Spring Notes and Musings

I was surprised at how quickly the snow melted (happy, too). Guess it was the perfect combination of warm weather and rain. Lucy misses chasing snowballs, but she was happy to see the grass again. On nice days, she gets an attack of spring fever and rolls around on the grass, kicking her legs. She's on the lookout for bunnies too.

Very little winter damage in the yard, I'm happy to report. A few things took a hit, but no worse than an average winter. Our star magnolia, with its white, shaggy flowers was in full bloom and got zapped on the last cold night. That's the risk with the early bloomers.

Our Greenhouse opened April 1. I'm hard at work potting seedlings and dividing perennials. Hope to move perennials out by mid-week.

It's still early to plant- I usually start planting perennials in the garden by mid-April, weather permitting. Annuals don't go out till mid-May. Most plants are ready for sale by the end of April and continuing through the season.

Our spring open house will be April 23 & 21~ from 9 to 5. Open house specials, refreshments and prize drawings.

We recently sent out our spring newsletter. If you would like to receive one and didn't, give us your name and address or e—mail address when you visit.

Mark your calendar for the Landis Valley Herb Faire Friday and Saturday May 7 & 8, 9-5. We'll be in our usual location across from the millstones in the Brothers Courtyard.

Lots and lots of growth in the garden now! Wormwood, valerian, coneflower, hyssop, chamomile, tarragon, chives, burnet - everywhere I look, something's growing - weeds, too!

Blog posts will be sporadic for the next two months, while we concentrate on plants and customers. Please bear with me - I shall return.

Garden Notes

Dill is the 2010 herb of the year. All parts of the plant are useful. The ferny, blue-green foliage or dillweed can be chopped and added to carrots, green beans, fish, potato soup or macaroni salad. A sunny yellow flower adds just the right flavoring to a jar of pickles. Dill seed can be added to brine for pickling in the absence of foliage or flowers. Dill is a reseeding annual. Let seeds fall and your crop should come back reliably each year.

Garden updates—Brazilian button flower was new for us last year and lived up to its catalog description. The flowers are like those of fuzzy purple ageratum, but bigger and showier. Very nice for the back of the garden or a large container. Also, we’ll again carry several scented geranium varieties that had become unavailable. Back on the list are chocolate mint, ginger, lime and rose along with the new bitter lemon.

And - DON'T FORGET-

Spring Open House – April 23 & 24, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Greenhouse and shop specials.

Also, Landis Valley Herb & Garden Faire, May 7 & 8

Don't forget to check out our classes, listed in this older post.

Texture in the Garden

Gardening is an evolving process. Tastes, sensibilities and interests change over time as you work with plants and expand your garden. Appreciation of color and flowers can lead to an interest in fragrance. More subtle differences in form, foliage and texture can develop from other gardening interests. Herbs add so much in terms of foliage and texture to nearly every garden setting.

Texture generally relates to a plant’s leaves, although it can include flowers. Fine textured foliage is generally narrow, needlelike, finely cut or ferny. The needlelike foliage of rosemary, narrow leaves of thyme or the ferny foliage of dill and fennel are examples. Coarse foliage is larger and often more complete. Hollyhock, sage, coneflower and lady’s mantle have coarse foliage.

In garden design, you strive for sameness to provide continuity, but also differences to provide interest. Alternating textures can provide subtle differences in a garden design tied together by repetition of like plants or colors. Among drifts of similar flowers or colors, a few interesting foliage plants can provide contrasting texture in any planting. In a shady spot, finely cut sweet cicely foliage would contrast nicely against broad foxglove and lady’s mantle leaves. In our sunny beds, narrow-leaved hyssop complements coarser coneflower and perennial salvia. Also, broad-leaved hollyhock, echinacea and joe-pye weed stand in contrast to finely cut Russian sage, hyssop and dianthus.

Herbs, whether they flower or not, can provide interesting textural notes with their foliage. Look at plants—flower and foliage—and begin to categorize them by texture.

Grass-like - Includes Chives, Lemon Grass and Blackberry Lily

Ferny - Includes Bleeding heart, Love-in-a-mist, Chervil and Feverfew

Finely cut - Includes Dill, Blue flax, Chamomile and Cosmos

Narrow/needlelike - Includes Rosemary, Curry plant, Lady’s bedstraw and Lavender

Broad - Includes Sage, Cleome, Comfrey, Many basils. Borage and Valerian

Look around your beds. If you have basil, borage and lovage growing together, add a contrasting foliage, like feverfew, love-in-a-mist, blue flax or parsley for textural variation.

Scented geraniums are great for adding textural interest. Although related, the differences in texture and foliage within the group are amazing. Peppermint and chocolate mint produce broad, fuzzy leaves. Foliage of concolor lace and lemon is small and crinkled. Nutmeg, lime and coconut have smooth, rounded leaves. Rose, apricot and lemon rose have coarse texture with deeply cut leaves. A collection of scented geraniums provides a bounty of contrast in terms of texture, foliage and fragrance.

Garden Question

Q & A “Can I grow culinary herbs in containers?”

Yes! Nearly all culinary herbs have a form or variety that will grow and produce well in pots. Look for compact varieties of basil and sage. Creeping rosemary and savory look pretty trailing over the front of a container. Parsley, oregano, marjoram, chives, burnet and thyme varieties do well planted together in a large pot or singly in individual containers in a sunny location. You can add calendula, nasturtium or another edible flower for color and variety. Just make sure all the plants in one pot prefer either sun or shade. Containers also let you confine invasive mints to their own pots. Always choose containers with drainage holes to shed excess water and use only potting soil. Potted herbs should be fertilized regularly with either a water soluble or time release fertilizer.

NEW plants for 2010

Kent Beauty oregano –
Origanum rotundifolium ‘Kent Beauty’
Like oregano ‘Herrenhausen’, this plant is ornamental rather than culinary and is grown particularly for its attractive flowers. The blooms resemble hops strobiles, and ripen from green to pinky-purple. Replaces dittany of crete, with similar flowers, but ‘Kent Beauty’ is perennial in Zone 6. (18” P)

Paris rosemary –Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Paris’
It’s not often that I try a plant based on one line in a catalog, but here’s an example. The supplier claims ‘Paris’ is the most frost hardy variety yet. I’ve had many conversations about rosemary’s hardiness and I believe it depends primarily on weather. Extended winter cold will kill off even the hardier varieties. However, here’s another choice (along with ‘Arp’ and ‘Hill Hardy’)—if you want to try maintaining a rosemary outside for more than one season. (up to 48” TP)

Bitter Lemon scented geranium – Pelargonium x citronellum ‘Bitter Lemon’
This fragrant variety is a descendent of the cultivar ‘Mabel Grey’ with an upright habit, large toothed leaf and pinkish-purple blooms. Popular fragrance in a form different from most lemon geraniums. (24”+ TP)

Cosmos ‘Rose Bonbon’ –
Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Rose Bonbon’
A very showy variety of an old garden favorite. Cosmos are tall, easy to grow and bloom abundantly. This double form produces rose pink flowers that more closely resemble an English rose or peony. Great cut flowers and attracts butterflies, too. (24”-36” A)

Dianthus – Dianthus superbus ‘Crimsonia’
Many of you know of my passion for the old-fashioned perennial dianthus or clove pinks. Their spicy-sweet fragrance is heavenly. Here’s a new color which is reported to be equally fragrant. Rich crimson color with deeply cut, fringed petals. (15”-20” P)

PLANT PROFILE: LEMON GRASS

Lemon grass is an attractive and useful plant native to southeast Asia. It’s often paired with meat and fish in Thai cooking. It forms a large, grassy clump that’s an attractive addition to the garden. The blades have sharp edges and should be used only for tea. As the season progresses, the base of the stalks become bulbous. Break off a stalk at ground level and slice the rounded base for use in cooking.

Lemon grass is not winter hardy in temperate areas, but is easy to overwinter in a pot. Plant in a 10”-12” diameter pot with lightweight potting soil. Maintain throughout the summer. Before frost, cut back foliage in a fan shape. The plant goes dormant for the winter. It requires little light and just enough water to keep the roots alive. (water every 3-4 weeks.)

THINK SPRING!!

THINK SPRING!!

There’s an old song with the lyrics “Some days are diamonds, some days are stones.” The same could be said about winter seasons. Some slide by quickly, without much inclement weather and produce occasional spring-like days. Others are a cold, hard, snowy slog toward spring. This winter was definitely the latter. Luckily starting seeds helps me maintain my sanity throughout the winter. Seeding flats, waiting for them to germinate and watching them grow under lights is proof positive that spring is approaching. Tending the seedlings as the inventory grows eases me into the spring routine. Before I know it, the greenhouses are full and another spring season is underway. Won’t we be thankful for that this year!

Each spring sees the arrival of some new varieties and this year happily, the return of some favorites that were temporarily out of stock.

Our spring open house will be held Friday and Saturday, April 23 & 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nearly all plant varieties are available by then and we’ll have open house specials in both the shop and greenhouse. Don’t forget to mark May 7 & 8 on your calendar for the Landis Valley Herb Faire.

Also, check out our spring class schedule. I bet there’s at least one topic that interests you. Bring a friend and spend an enjoyable, informative evening with us.

Class Schedule

AROMATHERAPY: Thursday, April 15, 7 p.m. $20.00
Learn about the therapeutic properties of essential oils; for example, oils to energize, relax or to balance your mood. Easy ways to incorporate essential oils in your life. Includes samples of 2 oils.

WILDLIFE IN YOUR GARDEN: Thursday, May 13, 7 p.m. $15.00
In times of shrinking habitat, your garden can support butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds. Learn about host and nectar plants, butterfly life cycles and garden maintenance that encourages pollinators to visit. Free plant included.

COOKING WITH DILL, BASIL AND THYME: Thursday, June 3, 7 p.m. $20.00
Learn to grow, maintain and use the herb of the year and two more culinary favorites. Growing and cooking tips, lots of recipes plus make an herb butter to enjoy at home. Choose one of the highlighted plants for your garden.

LEAF PRINTING: Thursday, June 17, 7 p.m. $20.00
Use simple materials—a variety of leaves and acrylic paints to create a unique printed treasure. Print a small bag and a notecard—all materials provided. Bring an additional prewashed 50% cotton item to print if you like.

Classes are limited in size, so please register early. Your payment is your reservation and is due in full when registering. If you’re unable to attend, you may send a substitute in your place. Complete the attached registration form.

Make checks payable and mail to: Cloverleaf Herb Farm, 1532 Cloverleaf Road, Mount Joy, PA 17552