My Bit of Earth

Harry Potter Garden

I found this article (written by Katelyn Thomas) on BellaOnline and thought it was fun.

"Are your children pasty faced and red eyed from re-reading the first five Harry Potter books as they await the release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince? Get them out into the sunshine and fresh air with this Harry Potter garden plan that uses plants mentioned in the first five books in the series.

Although Mandrakes, Aconite, Hellebores, and Belladonna do exist, I am not including them in the garden plan because they are lethally poisonous.

Create a six foot wide by twelve foot long strip for your garden. For the most attractive design, give the bed a bit of a curve.

1. Cabbages first appear in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Hagrid is growing these non-magical plants for food for the school. You will want to plant six cabbages in your garden plot. To enjoy the pretty leaves of these plants, place them in groupings of three plants instead of placing them in tidy rows. Although we do not have flesh eating slugs in the world of Muggles, have your children keep a sharp eye out for standard slugs and cabbage worms.

2. Daisies are a potion ingredient in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. While they do not actually help shrink things, they are pretty to look at. Plant three to six of these perennials in a curvy line towards the back of the garden.

3. Geraniums in the world of Muggles are not fanged, as they are in Order of the Phoenix, but they are certainly colorful. I recommend planting them in groups of three across the front of the garden bed. For plants that come back year after year, you may want to plant the less colorful hardy Geranmiums instead.

4. Ginger is used in a wit sharpening potion in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In the world of Muggles, wild ginger makes a nice ground cover. Plant in clusters of three throughout the garden bed and, in time, they will spread to cover bare spots.

5. Daffodils appear in Order of the Phoenix. Although Muggle daffodils don't honk, they are a pretty sight in the spring. Plant 15 bulbs in clusters of three throughout the front of the garden.

6. Sage is used by Centaurs in Order of the Phoenix. A variagated sage placed behind one of the clumps of cabbage is very attractive.

7. Holly is used to make wands and Harry uses a Holly wand in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Miniature Holly varieties are a great way to add evergreen color to the garden. Plant a male Holly at one back corner of the garden bed and plant a female Holly at the other back corner.

8. Maples are also used to make wands in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Place one Japanese Maple in the back of your garden right in the center. A weeping variety looks best, but is more expensive than some other varieties.

If you would like to make a larger bed or want to add some more plants to make the six foot by twelve foot bed look fuller until the perennials and trees mature, you may want to add Lovage, Pumpkins, Willow (Muggle willows don't whomp, but a Red Twig Willow bush is very pretty to look at) and a Butterfly Bush, which is the Muggle equivalent of the Flutterby Bush in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As your children read through the Harry Potter books, they may just find another Muggle plant or two to add to the garden plan, as well.

Finally, for an ornamental touch, add a ceramic or concrete toadstool to the garden. After all, no proper magic garden would be without a toadstool or two."

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Now that school is over I'm itching to get outside and do some work (which desperately needs to be done) but it has been way too hot outside! It's been above 100 for the past few days and is set to be for a few days more. Everything looks all melting and droopy and the weeds have gotten horrific. Didn't think I'd be saying it for awhile, but I'm starting to think longingly of cooler days and pumpkins and falling leaves. I'm ready for fall.

Picking a purple pepper

I was out picking tomatoes yesterday and I found a fully grown purple pepper! I put the two pepper plants in next to the Mexican Midget tomato plant and I thought the tomato plant had kind of overtaken them. (It really is enourmous!) But yesterday evening I was out trying to rein the midget back into it's cage and there it was--a nice sized, royal purple pepper that I hadn't even realized was there.

I think it might have been a little past it's prime, but I brought it in to munch on anyway. The skin was tough and it had kind of a funny flavor--a little like a green pepper, but not quite as good. The flesh inside was kind of a creamy color. I think it would have been ok if I had put it into something, but it wasn't a straight off the bush kind of pepper.

The Tale of My Tomatoes

As a summary for next year ....

The Yellow Pears produced a very tasty tomato or two about every other day. They were so pretty too! I had to smile at them everytime I walked by. Definitely something to grow again.

The Mexican Midgets are still making tons of tomatoes! They're tiny, but have amazing flavor. Very few actually made it into anything--there were a few times they didn't even make it inside to be washed! They were also completely easy to grow--they ended up getting what I thought was a kind of crappy spot in the garden, but the plant is now enormous. Definitely a grow again.

The Juliets were the only real disappointment. They were a little green inside, even when the outsides were nice and red and ripened. It hasn't made many tomatoes (although it hasn't had the greatest of growing conditions) and they don't have nearly the flavor of either of the other tomatoes I grew, or even of store bought roma's. I don't think I would grow these again.

The Sunflower's Are Blooming

But I have a problem! My gardening book says that I need to cover the flowers with cheesecloth and they're so tall I don't know how to reach them. So, even if the birds don't eat all my seeds, I'm not sure how I'm going to get the heads off when they're ripe. Blaine says he thinks they'll drop, but he doesn't sound really sure.

Maybe I could hoist the cheescloth up on some kind of pole contraption? Or maybe a pillowcase or a paper sack or something? Hmmm...this will require thought.

Japanese Friendship Garden

While enjoying some tasty Sylas and Maddy's ice cream and an evening Mass Street stroll, Blaine and I meandered into the Japanese Friendship Garden.

"The Japanese Friendship Garden," says the Lawrence parks website, "was built to honor the 10 year anniversary of Lawrence's relationship with its sister city, Hiratsuka, Japan. The City of Hiratsuka sent representatives to Lawrence to help design, plan and work on the project. The City of Hiratsuka shipped two major pieces from Japan, a lantern and a 15' stone tower to be displayed in the garden.

Approximately 90 feet across and 92 feet deep, [the garden] contains a Wisteria covered arbor walkway, an arbor house, large rocks, water and imaginative lighting. Plantings included Japanese maples, yoshino cherry trees, yews, bamboo, juniper, and mugho pines as well as azaleas, spirea, viburnum, Siberian iris, and peonies. The Japanese Friendship Garden provides Lawrence citizens a quiet oasis in the middle of downtown."

This is a wonderfully intimate, secluded spot. The trees are planted such that once you're in the garden you almost don't even know you're downtown. I'm not generally a fan of a lot of "non-green" stuff (like statues and arbors) but here it was done very well. The structures blend into the garden instead of being obtrusive.

Also, usually in places where I've seen a rock garden, the rock garden almost is the garden. It's overwhelming. I can't picture how anyone would ever want to go out and meditatively rake the rocks into patterns because it just seems like they would melt in the sun. It's more like a dessert than a garden. Here, it's not so. The area around the rock garden is so lush and green that you can almost see yourself out pondering life, moving the rocks while enjoying a nice sunset.