All the Dirt on Gardening

The seed bank, J. L. Hudson, Seedsman, is a unique catalog that continues to be a successful, non-commercial venture in La Honda CA. Keep your computer or smart phone handy because you have to have the botanical name of what you are seeking in order to find it. Common names often appear in the description but not in the listing titles. I've bought seeds from them several times over the 15-years I've been growing from seed. They have all manner of unusual and common seeds, some of which they categorize as Open Access and Reserved Access. Every page of the seed list has a search engine that allows shoppers to find out if they have what you are seeking. Serious seed growers, shoppers and browsers can find many special items to try. The catalog is typeset and very informative, albeit in black and white. No hideous Photoshopped flower and plant pictures but you can always find those on an image search. Go browse around to find something new to try this year! http://jlhud...

Lovage officinalis  Lovage, Levisticum officinalis is blooming this week in the veg garden. I wrote about it in April, 2011 and here's a link to that article . It's supposed to be hardy in zones 4 to 8 though I suspect that ours are coming up from seed rather than last year's root. When the J. L. Hudson Seedsman supplement arrived last week, I noticed a Black Lovage offering that made me curious. Also called Horse Parsley, Tanya at Lovely Greens says Black Lovage, Smyrnium Olusatrum, was brought to the UK by the Romans and now is considered a weed by many. She steamed them and ate the stems with butter and salt. Pronounced them delicious. Arthur Lee Jacobson posted about Black Lovage, Smyrnium Olussatrum, in April 2006, giving it mixed reviews. Two recipe sources for using Lovage - Cooks and The Guardian . Lovage officinalis Since Lovage officinalis does well here, I'm considering adding the Black variety. Anyone growing either or bo...

Happy Saturday. If you are like me, you are headed outside for the day. So many wonderful activities are pulling us out. The farmer's markets are opening, herb and plant festivals are being held, and, our gardens need us! For locals: The Connors State College Horticulture Department will host a spring Plant Sale Tuesday and Thursday April 14, 16, 21, 23 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. contact: Debby Golden at goldend@connorsstate.edu For everyone: J. L. Hudson Seedsman sent out his spring catalog addendum. You can email me at mollyday1@gmail.com and I'll send it to you in a MS Word Document or just go to his site and check it out. The company is a public access seed saving site that is dedicated to preserving seeds and species. The prices are good and my experience with germination has been above average. Friends of Honor Heights Park is hosting a food and wine fundraising event during the Banner Auction. Tickets are $20. Mark your calendar for Saturday May 2 from 5:30 to 7 and plan ...

Sorry - no photos tonight - Blogger won't take any uploads - probably the lightening, rain, etc. If you are in Tulsa June 7 and 8, don't miss an opportunity to go to the Audubon Habitat Garden Tour. Six gardens, $5.00 - Information: 918-521-8894. So, here's a question for you: What will you do about your garden when you go on vacation this summer? Do you hire someone to come water? What about deadheading, harvesting vegetables, watching for insect infestations, etc.? J. L. Hudson Seeds issued a catalog update with new offerings. So far, I've had good luck with their seeds this spring. Let me know what your experience has been. The American Society of Landscape Architects publishes an interesting newsletter online. This week they talked about Earth Day and linked to a great green blog called Two Steps Forward written by Joel Makower . Makower writes about sustainable business, clean technology and green marketplace. What's going on in your garden?

Photos: Both photos are from Mountain Valley Growers : Chocolate Scented Daisy or Berlandiera lyrata. Their Internet site describes it as having "a quarter-size, vibrant, yellow daisy with striking red striped undersides and chocolate-colored stamens." Mountain Valley Growers has the plants. The scoop on this beatuy - it is native to the southwestern United States, dies back in winter, and, grows to 1.5 feet tall. Blooms at night and emits its chocolate scent in the morning. I have purchased several items from Mountain Valley Growers and most survived. In the shed there are 3-butterfly bushes from MVG. I also bought a collection of Salvias that did well last summer and now are quite happy in the shed for the winter. The Maraschino Cherry Salvia was a knockout. I really, really want Hotlips Salvia now and will order it this month. Click here to see their list of available plants. MVG has a 6-plant minimum, so 6-hot lips salvias plus shipping comes to about $37.00 wi...

END OF SUMMER This is the first day! Yesterday is was 85-degrees while I was out painting and today it is 55 and raining and windy. Unofficially it's our first day of fall. The leaves turned gold, yellow, red and that other tired green they become when the season begins to change. POPPY SEEDS PLANTED SOON I love poppies so I ordered a bunch of seeds from J. L. Hudson Seedsman to plant next month. The double black one will make a dramatic effect in our yard next spring. It takes a lot of color to cheer up 2-acres at the end of winter so I bought the large economy size seed pack . All this is to remind you that the season of houseplants is upon us. We will be dragging outdoor plants into the garage, taking cuttings of some of the cold tender ones we love, buying bulbs to plant next month and stuffing the house with plants to take care of over the winter. You must check out a house plants site I found, Healthy Houseplants.com written by Julie Bawden Davis. There is a "Plants...