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waldenweave · 5 years ago

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Making is still slow going. My life living with people now means compromise, and that’s okay. I learned this past week and another culprit might also be the cancer drug I’m on: tamoxifen. It’s great stuff, and will help me not develop more tumors, but over the last three months, I have become increasingly tired, sore, and sad. I have been off it for a week as my oncologist wanted to see if some weird side effects I was having were related and went away. As of this weekend, I don’t hurt nearly as much, I am feeling more alert, and I have energy and strength again. I have been trying to make hay while the sun shines and do all the things I will not be able to do when I’m on it again!

This weekend, I found the waffle iron, and am hoping to make a load of waffles to put in the freezer (there is currently a surplus of buttermilk that must be used up – oh woe!). I bought some lavender plants last week (on sale! more on that later), and will try to weed the area I want to put them in today, and then I’ll plant them. I am going to try to figure out all the heavy lifting I’ve been meaning to do and do it today.

Okay. On to Making over the past month.

I finished up the overshot towels! One is in use at home, two of the yellow ones went to friends as a gift – their kitchen is yellow and green – and one has stayed with me, as yet unused. I now think these are the perfect weight for towels, and are very absorbent, but if I sell them, they’re going to be very expensive, because these take twice as long to produce.

When I am preparing to hem, I always wash and dry the cloth two or three times before I do anything. Then I iron the whole thing front and back. (I know lots of weavers say press, but honestly, this is cotton. They’re towels. I have never found a need to get super fussy with an iron other than to flatten the cloth.) Then I cut along the weft marker lines I threw when I was weaving. Sometimes, there are bits of scrap. I save those and use them to make greeting cards, or sometimes just as reference samples. Then I go over each towel looking for errant weft ends sticking out and I snip them flush with the cloth. I have read that snipping the weft ends flush while you’re weaving is okay, but I’ve always found a few sticking out anyway after wet finishing. I’ve attributed this to the shrinkage of the yarn, and then the ends just pop out. But I like snipping the weft ends because it also allows me to really inspect every inch of the cloth, and sometimes I see a mistake I didn’t see before, which I can usually fix.

Sometimes I also find knots in the weft yarn that I didn’t notice while I was throwing the shuttle. The thing I’m pointing to above is a knot. (Sigh.) It was on the back of the cloth, so I didn’t notice it until the pre-hemming stage. I could fix it, but it’s hard to do after the cloth has been washed. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it when I was winding quills – normally, if I find a knot in the yarn, I’ll cut it out and just overlap the weft in the same pick as if I were starting a new quill.

With this batch of towels, the cloth is a bit thicker than just twill, so I did a little different thing with the hem: I wove a a bit of the ground, leaving the pattern out, and just folded that over and stitched. Behold:

This hem is sooo thin and unobtrusive.

I like it a lot! I had seen something like this in a picture somewhere and thought I’d give it a try. I also love how it looks.

What I need to do now is get an inkle loom or put together a backstrap loom so I can weave bands – I want to sew loops just under the hem of each towel I make (and maybe weave a logo into them?).

I took the last week of August off from work. Man, I haven’t had a vacation in what feels like years (and it might be two or three, I can’t remember), and it was pretty good. A friend and I went up to Shelburne to Apex Orchard to go peach picking, and we could not have picked a better day for it! The sky was blue, the air was clear and ever so slightly crisp, there was a gentle breeze…and the trees were positively laden with fruit. Some of the branches were nearly on the ground.

The view from the orchard’s shop is staggeringly gorgeous. That picture above doesn’t do it justice at all.

We each picked a large box (and spent several days eating our respective peaches), and then went back up to the shop for lunch. There was a lovely eating area outside, and I’d brought All The Food in an ice chest. We had already eaten several peaches in the orchard, but managed to get something other than fruit into our systems before packing up and checking out the shop in detail.

It doesn’t look like much, but this is actually quite a lot of peaches!

The shop is lovely, and I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area. While the orchard has been around for years and years, the shop is fairly new, so don’t expect too much – but they do have pottery from a local potter or two, maple syrup, honey from the orchard, some handmade quilted things, and coolers of fruit. They also have a walk-in cooler of seconds!

I took advantage of this cooler of seconds a couple of days later:

This is a LOT more peaches than you think. I learned what ‘half-bushel’ really was. Also, please note the lovely and very useful overshot dishtowel under the peaches on the counter.

For a mere $22, I got a half-bushel of Red Haven peaches. They were fiiiine, and only some were very slightly bruised. They were very nearly all ripe to being completely ripe, and they were perfect to make into jam.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle with getting enough canning jars, running out of pectin and sugar and running out to buy more, not adding enough acid to the second batch because I’d been canning for six hours and was exhausted, canning the second batch a second time the next day after adding the right amount of acid and slightly more pectin, but in the end, I got it all done. Two cases of half-pint jars. I still have three cups of peach mash left (in the freezer) because I ran out of time and energy, and I thought this would be enough for a very modest batch of peach chutney. Which was supposed to maybe happen today, but won’t because omg I’m doing all the things today and will run out of time.

I finally finished my friend’s jeans:

FINISHED. FINALLY.

It took months, and most of the delay was due to nonsense with the house I’d lived in before, being diagnosed with cancer, freaking out, and moving house…well, all of that is now behind me and this was actually on the top of the list for my vacation! (That list is so long still…) I’m so happy I finished it – it’s not quite right, but I couldn’t figure out what else needed to be there, and my friend was being SO PATIENT waiting. She loves them and I am thrilled to have learned a new method of repairing holes in clothing.

So, during that kerfuffle of getting enough canning jars (see second case in photo above), I might have accidentally bought five lavender plants (var. Provence). They were on sale! They were so healthy and so large! (Actually, they were so much on sale, I couldn’t NOT buy them.) I got that little pink yarrow as well because, well, it’s pink yarrow, and beautiful and well, it was on sale, too.

I am currently trying to get the garden by the front walk back into garden-shape again. My friends who I live with do not have time for this, and are sad that it’s gotten to this point, but basically don’t have time to really think about what to do with it. Well, this is something I can fix, albeit slowly. The strip is quite long as is not obvious in that picture above, and it seems to be taking forever. The grass/weeds are actually growing on the layer of old rotten bark mulch, so it all peels up pretty easily. I feel pretty much like I could run a race today, so it’s on my list of things to tackle. Maybe I can get it all peeled up? My plans are to put the lavender in the bit that gets the most sun. (I had plans to put it in the back yard where the drainage is probably slightly better, but I discovered there are ground wasps living there, so digging in their nest is probably not a good idea.) I hope there’s enough sun in the front.

My next plan is to keep an eye out for beautiful (and inexpensive) mums so I can add a bit of color to the front. I might put some spring bulbs in as well, but I want to ask my friends first – I don’t want to set up something that they will need to take care of after I’ve moved out. That would be mean. My Ultimate Plan is to plant perennials in there that will basically look after themselves with minimal weeding required. So, daisies, mint (already there), bee balm, lamb’s ears, maybe a rose or two (hardy)…you get the idea. The hostas and a couple patches of daylilies plus weeds is just sad. (And don’t get me started on this way of landscape planting that wastes so much space with bark mulch and nothing else – argh!)

I also will mow the lawn today:

A toy!

I can’t hardly believe my luck, and the trust my friends have in me. As a member of the household, I am always looking for ways to be helpful and contribute (other than financially), so I mow the lawn. It’s a very big lawn, and it takes just short of two hours to get it all done. Above is what I use to mow it, along with a regular push mower to get the edges and fiddly bits. It’s an actual tractor (not a lawnmower), with a mower attachment on the power take-off underneath. I like to think of it as a Kitchen Aid mixer with the fun attachments. There’s a snowblower attachment parked behind it in this picture that I will likely also learn to operate when it’s time. The driveway is also large.

I can’t adequately express how much fun it is to mow the lawn! I hope that never wears off.

In other news, I’ve been thinking hard about something else to make. I’ve been wanting to do this for years:

A good friend was off-loading some books…of course I nabbed them!

I figure I’ll scope out supplies and gather as necessary and required, and start small. So small. My goal is to make the rose scented soap I can’t get at the store anymore (because amazon bought Whole Foods, and while I do not buy into the complete hipster/yuppie/whatever it’s called this decade philosophy that WF peddles, they do carry a few things that I do like – but so many things have been discontinued). Rose oil, it turns out, is five times more costly than it was when I last checked (maybe 15 years ago), and there are varying reviews about the fake rose fragrance that most people use. So, I’ll start with lavender because that’s not too expensive and I can get it locally.

And I’ve saved the best for last.

Remember how I started that cello experiment? I started with three months. That was one billing cycle for the instrument rental, and I figured that was a good window in which I could decide if I liked learning to play it or not, liked the teacher or not, etc. And it was. Well. I have been mooning over the viola da gamba for a while (a year and a half, about) and this semester, I got my name on the list for a gamba class over at UMASS, just down the street from my office, and got the okay from my boss to take a long lunch once a week. And I got in. No auditions, no previous experience with string instruments required (but it helps).

So pretty!

I have borrowed the tenor gamba. It’s lovely in every respect. Well, not tuning. I’m sure I will get used to it, but tuning is a pain right now. The strings are gut, so any whiff of air from elsewhere makes it go wildly out of tune, especially if that air is of a different humidity.

So for three months, I’ve got to figure out how to practice two instruments – but the opportunity is so good! And it’s only three months. And maybe I’ll make musician friends? And maybe it will help with the anxiety about playing in front of other people? Seems like it couldn’t hurt!

GUYS, I GET TO HAVE VIOLA DA GAMBA LESSONS.

And I’ll end the post with a picture of cuteness:

Ollie above, Marlie below. Not the best picture, but it was tricky to snap this one with one hand.

Ollie stayed with us for a week, and has gone back with his owners. They were a joy to take care of together. I will miss Ollie, and give Marlie extra snuggles for a while.

…in which Things Get Done. Making is still slow going. My life living with people now means compromise, and that's okay. I learned this past week and another culprit might also be the cancer drug I'm on: tamoxifen.

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springfloralarrangement-blog · 6 years ago

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10 Moments To Remember From Spring Floral Arrangemen

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islamfakrul · 3 years ago

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Top 10 Best clematis nursery [2022]

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bethestaryouareradio · 3 years ago

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Perennial favorites

“When the sun rises, I go to work. When the sun goes down, I take my rest. I dig the well from which I drink, I farm the soil which yields my food, I share creation. Kings can do no more.” Chinese proverb

In the sizzling heat of summer, many annuals go to seed and flowers fade. Thankfully there are plants besides cacti and succulents that enjoy the higher temperatures. Most of my favorite summer bloomers are perennials that once established require minimal irrigation.

My top ten summer flowering favorites include acanthus, agapanthus, bougainvillea, bower vine, crape myrtle, crocosmia, daylily, hollyhock, hydrangea, and rose. I also am a huge fan of the Naked Lady, but it sprouts its neck later in August, lasting through the fall months. Acanthus:

Also known as Bear’s breeches, Acanthus can be deciduous or evergreen growing from rhizomes. It is drought tolerant with shiny oval leaves lobed with spines and spires of flowers that are purple, white, pink, cream, or green. It doesn’t like full sun when it is hot, so it may be best to grow Acanthus in partial shade. The flower spikes can grow to five feet. I like it as a back border plant or to line a path. The good news: butterflies flock to it. The bad news: deer devour it. Cut it to the ground in the fall and it will re-emerge in the spring. Greek Corinthian column capitals were and are modeled after the Acanthus plant.

Agapanthus:

Another rhizome spreader that is hardy in drought times, yet pretty in bloom is the Lily of the Nile or African Lily that we know as Agapanthus. The rhizomes retain water and divide easily to plant in other locations. They prefer a sunny location, although I’ve seen many beautiful specimens growing in the shade. The sky blue, midnight blue, or white trumpet-shaped flowers bloom June through the end of August with stalks that reach four feet high. The elegant strap-like leaves are evergreen. When planting work compost and organic matter into the soil and continue to fertilize during the growing season. Deadhead when the flowers fade and toss them on the compost pile. Wear gloves when working with this plant as it is poisonous and could cause an allergic reaction in those who are prone to plant allergies.

Bougainvillea:

A gorgeous tropical vining shrub, bougainvillea flowers are modified leaves called bracts blooming in colors of yellow, orange, white, and my personal favorite, fluorescent pink. Native to arid climates, bougainvillea thrives in hot weather and needs full sun while requiring a minimum of H20. On our ranch, bougainvillea covered one full side of our two-story farmhouse delighting our family year after year with a spectacular showcase of hues. Plant bougainvillea on a strong structure or well-made fence. It can be pruned when it starts to rain or after flowering. Since it is susceptible to frost, cover with burlap in the winter to protect it if your plant is small enough.

Bower Vine:

This is the most perfect flowering evergreen vine for pergolas, arbors, and trellises. Grow bower vine over awnings, around windows and doors, or as a gate climber. It is easy to care for, doesn’t invade a roof or siding, and is a swift grower. Blooming throughout spring, summer, and fall, flowers are pink and white with deep-throated trumpets attractive to hummingbirds. I grow bower vines in full sun and partial shade. Once established they don’t require much water while providing year-round beauty with their shiny green leaves. Prune whenever the vine needs a bit of TLC as this vine is not fussy. Cut stems to add to indoor arrangements.

Crape Myrtle:

The crape myrtle is hands-down one of my very favorite specimens because of its beauty and interest in every season. In summer the bush or tree is covered in showy flowers, in fall the leaves change to gorgeous red, umber, and gold, in winter the leaves fall off showcasing beautiful bark, and in spring the shiny green leaves sprout. All crape myrtles bloom on new wood and come in colors that include watermelon, red, white, pink, lavender, and purple. I prune my purple shrubs in early winter to twelve inches from the ground and by summer they have grown to three feet high. Prune trees periodically to keep them shaped. Although crape myrtles prefer acidic soil, they will grow in sand, clay, or loam. The Chinese Lagerstroemia indica crape myrtle is prone to powdery mildew so look for a cross with the Japanese L. fauriei to enjoy glorious blooms, attractive bark, and leaves without any issues. They are drought resistant, too!

Crocosmia:

This firecracker plant boasts a tropical origin with bright blazing orange, yellow, red flowers that light up the summer garden. In our region, they start blooming right in time for the fireworks of Independence Day and continue until autumn. Their sword-like foliage offers spikey interest to the landscape. Hummingbirds and butterflies are especially attracted to the trumpet-shaped blooms while deer and rabbits stay away. The corms naturalize and the stalks make excellent floral displays. After the flowers are spent, the seedpods provide additional appeal.

Daylily:

Sometimes called “ditch weed”, daylilies will grow anywhere! Their botanical name is Hemerocallis from the Greek word hemera meaning day and kallos meaning beauty. They tolerate every kind of soil, are extremely low-maintenance, and require minimal irrigation once established. They are not a true lily as they have fleshy roots as opposed to bulbs. The leaves grow from a crown and the flowers form on a leafless stem called a “scape”. Most do not self-sow. Divide the roots every three to five years to create more plants. Each flower blooms for only a day, but each scape will have a dozen or more buds that will continue to open. A variety of colors and shades are available with butter yellow being the most ubiquitous. Every part of the daylily is edible. Sauté the buds in butter, garlic, and a little white wine for a delicious veggie treat that tastes like asparagus mixed with peas.

Hollyhock:

Happy memories surround the legacy of my hollyhocks. I can’t remember a time when hollyhocks were not growing in my mother’s or grandmother’s gardens. My seeds are heirlooms from several generations of family gardeners with a history that goes back over a hundred years. Hollyhocks are the classic cottage garden staple that every gardener should include for spikey tall stalks of pink, white, magenta, and red blooms that will continue until winter. A member of the hibiscus family, this self-seeding China native grows best in full sun in rich, well-drained soil. Because they grow to fifteen feet or more, plant towards the back of the garden or near a fence. By deadheading when the flowers fade, you will encourage continuous bloom production. Prune to the ground by winter and save the seedpods to share.

Hydrangea:

Another favorite plant for generations of gardeners, hydrangeas produce abundant blooms in partial sun. They are thirsty plants and need mulch around them to improve the soil texture and maintain moisture. Pruning hydrangeas is tricky because it is necessary to know what type you have as different hydrangeas require different pruning times and methods. The most common hydrangeas are Bigleaf, Oakleaf, Mountain, and Climbing which are pruned after summer blooming. They rebloom on “old wood” which are the stems from the previous season. Panicle and Smooth hydrangeas bloom on new wood (the stems from this season) and must be pruned before the buds form. I’m looking forward to trialing new Panicles from Proven Winners which will include Limelight Prime and a space-saving Fire Light Tidbit that will have cream-colored flowers covering the plant in summer, then turning to pink and lasting through frost.

Rose:

No introduction is necessary for the fabulousness of the rose. Roses are the most versatile, beautiful, and coveted plant in every garden. When gardeners proclaim roses to be the bedrock of their landscape, they are not exaggerating. Roses come in every color, shade, petal, and size to suit every desire. Roses are a diverse group of plants that include shrub roses, carpet roses, floribundas, hybrid teas, climbing, old roses, rambling roses, and tree roses. Their shapes and structures differ. Some look like peonies, others have a single floral pattern. There are rosettes, cups, doubles, pompons, button-eyed, incurved, recurved, and quartered. My favorites are David Austin roses with intoxicating fragrance, fine foliage, disease resistance, and stunning flowers. Over a hundred roses grace my landscape and I am constantly adding more. As Emma Goldman stated, “I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.”

When the sun rises, I go to work, spending as much time in nature as feasible. Consider planting some of my perennial favorites to enjoy elegance and exquisite allure throughout the summer months.

Stay cool, hydrated, and share creation.

Happy Gardening. Happy Growing.

Photos: https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1511/Digging-Deep-with-Goddess-Gardener-Cynthia-Brian-Perennial-favorites.html

Cynthia Brian, The Goddess Gardener, is available for hire to help you prepare for your spring garden. Raised in the vineyards of Napa County, Cynthia is a New York Times best-selling author, actor, radio personality, speaker, media and writing coach as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3. Tune into Cynthia’s StarStyle® Radio Broadcast at www.StarStyleRadio.com.

Buy copies of her best-selling books, including, Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul, Growing with the Goddess Gardener, and Be the Star You Are! Millennials to Boomers at www.cynthiabrian.com/online-store. Receive a FREE inspirational music DVD.

Hire Cynthia for writing projects, garden consults, and inspirational lectures.

[email protected]

www.GoddessGardener.com

#keywords: perennialsjulygardensummer cynthiabrian starstyle goddessGardener growingwiththegoddessgardener

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thedancemostofall · 3 years ago

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Two Poems Sue Kwock Kim

ISSUE 148, FALL 1998

The Korean Community Garden in Queens

In the vacant lot nobody else wanted to rebuild, dirt scumbled for years with syringes and dead weed-husks, tire-shreds and smashed beer bottles, the first green shoots of spring spike through—

bullbrier, redroot, pokeweed, sowthistle, an uprising of grasses whose only weapons are themselves. Blades slit through scurf. Spear-tips spit dust as if thrust from the other side. They spar and glint.

How far can they climb, grappling for light? Inside I see coils of fern-bracken called kosari, bellflower cuts named toraji in the old country. Knuckles of ginger and mugwort dig upward,

working through soil and woodlice until they break the surface. Planted by immigrants, they survive, like their gardeners, though ripped from their native plot. What is it that they want, driving

toward a foreign sky? How not to mind the end they'll come to. Imaging the garden underground, where gingko and ailanthus grub cement rubble. They tunnel slag for foothold. Wring crumbs of rot

for water. Of shadows, seeds foresung as Tree of Heaven and Silver Apricot in ancient Mandarin, their roots tangle now with plum and weeping willow, their branches mingling with tamarack and oak.

I love how nothing in these furrows grows unsnarled, nothing stays unscathed. How last year's fallen stalks, withered to pith, cleave to this year's crocus bulbs, each infant knot burred with bits of garbage and tar.

Fist to fist with tulips, glads, selving and unselving daffodils, they work their metamorphoses in loam pocked with rust-flints, splinters of rodent-skull— a ground so mixed, so various that everything's born

of what it is not. Who wouldn't want to flower like this? Look how strangely they become themselves, this gnarl of azaleas and roses-of-Sharon, native to both countries, blooming here as if drunk

with blossoming. Green buds suck and bulge. Stem-nubs thicken. Sepals swell and crack their cauls. Lately, every time I walk down this street and peer through the fence, I'm surprised by something new.

Yesterday hydrangea and chrysanthemums burst their calyxes, corolla-skins blistering into welts. Today jonquils slit blue shoots from their sheaths. Tomorrow daylilies and wild-asters will flame petals,

each incandescent color unlike: indigo, blood, ice, coral, fire-gold, violet the hue of shaman's robes— every flower with its unique glint and slant, faithful to each particular. Each one lit by what it neighbors

but is not, each tint flaring without a human soul, without human rage at its passing. In the summer there will be scallions, mung-beans, black sesame, muskmelons, to be harvested into zinc buckets

and sold at market. How do they live without wanting to live forever? Unlike their gardeners in the old world, who die for warring dreams and warring heavens, who stop at nothing, life the one paradise they wanted.

Monologue for an Onion

I do not mean to make you cry. I mean nothing, but this has not stopped you From peeling away my flesh, layer by layer.

The tears clouding your eyes as the table fills With husks, ripped veils, all the debris of pursuit. Poor deluded human: you seek my heart.

Things have no hearts. Within each skin of mine Lies another skin: I am pure onion—pure union Of outside and in, surface and secret core.

Look at you, cutting and weeping. Idiot. Is this the way you move through life, your mind A questing knife, driven by your fantasy of truth.

Of lasting union—slashing away skin after skin From things, ruin and tears your only signs Of progress? Enough is enough.

You must not grieve that the world is glimpsed Through veils. How else should it be seen? How will you strip away the veil of the eye, the veil

That you are, you who want to grasp the heart Of things, who long to know where meaning Lies. Smell what you hold in your hands: onion juice.

Gashed peels, my stinging shreds. You are the one In pieces. Whatever you meant to love, in meaning to You changed yourself: you are not who you are.

Your soul severed moment to moment by a blade Of fresh desire, the floor strewn with abandoned skins, And at your inmost circle, what? A core that is

Not one. Poor fool, you are divided at the heart, Lost in its maze of chambers, blood, and love, A heart that will one day beat you to death.

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spell-bound-life · 8 years ago

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Edible Flower List

Sources x x x x x x x

Please remember I am one person, always do your research before eating something you find in the wild and don’t eat anything you are allergic too

Basil - How to Identify

Blossoms come in a variety of colors, from white to pink to lavender; flavor is similar to the leaves, but milder. Magick Meanings - helps steady the mind, brings happiness, love, peace, and money and protects against insanity.

Bee balm - How to Identify

The red flowers have a minty flavor. Magick Meanings - developing psychic powers, protection, and fertility.

Borage - How to Identify

Blossoms are a lovely blue hue and taste like cucumber! Magick Meanings -Courage and Psychic Powers CAUTION: Avoid excessive consumption.

Begonia - How to Identify

Tuberous begonias and Waxed begonias Magick Meanings - beware, fanciful nature

Carnations - How to Identify

Can be steeped in wine, candy, or use as cake decoration. To use the surprisingly sweet petals in desserts, cut them away from the bitter white base of the flower. Magick Meanings - joy, devotion, love, fascination

Chrysanthemums - How to Identify

Tangy, slightly bitter, ranging in colors from red, white, yellow and orange. They should be blanched first and then scatter the petals on a salad. The leaves can also be used to flavor vinegar. Always remove the bitter flower base and use petals only. Young leaves and stems of the Crown Daisy, also known as Chop Suey Greens or Shingiku in Japan, are widely used in oriental stir-fries and as salad seasoning. Magick Meanings - wealth, optimism, cheerfulness, abundance

Clover - How to Identify

Sweet, anise-like, licorice. White and red clover blossoms were used in folk medicine against gout, rheumatism, and leucorrhea. It was also believed that the texture of fingernails and toenails would improve after drinking clover blossom tea. Native Americans used whole clover plants in salads, and made a white clover leaf tea for coughs and colds. Avoid bitter flowers that are turning brown, and choose those with the brightest color, which are tastiest. Magick Meanings - fame, wealth, faithful lover, health, Raw flower heads can be difficult to digest.

Dandelions - How to Identify

Flowers are sweetest when picked young. They have a sweet, honey-like flavor. Mature flowers are bitter. Dandelion buds are tastier than the flowers: best to pick these when they are very close to the ground, tightly bunched in the center, and about the size of a small gumball. Good raw or steamed. Also made into wine. Young leaves taste good steamed, or tossed in salads. Magick Meanings - increase psychic ability, calling spirits.

Daylilies - How to Identify

Slightly sweet with a mild vegetable flavor, like sweet lettuce or melon. Their flavor is a combination of asparagus and zucchini. Some people think that different colored blossoms have different flavors. To use the surprisingly sweet petals in desserts, cut them away from the bitter white base of the flower. Magick Meanings - forgetting worries, chastity, faith, wisdom, Holy Trinity, chivalry, royalty, fertility NOTE: Many Lilies contain alkaloids and are NOT edible. Day Lilies may act as a diuretic or laxative; eat in moderation.

English Daisy - How to Identify

The flowers have a mildly bitter taste and are most commonly used for their looks than their flavor. The petals are used as a garnish and in salads. Magick Meanings - innocence, purity, beauty, simplicity, loyalty, love

Fuchsia - How to Identify

Blooms have a slightly acidic flavor. Explosive colors and graceful shape make it ideal as garnish. The berries are also edible. Magick Meanings - love

Hibiscus - How to Identify

Cranberry-like flavor with citrus overtones. Use slightly acidic petals sparingly in salads or as garnish. The flower can be dried to make an exotic tea. Magick Meanings - delicate, beauty

Honeysuckle - How to Identify

Sweet honey flavor. Only the flowers are edible. Magick Meanings - love, loving bonds NOTE: Berries are highly poisonous – Do not eat them!

Lavender - How to Identify

Blooms accentuate sweet and savory dishes with a sweet mingling of floral, fresh pine and rosemary with citrus notes. How to use: Its flavor complements a variety of foods -- from fish, poultry and most fruits and vegetables to sauces, marinades and dressings along with beverages, baked goods and desserts. Strip the flowers from the stalk before using. Magick Meanings - sharpen the mind, purifcation, encouraging, strengthen pure love, encourage fertility.

Lilac - How to Identify

The flavor of lilacs varies from plant to plant. Very fragramt, slightly bitter. Has a distinct lemony taste with floral, pungent overtones. Great in salads and crystallized with egg whites and sugar. Magick Meanings - pride, youth, innocence, beauty

Marigolds - How to Identify

Flavors range from spicy to bitter, tangy to peppery. Petals add a yellow tint to soups, spreads, and scrambled eggs. Magick Meanings - passion, creativity NOTE: Only the petals are edible.

Pansy - How to Identify

Pansies have a slightly sweet green or grassy flavor. If you eat only the petals, the flavor is extremely mild, but if you eat the whole flower, there is a winter, green overtone. Use them as garnishes, in fruit salads, green salad, desserts or in soups. Magick Meanings - merriment, thoughtfulness

Peony - How to Identify

In China the fallen petals are parboiled and sweetened as a tea-time delicacy. Peony water was used for drinking in the middle ages. Add peony petals to your summer salad or try floating in punches and lemonades. Magick Meanings - happy marriage, compassion, bashfulness

Primrose - How to Identify

Also know as Cowslip. This flower is colorful with a sweet, but bland taste. Add to salads, pickle the flower buds, cook as a vegetable, or ferment into a wine. Magick Meanings - health, beauty

Queen Anne’s Lace - How to Identify

Also known as Wild Carrot and Bishop’s Lace. It is the original carrot, from which modern cultivars were developed, and it is edible with a light carrot flavor. The flowers are small and white, and bloom in a lacy, flat-topped cluster. Magick Meanings - dainty, luck, purity NOTE: The problem is, it is closely related to, and looks almost exactly like another wild plant, Wild or Poison Hemlock, which often grows profusely in similar habitats, and is said to be the most poisonous plant native to the United States. The best way to differentiate between the two plants is to remember that Queen Anne’s Lace has a hairy stem, while the stems of Wild Hemlock are smooth and hairless and hollow with purple spots.

Roses - How to Identify

Flavors depend on type, color, and soil conditions. Flavor reminiscent of strawberries and green apples. Sweet, with subtle undertones ranging from fruit to mint to spice. All roses are edible, with the flavor being more pronounced in the darker varieties. Freeze them in ice cubes and float them in punches also. Petals used in syrups, jellies, perfumed butters and sweet spreads. Magick Meanings - love, remembrance, beauty NOTE: Be sure to remove the bitter white portion of the petals. Rose Petal Jam Rose Petal Drop Scones Rose Petal Tea

Snap Dragon - How to Identify

Delicate garden variety can be bland to bitter. Flavors depend on type, color, and soil conditions. Magick Meanings - graciousness, strength Probably not the best flower to eat.

Sunflower - How to Identify

The flower is best eaten in the bud stage when it tastes similar to artichokes. Once the flower opens, the petals may be used like chrysanthemums, the flavor is distinctly bittersweet. The unopened flower buds can also be steamed like artichokes. Magick Meanings - adoration, haughtiness

Tulip Petals - How to Identify

Flavor varies from tulip to tulip, but generally the petals taste like sweet lettuce, fresh baby peas, or a cucumber-like texture and flavor. Magick Meanings - fame, perfect love NOTE: Some people have had strong allergic reactions to them. If touching them causes a rash, numbness etc. Don’t eat them! Don’t eat the bulbs ever. If you have any doubts, don’t eat the flower.

Violets - How to Identify

Sweet, perfumed flavor. I like to eat the tender leaves and flowers in salads. I also use the flowers to beautifully embellish desserts and iced drinks. Freeze them in punches to delight children and adults alike. Heart-shaped leaves are edible, and tasty when cooked like spinach. Magick Meanings - faithfulness, happiness, love, virtue, modesty, loving, watchfulness

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terraencounters-blog-blog · 4 years ago

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Daylilies

There are over 80,000 Daylily cultivars!

Daylilies are a low-maintenance perenial that come in many sizes and colours, but never in blue! Despite their name, they are not part of the lily family, which grow from bulbs. In 2009, they were reclassified into a separate family, Asphodelaceae.

Their scientific name Hemerocallis comes from the Greek words hēmera (day) and kalos(beautiful). Most daylily flowers open in the morning and…

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#Canada #daylilies #featured #flowers #nature #Ottawa #Travel

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wallpapernifty · 5 years ago

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How Will Pink Daylilies Be In The Future | Pink Daylilies

A abutting up attempt of “Walter Kennedy 2009” blooming day lilies on Leon and Paula Payne’s property, Friday, May 6, 2016, in Pearland. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

Daylily (Hemerocallis ‘Pink Stripes’) in the Daylilies Database .. | pink daylilies

A abutting up attempt of “Walter Kennedy 2009” blooming day lilies on Leon and Paula Payne’s property, Friday, May 6, 2016, in Pearland. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

Photo: Steve Gonzales / Steve Gonzales

A abutting up attempt of “Walter Kennedy 2009” blooming day lilies on Leon and Paula Payne’s property, Friday, May 6, 2016, in Pearland. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

Daylily Prairie Belle – pink daylilies | pink daylilies

A abutting up attempt of “Walter Kennedy 2009” blooming day lilies on Leon and Paula Payne’s property, Friday, May 6, 2016, in Pearland. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

Plant daylilies in your garden. May is their time to shine.

Daylilies flash in May. Bulb them in a sunny, well-draining bed afore the temps arise higher.

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Meanwhile, hydrangeas are brightening shadier spots with pink, blue, white and chrism blooms. Look for repeat-flowering cultivars to extend the blooming season. The deciduous shrubs like morning sun and afternoon adumbration or filtered sun and a clammy but well-draining bed. Boost clay nutrients with compost.

There’s affluence to bulb for summer color, including angelonia, bulbine, cleome, coleus, coneflower, croton, cuphea, gomphrena, impatiens, lantana, melochia, penta, periwinkle, plumbago, purslane, rain lilies, rudbeckia, russelia, salvia, shrimp plant, summer phlox, torenia and zinnia.

Ornamental grasses will add lots of arrangement and movement in your garden and adroit blooms.

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Gingers are a summer highlight — from the aerial carapace gingers, hidden gingers and ambrosial butterfly gingers to the inches-tall peacock gingers with large, bright leaves in shade.

Create close affectedness with hibiscus and plumeria.

Cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, candied potatoes and okra can be buried this month.

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Get rid of any weeds in annual beds, again add 2-3 inches of admixture to abash added unwanteds as able-bodied as advice conserve clay moisture.

And as always, accumulate an eye out for aphids, calibration and vegetable pests. Control with the atomic baneful measures.

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emhghtn · 5 years ago

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Foraging Information

To be included in small booklets on each page.

Foraging Tips

Wild Leeks (Allium tricoccum)

Features

Large, dagger shaped green leaves

Red and white stem

White bulb with roots in the ground

Onion-y aroma

Habitat

Grow among hardwoods, need some sunlight

Cooking Notes

Edible raw or cooked

Look a-Likes

Lily of the Valley – Thicker, waxier leaves, no onion smell, eventual white hanging flowers with floral odour, poisonous – do not ingest

How to Harvest

Ramps take seven years to grow from seed to mature plant, and because of this slow growth the improper harvesting of ramps has decimated populations in some areas. To sustainably harvest ramps, dig slightly into the ground and cut the bulb off right above the roots, leaving the roots intact and in the ground. This allows them to regrow the following season. Even more sustainably, just cut off one leaf from each plant. Never harvest more than 10% of the plants in one area.

Fiddleheads (Matteuccia struthiopteris)

Features

Bright green, tightly curled sprouts of the Ostrich fern

Multiple fiddleheads grow out of one crown/mound on the forest floor

Covered in a brown, papery coating that falls off with age

Deep, U-shaped groove up the stem

A dead, brown fern frond often remains on the crown throughout winter

Habitat

Hardwood canopies near rivers or stream beds

Moist areas but not submerged

Grow best in shade or dappled lights

Cooking Notes

Must be thoroughly cooked, steamed, or blanched before eating

Look a-Likes

There are many types of ferns that are not edible. Do not eat any that are furry, or the brown papery coating is difficult to remove, or there is no or only a slight groove in the stem.

How to Harvest

Harvest fiddleheads while they are between 6-15cm, only picking while fiddleheads are tightly coiled

Can be cut or snapped off

Only harvest 1/3 of the fiddleheads from each crown, or else it is possible the plant may be damaged or die and not regrow the following year. Do not harvest from crowns that have less than 4 fiddleheads growing from it.

Morels (Morchella sp.)

Features

Cap colour ranges from blond to black

Caps are fairly uniform, with ridges and inward pits (honeycomb-like)

Hollow inside from the tip of the cap to the bottom of the stem

Cap is attached directly to the stem

Spore print is light coloured, cream to pale yellow

Habitat

Grow in areas where there are ash, aspen, elm, oak, and apple trees

Grow naturally in pastures, meadows, and orchards, and often appear the spring after a forest fire

Cooking Notes

Cook thoroughly before eating. Avoid soaking or cleaning with too much water, a brush or damp cloth will suffice.

Look a-Likes

Verpa Bohemica – cap is not attached directly to the stem, cap hangs over stem like a skirt. Stem is filled with a cotton-like fluff. Edibility is debated.

Gyromitra species – convoluted cap but no real pits, more wavy. Wider than it is tall. Cap is red, stem is not hollow. Edibility is debated.

Verpa Conica – small, only slightly ridged cap. Cap has skirt-like attachment to stem. Questionably edible.

How to Harvest

Pull or cut from ground (cutting is cleaner).

Daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva)

Features

4 parts of the daylily can be eaten: shoots, tubers, buds, and flowers

Shoots are green, sword shaped leaves that unite in a cylindrical shape at the bottom

Tubers are under ground, small, light brown, whitish flesh

Buds appear before the flower, green, yellow, orange, and cylindrical

Flowers are orange, funnel shaped, growing from an unbranched stem. 6 ruffled petals are mainly orange but also show red and orange.

Habitat

Grow in cultivated habitats, gardens, roadsides, riverbanks, parks, open woodlands and meadows.

Avoid picking daylilies that are next to busy roadsides, as the plant can absorb chemical runoff from the road.

Cooking Notes

Chop up shoots and saute

Cook tubers like a potato

Steam, boil, stir fry or pickle buds

Flowers can be eaten raw, dried, or cooked.

Warning: some people experience intestinal distress when eating daylilies, especially raw, so always sample a small amount first and wait before consuming larger quantities

Look a-Likes

Tiger Lily (Lilium tigruinum) –flowers are spotted, and stem bears many leaves. Do not ingest

Iris shoots may resemble day lily shoots, but the iris leaf arrangement is much flatter and the plant does not have tubers

Cultivated daylilies have many genetic variants to produce different coloured flowers, and edibility is questionable. Stick to the common orange flowers.

How to Harvest

Young shoots (less than 10cm) can be cut off just above soil level to be eaten.

Tubers can be dug up from late fall to early spring. Don’t remove all tumors from a clump if you would like the plant to come back.

Buds can be picked while still green, closed, and firm.

Flowers only last one day, and can be cut and used while open

Black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis)

Features

Berries ripen from green to red to deep purple/black

Smaller fruits than blackberries

Hollow core (like a raspberry) when plucked off the stem

Grow on large, thorny brambles

Leaves have whitish underside

Habitat

Grow in disturbed areas—logging roads, open woods, edges of meadows, streams, lakes, trails, and roads

Cooking Notes

Can be eaten raw

Look a-Likes

Raspberries, blackberries, thimbleberries, and dewberries all look similar to the black raspberry, but fortunately for us, all these berries are edible

How to Harvest

Wear long pants and if you can tolerate the summer heat, long sleeves. Berries can be extremely thorny.

Pluck berry off stem, should be able to be removed easily if ripe. Collect in a bucket

Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)

Features

Upright, cone shaped fruit cluster, with small, fuzzy dark red berries

Branches are covered in light, velvety fuzz

Large (1 to 2 feet), green, compound leaves, with oppositely placed leaflets. Leaflets have serrated edges

4 to 15 feet tall, highly branched

Habitat

Hardy, grows in open areas –roadsides, forest edges, clearings

Full sun, tolerates most soil types

Cooking Notes

Can be dried like any spice, or made into a tea or syrup

Look a-Likes

Poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) – should not be touched, let alone eaten. Key distinguishing feature is white-green berries.

How to Harvest

Cut off fruit clusters at their base with a knife or sheers

Do not harvest immediately following rain, as flavour diminishes

To find the best drupes, flavour can be tested by rubbing berries between fingers and licking fingers

Do not harvest from highly trafficked roadsides

Riverbank Grapes (Vitis riparia)

Features

Climbing, multi-stemmed, woody vine with forking tendrils and sticky discs that can envelop trees and bushes

Grape vines are thicker and higher than most vines

Deeply lobed, dark green leaves, similar to cultivated grapes. Heart shaped at base. Leaves should also taste like grapes

Fruits grow in hanging clusters that are blackish, dark blue, or purple, often with a powdery coating

Habitat

Grow along roadsides, fences, trail edges, and riverbanks. Need sun to grow.

Cooking Notes

Grapes and leaves can be eaten raw or cooked

Grapes contain large seeds, so they are generally more pleasant to juice or make into jelly than eaten whole

Look a-Likes

Moonseed (Menispermum canadense) – similar leaves, however fruit contains a single flat seed, instead of a round seed like the grape. Grows in shaded areas, and tendrils do not have sticky discs. All parts of this plant are poisonous.

Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus sp.) – has compound leaves with 3 to 7 leaflets on each leaf, instead of single leaf like the grape. Not poisonous, but not pleasant.

How to Harvest

Grapes have sweetest flavour after the first frost. Cut bunches off tree right above fruit cluster, removing any bad/old/wrinkled grapes

Apples (Malus sp.)

Features

Deciduous tree growing 6 to 15 feet tall

Leaves are alternatively arrange, simple green ovals

Fruit can be 1 to 4 inches in diameter, ranging from yellow to green to red

Habitat

Well drained nutrient rich soil and moderate sunlight, can stand alone on roadside or in groups in forest groves.

Cooking Notes

Can be eaten raw, however many wild apples are very astringent and better suited for cider

Look a-Likes

None

How to Harvest

Remove apple from tree by twisting fruit

Fallen fruit may be harvested from the ground, as long as not too old and rotten

Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sp.)

Features

Bright orange, fan shaped bracket fungi, often growing in a shelf formation

Smooth or wrinkled

Yellow or white underside, no gills, just small round pores

Flesh is thick and soft

White spore print

Habitat

Grows on dead or dying hardwood trees, commonly oak but also cherry and beech

Cooking Notes

Must be thoroughly cooked

Some people experience intestinal distress when eating, so sample small amount first

Look a-Likes

Few look-alikes, ensure underside is yellow or white with pores

How to Harvest

Use a knife to cut fungus off tree

Remove tough stem part

Older specimens may be entirely tough and not pleasant to eat

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bethestaryouareradio · 6 years ago

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Wild Country

“All journeys have secret destinations

of which the traveler is unaware.”

~Martin Buber

Volcanoes, glaciers, highlands, prairies, lava flows, fire, ice. Nature untouched and untamed.

Iceland.

Resting on the boundary where the North American and Eurasian Tectonic plates meet, Iceland is a country of intense volcanic eruptions, boiling hot springs, rushing rivers, venting steam, spouting geysers, powerful waterfalls, ice caves, aqua blue lagoons, northern lights, and minimal sunshine. With a population of only 338,378 and a median age of 38, most people live in the capital of Reykjavik. Iceland, a country of fierce contrasts, is geared for the rugged and the youthful.

I visited this wild, wild country recently during the season of “the midnight sun”” when darkness never comes and sleep is elusive. Twilight reigned supreme allowing for plenty of exploring and hiking adventures. Summer in Iceland was freezing cold with unpredictable blustery North Atlantic weather, gray skies, menacing clouds, bone-chilling rain, and gusty winds. Sunshine in any minimal amount was not on the agenda. My daily wardrobe included gloves, faux fur hat, layers of clothing, double mufflers, boots, and a warm raincoat. Naturally, a bathing suit was always packed in my bag for that daily dip in a “secret” hot springs lagoon where the natives and visitors come to warm up.

As a traveler who dives into the culture of a nation, I wanted to indulge in the Icelandic cuisine. To supply fresh vegetables, hothouses operate year round using geothermal energy providing tasty and nutritious veggies to augment a diet of fish and meat. Dining out is expensive. The average price for a green salad was thirty dollars. Everything I ordered at authentic local restaurants was unique and delicious with the exception of fermented shark which was the most disgusting, foul smelling, horrid tasting item I’ve ever experienced. I spent a full day sick to my stomach after just a few nauseating bites, yet this is considered an Icelandic winter staple.

What interested me most was the ever-changing unique landscape on this small isle bordering the Arctic Circle. I was mesmerized by the plethora of wildflowers, grasses, and moss carpeting the island. Flowers sprouted in the cracks of lava flows, spilled down the sides of volcanoes, and grew on the edges of the glaciers. While riding Icelandic horses ( a small sturdy breed endemic to Iceland only) through the countryside, miles and miles of blue lupines filled the fields as far as the eye could see. In the 1950s seeds from Alaskan lupines were scattered in a few regions of Iceland to help with erosion and soil improvement. They have now naturalized, much to the delight of visitors and the chagrin of the populace who have denoted lupines as invasive weeds that crowd out indigenous plants and stunt the growth of hungry sheep. Acres of buttercups, wild perennial sweet pea, angelica, mustard, hawkweed, lady smock, Arctic sea rocket, meadowsweet, wild strawberry, gentian, Lady’s mantle, marsh marigold, cornflower, yarrow, violets, and Iceland poppy hugged the ground. The dandelions grew to almost two feet tall and are harvested as a nourishing edible. Lichen and moss covered the fields of lava. The treasured Icelandic moss is said to be so delicate that a single footprint will take a hundred years to regenerate.

Autumn is an auspicious time to sow wildflower seeds in America. What makes a flower a wildflower? Basically, wildflowers grow happily without any human cultivation. they live and thrive within an interactive plant community. Many wildflowers are native to a certain region and when they freely reproduce in another area, they have naturalized.

If you’d like to introduce wildflowers into your landscape, decide on the species you want and buy seeds from a trusted company. Make sure the plants are not an invasive species. (You can always check the USDA plant database at https://plants.usda.gov/java/)

Sow seeds directly into the ground or into containers. Make sure seeds are protected from winter chills and marauding birds.

Here’s my list of beautiful wildflowers that will easily domesticate:

Blackeyed Susans (Rudbeckia)

Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

Buttercups

California Poppy

Columbine (Aquilegia)

Coneflowers (Echinacea)

Coreopsis

Lupines

Mustard

Penstemons

Wild perennial sweet pea

Yarrow

If flowers can flourish in the extreme climate of Iceland, they will go wild in our temperate gardens. Create secret destinations that are born to be wild!

“Wild thing.

You make my heart sing.

You make everything.

Groovy!

Wild Thing

I think I love you.” The Troggs

Cynthia Brian’s October Gardening Tips

DISCOUNTED grass seed. October is the month to plant or refurbish your lawn. Since my favorite lawn seed is not sold in California, I have arranged for a special discount for my clients, readers, and radio listeners. Save 20% on Grass seed through October 10, 2018, with code STAR20 at http://www.PearlsPremium.com

Enjoy!

SPIDER WEBS strangling your plants? You might have spider mites. They make a spider web-like netting to protect themselves and their eggs and are almost impossible see with the naked eye. Put a piece of white paper under the leaves of a plant and shake the plant. If a pepper like substance falls on the paper you have spider mites. You can spray with a strong stream of water, use beneficial insects such as ladybugs or lacewings, or spray with NEEM oil. A chemical pesticide is not recommended as it kills the beneficials and not the spider mites.

RAKE leaves as they fall. As long as the leaves are not diseased, add them to your compost pile or to an area of your garden that could use extra mulch.

BUY spring bulbs now. Refrigerate tulips, hyacinths, crocus, and muscari for four to six weeks. Place in a mesh bag in the refrigerator away from any fruits that could emit ethylene gas, which will stunt blooms. Ranunculus and anemones do not need pre-chilling.

PLANT cool season vegetables including beets, carrots, lettuce, arugula, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, peas, and onions.

CONTINUE picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and squash for your meals.

HARVEST pumpkins, Indian corn, and gourds for Halloween and autumn décor.

DIVIDE clumps of daylilies, bearded iris, and clivia as they don’t like to be crowded. Once divided, they will bloom more profusely.

GIVE new perennials a chance to settle in for a spring bloom by planting in October.

REDUCE irrigation as the weather cools. Re-set timers or turn them off completely.

CHECK out fall colored deciduous trees and shrubs to add to your garden.

Happy Gardening. Happy Growing.

Read more: https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue1216/Cynthia-Brians-Gardening-Guide-for-October-Born-to-be-wild.html

Cynthia Brian

Cynthia Brian, The Goddess Gardener, raised in the vineyards of Napa County, is a New York Times best-selling author, actor, radio personality, speaker, media and writing coach as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Be the Star You Are1® 501 c3.

Tune into Cynthia’s Radio show and order her books at www.StarStyleRadio.com.

Buy a copy of her new books, Growing with the Goddess Gardener and Be the Star You Are! Millennials to Boomers at www.cynthiabrian.com/online-store.

Available for hire for projects and lectures.

[email protected]

www.GoddessGardener.com

#Iceland born to be wild fire and ice land of contrasts sowing wildflowers flowers galciers wagons volcancoes cynthia brian goddess gardener

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goddessgardener · 6 years ago

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Born to Be Wild