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Herbs
Harvesting, Drying And Storing Herbs
Herbs should be harvested before they flower for full flavor and
to  promote further leaf production. Its best to pick herbs in the
morning after the dew has dried. Cut stems from the plant and remove
any dried or diseased leaves. Rinse your cuttings well in cold water
and pat dry. Read more.
Bring your
Herbs indoors with easy to make projects
In the middle of winter what could be more scentsational than the smell
of lavender in your
bath water or more appealing to the eyes then the sight of green leaves hanging from your
kitchen door or window. You can bring those sights and smells indoors
right out of your garden.
COTTAGE GARDENS
My favorite style of garden is the look
of a cottage garden.I love the informal look. It works out great for me
, since I am always moving plants around and just planting them where
the mood strikes at the moment..I do always keep in mind height ,color
and blooming time. There are no mistakes when creating a cottage
garden. There are always lots of flowers in my garden..In season I am
able to pick huge bouquets for bringing indoors. When friends visit we
always grab a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea and head out to the
garden . We sit together in any one of the sitting areas I have put
together and enjoy each others company, when my friend is ready to
leave she takes home a bouquet of flowers and bunches of herbs.
Amongst the flowers in my garden you will find herbs, vegetables and
fruit tucked in here and there. Included in the garden are
annuals,biennials and perenniels. I love a little whimsey in the garden
so I have birdhouses, a few handpainted signs an arbour, trellises etc.
Some
of the plants you will find in my garden are : Antique roses,
hollyhocks, foxglove, lavender, carnations, fever few, sweet peas,
geraniums, delphiniums, snap dragons, sage, thyme, catmint,
strawberries and blueberries.
A cottage garden can be created using a wide variety of plants. Like I
said before there are no mistakes when creating a cottage garden.
Enjoy a few pictures of my
garden.
Click on the image to view a bigger image.
Butterflies In The Garden
One of my favorite things in the garden, besides
relaxing with a
fresh cup of hot coffee and smelling the roses, is watching the birds
and butterflies flit about. The best way to get butterflies to visit or
live  in your garden would be to have plants that attact them. They also
should have plenty of sunshine to keep them warm and shade to cool off
when needed.
Butterflies love to drink the sweet nectar from your beautiful flowers.
Providing them with flowers that are rich in nectar will certainly
encourage them to become welcome visitor to your garden.
Common easy to grow plants that attarct butterflies are:
Butterfly Bush,
Zinnias,
Purple cone flower,
sage,
sunflower,
marjoram,
lantana,
bee balm,
pentas.
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Mmm Wake up and smell the coffee and
the roses. Did you know that plants also enjoy a good cup of coffee or
rather, coffee grounds? Using used coffee or tea, can have wonderful
benefits for  your garden. If you are not a coffee drinker, don't worry
local coffee shops give away used grounds. All you have to do is ask.
What a great way to recycle. Some other ways for using the coffee
grounds would be to throw them into the compost bin, filter and all. Or
mix it right into the soil when you are planting up a new bed. This
will improve the texture of the soil. Coffee grounds also discourage
slugs and ants. Ants hate coffee grounds and will avoid any area
containing it. However when using esspresso type of grounds be sure
that it is mixed thouroughly into the soil , as this type of grounds
tends to impact and become hardened so that it is hard for air and
water to penetrate.
More Garden Tips |
How to: Make your cut flowers last longer
Take with you out to the garden a container of luke warm water. Place your cut flowers into the water as soon as you cut them.
Its best to cut flowers early in the morning before they loose moisture. Don't hesitate to cut buds as well, as most blooms continue
to open even after they are cut.
Bring them back inside with you and once you have done so, place the flowers in deep water, leaves and all, only the flower itself
should be above the water. Allow them to sit in this way for at least 3 hours before removing the excess foliage. After they have
been allowed to soak in this manner, recut each stem on an angle with a sharp knife.
Remove all the leaves that are on the stems that will be under water.
Be sure to give your bouquet a fresh drink of of water and recut the stems everyday.
Your beautiful bouquet should be kept away from direct sunlight.
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