Costmary

 Tanacetum balsamita

Costmary is a native of the Orient, but has now become naturalized in many parts of the world.  While not as popular today as it was historically it has a particular charm in the garden; if given room to spread out.   The scent of the leaves is the quality of Costmary people find soothing; it has a balsam smell with a slight mint aroma.   

Below are a few of the uses of Costmary:

Costmary is a lovely garnish for lemonades, iced teas and other beverages. When the leaves are young it can be added to fruit salads, cold soups and green salads.

Use the leaves for a bookmark.  Dry leaves between layers of clean paper, under a heavy weight; this will ensure that pages of the book don’t warp or become discolored with use.

The fresh leaves can also be used much like geranium leaves by laying them in the baking pan before pouring in the batter for a cake or other baked dessert.

Rinse water: use in rinse water after wash cycle

• 2 tablespoons dried costmary
• 2 cups boiling water
• Glass bowl
• Infuse for 1-2 hours
• Strain
• Use in rinse water

Lantern Stinkhorn mushroom

 Lysurus mokusin

The Lantern Stinkhorn is mushroom generally found in disturbed areas where the soil is hard packed and/or shallow but contains adequate organic matter for growth of the fruit/mushroom itself.  The one in the photo was growing in soil with shallow fig roots over which thick sheet mulching had been applied the year before.

These tall mushrooms are strange looking and are harmless enough to your gardens.  But don’t eat them!  Never eat wild mushrooms unless a professional mycologist has told you it is safe or you have years experience working with our fungal friends. 

If you want to grow edible mushrooms check out Paul Stamets website, Fungi Perfecti, for some of the best info on the web.  Locally check out Mushroom Adventures in Marysville, northern California.

UPDATE: An article about Mushroom kits mentions Mushroom Adventures! Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2011 The Science Project You Can Eat By Anne Marie Chaker

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Both dragonflies and damselflies are considered a gardener's friend as they eat mosquitoes and other flying pests.  They require a source of water if you want them to stick around year after year; and it can take them a long time to mature!  Some spend as long as five years in the aquatic larval stage (eating mosquito larvae then too!).

While the images here are less than wonderful quality one gets the understanding of the diverse patterns and shapes dragonflies and damselflies take on.   

Quite a magical sight on a summers evening watching them dip and dive...

Mentha

MINT -Mentha species

Mint has been used for thousands of years as a remedy for digestive ailments and as a flavor for food. The leaves and stems can be used fresh or dried; they are harvested for drying in August as the flowers start to open.  Mint is a rhizomatous perennial plant grown for its culinary and medicinal properties or just for ground cover.  

Pollinator insects, specifically honey bees, favor mint flowers.  All Mentha species are very prone to hybridization (seed does not always breed true) thus the content of medicinal oils vary with each new generation. If you want to keep a particular aroma of mint in your gardens it’s best to propagate them by cuttings or division.

Spearmint Mentha spicata - L.

The original European mint, the name 'spear' mint comes from the pointed leaf tips.  Many hybrids today are some form of spearmint cross.  Besides the normal digestive therapy mint provides, the stems are also used as a poultice on bruises.

Peppermint Mentha x piperita
A natural hybrid of M. aquatica x M. spicata peppermint cannot bear viable seed so must be propagated by cuttings or division.  The essential oil, menthol, is obtained from the whole plant, is considered an antiseptic, strongly antibacterial and toxic in large doses.

Applemint Mentha x rotundifolia
A very vigorous mint, applemint effectively out-competes Bermuda grass.  We use applemint as a tool when forest gardening and find it aggressive enough to dominate over weeds like Bermuda grass but easily removed too. 


‘Wintermint’ Mentha spicata x rotundifolia
A natural hybrid of M. rotundifolia x M. spicata –we speculate; this particular variety germinated mid-winter a few years ago amongst the last potatoes.  The leaves appear similar to spearmint but the flavor is sweeter and mild, more like the applemint.

Spearmint Mentha spicata - L.

Applemint Mentha x rotundifolia

Peppermint Mentha x piperita

Wintermint Mentha spicata x rotundifolia