Week 10 - Year 1: Herbology Lessons

I'm no Neville Longbottom, but I hope Professor Sprout would give me decent marks on my latest experiment. I've added two herb containers to our garden with the help of my awesome aunt (who gave me the cute pots) and a marvelous co-worker (who found basil for me after my repeated failures to locate any).

Rosemarinus

Rosemary was the first herb added to our garden. We have already used it to great success in cooking a potato side dish. I planted the rosemary in a mix of peat poss and potting soil. It is only a week old, but it seems to be doing pretty well and was very tasty. My only question on this one is whether I should screw a hole into the bottom of the container. My research suggests that rosemary plants do require steady drainage, so I'm thinking we probably should add the hole to it, but this may be a bigger undertaking than I'm ready for - so we will risk it for now.

Basilicum

Our other newbie is a basil plant. I struggled to find basil every time I went out, but my awesome co-worker found some for me, so we are on our way with it. Like the rosemary, I planted it in a mix of peat moss and potting soil. Basil prefers to be pretty moist, so I'm not as worried about putting a hole in it.

The obvious and best usage for basil is PESTO - see the evidence above! Unfortunately, my basil plant is too young to produce this kind of awesomeness, but I spent a great morning making this pesto from scratch with some basil from my co-worker's garden. I can't wait to turn this into a creamy, decadent pesto pasta. Eventually, I will venture out and come up with some more uses for my basil, but right now I'm enjoying the pesto.

I've also learned that being an attorney can complicate gardening blogging, so my apologies for not posting over the past few weeks. I'll try to come up with some non-Harry Potter themes for the next post as well, but I can't help but find inspiration as I'm in the middle of re-reading the entire series.

Week 8 - Year 1: The Clematis Files

Unlike Harry Potter, I do not have a Resurrection Stone, but there must be some magic in the air because the Clematis are back and in business. Back in May, it seemed like I had taken a wrong turn with the clematis and I had trimmed them back down to start over. 5 Weeks later and it seems to be working. I moved both plants to the eastern exposure of the porch and replanted their soil. They both have new growth and the purple one is even blooming, while the red one has 5 buds about to bloom.

The purple one is really taking off.

It has grown vines all over the porch spindles and is even attempting to attack the petunias' box (which should make for an interesting fight given the petunia's battle history).

The red one was a bit slower to respond, but seems to be on its way. It has a healthy amount of vine growth and tons of new buds ready to bloom. The only lingering problem is that it hasn't really stuck itself anywhere yet, so it just sort of hangs there hoping to get comfortable. I keep wrapping it around spindles to inspire it, but it just doesn't take.

If these guys make it, the next worry will be winter. These are perennials and I would like to try to save them is possible over the winter. I've started devising an experiment upon the suggestion of a great co-worker, who has been the best gardening advisor. She has generously offered to plant them in her yard to see if they make it through the winter. So, as an experiment, I'm thinking we plant one and then I winter the other in the damp storage unit in the basement parking garage to our apartment building. It will be interesting to see if they make it. However, this is only July, so I've got a lot of time to plan this experiment. For now, I will just continue to baby these guys and enjoy their progress.

***7/24/10 - Update, the red one finally bloomed and it's spectacular! It's actually more of a magenta than a red, but either way it's gorgeous!