Have you smelled the Ligustrum lately?  Ligustrum is THE official smell of summer, according to Jon and me.

 

Often called Privet, some shrubs are evergreen, and some are deciduous.  They are used by landscapers to create privacy hedges;  we had six evergreen ones across the front of our yard when we were little.  They were huge, and definitely created privacy.  They also invited thousands of bees to our yard.  Maybe that's how we had so many apples:  pollinators!!!  

 

There are several deciduous ones growing in our neighborhood:  one down by the creek, and one up on Five Forks Drive, across from the corner of Bella Vista Point.  Just go up there and breathe the air on a warm day, and you will locate the Ligustrum.  

 

It is right next to a wild Elderberry bush;  I'll write about that soon.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Look at my cabbages.  They are starting to form heads.  Yay!!!  

 

Did I tell you that I grew them from seeds?  Yep.  Karen gave me two packs of cabbage seeds in March, so I planted half a flat with cabbage seeds, and they ALL germinated.  I'm not too good at pitching extra plants, so we still have cabbages in 6 packs.  We also have 8 plants in the garden:  and they look great.

 

Now the challenge is to keep the cabbage white butterflies off of them until their heads are set and firm.  I go out every day and look for chewage on the leaves, and squish any caterpillars eating my plants.  So far, I'm winning.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

LOOK!!!  The garlic scapes have appeared.  Scapes are the flowering stalks of the garlic.  They emerge and curl around, little goose necks.  The whitish part is the flower bud, and the stems are called scapes.  We eat the scapes.  But not the flower bud.

 

I learned years ago (the hard way) that if you don't cut off the scapes, the garlic bulb will not develop.  The plant sends all its energy to the flowers to produce seeds.  We don't grow garlic for the seeds;  we grow it for the bulbs.  So yesterday I cut off all the scapes, and shared some with friends.  I added some to the quiche we were making. That was really  good.

 

The best way to cook scapes is like green beans:  cut off the flower bud, and cut the stems into 2 inch pieces.  Then we steam them about 5 minutes, and blanch them in cold water til they are cold.  Then we sauté them in butter for about 3-5 minutes, til they get hot again.  You don't need to add garlic to the pan because, they ARE garlic.  Mild, but definitely garlicky.  

 

Aren't they pretty?  Now we just have to wait another month or so, and we can harvest the garlic bulbs.  I'll get back to you on that.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

Our Sage is blooming!!  I planted a 4 inch pot of sage about 10 years ago, and it just keeps growing and getting prettier.  

 

Botanically, sage is Salvia officinalis, and has been praised throughout history for its powers of longevity.  Even the name salvia from Latin, means to be in good health, to cure, to save.  

 

Sage is valuable as an aid to digestion of fatty foods.  My sister likes to serve sage leaves along with cheeses at happy hour.  She puts the sage leaves in a little vase next to the cheese tray.  I love that idea.  We use the leaf as a cracker for the cheese.  And of course, we sprinkle the flowers in our salad.  

 

You can see, there are lots of flowers right now.  They taste like...sage.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Have you noticed all the wildflowers on our hillsides?  The yellow ones are Small's Ragwort (achoo), and the white ones are Ox-eye Daisies.  These are growing in my yard, just beyond the driveway.  We let them stay.  There are also a bunch growing in the garden;  they have to go.  You see how prolific they are:  ie. they take over.

 

Ox-eye Daisy or Chrysanthemum leucanthemum are common wildflowers in our area, and they are edible;  the young leaves taste lemony, and we use them in salads.  The flowers are edible too, but don't taste so good, but they won't kill you if you use them for decorating a cake or something.

 

I could have used a picture that I took of the hillside, but I chose this one because we are being watched.  Look right in the middle of the picture and you can see Gizmo looking at me.  Really, he was chasing a chipmunk or bug or something, but he camouflaged so well, I had to take his picture.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Look who Jon saw on his morning walkabout.  Not one, but two Luna Moths!!!  On the golf cart tire!!!

 

If you put your thumbs and your index fingers together to make an oval, that's how big they are!!!  And such a gorgeous green.

 

We always feel privileged to see them.  If these two are doing what we think, we will be seeing more Luna Moths in the future.   I hope you get to see one (or more)  in your travels.  

 

KEEP LOOKING!!!

Sorry that today's picture didn't post.  I usually check them every day to be sure, but this morning I was hell bent on planting my cherry tomatoes and eggplants.  I forgot to double check the picture for the blog.  

 

Thanks for reading.  ;]

 

The Honeysuckle is blooming!!!  It smells so sweet.  My nose locates it, before I can even see it.  

 

I pick a few flowers and put them in my water bottle.  They flavor the water just a bit, and I love it!!

 

These vines will absolutely take over your garden, if left unchecked.  But you can let a little go, and have this sweet smell all summer long.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Couldn't help myself...we had to take one more picture.  This is our beautiful Cinnamon Fern, fully open.  Go down to the creek, and see it for yourself.  

 

I wanted you to see how tall it is.  I'm 5 feet, and it's almost as tall as I am.  Isn't it gorgeous?!?

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We participated in the Wednesday work party.  It was a party to paint the picnic tables and the bridge down at the pavilion.  Lots of volunteers showed up, so some of us broke away from painting and did a little planting.  We moved around some daylilies, and planted a few shrubs:  mountain laurel and spirea.  We also put daffodils in with the daylilies, hoping that the deer will leave them alone.

 

This is my friend, Patty.  She and I are the ones who paint and repaint the haybale.  She's a good sport;  and, as you can see, is willing to do just about anything.  Here, she is planting a spirea that Nancy dug out of her yard.  Nancy also dug up a whole bunch of daffodils;  she brought down about 75 bulbs.  Speaking of good sports:  she contributed all those daffodils from her garden!!!

 

It was a very successful work party.  You should join us next time.  We have fun meeting and working with our neighbors.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!