her able hands

A trip to the local nursery and the rest of my plant budget for the year later, I’ve got some gorgeous herbs and flowers to plant.

Feeling nostalgic, I grabbed a flat of mixed Petunias for the porch pots. I’m sure I’ll regret it, they always go to seed on me almost overnight, but the colors, oh, they just make me swoon. Pure velvet. I’ll try to pot them up in the evening, once the temperature drops. Two of the hanging baskets for the front porch are dark purple mini-Petunias, and the foliage is such dark, lush green. Such an improvement out there, I just need to find time to whip up some jaunty, striped pillows for the bench and the porch swing, string some lanterns for evenings, and we’ll have our outdoor room finished.

Herbs! I will keep letting go of the guilt I feel for spending money on potted herbs when I have a box full of seed. Bummer, they didn’t have any Salad Burnet, and that’s the one herb besides Basil that I use most with tomatoes. Have you tried it? My, oh my, I have a recipe that I’ll have to dig out and share once the Brandywines come on strong. My memory isn’t as sharp as it once was and I’d hate to get the balance off. I know it involves minced shallots, blanched and peeled tomatoes cut in thick slices and sea salt, along with the Salad Burnet. Heaven, I tell you.

Procured at $3 per 4″ pot:

2 healthy Genovese Basil plants
1 Thai Basil
1 Purple Basil
Incentive to get several flats of Genovese started on the porch today so I can make pesto for the winter.
1 Thyme
1 Lemon Thyme
1 Sage
1 Marjoram
1 Peppermint
1 Chocolate Mint
1 Lavender

I’m thinking to put the mints in the bed by the driveway, they’ll fill in quickly around the Sedum and won’t have to put up quite such a fight against the fool cat as the flower seeds do, she repeatedly digs them up just as they germinate. Twice we’ve nearly had Zinnias and Cosmos on the rise, but twice she’s uprooted every struggling sprout. To hell with it.

I also planted some Scarlet Runner beans around the trellis, but something is munching the leaves full of holes. Same thing next door with all of the beans I planted. I hate to do it, but the Pyrethrins spray is coming out tomorrow. I cannot tolerate another summer without my daily dose of tender, thin Haricot Verts. Just. No.

I should pull out the trellis and rig up a little homemade bird bath (overturned clay pot and tray) in the center and call it a night. See how easy it gets, this letting go? I mean, once I get started, it’s not such a big deal.

I also picked up a mature looking Lupine plant, wishing I had the cash to buy a dozen, but at $10 each, it’s hardly practical. I’m determined to get a tray of those going with winter sowing this year. This one will need some nursing. I’ll dig a hole on the edge of the perennial bed, mix plenty of peat and aged manure into the soil, soak it with the hose for a good, long while, then plant it and baby it along all summer, which promises draught conditions again. Ultimately, I have a wide bed of rabbit manure and straw between the two trees behind the swing set. I’m going to layer some cut grass clippings and weeds (pre-flowering-seed-free) then cover that with horse manure (and red worms), then another thin layer of straw. Hopefully those worms will do their job and turn the pile into gorgeous compost. Next year I’ll plant more Lupine, some Foxglove and whatever else I decide will be happy in that spot (mostly sun, partial shade). It’s good to have a plan.

Of course, today it’s much too hot to plant anything. We’re hovering around 90* and the sun is that scorching, intense heat that pulses down out of the sky in radioactive waves. Shade is the only place to be, enjoying the cooling action of the light breeze across your sweaty brow. An iced coffee and the best book I’ve read in a good, long time (almost finished with the Kingsolver book, may have to read it twice). Add in a bowl of local strawberries, and the promise of homemade pizza on the grill, with local asparagus, for supper (the farm stand near the big Wal-Mart has mostly Florida produce, but the berries and asparagus are from down the road).

See how when I get out of my own way, Saturdays are just dreamy?

Technorati Tags: herbs, planting, perennials, annual flowers, eat local, summer, Saturday

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