Shrubby St. John's Wort

Another of my favorite plants is the Shrubby St. John's Wort. This is another shrub I got at a native plant sale.

I have long been interested in herbal medications and remedies; I'm trying to learn all I can. St. John's Wort is an herb I take for chronic depression and it really seems to help.

So when I found the Shrubby St. John's Wort plant, I knew I had to try growing it. For the past 3 years, it has given me a vast abundance of flowers. The flowers are such a beautiful yellow color and it is at peak performance right now. I want to learn how to distill the flower to make a St. John's Wort liquid.

If anyone out there has every distilled St. John's Wort, I would love to hear from you! :)

Welcome Back, Button Bush

Oh happy-happy, joy-joy! My Button Bush is blooming! This is a wonderful shrub I bought several years ago from a native plant sell, but I was afraid last year's drought had killed it. I was so thrilled to see the bush start growing again, and now this - about a dozen "button-size" blooms.

The Button Bush, or Cephalantus occidentalis, is a bog plant that is native to the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Since I don't have a bog garden - not yet anyway! - I have this shrub planted near my front porch where the gutter drains. This area stays cool and moist throughout the summer and makes the perfect environment for my 4-year old Button Bush.

Daylily Cast-Offs

Oh goody! There is a lady who lives about 2 miles from my home and every summer, she thins out her daylily garden to make room for new species. What does she do with the daylilies she digs up? She leaves them at the end of her driveway with a sign that says FREE!

Free is one of those words that all gardeners love. I am not beyond picking up free plants from someone I don't even know! Actually, I've come to know this lady because this will be the third year I have picked up some of her cast-offs.

So because of someone else's desire to have the latest in daylilies, I get to fill my garden with lovely lilies that would other wise end up in the trash or compost.

Lucky me!

In Defense of Food

I have just finished reading In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, by Michael Pollan. Published in 2008, it has 244 pages that help us omnivores navigate the nutritional minefield that's come to typify our food culture. The main quote that stands out in the book is the short answer to what we should eat in order to stay healthy:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Mr. Pollan asks a very tough question: where is the food in our food? In Defense of Food gives a series of great answers that help us learn what to put in our shopping carts. I've learned - from direct observation and the info in this book - that grocery stores are stocking more foods that are meant to replace nutrients. There are more and more boxed and processed foods, less and less whole foods and fresh veggies.

I've learned that meat is an okay food source, but it should be a side dish, not a main part of the meal. I've learned that refined processed foods increase shelf life and makes them easier to digest because most of the fiber is removed. I've learned that fructose is rare in the natural world, but per capita, fructose consumption has increased over 25% in the past 30 years.

Agricultural simplification has lead our society to a simplification of our diet. 50years ago, farmers were growing at least a dozen plant and animal crops on their large farms: corn, apples, oats, potatoes, cattle, cherries, wheat, pears, etc. Now, in the 21st century, large farmers are only growing corn and soybeans. After World War II, heart disease among Americans began to increase because we allowed the simple foods of our forefathers to be replaced by refined, processed foods.

Our nation, as a whole, has gotten fatter and fatter while trying to follow a low-fat diet. Most of the higher fat foods have been changed to foods with a high fructose corn syrup in order to decrease the fat content. Obesity started to become an epidemic when our society started bingeing on carbs to avoid the evils of fats.

Lessons Mr. Pollan has taught me:
-- High-fructose corn syrup is bad! Do yourself a favor and remove it from your diet. After reading this book, I am trying to wean myself from a Coca-Cola addiction I have had since childhood.

-- Avoid any food product that makes health claims, because they are probably not real foods.

-- In the grocery store, don't shop in the center aisles. Avoid anything that can't spoil and anything with an ingredient you can't pronounce.

-- Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does.

-- You are what you eat. Most cattle are raised on loads of corn instead of free-range and they are pumped full of antibiotics.

-- Eat natural food, the kind your granny served (and not because she was so wise, but because the food industry had not yet learned that the big money was in processing, not harvesting). Use meat as a side dish and fill your plate with greens, the leafier and more varied the better.

One study in this book that really brought the point home for me was the Aborigines of Western Australia. In 1982 a study was started that involved 10 middle-aged, over weight and diabetic Aborigines that had become "westernized" by processed foods since they had moved away from the bush. These 10 people agreed to move back to their traditional homeland which had no access to store food or beverages. For 7 weeks they ate seafood, birds, plants, insects, yams, figs and bush honey - prior to this they had been eating flour, sugar, rice, soda, and fatty meats. After 7 weeks, blood work showed a striking improvement! All had lost weight, the blood pressure was down, the triglycerides were down, blood sugars were down and their omega-3 fatty acids were increased. Just seeing this info in black and white was enough to convince me that I need to change my eating habits.

If you are seriously interested in learning how to change your eating habits and learning to live a healthy lifestyle, then In Defense of Food is a great starting point. I have been recommending it to all my family and friends.

Happy 4th of July, Even in the Rain

Happy 4th of July everyone! I'm doing the "happy dance" at my home today, and not because it's a holiday. No, no, no - I'm happy because it is RAINING! And before anyone gets too upset about the rain dampering my holiday, the rain showers are a welcome event in my gardens.

It has been over a week since we had a good rain shower and my gardens were beginning to show the effects. Luckily Mother Nature is taking care of the problem so I don't have to break out the water hose.

Anyway, the rain should be over by tonight, even though my hometown had our fireworks display last night - in the rain!

From Tiny Acorn to Mighty Oak

For many years now, I have brought bags of leaves home from my mother-in-laws house in the fall to use as mulch in my gardens. Because of the number of oak trees in and around her house, I have managed to also transplant several acorns that have resulted in small oak seedlings throughout my gardens.

Oaks are one of my favorite trees and I am thrilled to have a new generation of trees taking root in my one acre garden. So with the success of these few oak trees, I made the decision last fall to try and save a legacy of a damaged oak before it is completely destroyed by development.

About three years ago, a tornando tore through our tiny town of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. One of the areas hit was a section of town near our community park. In a vacant field near the park, several very old oak trees were uprooted and beat into mangled masses of bark and branches. Although I was saddened at the loss of homes and other property during this twister, losing oak trees that were probably at least 100 years old layed heavy on my heart.

The summer after the tornado, construction began in the field with the damaged oak trees. A new housing subdivision, ironically named "Stone Oak" started to spring up around the park, and the remaining oak trees.

In fear the oaks would be removed, last fall my youngest daught and I went to the construction site. After wading through knee-high weeds to reach the oak trees, we were able to find several dozen viable acorns scattered under the trees. The growing season had been dry and hot, so many of the acorns had already lost the life-sustaining moisture needed to help the seedling spring forth, but we managed to collect a few to bring home.

Once the acorns were in my pocket, I brought them home and planted them in a small nursery bed and kept them moist until germination. I babied these tiny seedlings all through the winter and spring, determined for them to survive.

Now, almost 10 months after planting the acorns, my tiny oak seedlings are no more than several inches tall, but they are strong and sturdy. Next year, I have plans to move the seedlings into permanent locations throughout the garden and I have confidence they will grow and mature into mighty oaks. Granted, I may not live to see their maturity, but my children and grandchildren will know how much I loved these majestic trees.

Drought-Tolerant Plants

Now that the dog days of summer are upon us, I'm having to water my gardens more and more. Luckily, this year hasn't been as bad as the past two - the drought nearly wiped some of my gardens out.

Something that I started doing after the Drought of 2006, was only planting / transplanting things that were proven to be drought-tolerant in my gardens. This way I know I'll have plants that will thrive even without weekly watering. Some of these plants include:

Autumn Joy sedum - This plant can practically fend for itself and it always rewards you with thick healthy leaves in the spring and summer, and then lovely pink coloring in the fall.

Goldenrod - This is the official flower of my home state, Kentucky. There are dozens of varieties of Goldenrod and because they are native to my area, they don't require as much care as hybrid plants.

Daylilies - This is a flower that many gardeners have at home and there are hundreds of varieties. Throught experimentation, I have learned that daylilies can go for up to 10 days without watering, and if they are heavily mulched, they can go a little longer.

Mock Orange Shrubs - I have these lining my driveway and they are a profusion of white blooms all spring long. I don't water this area at all and it receives FULL sun all day long, but the Mock Orange just keeps going and going (almost like the Energizer Bunny). I take hardwood cuttings in the fall and softwood cuttings in the spring, so I am able to spread this plant around without much effort.

So, if you are looking for some drought-tolerant plants to add to your landscape, these time-tested plants should do the trick.