Podcast

July 23, 2019 St. Phocas the Gardener, Frances Ropes Williams, John Goldie, Raymond A. Foss, The Living Landscape by Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy, Wedding Tulle, and Cashew Tarragon Pesto

Today, Catholics honor St. Phocas the Gardener who lived in Turkey during the third century. A protector of persecuted Christians, Phocas grew crops in his garden to help feed the poor. Phocas is remembered for his hospitality and generosity; his garden played an essential part in living both of those virtues. When Roman soldiers were sent to kill him, they could not find shelter for the night. Naturally, when Phocas encountered them, he not only offered them lodging but a…

July 22, 2019 Drying Flowers, Asa Gray, Hugh Algernon Weddell, Cornelius Herman (“Neil”) Muller, Louise Klein Miller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds by Victoria Summerley, Preparing a Spot for Flower Drying, and the San Jose scale

Have you ever tried drying flowers? Successfully drying one of your favorite flowers is such a joy. Some flowers look even better when they are dried. There are many options for drying flowers; air drying is the simplest. Then, of course, there’s pressing. If you’ve never tried sand drying a bloom, you should give it a shot. Just fill a microwave-safe container with a layer of silica sand. Put the flower on top of the sand and then bury the…

July 19, 2019 Marjoram vs Oregano, Caroline Dormon, John Macoun, Philip Moffitt, The Wild Garden by William Robinson, Rick Darke, Visit Public Gardens, and Robert Fenton

What’s the Difference Between Oregano and Marjoram? If you’ve grown both, you know they look quite similar, and they are often confused for one another. But, when it comes to flavor and taste, it is easy to tell them apart. Oregano tends to be earthy, pungent, and spicy. It can easily overpower the other flavors in a dish. To subdue the pungency, cooks recommend using the dried form of oregano. On the other hand, marjoram is milder. Use that alliteration…

July 18, 2019 Growing Chervil, Gilbert White, Jane Austen, Frederick Law Olmsted, Eleanor Sinclair-Rhode, A Southern Garden by Elizabeth Lawrence, Irrigation Check, Maxfield Parrish and The Botanist

Have you tried growing the herb chervil? Chervil tastes similar to tarragon – it’s sometimes called gourmet parsley. It has a beautiful fern-like leaf, which turns red in the fall, which is another plus. August is a beautiful time to sow chervil – so keep that in mind. The 1884 Dictionary of English Names of Plants lists chervil as “the shepherd’s clock’’ because the blossoms open at five in the morning and then close up around eight in the evening.…

July 17, 2019 Daylilies, John McMahan, Charles Theodore Mohr, George William Francis, Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, Niels Mogens Bodecker, A Year in Trees by JC Raulston and Kim Tripp, Calendarize Garden Chores, and the Night-blooming Cereus

Daylilies are in the genus Hemerocallis which has about 15 species of daylilies. They are not part of the Lilium genus, which is the genus for true lilies. The name Hemerocallis comes from the Greek words ἡμέρα (Hemera) “day” and καλός (Kalos) “beautiful.” In China, the daylily symbolizes motherhood. Their name alludes to the flowers, which typically last no more than 24 hours (about a day or so). Daylily flower stems are called “scapes,” and as one fades, the next…