Aack, It's a Groundhog!

I knew I was in trouble the other day when one of my big, beautiful but still green tomatoes was missing the whole side.  Someone took a bite right out of it hanging on the plant and left it there, half eaten.  Guess it wasn't ripe enough.

So as I'm eating lunch today looking out at the garden, 'Phil' goes lumbering across the garden, briefly looking at me sitting inside.  As I jump up and get my camera and sneak to see where he is going, he munches on some parsley and then strolls past the nasturium towards the gate.  In no hurry, but guess he wasn't too hungry because he didn't seem to eat anything else.  Here he is above, unfortunately the echninacea was in the way to get a good shot of his head, but that rolly polly body and bushy tail give it all away!

So if he's strolling around in the middle of the day, I know he has found my little garden and I have a battle on my hand.  Guess I know where the chard went.  I read "The $64 Tomato" a few summers ago and laughed outloud at the chapter about the groundhog, but I guess I'm not laughing now.

AAAHHH, so NOT want I want to deal with in the garden.

Garden in the Woods

Visited Garden in the Woods today in Framingham.   It's been too long since I've been there and it was beautiful as always.  I'm starting a new garden area at the end of the driveway and want it to look natural, like it would have come right of the woods.  I got some wonderful ideas, and plants.  Here are some highlights:

King Solomon Seal, Polygonatum biflorum, yes, much larger than the ones home in my garden.

Goldenseal, with the berries just starting to form in the crux of the leaf.  I love how it does this.  The garden had multiple areas in the woods with stands of goldseal, so nice to see this powerful plant thriving in such abudance.

Paris quadrifolia, I'm not at all familiar with this and loved the blue berry on the top.  Will need to look it up, anyone know this one?

The garden has a collection of pitcher plants, these in a little island in the pond were my favorites.

American Ginseng, Panax quinqufolia.  Another plant so nice to see thriving in our area.

I loved this view of the Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum, showing the little fruits starting to form under the leaves.

Cool horsetail, not quite sure what species Equisetum but I asked at the info center and they said it was scouring rush.  Need to research, loved the colors.

Great St John's Wort, Hypericum ascyron.  I've never seen this large variety before, striking!

And there was so much more, a garden well worth visiting many times.

Memorial Day Blooming

I've never seen Memorial Day weekend blooming like this at the store, and it is wonderful.  While we might typically have the chives blooming, they are almost past and I haven't even made any chive vinegar yet.  The sage is gloriously in full flower and the yarrow flower started opening yesterday, a full 3 to 4 weeks early.  The garden is just briming, not sure what will be left in a month or two, but maybe we'll get some second flushes of flowers this year. 

The garden is overtaken with feverfew this year also, which I love but enough already.  It is budded and ready to open soon, and as soon as it flowers it will get picked and dried and the plants removed to avoid a total feverfew garden next year.

Tea Adventure

Visited the prettiest tea house yesterday for Ladies Lunch Out here in Florida.  The Glass Slipper Tea Cottage is in Fort Walton Beach, FL and absolutely charming.  The food is delicious, the teas (Harney & Sons) delicious and I had to smile when they brought out pots of Hot Cinnamon Spice tea, one of our bestsellers at the store.

 We all got to put on hats, and there was a tray of tea cups where we chose our own cup.  This display of tea pots from around the world was so pretty!  The food was wonderful with delicious scones, savories, and desserts served with clotted cream and lemon curd  They had a nice cookbook which of course I bought.

And I learned about cheese straws.  I was told in the South, every shower and event has cheese straws and they are delicious.  Got the recipe for that and will have to try it.

Here are the ladies, what a wonderful outing (I'm in the back on my toes, you can see my big beige hat just peeking through!).

Angelica 'Break-through"

It has been said by some that it is better to know a few plants well than many plants superficially. Angelica is one of those that has fascinated me over the past couple years, and never fails to impress me and surprise me. From it's amazing size summer before last, to the many, MANY volunteer plants this summer it is beautiful and dramatic.

The Fall however brings another whole facet to the plant. The weather has gotten cold and just when you think it should be quietly dying back getting ready for winter, new growth literally bursts forth from this plant.

You may need to enlarge the picture to see how the thick, hollow stem splits right open up the middle as a new stem with leaves bursts forth. It looks like someone has taken a knife to the stem of the plant, but they are all exploding with growth at this time when everything else is faded.

So as I trim back all the growth in anticipation of the winter weather right around the corner, I can't help but leave these new stems bravely reaching out. I find it just incredible, and never get tired of watching and learning about this plant.

Herb Competition

I've never entered a competitive show before, but with the New England Unit of the Herb Society of America having their second annual Competitive Herb Show next door at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, I had to give it a try. I found myself rather nervous bringing my entries in last night, we'll see what the judges say!

The picture above is my Fragrant themed container. It has five plants - Pineapple Sage (salvia elegans), Banana Mint (Mentha arvensis), white flowering Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis 'alba'), Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia 'Munstead') and a chocolate peppermint scented geranium (Pelargonium 'Chocolate Peppermint').

This is the Lemon Delight container with Lemongrass (Cympopogon citratus), Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla), Lemon Savory (Satureia biflora), Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) and Lemon Thyme (Thymus citriodorus). It was hard to get this in the car and to the show without bending the lemon grass - it grew awful tall!

And the third container submission was a single specimen of Lavender, Lavendula angustifolia 'Ellagance Sky'. Ellagance Sky has a beautiful shape and also a unique lovely light violet blue flower. I made sure to take one for myself when they came into the store this Spring as I knew they would sell quickly.

I also submitted two items into the Cut Stem, Medicinal, category - Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) and Horehound (Marrubium vulgare). This was tricky, because I don't think I had a stem in the garden that didn't have at least one leaf with a hole or discoloration. But I picked the best I could find.

So if you get a chance to go to the show this weekend at Tower Hill, see if you can spot my entries and hope the judges are kind. I'll add a post how it turned out!

Foxglove Frenzy

I just love foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). There is all kinds of folklore around foxglove and other common names are Fairy Gloves, Fairy Thimbles, Witches' Gloves and Dead Men's Bells. It

was originally Folksglove as the flowers resemble the fingers of a glove.Foxglove contains cardiac stimulants, the most familiar being Digitoxin. It is extremely poisonous and should not be used internally.

So just enjoy these wonderful plants. They come in all colors and Digitalis grandiflora, the big-flowered foxglove, is a brilliant yellow. The above picture is Digitalis mertonensis, or Strawberry Foxglove, which is a cross of Digital purpurea and Digitalis grandiflora that I am enjoying in my garden this year.