Tisane from garden in August

This week the lemon grass is beginning to produce more leaves so I am adding these to my tisane that now has lots of rose blossoms from the Morden Sunrise, and the plentiful pink rose (purchased at the Calgary Horticultural Society’s Spring show in April 2014), wild bergamot, mints, stevia. I drink it hot first then refrigerate the rest for later. I have dried some stevia and bergamot in the Nesco food dryer but I somehow cannot imagine my mid-winter tisane coming anything close to the taste and fragrance of the summer brews.

I think the tarragon is quickly reaching its expected growth to 60 (H) x 35 cm. Unfortunately while I was busy with other important things, it went to seed so I am scurrying to prune it back without losing these amazing leaves. I kept thinking of my Persian friends who might like to have bowlfuls of this on their tables this week. But I don’t know if they like it when there are seeds too. It was at its best a few weeks ago. Note to myself, harvest more earlier and give lots away. I have promised roots to friends and this is something to do as soon as we have a forecast of cooler weather with rain.

The walking onions or Egyptian onions also need to be shared perhaps with the community garden. Next year I am going to give them more support early on. They grow to 4′ quickly in July. I am not sure yet how much of the plant is edible as some parts of it are quite tough. Preparing the onion “seeds” is easier with parboiling. I’ll be replanting soon. I want to see how big these seeds will grow.

The carrots are coming along but need a lot of thinning. I pulled the spinach plants that had gone to seed to give the carrots more room and cannot find my spinach seeds for the second harvest. This happens every year! I need a better seed organization system.

I gathered spinach, beans, peas, carrots, parsley, tomatoes, tarragon, Egyptian onions and sauteed them all together in coconut butter. I felt guilty about not sharing my meal and wanted to call Victoria or Audrey over to join me. I froze some tarragon without blanching.

I just blanched and froze some rhubarb but there is lots more now so that needs to be done soon.

I am not quite sure where to plant my new hops plant. I want it to add height but I don’t want it to take over. It is so enthusiastic.

That large poplar tree on the north side of Tara’s Island bed sucks everything dry underneath it, suffocates what it can with successive shedding of its various seed forms and shades the rest until everything shrivels. It can transform lovely compost into a dry dust-filled net of its own fine roots in a matter of weeks. It embarrasses me with its plume of summer snow pollen that spreads for blocks and continues for weeks not days. I am considering adding more of the Prairie Sage and even waves of Iris Germanica as foliage and mounds of cranesbill geranium and lamium around the Maltese Cross. Even though the hare ate most of my daisies I will continue to plant more there. I was hoping for white and red blossoms. Now I just want anything that will grow there.

The goats beard or the hyssop never grew more than inches and I am glad I kept their labels or they would have unrecognizable.  They have been moved to the newly redesigned Friendship Garden outside the fence at the back entrance. This is a lovely spot close to the water outlet and rain barrel with lots of sun and lots of compost from my Sunnyside bulk bags.

I have been deadheading and closely watching my new additions to the garden purchased at Rona’s sale last week which includes Shasta Daisies, Blanket flowers, Karl Forester Grass and Feather Grass .  I am impressed with the display of perennial plants on sale this week as they are all Perennial Plants of the Year with most of them (but not all) highly recommended for Calgary’s Zone 3. I placed one Feather Grass which is probably more of an annual here, in a large planter and  the other in the Coach Light Island. I am gradually trying to replace the plants that need work pruning and support with plants on the Perennial Plants of the Year lists that will in the end be more sustainable. The extensive garden outside the fence, a 3′ – 4′ perennial border along the two laneways  and corner are high maintenance. Weeds love the sun-filled space. Big trucks drive over edging plants which in some cases helps me by keeping an edge which is not easy to do on a utilities lane. I started in 2007-2008? by letting my gifted perennials grow as much as they wanted while I kept adding the least expensive soil amendments. Over the last couple of years, as much of the garden in the front and back expanded and filled in with more sustainable plants since I first began in 2007-2008, I can now work on corralling the gifted perennials into contained spaces and letting plants like sedums, Morden Sunrise, David Thompson rose, Shasta Daisy*, liatris, Stella d’Oro, join the enthusiastic prairie sage, cranesbill geranium , Iris Germanica and wild currant.

There are still some sweet peas outside the fence that need support but parts of the fence still need painting. Heat and or/rain and absence have made this summer-long project quite a challenge.