Search This Blog

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Herbal Delights- Tea from your Garden October 4, 2014


Today I am linking with-

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Magical Mystical Teacher

Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sally

This week I am featuring a couple of annuals that I like.   Blue-purple flowers are not very common, and I like the delicate blooms of Browallia.   Last year I tried Browallia americana, which grows 1-2' / 30-60cm high, and bloomed well.   I started more seedlings and got them planted out early, here they are blooming with Osmanthus heterophyllus goshiki-

They reseeded rather late in summer and the little plants started blooming when small.

This year I also tried Browallia speciosa, which is shorter, growing to just 8-12" / 20-30cm and has bigger flowers.   I didn't get it planted in the garden but it did well in pots,


And here with another annual I tried this year, Petunia exserta, 

which is just becoming available from various seed sources.  It is a hummingbird-pollinated flower, and can get to be 2' / 60cm when planted in a large planter.   Polygonum capitata at base-

I hand-pollinated it with a small natural paint brush and got seed from it.  It is very bright and the plant has the sticky feel of many petunias.

Other plants continue to bloom like some fall-blooming wonders Anemone japonica, Goldenrod, and some roses, Betty Boop-

A productive summer and early fall activity is collecting and drying leaves for tea from various plants around my yard.  Once I fill up all space for drying in my basement, I need to wait until that batch is dry before I pick more, but fall rains have begun so my window for picking leaves will be ending soon.  Some plants I use for tea are Lemon Balm, Peppermint, 



Agrimony, 

Akebia,

 Self-Heal flower spikes (Prunella),  here is a rare sport with the tongue white-

Schisandra, Cleavers (winter grower), Stinging Nettle, Ribwort Plantain (evergreen), Betony, Horsetail (spring only), Red Clover, 

Loquat (evergreen), good for coughs-

 and this year I may add some Agastache, Monarda, and Goldenrod. 

A few other plants that are useful that I could gather some leaves from are Raspberry, Rosemary (evergreen), Thyme, Tea- Camellia sinensis (evergreen), Oregano, Sweet Marigold, Lavender, Lady's Mantle, Kinnickinnick (evergreen), and Salvia.  What is your favorite tea plant to grow?

Not many critters seem available this week, I did run across a Ladybird Beetle, who wouldn't hold still, I like the heart on her back-

And for a blue treat, a square from another 'blue ribbon' quilt I saw at the local fair-

It would be nice to have a quilt at night here, our house temperatures dropped from 74ºF to 64ºF / 23.3ºC-17.8ºC, chilly!      -Hannah

                                       or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I enjoy visiting your blog and commenting, but cannot do so if google+ is the only choice, so I will do so here.






59 comments:

  1. wow, I can see you have great taste in flowers. Nice flowers and great shots. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I keep looking for flowers that will actually do well for me. A lot of commonly grown flowers don't.

      Delete
  2. Hello Hannah, I love all your beautiful flowers.. The petunia is pretty! It is great too that it attracts the hummers..Wonderful images.. Thank you for linking up, have a happy weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Eileen, it is a lot different from other petunias I have grown. Thanks for hosting!

      Delete
  3. I always enjoy visiting your garden to see what's blooming. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Janice, I enjoy all the blooms, not all I showed today are current. Your haikus are thought-provoking, and I love the little bird, thinking of flying to warmer climates. A lot of us wish we could.

      Delete
  4. Hi Hanna, thank you for all these gorgeous flowers and linking with us at Today's Flowers. Your photos are marvelous and I also loved that beautiful quilt and the pretty ladybug. Have a great week :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Denise, I'm enjoying the Goldenrods now, this is just my second year to grow them. The quilt has strange optic effects.

      Delete
  5. I'm only growing mint for tea. I must try some of the others you recommend. Self heal was highly recommended at our last garden club meeting.

    ReplyDelete
  6. For years I views Self Heal as more of a weed, but I'm starting to appreciate how tough it is in self-sowing, and it stayed green when most things were turning brown too. The flowers are pretty and then I harvested a lot of the mature flower spikes for tea this year. There are commercial seeds for sale with other colors, like pink and white, I am tempted to get some.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely quilt ~ Your photos of nature's treasures and beauties are marvelous! Such color!

    artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Carol, I enjoy the nature in my yard, I'm not close to such gorgeous water scenery as you.

      Delete
  8. Beautiful! I love the ladybug and the rose. Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Gunilla, Betty Boop is a real trooper. I like your grebes, I've never seen any in person.

      Delete
  9. beautiful selection of flowers in your garden with bright colours. Love the Ladybird.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks, Margaret, the Ladybird beetle is so shiny. She just kept walking while I was trying to take her photo.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hannah, I focused in on the last picture of the quilt...I would probably be nutty by the time I had finished it, so intricate. Lovely pictures. Have a blessed Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Our house temperatures have dropped here as well, we've had a few mornings when the heat has been on when we got up. You have so many plants that you turn into tea, I had no idea you could use all of those.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, chilly already. I haven't been very good at drying the plants for tea in the past so I'm trying harder this year and actually weaning myself off my usual store tea bags to drink mostly tea I grew myself. It's a fun experience and finding some good combos, hopefully a lot healthier too.

      Delete
  13. Beautiful flowers and all the shots are lovely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Carver, I enjoy your plant photos from the South, where I grew up.

      Delete
  14. You have an amazing yard and equally amazing knowledge of plants. Years ago I enjoyed herbal teas (but not home grown -- have never known enough about plants to try that). Nowadays I'm strictly a coffee in the morning, water the rest of the day sort of girl!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was buying a lot of Celestial Seasonings tea bags, but I am trying to replace them with homegrown herbs, I have jars and jars I've stored so far. Green Tea, Black Tea, and White Tea, I will probably still buy since I don't know how to harvest leaves from my Camellia sinensis Tea plant, though I can try to do some. All those teas require special fermenting techniques....

      Delete
  15. I love the last flowers of Autumn. Beautiful quilt, too!
    We had to turn on our heat yesterday morning. It was 42F outside.
    Have a wonderful week!
    Lea

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lea! It gets down into the low 40's / ~4ºC here at night too, but it was 81ºF / 27.2ºC in the daytime, so I'm hot working outside but cold at night in the house, since we haven't turned on our heat yet.

      Delete
  16. Wonderful colors and delicacy of these flowers! Beautiful photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Leovi, they may not be around much longer, so I'm enjoying them while I can.

      Delete
  17. Lovely post Hannah.....my goodness you are so productive,drying your own herbs.....and you have the bonus of knowing that they are fresh and pure.......wonderful!

    Happy Monday!
    Ruby

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ruby, it takes some time but it's fun to drink the tea and know it doesn't have any poisons in it, being organic.

      Delete
  18. Nice pictures - there are some many different ways to be a flower.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Stewart, they are all so skillfully and imaginatively designed for our pleasure!

      Delete
  19. I enjoyed all your lovely flowers...and as a quilter, that quilt block too! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Deb, the pattern in the quilt is amazing, I can't imagine being so precise.

      Delete
  20. Hello Hannah,

    You sure found a unique blue today. I've never seen a quilt like this one. (I also admire those blue blooms!)

    We were shopping at Hobby Lobby, but I do like to go to Dollar Tree too.

    Have a Happy Blue Monday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sally, I wish I were so skilled. I found a great plastic strainer at Dollar tree for my Kefir pints, and a plastic bowl that fits it too!

      Delete
  21. Beautiful pictures ! The ladybug is the only insect I can stand, lol ! It's cure !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Gattina, they are so cute and useful, though the larvae are so ugly and scary-looking.

      Delete
  22. I very much like the Browallia. That quilt is very interesting - everytime I blink my eyes it looks a little bit different. Very cool!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I'm glad I discovered it, and that it even self-sowed, maybe I didn't water it enough for it to come up earlier, I don't know why it waited so long. The quilt does have interesting effects.

      Delete
  23. So many beautiful flowers! The blue/purple Browallia is truly gorgeous! Thanks for leaving nice comments on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thanks, Jannibele, I like it so much, I think maybe I didn't water enough early, perhaps that is why it self-seeded so late. But it pays to start it early indoors. I enjoyed all your pretty flowers, still so many for so late.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great colors and beautiful flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks, Christian, I enjoyed your butterflies.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I see the heart on the bug's back. Very interesting.
    Thanks for stopping by.

    www.1sthappyfamily.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lina, Laura hostess of I Heart Macro always looks for hearts in nature, and usually finds them too.

      Delete
  28. Hello, nice to meet you and thank so much for visiting my site. Wow, Master's degree in biology; beautiful pictures of flowers♡♡♡ I need to come back to see them :-)

    So sorry for my belated comment. My late father's mamorial sevice is finally over. Happy to be able to meet you, Hannah.

    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Miyako, I visited again and saw some lovely Japanese countryside, so special. Sorry for the loss of your father. Hugs from the PNW, USA

      Delete
  29. Your flowers are just gorgeous, along with the visitors! They make me anxious for spring to arrive!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Betty, how far is spring along for you? Do you have Hellebores, they are my first bloomers, and Anemone nemorosa, Daffodils, etc. follow, do you grow those? Now you're making me look forward to spring too.

      Delete
  30. You grow a lot of herbs and unusual plants. It's really neat that you make your own tea blends. That requires a lot of knowledge and patience. Have a nice week, Hannah.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Christa, the internet has a lot of information on herbs used for tea now. Before that I had herbal books with information. Most herbs don't require any processing except air drying.

      Delete
  31. Pretty blooms all. Boy, they are going down hill around here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sharon, some of the tea plant flowers are from earlier, the Browallia is still doing great. I will try to bring some in when frosts threaten, if I can avoid bringing in spider mites and aphids too.

      Delete
  32. Beautiful images, those flowers are excellent.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Bob, I enjoyed your fantastic birds.

      Delete
  33. Hello Hannah,
    Thanks for your visit on my blog and leaving such a sweet comment :)
    Your flowers are so beautiful!
    They are coming to an end here in France!
    Get a quilt for winter, don't catch a cold!!
    Hugs, Noushka

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Noushka, the shorebirds are fantastic. I actually don't catch colds much, and last year I fought the one off that tried to get me. My grandkids get plenty!

      Delete
  34. Love that Betty Boop rose! And you have so many plants I'm unfamiliar with. Very pretty and unusual!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Thanks, Judy, Betty Boop suffers from the drought this year along with all the other roses, except the ones smart enough to only bloom in spring. Now we have another 3-4 days of rain predicted turning into one. But more predicted next week. We'll see.
    I started out strictly an edible gardener but decided the bugs, birds, and my desire for beauty favored as much diversity in plant material as possible, so I have lots of different plants, but now am moving toward native plants as much as possible.

    ReplyDelete