SE Regional Symposium, Herb Society of America, Oct 12-12, 2012

University of Georgia Horticulture Trial Gardens

The Southeast Regional Symposium of The Herb Society of America was held Oct. 12-13, 2012 in Athens, Georgia.

Dr. Allan Armitage

First we visited the UGA Trial Gardens and Dr. Allan Armitage showed us around.

Albuca spiralis 'Fizzle Sizzle' 

We saw plenty of flowers, annuals, perennials, roses, vines and the odd foliage plant!

Solanum wendlandii, Paradise Vine

Vince Dooley w The Rising Sun Redbud 

From there, we visited the specactular garden of UGA Coach Vince Dooley (retired legend), shown here with The Rising Sun Redbud PP21451 .

Pierced Hedge reveals St. Francis Statue

There were plenty of details to soak up in the Coach's garden, like the opening cut into this solid hedge, revealing additional gardens beyond, and a serene St. Francis of Assisi statue.

14 inch retaining wall

I hope to re-create a version of this low retaining wall in my own back yard which is sloped.
Here is Coach Dooley's gemlike Japanese Garden.

Japanese Garden at Coach Dooley's

Geri Laufer speaking on Tussie-Mussies

I peeked and saw I got a 10+ in the evaluation! 

The next day we had a series of programs for the educational symposium, including my talk on Tussie-Mussies and the Language of Flowers.

There was a lot of history of carried and worn flowers, and the floral language.

Tussie-Mussies hardback

Knot Garden at the State Botanical Garden

Rosemary in Bloom! 

Snowflake Scented Geranium

Geri in Vitex with Boxwood in foreground

The gnarly old Vitex at the State Botanic Garden made a cool place to sit, and in front of me were planted large, venerable plants of Golden Dream Boxwood PP16052 from Garden Debut(R).

Golden Dream Boxwood PP16052

All in all I had a very nice trip, although this speaking engagement meant I had to miss the 2012 Tucson Garden Writers Association conference this year because of the conflict in dates!  Thanks for driving, Sue!

Caladium container at State BG

Whadda’ ja say? Some Botanical Names are Wily to Pronounce

Northern Borders™ Variegated Cotoneaster

A non-gardening friend of mine was amused to note that one of the accomplishments I list on my LinkedIn page is Botanical Latin. My fluency with Latin binomials is useful when talking with others in this great business and helps me to be more precise.

Over the years I have come across three bug-a-boo plant names that give students pause, and must be heard to be believed. These are Cotoneaster, Leucothoe and Weigela.

Centuries ago, before I enrolled in grad school for Horticulture and was systematically reading every single gardening book in the Carnegie Public Library*, I stumbled across Cotoneaster which I first saw written and not pronounced. Like anyone else, I supposed it might be called “cotton Easter” but this is not the case. It’s actually more like “Co-TONY-aster”. A lovely example of this plant is the Northern Borders™ VariegatedCotoneaster by Garden Debut®.

Whitewater(R) Leucothoe PP18396

The next bug-a-boo that people often come across is Leucothoe. This is actually pronounced more like “Lou-KO-tho-wee”. A variegated favorite of mine is Whitewater® Leucothoe PP18396 that does so well in moist shade..

Third, students in my Woody I.D. class at Gwinnett Tech were calling a plant “Wiggly-Ah” which I found most endearing. Actually it is called “Why-GEE-La”. A nice small dwarf form good for most gardens is Minuet Weigela. 

Minuet Weigela

Luckily, Fine Gardening Magazine has come to the rescue of all concerned gardeners with their online Pronunciation Guide to Botanical Latin. After clicking on a plant name, the audio will pronounce it clearly and distinctly, and is a great help   .

What plant names are your personal bug-a-boos?

*That’s another story.

Fairy Garden Skeptic?

I admit it. Originally I was skeptical about Fairy Gardens, particularly for adults. With a full-sized garden and landscape to care for, I could not wrap my head around itty-bitty scenes and itty-bitty plants that might dry out too quickly. But with millions of people puzzling and writing about weaning today’s children away from their computer games and luring them into the great outdoors, I have changed my tune. 

To me, Fairy Gardens are the outdoor version of Dollhouses. Fairy Gardens are furnished with miniature structures and doll-sized accessories appealing to children: little fences, little birdbaths, little garden tools. What’s more, they include Actual Living Plants! This gets the idea of plants, soil, sunshine, photosynthesis, growing, dirty hands and success into young hands. And even if it seems to be entering gardening through the back door, if it works, it’s fine with me! When I saw a young girl standing mesmerized by the array of Fairy Gardening accessories in my nearby independent garden center, I was convinced! 

Fairy Gardens can be laid out formally on table top, with a $375 Primrose Cottage 27.25 inches tall, or less formally with homemade houses and benches that are crafted by kids and incorporated into a dish garden or an in-ground garden niche. 

On Pinterest, one Fairy Garden Board  has 864 people following 153 pins (so far), all of imaginative Fairy Gardens. 

In terms of Fairy Plants, tiny ground covers such as Scotch and Irish Moss and Corsican Mint in the Stepables lineup  come to mind.  

Perfect as a small evergreen for a Fairy Landscape is Garden Debut®’s Micron® Holly PP21168, a diminunitive little holly with very small leaves reaching 20 inches in height at maturity.      

If a Flowering Fairy Shrub is needed there is Princess Lyla™ Crapemyrtle that reliably adds summer color at only about a foot and a half tall,    the littlest princess in the Princess Series by Garden Debut®.

Do you know a child who might fall in love with gardening if introduced through the world of Fairy Gardens? Let’s hear from you.   

top photo thank you to Liesel Allen Merkel

posting a few weeks later, after Halloween, a photo of Halloween in the Fairy Garden.

photo by Jeremie Corp 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?bid=546864471995702&set=a.354274917921326.105388.236792266336259&type=1&theater

Geri's Abundant-Harvest, Throw It Together Pesto Recipe

 For the third time this season, I have cut back my 4 plants of Mrs. Burns' Lemon Basil by half, added clippings from a couple of Lettuce-Leaf Basil plants, and am making Pesto! This will be 6 pounds so far this year.

Geri's Abundant-Harvest, Throw It Together Pesto Recipe

Ingredients:
1 gallon basil leaves
3 peeled, smashed garlic cloves
1 cup walnuts
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 to 1 cup EVOO

Directions:
Pick clean,dry basil leaves and put about half in the blender
Add garlic cloves that have been peeled and smashed in a garlic press
Pulse in food processor
Add more basil leaves
Add Parmesan cheese
Add 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil and gradually more
Pulse in food processor
Add more oil until it is the right consistency for you

Use on fresh-cooked hot pasta, on chicken breast, in stews or as a spread for turkey sandwiches.

To save for later use, package in small containers (enough for one pound of pasta) and freeze. This brings the feeling of summer in the middle of winter.


photos copyright Geri Laufer, 2012
may use photos with attribution :-) thanks!

Friend Helen Yoest's New Book: Gardening With Confidence

My Raleigh friend Helen Yoest from Garden Writers Association sent me a copy of her new book and I think it has great merit! 

Gardening With Confidence-- 50 Ways to add style for personal creativity hits all the gardening highlights and offers practical ways to achieve gardening style in accessible, bite-sized pieces. Each essay is a quick study in four pages and Helen's great color photos help to illustrate her points.

Gardening With Confidence summarizes Helen's practical experience and is presented as an overview of the field, "the exact book a beginning gardener needs" presented as sort of a conversation with a knowledgeable friend over a virtual garden fence.

As might be expected, I am partial to her Herb Gardens chapter that includes herb care, plant types, harvesting, seed saving, drying and a profile of her fave herb garden, Little Herb House in Raleigh.

Some of her other essays that I especially enjoy are Fragrance in the Garden, Sound in the Garden and Layers of Light.

Which chapters are your favorites?

Rainbow of Ground Covers Enlivens the Landscape

Snow N Summer® Asiatic Jasmine

A colorful palette of ground covers adds an extra dimension to the lower levels of my landscape. These ground-hugging plants that spread widely yet remain short and close to the ground have a new look these days with a selection of foliage colors. Brightening up sunny spots as well as shade, many choices of perennial ground covers are available for the artistic gardener and landscaper. Ground covers protect the soil from erosion and drought, while providing a flat layer of vegetation beneath the shrub layer.

Pink and White

Trachelospermum asiaticum Snow N Summer® Asiatic Jasmine by Garden Debut®. The amazing pink foliage color of looks like flowers in the bed but is adaptable and evergreen, making it an excellent mounding 12-iinch ground cover that spreads to three feet. New foliage emerges striking pink, turning to clear white, then to variegated white and emerald green on older foliage.  

Mahogany-Red Bronze
Ajuga reptens Bronze has appealing dark mahogany-maroon foliage that thrives in sun or shade and reaches 6 to 10 inches in height and spreads by runners. Short spikes of attractive blue flowers cover the mat in spring, attracting bees and butterflies.

Angelina Sedum

Brilliant Yellow

Sedum rupestre Angelina- the brilliant-yellow spreading fleshy foliage of this succulent ground cover turns orange at the tips in autumn. It’s only 3 inches tall but spreads to two feet wide and more in sun.

Yellow and Green

Vinca minor ‘Sunny Skies’ PP13466 features yellow variegated leaves and bright blue springtime flowers, attaining about 12 inches in height and spreading to two feet.

Bunny Blue Sedge

Silvery Blue

Carex laxiculmus Bunny Blue Sedge Grass by Garden Debut® is a grass-like ornamental groundcover with narrow foliage and year-round interest. Aqua-silvery blue leaves to 12 inches tall will spread to a large, dense clump.

There are many other ground covers that increase the gardener’s color choices. Have you tried some of these? What is your favorite? 

Seed Collecting and Saving

Seeds I collected in the garden - so far. 

While the squirrels are collecting (and planting) pecans from our big tree in the backyard, I am also squirreling away seeds to plant next January. Of course I'll scatter some now, too.

I like to dry them thoroughly before packaging them in paper envelopes. Be sure to label them! I often forget if they are not labeled. My Dad used to like to quote Confucius: "the weakest ink is stronger than the strongest mind," or in other words, write it down b/c you might not remember what you have there.

I plan to take the Rudbeckia triloba off of that mass of clippings while watching NCIS this evening. Do you save seeds? I have parsley, white hibiscus, thorn apple, purple cone flower, annual Rudbeckia, my Grandmother's Balsam, Rudbeckia triloba (big bowl) --> and one composite I forgot to label (!) but I think it is feverfew.

Happy Collecting!