ORDINARY MARIGOLDS

Sometime when I am looking for a nice pic from the garden, I overlook the obvious. These just looked so pretty today so I thought I would take a picture. They do not look ordinary at all when they are covered in blooms. They are quite beautiful.

History---It was well known to the old herbalists as a garden-flower and for use in cookery and medicine. Dodoens-Lyte (A New Herball, 1578) says:
'It hath pleasant, bright and shining yellow flowers, the which do close at the setting down of the sunne, and do spread and open again at the sunne rising.'

Since I am not up with the Sun, I don't know if this holds true, but I know it is always blooming when I see it. Faithful little thing. It does have a very pungent odor though so I don't use it much in arrangements. It just cheers me up to see the bright and beautiful colors of gold and orange in my veggie garden. I don't plant it for insect control, although I have heard it is good for that. I planted some of the pretty gold ones next to the purple and white eggplant this year and it was a great look. They did better than my eggplant, which was mediocre at best. They just never seem to reach their full potential.

It has been asserted that a Marigold flower, rubbed on the affected part, is an admirable remedy for the pain and swelling caused by the sting of a wasp or bee. A lotion made from the flowers is most useful for sprains and wounds, and a water distilled from them is good for inflamed and sore eyes. So the next time, a bee or wasp is chasing you, head in the direction of your marigolds. : )

CHICKENS AND FARM FRESH EGGS

Aren't they beautiful? I have always wanted to raise chickens for fresh eggs but then I come up against the killing part when they are no longer laying eggs. I also think it would be nice to have them eat bugs in your garden. But to be honest, I know I want kill them and would keep feeding them until they died of old age. So I guess I will just have to let this idea go.

Right after we got married, his Grandmother, who had wonderful chickens, killed one and brought it to me to clean. I tried,,I really did. I got all the feathers off and cut it open and tried to get the insides out,,but when I reached up inside and found that still warm mess,,,,well, that was that. I did not accept any more chickens. I like my chickens cold and without faces and feet, the way they come from the grocery store.
I would not make a good farm wife, although the idea appeals to me immensely. I am just not cut out for killing things. Or apparently, even cleaning them after someone else does it. But if we were starving and I had to do it, I would. I am a realist. But Dear God, please don't let me have to clean a warm chicken again. I'll peel shrimp till my fingers bleed, I'll snap peas till my arm falls off, and I'll shuck corn until it cries Uncle, but please Lord, don't make me clean a warm chicken again.

FLOWERS I WISH I COULD GROW

I covet the Purple Prairie Clover. I just love this flower. But like the other, it grows in the north central portion of the United States, not the Gulf Coast. The flowers start at the bottom and work their way up. Can you imagine this in all it's glory? I will have to repent now, for wanting this flower in my garden. To covet is a sin, even if it is just a flower,,probably. : )

Purple Prairie Clover














And this one... TIDY TIPS...it won't grow in Mississippi. It is the neatest little flower.
A short, hardy annual native to California, but can be grown as far east as Texas is what the garden site says about it.


Tidy Tips

TAGGED

Tagged!

I have been tagged by THE SUN IS KILLING ME
Great Blog, you should check it out.

The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

6 Random things about me:

1)I have no idea what is in my freezer!
2)I am a reader,,I love reading blogs
3)I love anything English, especially thier cottage gardens
4)I have lived and traveled in a motor home for three years
5)I am a frugul person, I can't throw plastic tubs,string, rubber bands, bubble wrap etc. away
6)I accomplish more through deperation than inspiration

I am in turn tagging:


DIRT THERAPHY..ALABAMA

THE HOME GARDEN..TENN

MISSISSIPPI GARDEN..MISSISSIPPI

MAY DREAMS GARDENS...INDIANA...

SHOWER FRESH GARDEN...MISSISSIPPI

JOCO-SERIOUS...UNITED KINGDOM

EDIBLE LANDSCAPE & PATIO TOMATOES

Interest in patio vegetable gardens and edible landscapes is going through the roof. I knew this explosion was going on in Europe because of some of the garden blogs I read. I wondered if it would hit here, too. After the scare we are having with out tomatoes, lettuce and other veggies this year, it was just a matter of time. Big veggies like zucchini squash, acorn squash and Windsor pumpkins are being grown in large patio containers. Other containers, not so large, are filled with peppers, sweet ones and hot ones like Cheyenne. Although I have a garden, I also grow peppers and patio tomatoes in containers. You can grow lettuce in a bowl on your patio. Grow them in window boxes, hanging baskets, all kinds of ways to grow veggies. I mix flowers and veggies in my garden and in containers around the property.

Sales in vegetable seeds and transplants have taken off. Edible landscapes and small square-foot or intensive-type gardens like mine are gaining in popularity. Look for transplants at local garden centers as well as seeds for some quick sow-grow-and-harvest products like cilantro, that key ingredient for salsa and fajitas, ( I love fajitas) or basil for Italian pesto sauce. I am growing two types of basil this year. One I grow alongside my tomatoe plants, since it is talior made to go with tomatoes and the other I use in pork dishes. I grow it on my back porch in a container. It is stronger than the other one so it is good with pork.

There is a new eggplant out this year , SLIM JIM, that I am trying to locate... It can be used as the thriller plant (see another post for this) in a mixed container. I can also plant it in my Lantana bed with my yellow and orange flowers. I think it will be a winning combination -- plus, I will be eating eggplant parmesan which is one of my favoirte dishes.

BLUE FLOWERS ARE A STAND OUT

You can not have too much blue in the garden in my opinion. I love blue. I always like the various blue salvias and, of course, the blue Wave petunias. But one little plant that is just a stand out is the "blue daze" evolvulus. This little flower reminds me so much of the Canterbury bells we had all over the place when I was a child. It thrives in hot summers like we have here on the Coast. It is in the morning glory family and is almost the same beautiuful blue as the "heavenly blue" morning glory.I have one on an earlier post. Since it is only 12 inches high,,it will look good in the front of your bed with let's say, ,the gold zinnias..Pictue this: The icy light blue flowers with olive colored leaves in front of the gold zinnias,,,oh wait..You don't have to picture it...that is what is in the picture. Now isn't that dramatic?

WINDOW BOXES

I love window boxes and every year I always plan on having one. Then before you know it, the Summer is over and I still haven't got around to that window box. These are very pretty ones here in this slide show. I am thinking I may get around to the Christmas one, since I can't get it together the rest of the year. I am most certainly going to have a Spring one next year. Absolutely!

Make a Free Flash Slideshow

TOO MUCH GARDEN BLING BLING?

Is this taking garden bling bling a little far? I love it but would I want it in my yard? If you click on this and look closely, you will find this is a false front, not a shed at all. Interesting!
Yes, we all like a little garden art here and there. For instance, statues, gazing ball, maybe a fountain. But when do you know you have gone over the line and your family is going to have you committed? There is a few little tips to help you know when you have crossed the line.

Do you have more junk than plants? Can you no longer mow the lawn but need to use a weed eater on the whole yard? When you stop and pick up things like stoves, an old sink, toilet, heater, scrap lumber, or bathtub with an eye to planting something in it...you may be over the line. When people think you are holding a garage sale and you're not, you may be over the line. When you pick up a brass bed, headboard and think it will be cute to make a "flower' bed with it...that may be the clue right there.


But take all the above with the purest of intentions. I cover bowling balls with pennies, marbles or paint them and call them garden balls and I made a huge pot-man once upon a time out of clay pots....so if it makes you happy - Seize the day, I say!