East of Steps – dianthus in all the weeds
On Thursday morning I was up by 5:15AM. I got my post up, watered a few of the house plants, fed the cat and headed to the garden by 6AM. I had hopes of finishing another row in the New Herb garden.
I started in the back of Row 2 by the tansy and worked my way forward, mulching as I went. I planted:
Blue Flax
Fenugreek
Chicory
Borage
Once everything was planted and mulched, I brought my fairy out to put on her stump.
But her stump had seen better days and it took a lot of shimming and such to get it level and stable. She was finally in place by 8:30AM and I could move onto Row 3.
Here’s the plants in Row 2 and notes:
Borage: This bed was supposed to have Tulsi basil but no one told the borage. There were already 3 good plants growing there. So I added 3 more from my seedlings.
Chicory: This is the best chicory I’ve ever grown. It’s about 5½’ tall and covered with buds. I added 2 more beside it that I’d managed to get to grow.
Boneset: This came back really well and is covered with buds.
Creeping Veronica: I think I put a little of this in the soapwort bed because the pink and blue looked pretty. Well, there’s no pink any more…
Fenugreek: I tried to grow this last year with no luck. But it did really well this year, so there’s a nice bed of it.
Blue Flax: These did really well, almost too well, they were so tall. I hope they stand up in the next few days.
Ginger: I bought a root of ginger and my helper and I were going to plant it in the little hoophouse we have for this area. She’s on vacation this week, so we will do it when she returns next week.
Tansy: I’ve posted about the tansy several times, not much to add.
I hadn’t gotten very far on Row 3 when I had to get out of the sun and cool down for a while. The front stone steps were in the shade and nice and cool, so I sat there for a while. But it was sort of depressing because this garden that looked so nice a month ago is full of weeds.
But the creeping thyme along the walkway has started to flower so that will make the bees really happy.
I also got the birdbath out but didn’t get it filled. I’ll be running the sprinkler this evening so that should fill it.
I had mulched the area where the hoophouse would be, but had used a soft hay to do it. I found I needed that soft hay around plants and ended up stripping all the mulch off as I worked my way down Row 3. I finished Row 3 about 11AM and was really wiped out.
I got my photos, I’d made my notes as I went along, and I had to clean up my mess before I could test the sprinkler. I finally finished about 11:40AM.
Here’s the plants in Row 3:
French Tarragon: This little plant has been here from the beginning. Some years it does well, others not so much.
Sunset Hyssop: Aka Root Beer Hyssop because it’s supposed either taste or smell like root beer. I like it because it’s incredibly dainty little flowers are all the hues of sunset. I planted 3 seedlings.
Echinacea purpurea: This bed was transplanted last year. Some of the plants did extremely well, and others are still very tiny. I planted 1 plant I’d started.
Lemon Verbena: I adore the scent of lemon verbena but it’s not an easy plant to start. So I buy 4 of them each year as they are annual here.
Wild Lettuce: This is a new herb to me this year. It grew very well, so I hope it does well this year. I planted 3.
Rosemary: I have tried to grow rosemary in the past but it never did very well, so it’s another one I buy the plants. I planted 4. I’ll dig the best one up in the fall and bring it into the house.
Bee Balms: The lavender one was the original one. I thought I’d gotten a red one, but alas… So when the opportunity to pick up a red one came along a year or 2 ago, I grabbed it. It’s fighting the good fight against the lavender one.
Tulsi Basil: So the Tulsi got swapped to this bed, where the borage was supposed to be. It’s been flowering for quite a while, so I deadheaded it when I planted it. I planted 6.
Ashwagandha: They did really well this year so I put in 5 of them around the pot with spearmint in it. The spearmint has managed to split the pot open, so one day I’ll have to replace it, if I can find a big enough pot.
I finally got inside where it was cool, as it had gotten into the 80’s outside. I got a shower and kept the laundry going all day. I spent most of the day editing the dozens of photos I took and writing the post.
My brother had left for work about 9:45AM Thursday morning and he’d said something about making supper together. I’d replied, something cold! Well, he had texted me when he got to work that he thought cherry chicken salad sounded good. But I never checked the phone or ipad.
He called about 3PM to see what I wanted to do. By then I’d thought of Cherry Chicken Salad and told him that. So we went to the co-op and got the ingredients and that’s what we made for supper.
It’s been a few years since I posted the recipe so here it is again.
It’s simple to make, just pitting the cherries takes a long time.
On Friday I hope to get out to the New Herb garden at 6AM again before it gets hot and get 2 more beds planted. Maybe if I have energy in the afternoon, I’ll clean up the kitchen. There’s supposed to be thunderstorms coming through mid afternoon.