GARDENING WITH - UGH! . . . 

 EDIBLES MENTALITY CHANGE? . . . HERBS TO PLANT NOW

BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH

I have to say, this is a first for me - gardening with rats?

Blech!

 

Reader Judy H. wrote that she loved Jere Noerager's squirrel story in last week's newsletter. Judy said she was told to throw bananas into staghorn ferns to feed them. But then she was also warned rats will occasionally nest in them. 

What's the true story?

Jere, a fern expert, reports he's never heard of rats or mice setting up housekeeping in a staghorn fern.  Jere says, and I quote (since I have zilch experience in this arena): 

"There's no science known to me or any other 'fernophile' I know, regarding the efficacy of (feeding staghorns) banana peels - or any other part of a banana. The loudest complaint I've heard about rodents (rats & mice) is their propensity to 'steal' the sphagnum moss to line their nests, and to cut the fishing line that most of us use to secure the plant to a plaque."

Any pteriodomanics out there have other experiences with this?

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Being tasty doesn't mean edibles aren't also great in the flower garden! Judy Barrett recommends, above,
l to r, rosemary, bay laurel, onion chives & garlic chives . Below, l to r, mint, oregano, thyme, squash, melons & peppers.   

THINKING OF REPLACING LESS SHOWY GARDEN PLANTINGS WITH FRUITS, VEGETABLES & OTHER EDIBLES? Take some tips from Judy Barrett, creator of free organic email newsletter Homegrown  (HomeGrownTexas.com). In her new book Easy Edibles - How to Grow & Enjoy Fresh Food (Texas A&M University Press, www.tamupress.com), Judy includes these recommendations of edibles to use in general landscaping or flower garden beds: 

 

    * ROSEMARY. Evergreen, use to replace ligustrum or other green shrubs. Pretty flowers and foliage useful in so many ways. Tolerant of drought and poor soil, loves hot sun, doesn't need fertilizing. As Judy points out, however, rosemary needs to be EXTREMELY well drained. To protect it from our Gulf Coast spring and fall monsoons, raise the bed or, even better, plant rosemary in a large pot and sink the pot half-way down into the soil. Presto! Great drainage, beautiful plant.  

 

    * BAY LAUREL (Laurus nobiles). Small tree or large shrub, usually evergreen, often pruned for topiary. Drought-tolerant, insect-free, sun or shade. 

 

    * ONION and/or GARLIC CHIVES look a lot like monkey grass or liriope. Onion chives (Allium schoenoprasum) have bright pinky-purple flowers. Garlic chives have pinky-purple blooms.

    * MINT. OREGANO, THYME, SQUASH & MELONS make great groundcovers. 

    * TOMATOES & PEPPERS work well in among almost any informal garden plantings.

    * GLOBE ARTICHOKE (below). The first time I ever saw artichoke blooming & bearing here was in the garden of good friend and fantastic gardener, the late Odette McMurray.

Talk about show-stoppers! Odette's artichokes were like living sculptures.

Judy says her artichokes do best in poor soil, are rarely watered and even more rarely fed. They don't want to be pampered. But they do need good drainage. They have terrific purple thistle blooms and are guaranteed to draw "What's that?" from passers-by. And, a bonus to using herbs among the flowers? Many emit scents that discourages invading insects.

Above, Judy's book, left. Right, the artichoke, besides being a cover plant, is an eye-popping edible
with beautiful purple flowers and delicious fruit that fits well among already-established landscape plants.

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SPEAKING OF HERBS  . . . IT'S "HERB FAIR" TIME! 

Our Spotlight article below by Susan Wood focuses on cool weather herbs. Winter's our best herb-growing season, ergo, now is the best time to plant most herbs in the ground. Susan has been one of my go-to-herb-gurus for years and a prime mover at the Herb Society of America/South Texas Unit's big annual Herb Fair - this area's premier herbal event.

The 2015 43rd Annual Herb Fair is Sat., Nov. 14, 9am-2pm, at the West Gray Multi-Service Center, 1475 West Gray.  As always it will include blends, jellies, books, crafts, garden supplies, this area's largest Herb Plant Sale and three free classes:

    * 10 a.m. - "How to Grow & Harvest Cool Weather Herbs" by Susan Wood (Everyone attending Susan's
                      herb talk will get a free seed packet of one of her favorite cool weather herbs.")

    * 11:30 a.m. - "America's First Holiday -- Thanksgiving" by Annette Mullendore

    * 1 p.m. - "Pure & Simple: Natural Skin Care Products You Can Make" by Karen Cottingham

New this year is an enticement to purchase many Fair offerings online at herbsociety-stu.org. Anyone who does before Nov. 9 will be admitted early (8am) to the actual Herb Fair. Log on for details. This is a big deal. If you've ever attended an Herb Fair, you know how long that line will be when doors officially open at 9!

Herbs listed in Susan's Spotlight article below will be available at the plant sale, with the exception of borage which will be available as seed in the fair's Sweet Organic Solutions booth.

Susan told me  she does have some small borage volunteers blooming in her garden right now . . . "Kind of like your rogue amaryllis blooms," she added.

Don't you love it? The most predictable aspect of gardening in the Greater Houston area is its all-too-often almost total lack of predictability!

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TIP O' THE TROWEL TO PECKERWOOD GARDENS, the beautiful, world-recognized, 39-acre estate of artist John G Fairey in Hempstead. A Garden Conservancy site, Peckerwood is one of the 30 American gardens spotlighted in Rescuing Eden - Preserving America's Historic Gardens by Caroline Seebohm with incredible photography by Curtice Taylor (The Monacelli Press). Caroline will discuss the book's evolution Thurs., Nov. 5, 6-8pm, at Canopy, 3939 Montrose. Reservation ($20) deadline is Nov. 2. Peckerwood Garden Conservation Foundation, info@peckerwoodgarden.org.

AUNTIE MAME: "Peckerwood? Who's Peckerwood?"
BEAU. "Why, that's the name of my little ol' plantation. . ."

Did you know Peckerwood is named after the Georgia plantation in "Auntie Mame," as well as for the woodpeckers that so love this property?

Who else would tell you these things? Watch our calendar below for Peckerwood's next Conservancy Open Garden Day.

 

Brenda's column in the  "LAZY GARDENER GUIDE ON CD" is based on her 45+ years as the Houston Chronicle's Lazy Gardener. This PDF book-on-CD is a month-by-month guide on when to do what  (plant, fertilize, prune, etc.) in the Greater Houston Area,along with lazy gardener plant recommendations and sample garden designs for sun, shade, butterflies, hummers, herbs, etc.  For details, email Brenda at lazygardener@sbcglobal.net

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Plant now in our herb gardens: dill, cilantro, nasturtiums and fennel.

MY FAVORITE COOL WEATHER HERBS    

by Susan Gail Wood

Herb Society of America/South Texas Unit

I enjoy growing lots of herbs year round to use for fragrance, cooking and beautiful bouquets. My favorite herbs to plant in the fall garden are: cilantro, nasturtiums, borage, fennel and dill.

* Harvest basil before it blooms for best flavor. This means taking cuttings several times during the warm growing season to keep blossoms at bay.

* Fresh CILANTRO can be used in place of basil for a delightful pesto. Late October and during November are perfect times to start cilantro from seed or plants in your garden. Cilantro has leaves that resemble flat leaf parsley until the plant is ready to flower.

Start harvesting beforethe second, thinner set of leaves appear. This is a sign the herb is about to bloom, set seed and die back as is typical of annuals. Cilantro will bolt once the weather warms up next spring. Leave ripe seed on the plant to fall back in the garden and this herb will be your best volunteer next fall.

All the above mentioned favorites will withstand a freeze except for nasturtiums. Water and mulch all your herbs before a hard freeze and cover the nasturtiums. If they don't survive you can always plant more when the danger of frost passes next March. I lovethe cheery flowers they produce which are edible as well as the peppery leaves.

* BORAGE is my favorite herb that you might not be growing, but should. It is the first herb to bloom in early spring with delightful, blue, five pointed star flowers that attract more bees than you can imagine. Everyone talks about saving the bees, but do something - plant borage!

* FENNEL, for me, is all about the parsley swallowtail butterflies. They love this herb and you will see lots more of these butterflies if you grow fennel.

* DILL and fennel look similar, but dill has a bluish-green leaf whereas fennel is more yellow-green. I love fresh dill on a grilled cheese sandwich. Fennel, not so much, as licorice is not my favorite flavor - I'll leave the fennel for the butterflies!

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SAT., NOV. 14: 43rd ANNUAL HERB FAIR, 9am-2pm, West Gray Multi-Service Center, 1475 West Gray., Free. Herb Society of America/South Texas Unit event. herbsociety-stu.org/annual-herb-fair.html  

Herbs listed in Susan's article will be available at the Herb Fair as plants with the exception of borage. Since it's a little early for this favorite, it will be available as seed in the "Sweet Organic Solutions" booth.