HerbnArts

      ...Sitting in awe, I watched the various critters in my scruffy neighborhood from my window as I ate amid-morning breakfast.  "This place is a circus and here I sit with a private showing of the entertainment!" I thought.  My house kitties were thoroughly entranced by the fluttering ballet in the air as chickadees were building a nest in the Direct TV dish attached to the house.  From another window the synchronized leaping of young squirrels could be observed as they traversed the neighbor's backyard fence with its prominent posts.  Peering out the front window, wild cats could be observed jumping in and out of a neighbor's window as they lined up for their morning feeding. After feeding , the cats jumped and tumbled with each other.  Some did a surprise leap from piles of fall leaves to attack and tumble with another cat.  From my kitchen window I watched the clown act of Burt the groundhog as he lumbered along the yard, stopping to scratch behind his ear, the

      ...After cold rains and blustery winds much of the brilliant colors of fall are scattered all over the ground turning a sad brown.  Today has turned out to be warm and gloriously sunny.  After a weekend of 50 to 60 degree temps we are experiencing mid-70's.   Is this our Indian summer in Ohio?  Last evening I looked at the night skies and realized that it was the first time in quite a while that I could clearly see all the fall constellations.  Viewing the stars never fails to thrill me.  Everywhere I am continually hearing, "If it could only be like this all year 'round..."  But all too soon the holidays will be upon us.  Already I am hearing advertising for Christmas party reservations and how we should be making our New Year's Eve plans.  Too much too soon!  Just give me a chance to savor the warm air and lights and colors of fall for the last brief moments of Indian summer     Recently a friend of mine asked me how Indian summer was determined.  The bes

     The black knight of Barberton    ...The colorful leaves fluttered and swirled as they drifted to the sidewalk in the crisp autumn breeze.   It was Halloween afternoon, and the weather was trying to decide whether to be dry or wet as the skies stubbornly remained gray and overcast. A few days ago rain had knocked the brightly colored leaves to the ground creating a golden carpet everywhere.  At least it wasn't snowing.  Beggar's Night in Ohio has always been a crap shoot of having to don winter coats over costumes or carry an umbrella along with one's treats bag to do the rounds of begging. This year most of the costumes will have winter underwear underneath as part of the appropriate apparel for the Halloween  festivities.  Autumn gold at Lake Anna      Barberton has always been "good pickin's" when it came to trick or treating goodies.  As a kid from the Howdy Doody era, it was always a great ritual to plan a costume to be made by my mother. 

Mammoth Sunflower Seed head       ...Fall is creeping into Ohio as I enjoy the warm sunny day here in Ohio.  The trees are starting to show a bit of orange and gold tipping the leaves.   The breeze carries a new fragrance that lets one know this is fall.  I love September!  It is also my birthday month.  Johnny Appleseed and I share the day.  I can hardly wait for the best of the cider to start flowing with the fall Ohio harvest.       Today I chopped down the dried and spent stalks of the mammoth sunflowers that I have so enjoyed all summer.  Though they are gone I still have plenty of photos of their huge smiling faces.  Carpe Diem, seize the day!  Time to make fall displays of mums and asters! All  my herbs are trying to finish up for the season.  Sadly, all my basils are done for the summer.  It was a season that was all too short here in Ohio. With the joy of harvesting fragrant herbs I realized that it was the last of the season to be enjoyed.  When I notice the neighborhoo

  ...Their smiling faces were beaming in the summer sun.  Sunflowers are everywhere this August in Ohio.  I had no idea how much I would enjoy seeing the giant sunflowers when I had planted five simple seeds next to the house.  The little kid came out in all of us when I shared the images of my tall flowers with friends around town.  Everyone was stunned to see how high the stocks of the giant flowers grew.  It is no wonder all the gardening books suggest planting sunflower seeds as a summer gardening project for children.  What a thrill for beginning gardeners to enjoy!  One friend asked me what special things needed to be done to have such glorious plants.  "Very complicated," I told her.  "You plant the seeds in the ground , water them, and wait.  The sunflowers do the rest."          A few days ago a friend brought me a  bouquet of the smaller sunflowers from her garden.  She was heartbroken when neighbor children had broken the slender flower stalks growing

    ...Stepping onto my back porch I inspected the mammoth sunflowers that were growing there.  Having grown to a good 15 feet tall, I could barely see far enough up to the sunflower stalks to confirm three out of five had flower heads forming.  It is so exciting to see something planted from seed not only grow, but grow so big and wonderful.  Sunflowers really are an exciting summer miracle that makes it work the wait to see those happy faces beaming toward the sun.  They remind us that we should rejoice in life, lifting our hands and praising our creator.  Once the flower heads are done blooming I intend to tie them to the deck railing  to allow the local birds to nibble the seeds.  That is another fun project for youngsters to do as you create natural birdfeeders from the big sunflowers. How I wish I had planted more....       Many years ago I can remember driving into the country and seeing entire fields of sunflowers.  It was a sight to behold.  You don't see that much anymor

   ...It did stop raining constantly, but now we have slipped into the hot and humid days of late sumbymer here in Ohio.  The temperature has been in the 90's.  All I can manage to do is constantly scrounge for icy cold food and beverages to consume.  My last grocery run had very little real food in the purchases.  All I could think of was popsicles and Italian ices.  My container garden is doing just fine as long as I keep watering everything.  Most of my herbs are drought-tolerant, so this sweltering weather actually suits them.  I can hardly believe that my solitary lavender is starting to crank out more blooms.  Note to self, must get yet another large container for the lavender plant.  That sucker is trying to crawl out of its large pot.  Maybe it has been influenced by the mammoth sunflowers that I  planted next to it.  Those giants are about 12 feet tall and still growing.  They aren't ready for flowers yet.  At this point I am just hoping that I don't hear any "

Blooming Hosta      ...It is July in Ohio and it is so soggy right now, that I feel I should check myself for moss.  Just as the Farmer's Almanac predicted, we have had copious amounts of rain with accompanying thunder and lightning.  I like cooler weather, but everyone else I know is grumbling about how cold it has been.  As I inspect my little herb garden, many of the tender herbs are turning yellow due to water-logging from all the rain. Perhaps constructing a makeshift awning over things would not be amiss.  The upside is that most of my plants are in containers.  That makes it possible to move the herbs to better locations for the conditions.  Like a giddy little kid I planted some mammoth sunflowers for nearly instant gratification in my petite garden.  They are should height with me.  I am pretty short so I guess that doesn't make them all that tall, however,  am still thrilled at their growth progress.  One of the sunflowers has leaned over as if it is ready to do

...Half way through May, a muggy heat settled into the Akron area.  Those spring days of light rain and of sunlight squeezed momentarily through the clouds somehow transports me into memory days of moist garden delights with new discoveries of herbal treasures.  One of my best memories is that of a now long gone herb farm that was the enjoyable place to commune with nature and to search out special decorating nuggets.  The damp smells of moist earth and dripping herb plants after a light morning shower left a woodsy memory for me that is triggered whenever it is mild and the potted plants are still wet. Many years of having tea and breakfast in my own gardens  has left me with more memories of the visitors to Johnson House herb gardens.  As I dined on scrambled eggs with chive from my own plants, I was often greeted by Sydney the mole.  Oscar the toad was one to hop by, undisturbed by my morning presence. Several butterfly buddies stopped by for a delicate sip from the shallow water tr

       ...May, glorious May, with all its flowers and bursting leafing of all the trees, and wonderful greening of all things grass.  It has finally gotten warm enough to open the windows to let in the heavenly perfume of the neighbor's lilacs.  All the gardens are coming alive.  Tulips are virtually exploding across the Barberton landscape.  Like a magician's trick, the flowers are appearing so fast that one can practically hear an accompanying sound of "sproing!" with each flower.     Another explosion is that of the bumper crop of dandelion blossoms everywhere.  I am convinced that in the event of an apocalyptic end to civilization as we know it, the only thins that will survive are cockroaches and dandelions.  At least dandelions are nutritious.   My great grandmother used t make a delightful summer wine from dandelion blossoms.  The leaves can be cooked like collard greens to give a boost to ones iron levels, after an anemic winter of less than fresh veget

...April has finally come to Ohio.  The mountains of ice and snow have finally melted away leaving us with the roller coaster ride of temperatures ranging from the cold 30's to the balmy mid-60's.  And then there is the rain.  All the glorious potholes bequeathed to us from the icy grip of Old Man Winter have now become rain-filled coy ponds.  Or maybe even better, we could all begin stocking the with bass.  It would be easy pickings for a Memorial Day fish fry at the end of May. The winds have been quite blustery and more worthy of March, but the April rains have begun to green up the landscape already.      By the end of the winter I managed to only hold onto my only rosemary plant.  My apartment was too dry as I had expected.  I did not have the right conditions to be able to hang onto all the plants I brought in for winter protection.  As with all gardens, there comes a time to begin again.  That will be the big effort this year.  Even my last two lemon verbena plants gave

...March has come in like a lion here in Ohio.  We have cold temps and more snow than any of us had hoped for.  All you people who wished for a white Christmas, knock it off!  Beware what you wish for at Christmas time.  You may not get it until February...in spades.       March is the month that all northern gardeners start feeling spring tugging at our hearts.  For better than a month now I have been dragging out all my gardening books and designing container gardens for the impending spring of 2015. Yesterday I found myself slowly turning a corner in a grocery store as I longingly spotted the new seed packet display.  Visions of pots of little green herbs keep creeping into my mind as I peer out of the window.  I am torn between the joy of snow left over from childhood and the promise of the spring gardening rituals that will begin only a few weeks away...I hope.  It has been a rough winter with record-setting subzero temperatures and copious amounts of snow.  For the most part it

...Large fluffy snowflakes began to fill the air as I listened to the weather report that told about the snow flurries to be expected. Snowflake Bentley would be proud. These flakes were huge and feathery. Mother Goose was definitely shaking out her feather duster. I love the clean smell of fresh snow. The snow shoveling Olympics has begun here in Ohio.  We haven't been hit with the predicted nor'easter that has been forecast for the north eastern parts of the country, but we do have more than our fair share of snow.       After all these years I still want to get out and play in the snow, but all my friends have gotten old and infirmed, leaving me with no one to join me in the frozen fun.  A few weeks ago I heard a news report that told about some towns having outlawed sled riding. It makes one wonder how so many of us survived our childhood.  Sled riding lethal, who would have thought?!!!  Hearing that report stirred the memories of how my dad took my cousins and me to a wel