Everything About Gardening

P. capitata ssp. mooreana.

Hailing from the coniferous forests of Tibet and southwestern China, this primrose offers 8- to 10-inch-tall rosettes of mid-green, toothed, lance-shaped leaves that appear in midsummer. The real charm of this short-lived perennial, however, is the flowers. Rising 6 to 8 inches above the foliage on vivid white stems, densely packed whorls of nodding, tubular flowers first catch the eye with their intense violet hues. Then you notice the silver patina along the shafts of the flowers, looking for all the world like a dusting of snow. The combination is both eye-catching and sublime. The powdery white stems only add to the appeal.

Like other primroses, P. capitata prefers a moist, shady spot in your garden.

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By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

Another approach to herbal preservation is through the creation of condiments.

This type of preservation creates jellies, sauces, oils, vinegars, and butters that enhance dishes when added after cooking.

Making a Jelly

Mint jelly is a traditional way of preserving mint. This process may seem to be more trouble then it is worth but I promise nothing makes a lamb dish stand out like mint jelly.

Mint Jelly

Ingredients

• 3 lbs cooking apples
• 2-½ pints water
• Small bunch of fresh mint
• Sugar
• Handful chopped fresh mint
• Green food coloring-optional
• Muslin bag
• Glass jars
• Canning wax
• Labels

Steps

1.

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With ginger’s often striking tropical foliage and widely varied, often fragrant flowers, it’s easy to understand why. One of the most popular varieties is Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata,’ often known as shell ginger.

Native to Eastern Asia but making itself at home in the milder zones of the Bay Area, this rhizomatous, evergreen perennial can quickly reach 8 to 10 feet in height. Its stalkless, upright clumps sport lance-shaped leaves that can reach 2 feet long and 6 inches wide. The variegated form, by far the most popular, offers striking green and gold streaking, fanning out from the central rib. The exact pattern varies from leaf to leaf, making for a wonderful mosaic of color.

Although grown primarily for its foliage, this ginger does flower in the summer, producing 1 1/2-foot-long pendent racemes of 2-inch funnel-shaped, fragrant flowers.

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Usually when someone who does not has any experience goes to buy a master bed mattress; he or she would take one without even making some kind of considerations. However, before buying master bed mattress, you should always measure your bed’s dimensions prior to heading out to purchase the mattress. Along with this, there lays more confusion when it comes to mattress sizes too. If you are out to buy a master bed mattress then usually the dimension would be 80 into 76 inches. So, the dimension of your bed is another important area which you need to consider prior to buying master bed mattress.

A master bed mattress is double the size of a single twin mattress; this would give you an idea about how big a master bed mattress really is. It works perfectly if you have kids or pets in the house since they can easily sleep with you over a master mattress. A

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A report in the newspapers in June 1990, highlighted the phototoxic effects of rue (Ruta graveolens) on the skin. The highly responsible article referred to a case where children playing with the flowers of plants in the garden on a hot, sunny day had broken out in painful blisters and brown stains. Doctors were baffled until the mother of one of the children took cuttings of the plants they had been playing with to the hospital. Now, some years on, there need be no more ignorance on the part of doctors regarding hazardous plants, as the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew have developed a system called PLATO (PLant Toxins — UK) which provides information at the press of a button on all poisonous and hazardous plants in the United Kingdom.

Before you go rushing out into your garden to tear out your rue, and any other hazardous plant, it is worth considering the true dangers of hazardous herbs. C

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By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

This year my loofahs have set the garden on fire.

They have grown up my shed onto my fence and across my clothesline.

The secret to my success is two-fold.

One, I started my seeds indoors in February. This gave my loofahs plenty of time to grow since they require a long growing season to be exact at least 180 says of warm weather. The second secret to my loofah success is something I cannot take credit for that is Mother Nature. This year’s weather was just perfect for loofah production.

But while I am ecstatic about my loofah crop I am at the same time wondering what to do with all these loofahs. One thing I am trying this year is cooking with them. To my surprise the small ones are excellent in stir-fries and salads. T

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