bought this spring has so much fruit the branches needed to be tied up and it is still blooming.  Once she took it out of the pot and planted it in her garden it doubled and began blooming. 

 

The common elderberry is a native and of the family that has been chosen  Herb of the Year for 2013 by the International Herb Association. The Herb Society of America has also  published Essential Guide to Elderberry.  I have a few in shop and you can also get it online from the herb scoiety.

 

 

When I was a young teen I picked elderberries along the creek and around our irrigation pond to make jelly. My first attempts at making jelly  as a 4-H project colored my mother's white tile kitchen many shades of purple. (She did get it all out with bleach, but not before warning me to not make dark colored jam again.) Since the same thing happened when i made black berry jam I just had to learn to be a lot more careful when making jams or jelly.  elder berry jam

 

The berries must be cooked and  are good when used in juices, jellies, jams, teas, pies, and wine, but most people do not use them. Some time these products are available in health food stores or online. 

 

I have read and been told that you can also  use the umbrella-shaped, elderberry blossoms for making a delicious fritters, but should never use any green part of the plant, including roots, leaves, twigs or even the seeds of the berries.. I have not used the blooms , but others tell me they are good in many ways. I did taste a delicious liquor made from them.

 

 This native  plant Sambucus canadensis has been used since ancient times by the native people. Elderberries have been a folk remedy for centuries in North America as well as all over the world because of its medicinal benefits. Elderberries are one of the easiest and most versatile native shrubs  you can add to your landscape. They do need a little room as they can become as large as a lilac clump, but they have  fragrant, edible flowers and fruits full of vitamins A , B, and more vitamin C than oranges.  I have read that they are high in cancer-fighting antioxidants. Since they gave long used to  to treat  respiratory problems, colds, and flus many health food business sell the capsules.  Elderberry is valued for its antioxidant benefits and its ability to lower cholesterol, to improve vision, to boost the immune system, to improve heart health and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections.  It is said by many natural medicine advocates that the juice destroys cold and flu germs. 

 

However there is some discussion about eating the  raw berries. Many insist you must cook first or they will make you sick, If you read about it on google you will think it is a real miracle cure. I must admit Ted and I are buying elderberry products and taking the capsules and  tried the juice and  wine.

Our herb society of America, South Jersey Unit has a native plants study group that studied elderberry. One member Norma brought elderberry wine and another Luann made delicious treats with the juice and the wine of elderberry including frozen  elderberry wine sorbet. 

 

Since elderberry is so very easy to grow, homeowners  can have it in natural borders for the birds or in sunny spots to harvest as a fruit. It will grow in most types of soils, but a good watering once a week will insure a heavy crop of berries. Compost and mulch will help to keep the root cool.  

elderberry
elderberry are still blooming and setting fruit,Plant one now.

 

In European folklore, fairies and elves would appear if you sat underneath an elder bush on midsummer night. Plant one now and mark your calendar for then next midsummer's eve.

elder  flower fairy
elder berry flower fairy, we have these Cicely Mary Barker flower fairy books and cards

 

 


 
 Nows the time to plant !
The weather has been cool and it has rained a lot. Trees and shrubs are happy as long as they are in well drained spots .

 

Plant some fruit trees now. We have many that are pretty mature and some have fruit.  

Newsletter customers that mention they read this can buy two fruit trees for the price of one this week, until August 25. What a good deal.

 

 

There is nothing prettier this time of the year than a creamy white Franklinia bloom nestled in among the colorful leaves of that plant.  It is a rather under used tree. I like it because it is small and can be planted most anywhere as long as the soil is fairly decent.  In fact, I was surprised that the first one we planted did so well here in our sandy soil for several years. Of course it was planted in compost and leaf mulch and we never failed to water when it was dry. It became so beautiful that it was dug up for a landscape job franklinia

 

If you are interested in native plants and want to plant some in your yard call and make an appointment with Joe and Lorraine if you need advice. Otherwise just come in, see the native Holly, Lindera Benzoin, Magnolia,blueberries, cranberries, elderberries itea, clethra,winter berry , and lots more. Butterflies love our butterfly weed (asclepias), Joe Pye weed, ironweed, cardinal flower and others.

blueberrires  

 

 WE can landscape your yard and make any theme garden too. herb garden, butterfly garden, Moon garden, and more.


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