Herb of the Week – Savory

Savory is a delicious herb that, to me, smells similar to thyme, but more subtle, and looks similar to rosemary. This was very confusing when I first discovered this in the garden, because I had never heard of savory before. It wasn’t till early last year that I figured out what it was.

What we actually have in the garden is winter savory, a perennial herb, that starts to come back when the weather gets warm (I guess its called ‘winter’ because it technically survives the winter). Its counterpart, summer savory, is an annual, and will die with the first frost.

Winter Savory in the Garden

Last planting season, I decided to grow summer savory, too. It grew well in a container, but since I have winter savory already growing in the garden in abundance, I didn’t think there was enough of a difference in taste to justify growing it again this year (I’ll take any extra space I have!). Winter savory is supposed to be a little bit more bitter, but my palate is not refined enough where I can really tell the difference.

Savory is supposed to be good to add for bean dishes (savory also has been rumored to ease flatulence — I wonder if that paring is based on flavor alone! Ha!), but whatever you add it to, it should be added at the end of cooking, because the longer you cook it, the more flavor it will lose.

May 18, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
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Rhododendron in Bloom

The rhododendrons bloomed this week! Ours are purple, as are all the ones I’ve noticed in this area. They are supposed to be “deer resistant”, but as you can see by the lack of flowers on the bottom, our bushes are apparently more tasty than they are supposed to be. The little rhododendron above this one (which I didn’t take a picture of) got stripped completely! And we didn’t even have a bad winter!

Anyway, next winter we have to do better with deer guard. We tried wire fence, but I don’t think it was secure enough.

On a separate, but related, note, I didn’t realize that rhododendrons come in different colors. This weekend, while visiting one of my BFFs Elena in Massachusetts, I saw them in PINK!

Since then, I’ve seen them in different shades of purple, pink and white (I guess I’ve been on alert, and it helps they are in bloom). I didn’t realize I was so oblivious to the other colors before. Also, azaleas are actually a type of rhododendron, too! I had no idea that Rhododendron covered so many variety of plants. Amazing.

May 17, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
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Is that a zucchini or are you just happy to see me?

Holy cow, look at this baby!

The Sure Thing Zucchinis are ready to go, and growing like crazy. I’m (finally) going to plant them in the garden this weekend. I might even be able to harvest 1 or 2 by then!

So far, I’m pleased with my ability to identify the squash based on the seeds, and it looks like I’m spot on. Unfortunately, the goldens are not doing so well. I have a bunch of those seeds left, so I’m going to start from scratch for one of them, and I’m hoping at least one of them pulls through once I get it in the garden. Might not be terrible if they are little spaced out with timing. Largos and the lone Greyzini are going ok, but way far behind these Sure Things (I guess the name is appropriate!).

May 16, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
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Flowering Herbs

Check it out… my herbs are growing & flowering like CRAZY!! Sage, Thyme, and Chives… mmm mmm mmmmm.

However, chives do look a little overwatered with all the rain we’ve been having… I think I need to transplant with better drainage.

May 15, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
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Aphids

ugh. I caught the plant lice, otherwise known as Aphids. I added some petunia seedlings to a hanging basket in the front yard. They were doing well, until this week, when I noticed (well, my husband noticed, and alerted me) that there were little green bugs on the leaves.

These little jerks are HIGHLY destructive, and need to be dealt with immediately. A quick search online seems to indicate an easy way to get rid of them is with some original DAWN (not anti-bacterial). I am going to have to go to the store to get some ASAP (I only have anti-bacterial) and take care of this. I will have to give an update later this week to see how successful I was in the extermination.

So far, I’ve only seen them on the petunias, so hopefully they won’t migrate to any of the veggies. Mint and garlic are listed as deterrents, so I will make some mint or garlic “juice” to spray on & around the rest of the plants. I do not need a full blown aphid infestation! This is the anti-fun part of gardening.

May 14, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
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Happy Mother’s Day!

I’m very lucky to have in my life lots of women who deserve to be celebrated today. I have a wonderful Mother, Mother-in-Law, Omi (grandmother), Grandma, and Godmother. Plus, I have lots of family and friends who are great Moms, too.

I thought today I’d share a pic of my mother’s favorite flower, Lily of the Valley.

They represent such innocence with their white bell shape and sweet flowery scent. One of the best surprises during our first year at the house was seeing a huge patch of these pop up in our backyard under the tree outside our bedroom. If the wind catches it when these are at their peak, you can catch a whiff of the sweet lily of the valley smell.

In NJ, these bloom right around Mother’s Day, so I think it’s definitely an appropriate flower! Happy Mother’s Day!

May 13, 2012 · Sheryl · One Comment
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Herb of the Week – Spearmint

I decided to start another blog series — herb of the week. It really seems like the fresh herbs are what I flock to when I get overwhelmed with the maintenance of some of the other plants.  They are easy to identify, (usually) easy to grow, plus, they smell really good.

In the garden, I have spearmint (also known as Sweet Mint) growing in the side yard of the house in partial sun. Spearmint leaves are smooth & bright green. The previous owners planted it right in the ground, and it grows inside the spaces near a rock wall. It seriously does grow like a weed, and spreads very easily with its roots under ground. Luckily, its in a fairly isolated area, so I don’t mind. It’s a nice ornamental piece against the rocks. However, if you don’t want spearmint to get EVERYWHERE, keep it in a pot by itself!

Spearmint grows really well in the area of NJ that I live in, and is actually a deterrent for pests, and deer do not eat it, so its good to have around. Plus, anytime you want a mojito, all you need to do is go outside, grab a handful of mint — add rum, lime juice and a little sugar, and you have yourself a cocktail! YUM!

May 11, 2012 · Sheryl · One Comment
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Azalea Shmazalea

Growing up we had an azalea bush in our yard that I LOVED to cut flowers from… until I cut one with a bumble bee inside, and it was enough to traumatize me to never cut those flowers again!

Of course, I’m a big girl now, and know bumble bees don’t usually sting you, so I need to get back to cutting those pretty flowers again, but now for pruning purposes. Our azalea bushes have been neglected for far too long (you may have noticed the ratty looking one in the previous post with the blue ajugas), and need to be pruned, desperately. Of course, by the time I got around to researching the correct method, peak pruning for spring seems to have came & went.

I need to prune the azaleas back right after they bloom — but alas, they are already starting to shed their flowers for their spring bloom. Since they are so desperate for a good prune, as soon as I get some time, I’ll just cut them back when I can. I feel like they might be in the same boat as the hydrangea where no matter what, cutting back some of the excess / damaged plant will do good no matter what! I can’t remember if there will be a summer bloom, so perhaps that is another prime pruning opportunity! For now, I’ll just show you the close up of the pretty flowers, not the pathetic looking bushes. (Sorry, its a little blurry)

May 10, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
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I’ve got the blues…

Oh my. I’ve got the blues because I haven’t been blogging enough. I need to get my act together, otherwise, before you know it, May (peak spring flower season) will have came and went.

But actually, I quite literally have the blues… Blue Ajuga that is! This lovely ground cover is all over my garden and in full bloom.

If you’ve spent about 5 minutes with me, you’d probably figure out quickly, blue is my absolute favorite color, so I love that the previous owners of the house decided to plant some!

Close up…

Between the poorly groomed azaleas (next post!)…

In the rocks among the ferns (didn’t get to that section of the garden for clean up, please excuse mess)…

 

May 8, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
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I’m in love… with Condursos Garden Center

I’ve been missing me some gardening! My posts have been scarce lately, due to some other commitments, mostly my job (seriously, can I please just win the lottery already?), but some fun stuff, too, thankfully!

Every day to & from work, I pass Condursos Garden Center. I don’t always get out from work early enough (they close at 6pm), plus, it didn’t really look THAT impressive from the road, driving past at 40+mph. A few weeks ago, I found a coupon for the Garden Center, and figured I at least had to check it out at some point.

Well, yesterday, I actually got out ‘early’, aka 5pm, and was able to stop in on my way home. WOW — it’s my new favorite place. There are rows and rows of beautiful flowers. Reasonably priced veggies are starting to fill the tables (they will be getting more as we approach final frost date in NJ). Plus, they had lots of (my favorite) interesting herbs!  (Are you surprised that is what I took pictures of?)

Of course, I forgot my coupon at home (typical), and actually maintained enough willpower not to buy anything.

I found 3 more kinds of mint — Apple, Ginger, and Corsican! I already discovered Orange and Chocolate mint here earlier this year. I’m fascinated by all the varieties of mint, and their subtle differences, but I’m actually not a huge fan of mint to cook with at this moment. Although they are nice to smell in passing (and really delicious in mojitos), I probably won’t be expanding my collection anytime soon. I currently have Orange, Spearmint, and a fuzzy kind that I’m still having trouble identifying.

What I am super excited about (and will be returning to Condursos for) is Basil ‘Lime’. It smelled ridiculously delicious and refreshing. Unfortunately, like its cousin, regular basil, its an annual plant and doesn’t like frost. For this year, I’ll spend the money on a single plant, and if I really like it that much, next year I’ll just buy some seeds so I can grow as much as I want.

Can’t wait to go back, coupon in hand!

May 1, 2012 · Sheryl · No Comments
Tags: , ,  Â· Posted in: Flowers, Gardening Supplies, Herbs, Produce