The Rural Voice, 1995-08, Page 45i
Gardening
Summer time and the living is busyness
By Rhea Hamilton -Seeger
I would like to be able to write to
you about the lazy days of August; of
sitting on the patio with a cold drink
and smelling the warm scented breeze
off the roses and nicotiana; of the only
effort exerted, a casual wander through
the garden to admire the latest blooms
and pinch a bit of lemon balm for my
tea. Such is not the case. My busy
spring season now extends into the
first week or so of July and then it is
time to start slipping a few geraniums
that have already gotten too big to be
considered house plants.
The droughty conditions in June
took me by surprise. I still had quite a
few plants on the patio waiting to be
dug into their new sites. I have seed
packets sitting on my kitchen shelves
(but they can wait until next year
now). After a seemingly long, cold
spring, I was eagerly waiting for a
week of warm weather and a few days
of gentle rain before I put mulch on
the new roses, tomatoes and peppers.
Well the heat came and then, bang, the
heat came.
I enjoy watering the garden if nece-
ssary but I don't think the cold water
from the well is very good for the
plants. It does little more than sustain
the plant until the warm beckoning of
the rain. I water sparingly and try to
restrict my watering to new plants that
haven't had much time to get estab-
lished. Rainbarrels are wonderful for
watering patio planters or window
boxes. My husband, who the mosqui-
toes love to feast on, calls rain barrels
breeding grounds and is always eager
to empty the water on the garden as
fast as the rain fills the barrel. I did
break down one day and let the hose
run slowly on the black raspberries.
They were just finishing blooming and
the fruit was setting. They are now
mulched with a thick layer of old
straw and I can hardly wait to taste
those delicious berries. If you have a
good supply of old straw in the back of
the barn or an abundance of compost
you have it made. I must admit the
straw looks good in the vegetable
garden but I am a bit of snob and only
use it in the back of the perennial
garden. I like the look of edged beds
with a bit of black earth showing.
I have been trying to do a bit of
reading and have discovered a benefi-
cial feature of that weedy patch way at
the back of the garden. Studies in Ger-
many have shown that weeds attract
spiders and an increase in spiders in
your garden means a decrease in plant
eating insects. Bands of wild plants
near your garden act as natural insect
filters. If left undisturbed the spiders
set up their traps and do a lot of feast-
ing, possibly saving you a few dollars
on sprays and reducing aching back -
work pulling those weeds, picking off
dead plants or even replanting those
plants lost to insect infestation. Exper-
iments in Israel found that spiders in
cotton fields reduced leafhoppers, aph-
ids, Egyptian cotton leafworm, and
spider mites, and also delayed out-
breaks early in the season. Now your
insect filter doesn't have to be unsight-
ly. You can have a select grouping of
plants that have a wonderful perfume
or intriguing foliage to act as a
backdrop to your garden. The key is
to leave them undisturbed so that the
spiders can set up shop.
The term weeds really is a modem
word. So many plants we consider
weeds have medicinal qualities that
have been replaced by modem
medicine. We have lost touch with the
intrinsic nature of our environment.
On that note I would like to leave you
with a new plant to seek out for your
garden. Valerian.
I have had white valerian in the
back of the garden for quite a few
years. It makes a wonderful filler for
bouquets and you know it is blooming
not by a visual check but by a sniff of
your nose. It has a fem-like foliage
and will grow as high as five feet in a
spot it likes. Now that spot should be
in full sun and moist, well -drained
soil. Regular readers will know that
our gravel based beds certainly don't
get moist except during an exception-
ally wet season but the valerian
survives nicely growing three to four
feet high and blooming profusely with
round clusters of white flowers. The
drier conditions here keep the valerian
from running rampant through the
garden. They have strong, thick,
spreading roots and I have pulled some
out to keep it contained to one area.
Valerian is also called Garden
Heliotrope which is the name of a
scented annual grown here. It is found
in all old Mediterranean regions where
its family is the source of supply of the
drug valerian used to relieve nervous
tension, insomnia and to help reduce
blood pressure and relieve muscle
cramps. Last year I started red
valerian from seed and this year it
bloomed a hot pink colour. The
foliage is not as fernlike but the
blooms last a long time and I am
looking forward to seeing more of this
lovely plant in my garden. There are
over 200 species of this herb that range
from tender to hardy perennial.
One last thing to tell you this
month. Be sure to pick your herbs and
pop some into bottles with vinegar.
We made dill vinegar last year and it
was a delightful addition to winter
salads and a teaspoon or two in a stir
fry certainly perks the flavour buds.
There is no real recipe. We used a
widemouthed bottle and gently filled it
with fresh dill leaves and a head of
seed and covered with white vinegar.
It is kept in the spice cupboard out of
the sunlight. The flavour is just like
having fresh chopped dill in your
summer salad. Now that you have lots
to think about and do this month, try
and take a few minutes to put your
favourite lawn chair near the garden
and relax, enjoy your labours.0
Rhea Hamilton -Seeger raises two
children, and is a skilled cook and
gardener.
AUGUST 1995 41