Mud Pies

Though my husband is a non-gardener he tells me that he really enjoys reading this blog each day, “It’s refreshing.” He does say that he grew things like “giant” corn stalks when he was young.

Today he reenters the gardening world with a creative gift from family, a tiny greenhouse of miniature flower pots to be planted with “fragrant herb” seeds.


Much like the set-up for Oskar’s growth, this kit has soil “pellets” that spring to life with the addition of lukewarm water. The little “soil muffins” grow and grow to be twice the size of the pots! There’s even soil left over. Mud pies. My husband declares it, “messy fun.”


Next come the nearly microscopic seeds, mint, marjoram and the tiniest ones yet—chamomile pressed into the fork—fluffed soil.


And finally, the clear plastic greenhouse gets closed up to hold in the moisture that helps seeds germinate; then it greets the world from a sunny window sill. The sun is burning off the frost outdoors and warms us indoors—inside and out.

A New Home for Oskar

It’s time to put the pieces of the puzzle together and settle Oskar into a home so that it can grow properly.

The directions say to put the “planting disc” in the pot—what an improvement over the usual bag of light soil that easily goes airborne, and add approximately two cups of warm water. It’s bubbling and popping; this is fun.


“Fluff with fork.” Hmm…dig might be a better word. “Add more if needed.” Yes, more water is definitely needed unless I want a solid bottom layer. Another cup; more digging. It needs still more but how much more? A little more, more—stop. It takes three and three-quarter cups of water. The gold-colored pot is heavy and warm, with no drainage holes.

I’m to set the bulb in the soil with one or two inches of bulb showing above the soil. This will take newspaper on the floor and a trowel.

Now that Oskar is settled in, I’m to put it pot and all, in a warm place. I certainly have that in the morning windows.


We’ll have to see if Oskar will bloom by Christmas or not—the box says “8-10 weeks.” I may have started too late but then again, maybe not. I’ll keep you posted.

The weatherman’s thermometer read 29 degrees this morning when we got up. White frost covered everything but I covered nothing. And everything from the purple sweet potato vine to ‘Victoria Blue’ salvia to the peppermint is fine (though the yellow-green sweet potato vine is definitely waning). It’s time to put away the sheets.

Cracked Pots

“You have more success with your container gardening than I do,” my friend C. said. Sometimes. At times I have more success than other times but I just keep going—my only option would be to not garden at all. Unthinkable.

One thing that helps me succeed is my almost exclusive use of terra cotta pots outdoors because they have good drainage and can “breathe,” though they must be watered often in the heat of summer. Of course they eventually break down after years in the elements. The other night I picked up this pot of peppermint to put it under the table to protect it from the cold; the problem is, I picked it up by the rim. Oops, the rim stayed in my hand but the pot didn’t; I had some soil to sweep up. Perhaps I can glue it back but if I do the pot will have to be empty and clean—so I’ll wait ‘til next season. I’ve had it for many years so I’m not worried; I definitely got my money’s worth.

Plastic pots break down too—and fade in the sun. While broken pieces of terra cotta pots can be used for garden decoration or drainage in the bottom of another pot, broken down plastic pots can only be thrown out (not a good idea for the landfill!) or in some areas, recycled. However, plastic pots (or glazed pottery ones) can be preferable for indoor gardening since the dry air of homes from the furnace or air conditioning can dry out the plants more quickly than you expect.

The new growth on the peppermint plant has fuchsia stems!

The Garden Watered by God

It must have rained again last night, then again this morning so the garden didn’t need much watering.

Since it didn’t need much tending otherwise, I cut some flowers and brought them in. I’ve not used pentas as cut flowers before; I’ll see how they do. Maybe they’ll even root (though clear glass containers are better for rooting). I’m enjoying their star shapes. I added some Victoria Blue Salvia, some Parrot Leaf, and peppermint to smell good.

I had time to do another kind of planting today. In day 4 of revival, the angels are rejoicing because another person is added to the family of God. And so am I!

Room to Grow

My plant purchases from two weekends ago finally have bigger pots to help keep them from drying out and to give them room to grow. Lack of potting soil caused the delay. I finally got out to the largest corporation on earth, hoping to find plain potting soil. Unfortunately, every bag had fertilizer in it. I have my own, organic fertilizer—I didn’t want all that. At last, I found one that didn’t have fertilizer called “Moisture Control”. It’s supposed to keep the soil from being over or under-watered. I’m skeptical. It was all they had. We’ll see.


I potted the peppermint and a heliotrope. If you’ve ever wondered what the color fashion and interior design call heliotrope looks like—here it is, a medium violet/purple.

We had a pretty strong rare earthquake tremor here yesterday but I didn’t feel it and none of my pots look out of place, so they don’t seem to have felt it either.

A Change in the Air

Today is one of those “golden” days when the temperature is cooler and a light breeze stirs. The slant of the sun has changed ever so slightly and sunset paints its colors half an hour earlier. I could stay in the garden all day in this weather, especially if I had a computer that could operate outdoors!

And it’s a good thing since Monday always calls for extra attention to the garden after a weekend of only hurried watering. There are dead leaves to trim and spent flowers to deadhead, vines to reroute. Often, as today, I have weekend plant purchases to repot; the garden centers’ small flimsy plastic pots cause the plants to dry out too quickly in my setting.

Happily, I finally found one of my all-time favorites, peppermint. I’ve been searching all season but all were either gangly or too expensive or both. Now, I finally have a nicely branching plant at a good price but after its sojourn in the dimly-lit parking garage entrance to Trader Joe’s, it’s stretching for every bit of sun it can get. To keep it branching, I think I need to make some tea. I grew up in “ice-tea” country and often enjoyed a sprig of mint in a tall glass but a brief trip to North Africa intrigued me with hot mint tea. Either way, I enjoy it’s fragrance as I brush against it so I put it within easy reach My iced tea sprigs often do double duty; when the tea is gone I often put the mint in a flower arrangement where it then roots and can later be planted—the ultimate “reuse”.

This particular peppermint plant doesn’t have a variety name but last year’s Kentucky Colonel Mint of “mint julep” fame proved too strong a flavor for my tastes, so I passed that one by.

I’ve seen no sign of the “giant” grasshopper since I last sent him flying. The birds like the weather too!