Fragrant Flowers

FRAGRANT FLOWERS
Along with their usefulness, fragrance was a quality that attracted me to herbs. In addition to herbs, we offer fragrant, old-fashioned ornamental plants. Fragrance adds another dimension to your garden along with flowers, color, form and texture. Think about adding one or more of these plants to your garden to enjoy.

Nicotiana – or flowering tobacco is fragrant at night. This is the plant's mechanism to attract particular pollinators. White, tubular flowers rise on 24"-30" stems. The annual flowers are sweetly fragrant and usually reseed readily.

Moonflower – is a white, fragrant, night-blooming morning glory. It's an annual vine that needs a post, fence or trellis to climb. The large, white blooms unfurl slowly at dusk. Both moonflower and ruicotiana are wonderful planted next to a seating area you enjoy in the evening.

Dianthus – The perennial dianthus we offer goes by the common name clove pink. The name describes well the spicy-sweet fragrance emitted by the single pink and/or white flowers. Flowers bloom in spring and are about 12" tall. Plant in front of a bed or along a walk so you can enjoy their fragrance. There are many varieties of dianthus, but often hybrids are not fragrant.

Heliotrope– It's old-fashioned name is cherry pie plant. To me, it's more of a sweetly vanilla-like aroma, but it's certainly fragrant. Dark purple flowers top 12" annual plants. Very nice in a sunny container near a seating area.

Jasmine – Jasmine's sweetly fragrant flowers bloom in summer. Sources say jasmine isn't hardy here, but ours has survived outside since we had the farm. The jasmine on the sides of the pergola is five years old. Consider it a woody, perennial vine and give it something substantial to climb. Attractive cut foliage succeeded by sweet, star-shaped flowers.

Catmint – Catmint is often mistaken for lavender when in bloom since it has similar, spikey purple flowers. But it's the foliage that's truly fragrant. The scent isn't floral, but more in the minty vein. Catmint makes a great border or edging plant since it spreads easily, but is not invasive. It produces the same look as lavender, but it's a much more tolerant plant.

Valerian – Sometimes called garden heliotrope, but very different in appearance. Valerian has tall (36"+) flower stalks with pinkish-white blooms. Like heliotrope, it's flowers are made up of multiple florets. The fragrance is clean and musky, rather than floral. Valerian is a perennial, which increases in size, so place it at the back of bed or border.

Our Shop and Classes

The shop is filled with our unique mix of herbal products. Our display gardens offer a chance to see many plants we sell in a garden setting and give you ideas on plant combinations and garden themes. Inside, you'll find a spring class schedule. We offer classes on a variety of herbal /gardening topics. Classes are informal and great fun. I learn a lot from class participants— people always have a great tip, recipe or idea to share. We will again participate in the Landis Valley Herb Faire in May. Look for us in our regular spot. When you plan your garden or choose an herbal product, please think of us!

CLASSES
Marrying Herbs & Ornamentals April 16
Topiaries May 14
Salves & Balms June 4
Fragrant Potpourri June 18


"Now the earth with many flowers puts on her spring embroidery. Sappho

"Hardening off" plants

Q & A "How and why should I 'harden off' plants?"

Hardening off is a process that helps plants acclimate as they move from a protected greenhouse environment to the more demanding one in your garden. Start by placing plants outside in a protected spot without too much direct sun or wind. Each day, move them out to a more exposed position. If it gets below 40 degrees at night, bring them inside. Water thoroughly as they dry out during this time. At the end of the week, they are ready to plant. For annuals, harden off your plants 7-10 days before our last frost day (mid-May) and they'll be ready to go when planting is safe. Hardening off really helps—it lessens a lot of transplant shock. You can do "reverse hardening off' in fall as you bring plants inside, gradually acclimating them to lower inside light levels.

New for Spring!

NEW FOR SPRING

Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) An easy to grow groundcover, plumbago's foliage reaches about 12". Lovely blue flowers cover the plant late in the season. Tolerates full sun to light shade and wants well-drained soil, although rich soil isn't necessary. Good fall foliage color. Shear established plants in spring to encourage new growth. (12" P)

Brazilian button flower (Centratherum intermediurn "Button Beauty") I wasn't familiar with this flower, but the glowing catalog description and photo convinced me to give it a try. It produces a fuzzy, lavender flower and fragrant foliage. Once established, it's heat and drought tolerant. Suitable for sunny beds and large containers (up to 24" A)

Cockscomb (Celosia argenta cristata) To complement the spike celosia we offer, here's a burgundy cockscomb perfect for drying. Velvety texture, dark flowers on well branched plants with center bloom and many smaller side stems. Excellent for dried arrangements and wreaths. (30-36" A)

Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus 'Black Ball') We've offered the standard blue cornflower for several years—here's a kissing cousin. Same rounded, multi-petaled flower, but in a rich chocolaty color. Color is similar to dark pincushion flower we offer—very showy, especially combined with white flowers. Sun-loving and should reseed if it's anything like the species. (24" A)

Scented geranium 'Concolor Lace' (Pelargonium sp. 'Concolor Lace') Scented geranium varieties are getting harder to find, but this sounds like a great one. Rather compact with light green leaves and small red flowers. Mild, sweet-nutty scent. Nice in mixed containers. (12" TP)

"People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy ... to have such things about us."

Iris Murdoch

Greenhouse Opens!

The greenhouse opens today, April 1!

Beginning now, our spring hours are in effect:
April through June - Tuesday through Saturday 9am to 5pm and Wednesday 9am till 7pm.
From July through December, the greenhouse and shop are open Tuesday through Saturday 9am till 5pm.

One of the new plants listed in the newsletter-white sage-will not be available. Several customers had requested it, and I found a source. However, when I received my shipment of small plants, the white sage was not available. I'll try again next year.

Cur spring open house will be held Friday and Saturday April 24 and 25 from 9am till 5pm. We'll have prize drawings, herbal refreshments and some specials in the shop. On Wednesday and Thursday of open house week, our large size, second year perennials will be $1 off. On Friday and Saturday of open house week, small herbs, flowers and scented geraniums (excluding bay) will be 25 cents off per pot.

For those of you anxious to do some outside work on springlike days, you can clean up perennials, including cutting down old stalks if you didn't do it in the fall. Also, trim back butterfly bushes (fairly hard) between mid-March and mid-April. This will not affect the bloom and will produce sturdy branches rather than lanky, top-heavy branches that occur without trimming. You can rototill as soon as the ground can be worked. If you are adding amendments to your soil, do it before your final tilling so they are mixed in well.

Hang on-planting time is almost here!

Where do those plants come from?

This time of year, it's easy to know what each day brings in terms of greenhouse work - potting!

We produce plants three ways - seedlings, which I grow, divisions from stock plants that we hold over winter, and rooted cuttings, which I buy and then pot. The cuttings come in a couple small orders and two larger orders. Once they arrive, I start with the smallest sizes and continue potting madly until they're all done. Some go quickly, others take longer because they must be cleaned or trimmed - always want the plants to look nice.

Seedlings are spaced out more evenly', I first plant seeds in January and continue weekly until the beginning of April. So there's a batch or two per week, depending on how quickly they germinate and mature. Sometimes I have to encourage them, if they're slow to pop through. Basils germinate in 2-3 days, while some perennials take several weeks. Right now, I'm waiting for the pokey angelica - it's started to germinate, but it's slow and spotty. The tiny seedlings are very individual. Some are tall, like fennel, the gomprena has red coloring on the underside of the leaves, some leaves are round, some toothed and some are veined, I generally know the variety,just by the leaf, without looking at the tag.

We also hold over stock plants in the garden, bring them into the greenhouse to push growth and then divide them into smaller plants. This is a fragrant job, since the foliage and sometimes even the roots are aromatic.Some plants have really, tough roots and you must take a knife to them to divide them. But they're tough and they survive.

I've decided the only greenhouse job I really don't enjoy is moving plants around. They have to be moved to make room, rotate stock, move from stock area to sales area, etc. But it's just not as much fun as the rest.

White outside, but green inside!

I'm thinking about our recent brush with winter as I write this.

Last week, the "glancing blow" that was supposed to give us a couple inches of snow dumped the biggest snowfall of the season on us. We got 6-7" and then it blew all around! Although it was winter outside, it's spring in the greenhouse!

The week before, the first little plants arrived and now they have been transplanted along with all the seedlings that were ready to go. I've only filled a couple benches so far, but the sight and smells of fresh, green growing plants chases away the winter blues. As I pushed on the bottom of the packs to release the rootball, the fragrance of fresh lavender drifted up - just heavenly! I also transplanted what I consider to be the most fragrant lemon herb - lemon verbena.

Now we just have to keep them warm and cozy at night for the next couple of very cold nights and then temperatures should moderate and they will be well on their way.

Lucy just loves the snow. She considers it great fun to come along when we shovel snow away from the greenhouses (of course, she's playing and not shoveling.) She had a new toy, a football, to take along today and she loves chasing it. She's what is termed in the pet world an "aggressive chewer" meaning she'll chew on a toy until she destroys it. So far, the football has survived, but it's not as tough as the Konga toys which hold up very well.

The spring newsletter will be mailed in the next couple weeks and will also be posted here, so keep an eye out. Our spring class schedule - will be included with the newsletter. This year, we'll feature guest presenters, Maryanne and Tina, the soap ladies, for one of our classes. I'm also working on shop orders so the shop will be brimming with herbal goodies come April.

Next time-more on the potting frenzy that occurs this time of year.