HerbnArts

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 har...

  ...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 ...

    ...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 ...

   ...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 flowe...

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.  ...

...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....

       ...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...