Corn from Outer Space

We saw this corn on the trip to the Fair last weekend, corn like I've never seen before. Sure, like you probably have, I've grown sweet corn that has an occasional wimpy ear of corn, not well filled out, that appears with the corn tassel. But I've never encountered an entire field of corn with the ears where the tassels should be. Nor with suckers (they're called, "tillers") which have what appear to be normal ears of corn. I contacted my friend, Chuck Voigt, the State Extension Specialist in Vegetables and Herbs at the Univ. of Illinois, who sent the photos on to other folks at the University.

From the information they sent me, what I understand this to be is the following: an uncommon but not that rare of an occurrence. It requires the following: (1) a hybrid corn variety that contains long dormant corn genes (remember, corn is an ancient crop, selected from wild grasses in the much distant past, in Central and South America);
(2) an event that damages the corn tops, such as hail;
(3) weather conditions, such as this year's, with excess rain and cool weather.

This phenomenon is called, "tassel ears" but by the descriptions I read, this happens on the tillers (aka suckers). The suckers in this field appear normal, while the strange ears of corn are on the top of the corn plant, not on the sucker. And they're pretty well filled out, too.

Generally when this does show up, from what I read, it is only seen in a small percentage of the field, usually along the edges. The field I photographed appeared to be a hundred acres or more, with "normal" looking corn fields joining it on both sides. And the entire field, for as far as I could see (and you can see more in the field photo if you click to enlarge it) is the same. Even driving along at the speed limit on the highway it was easy to spot this corn with the ears at the top of the plants. All the corn plants have filled out ears on top of the corn, with the tassel sticking out the top. And all have clumps (tillers) at the bottom of the corn stalk, with multiple ears that all appear to be normal and with husks.

We saw the corn between Lincoln and Sedalia, MO, on the trip to the Fair. I didn't see a sign anywhere designating what hybrid corn variety it might be and I would have liked to talk to the farmer whose corn it was to get an opinion from him. Of course the seed corn company may have removed their company name to avoid publicity for providing seed for outer space corn.

Years ago, many of them, when I was just a kid, riding along in my father's truck, we visited a farm in that area of the country. My Dad was hauling corn or livestock, I don't remember which, but the owner of the farm where he was hauling, gave him an ear of corn that had no outside husk, but every kernel of corn had it's own, tiny husk. I kept that for many years because it was such an oddity and I wanted to grow some. I learned that aberration of corn was a throwback to the old corn gene pool, as is this strange field of corn with the ears on top. So maybe it's something in the water of northern Missouri. Of course it is a substantial corn growing area, so some occasional corn from outer space just makes it more interesting!

For plants I know somewhat more about, I just harvested a guinea bean for supper tonight. Sometimes you'll see these sold as "decorative snake gourds," sometimes guinea beans, sometimes, "New Guinea beans." In the community where I grew up, we grew and ate these every summer. In fact, they were much more common where I lived than eggplant.

I slice the tender guinea bean into quarter inch thick slices and dip each in buttermilk then flour and fry them until golden brown. This vegetable can be fixed many other ways, but this one is my favorite ways. It's soft and mild flavored inside with a crispy outside.

Guinea bean is from Papua, New Guinea (thus the name, "guinea bean"). It's a gourd, and the traditional covering for men on that island. While some of the villages I visited while in New Guinea a few years ago have been pushed by outsiders to give up their cultural traditions, most of the men still wear the penis gourd, called a "koteka," thid same "guinea bean" vegetable. What surprised me when I was there and collected seed in 1999, was I didn't find people in any of the villages eating the vegetable. It probably has more to do with the more than 200 varieties of sweet potatoes grown on the island, and the abundance of taro, but according to The Gourd Book, by Charles Heiser, there are 5 varieties of gourds in New Guinea (including West Papua, New Guinea, where I visited) and 3 of those are used for food. I was also there at a time of year the gourds were already nearing maturity. And I certainly explored only a small area. Different tribes use different gourd varieties and you can identify the members of those tribes by the kind of gourd worn.

In doing Google searches for New Guinea bean I found a lot of wrong and misleading information. Some websites labeled this gourd as "cucuzzi or Italian edible gourd" which it is not. That's a completely different plant, which I have also grown. And you'll find some seed companies labeling it, "snake gourd," which it's also not. Snake gourds are not actually gourds and don't have hard shells. I grow these as well as guinea beans and they are a very different plant. Snake gourd, shown here is Trichosanthes cucmerina, and is not the same plant as the guinea bean.

And to confuse you even more (if you're still with me here and I'm not getting too botanical for you), "snake gourd" is listed on one website I found as Curcurbita pepo, which I'm pretty certain is wrong, but it IS the new guinea bean I am growing and they have seed for sale. Most places it's listed as Lagenaria siceraria or just "Lagenaria species."

If you don't know, or ever wondered, gourds have white blossoms while loofahs (which are also edible when young, like guinea beans), pumpkins and squash, have yellow blossoms.

So there you have it, dinner tonight at Long Creek Herbs: heirloom tomatoes with lemon basil, grilled chicken with quick fried guinea bean and a few ginger carrots. There are so many good things to eat in the garden this time of year.

Mo Fair, Great Veggies

I've been going to the Missouri State Fair every year since I was 3 years old. My parents didn't have many traditions and they both worked so hard they never took a vacation. Running a small town grocery store was a 12 hour a day, 6 1/2 days a week job. It provided a respectable living for us, but it meant my parents had time for very little joy in their lives.

But a trip to "The Fair" was one thing they always did. The store would be closed for all day Sunday and Mom & Dad would load up the car about daylight. Mom would have made sandwiches the night before. This was back in the days when there were lots of warnings to fair-goers to avoid foods like potato salad and fried chicken - back in the days when coolers were rare. So Mom would grind up a variety of cheeses, mix in mayonnaise, pimentos and celery seed, and make a bunch of sandwiches. Those were all wrapped up, then put in plastic bags, then into a box with ice. Iced tea in a jug, potato chips, celery sticks and carrots, and always a pie or dessert, rounded out the meal. My parents had lived through the Depression and buying "expensive" Fair food didn't occur to them.

And that same drinking fountain, above, was a fascination to me as a child. Early on, I couldn't reach the fountain and had to be held. But I always stopped there and drank my fill, wondering where the cold water came from. It's still there, unchanged, still a cool, refreshing spot for a drink.

So in keeping with that tradition, Josh and I still go at least once to the Fair every year. We always visit all the agricultural displays, the Dairy House, to see the one ton cow made of butter. The FFA (Future Farmers of America) house, with all of the youth vegetable exhibits is fun, as well. I have noticed the changes in what vegetables are displayed over the years. It used to be there was just one kind of eggplant, but in recent years, the Ichiban, a long, slender eggplant has appeared. This year there were several kinds of eggplants on display for judging. And peppers - it used to be simply bell peppers of different sizes and colors. Now, there are almost as many hot pepper varieties on display as bells.

Pumpkins, herbs of many kinds, watermelons, canteloupes, pumpkins and lots of tomatoes, both heirloom and hybrid, had been judged. It's exciting for me to know there are lots of young people coming along who value gardens, who put in enough time and energy to grow vegetables and to show them at the Fair.

We took in the Midway, always fun for me because I like seeing carnival art. And to see what "weird and unusual" things are on display on the Midway, as well. There used to be the calf with two heads, the woman with a snake's body, a hairless dog and more. When I was about 12 or 13, I started taking a friend or two along with us when we went and the friend and I would leave my parents to explore the "old people's" exhibits and we'd go off to the Midway for the rides. Back then, if you had 25 cents, no matter your age, you could (and we did) get into the girly shows. Not that they were anything exciting, but the idea that we could, "get by" with getting in was the excitement.

Ten cents was the price of admission to see the woman with the snake's body back then. The two headed calf, as you might expect, unless you were 13, was dead and in a jar of formaldehyde. Nearly all of those kinds of exhibits are gone now, and rightly so, but I was surprised to see, "The World's Tiniest Woman" on display. "You can talk to her, she talks to you." Ok, exploitation aside and the sick feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, I would assume some little person makes their living being, "The World's Tiniest Woman." I didn't go to see that, however.

I hadna dish of Pineapple Whip ice cream, however and Josh had handmade, homemade vanilla ice cream and we had earlier followed one of our own traditions, which is lunch at the Beef House, which is sponsored by the Missouri Beef Industry Council. The food is always good, the place clean and the service is outstanding. Servers and cooks are all volunteers from various counties across the State of Missouri.

The grounds of the Missouri State Fair serve other functions during the year. It's home to State Fair Community College, and the grounds are host to tractor pulls, International Fair and a variety of other events.

But the biggest event ever on the fair grounds, not by size but by impact, was the Ozark Mountain Music Festival, July 19-21. It was the last of the huge music festivals following Woodstock, and ended the era of the great outdoor music festivals of the 1960s. Sixty thousand young hippies took over the fairgrounds, and the town of Sedalia, for music. Bands playing that weekend included some of the all time greats of that period: the Eagles, Ted Nugent, the Marshall Tucker Band, Jefferson Starship, America, Nitty Gritty Dirty Band, Boz Scaggs, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seeger and the Silver Bullet Band, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Blue Oyster Cult, Aerosmith, Lynyrd Skynnyrd, Charlie Daniels and the Earl Scrubbs Revue. Wolfman Jack, the famous radiohead was the emcee. Now that really was a concert of a lifetime! I missed Woodstock by being in the military and I missed the Ozark Music Festival by being newly married, employed and too timid to go. That, and I couldn't find anyone to go with me. That year taught me a lot, but one big lesson I learned from missing OMF, was to seize the day - go, and do, instead of always wishing I had.

Jim Ryun, the athlete and runner who broke the world record for the one mile run (3 min. 51 seconds) in the 1960s was also there on stage. (He was a conservative Republican who represented the 2nd District in Kansas, as a U.S. State Representative from 1995 to 2006).

So, with pumpkins, peppers, lots of fish, turtles, snakes, coyotes, deer, great gardens, interesting displays and shows, the Missouri Department of Conservation's Gardens, tractor pulls, free music, car races, Demolition Derby and lots more, the fair lived up to all that I've seen and experienced there over the years. Agriculture is alive and well, young people are learning to garden and feed themselves and good, healthy food can still be found at the fair. Fresh roasted corn, anyone?

Roadside Native Hibiscus

This morning Felder Rushing called and asked me to be a guest on his Friday morning radio show, The Gestalt Gardener. We talked about easy things people can do when they're new to growing herbs, including things to get kids interested in gardens. (He's just been to visit the Huntsville Botanic Garden 2 days after I was there, so we missed each other by only a short while). If you'd like to listen to his show, click this link and go to the archives. The show's fun and people call in with their gardening questions. I've known Felder for many years through Garden Writers of America and he's crazier than I am at stopping and photographing strange, unusual or weirdly wonderful things on his trips. Check out his website and you'll see what I mean! Felder's the author of a bunch of books and speaks often at flower & garden shows, conferences, etc. and like me, prefers to drive and see what's along the way, camera always at the ready. (That's Felder's Gestalt Gnome, on the left, I just borrowed the image for this post). Felder ended the show with what he said was a song, "Just for you, Jim," Rosemary Clooney's, "Come On-a My House." Little did he know, I liked Rosemary Clooney's songs as a kid.

When I go on long drives across the country to lecture, I botanize as I drive. I found, about 3 decades ago, I can spot and fairly well identify a plant when I'm going 55 mph, provided there's no traffic. Not that I can observe the little details of a plant, and sometimes I'm wrong, but driving along, meditating on the world, I can spot a ditch iris or a spider lily growing in a roadside ditch, even if it's surrounded by weeds. I can spot a few ripe blackberries or notice a couple of muscadines hanging in a tree across the fence from the highway. I can often see a variation in a plant color in a colony of single colors. I love plants and I look for them, and at them, everywhere. In my opinion, the whole world's a garden, that garden just has to compete with the highway mowers and roadside herbicide sprayers and chainsaws and neighborhood lawnmowers.

As I was driving along Interstate 40 between Memphis and Little Rock last week, I was admiring the continuing miles of native hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos). These are the same hibiscus I grew up with, growing in the ditches and marshes areas along the Osage River in west central Missouri. Mostly they're white with a red throat. Once in awhile you'll encounter a light pink one. (By the way, the French, when they owned most of the land in southern and central U.S. before the Louisiana Purchase, named the Osage River, the Marais des Cygnes, which is French for “Swan Marshes," which refers to the marshes that were once prolific, and that is where these same native hibiscus once grew).

But there I was, trucking along about 65 or 70 mph, and I spotted a beautiful pink hibiscus smack in the middle of a ditch full of white ones. The clouds were moving fast and the sky was darkening. I saw the hibiscus too late to stop, there was too much traffic, trucks bigger than mine were on my bumper. I thought I'd simply go on to the next exit and turn around and find the flower again and take a photo.

Just then I noticed a virtual herd of huge, roadside mowers ahead, mowing down the "brush and weeds" on both sides of the interstate. I hoped I could collect some seed before the mowers got there. Why? The occasional pink hibiscus is a natural hybrid, not that unusual, but still worth collecting. The various hybrids that have been released by seed companies and nurseries over the years, all trace their parentage back to this same native hibiscus.

It was 10 miles down the road before there was an exit, more than I had anticipated. I crossed over the highway and drove the 10 miles back to another exit, then back on the road looking for the hibiscus. The mowers were creeping closer and it was beginning to rain.

I spotted the pink hibiscus and pulled off the road onto the grass, well away from the rushing tractor trailers and fast moving traffic. I walked over with my camera and saw the plants didn't have mature seed. A shame, since they would soon be mowed to the ground by the approaching mowers.

These native hibiscus, as I mentioned, are the mother of the big plate-sized hibiscus we grow in our gardens and you can read more of that story here for more details. They're a long blooming shrub, often having flowers for 6 or 8 weeks and are lots easier to grow than the tropical hibiscus varieties (and with much larger flowers, too). They'll grow as far north as Zone 4 and as far south as you can go before walking off into the ocean. Give them sunshine and most any kind of soil - although moist soil is preferred, and they will grow and bloom. They've been used medicinally in folk medicines for centuries, the stems provide a very good weaving fiber, and the flowers make a colorful and pleasantly tart tea. (By the way, the darker the flower, generally the more tart and tasty the tea).

I wanted the seed because I would like having that particular one in my garden. Of course had there been miles of pink hibiscus and there were only a couple of white ones in the midst, my impulse would have been the same. Gardeners want to grow what's unusual and what their neighbors don't have. This pink variation among the white ones isn't that unusual and I spotted a few more pink ones as I continued my drive. But that one pink hibiscus did get photographed before the mowers got to it and this week, if you pass by, you'll see what appears to be a neatly mowed roadside with no hint of the beauty that was there last week. Nor will you notice the bees and butterflies that were flying about as I was photographing. I'm sure we need clean roadsides, but the ditch, 100 feet or more off the highway didn't seem to be a threat to anyone and the highway drive along Interstate 40 was certainly more interesting when it included millions of bright hibiscus blossoms and a few pink ones scattered in!

Children's Gardens

(Click on photos to enlarge; all photos are from the Huntsville Botanic Children's Garden, except the last one, which is in our gardens at Long Creek Herb Farm).

I am an enthusiastic promoter and supporter of children's gardens. I think they are vitally important in teaching kids where food comes from and for teaching humanity's relationship to, and dependency on, nature.

A few years back I was invited to the Cleveland Botanical Garden to participate in a Children's Garden Conference. It was a remarkable and insightful event and brought children and their projects from many states. My part was to present a program on methods of promoting and marketing kids gardens, and a second program on making such gardens profitable (by creating products, events and creative marketing projects). Cleveland Botanical Garden has a magnificent kids garden (named the "Hershey Children's Garden" .....Mama, is that Hershey like Hershey bar??? Yes it is dear and they believe in kids and gardens..).

The Hershey Children's Garden, much like the kid's garden at Longwood Gardens outside Philadelphia, PA, is created to give kids a little taste of flowers and activities. Some call these gardens, "Kids theme park gardens" because a lot of money is poured into things that look good and impress kids but that kids only look at, rather than participate in - little garden pathways that have gates where adults are too large to enter, for instance, fountains just for kids, doll houses and the like.

The flip side of this kind of kids garden are the gardens I found in San Antonio, TX and Philadelphia, PA. Gardens that were started by adults, but built, tended and worked on by kids (and "kids" is a broad term, ages 12 on up to adulthood are often included in these working-teaching gardens). I gave herb programs a few years back at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, also, and they have ongoing programs for teaching children about plants and gardening.

The Hershey Children's Garden has a lot of displays like plants growing in raised bed tables and kids are encouraged to open windows that show into the soil, show where the roots are and how earthworms are working. There are lots of activities and programs for kids, and for the teens, there's a working community garden. As I recall, Master Gardeners are the teachers and kids from anywhere in Cleveland can sign up for a summer of learning and garden work. Each teen is assigned a little garden plot and taught how to raise produce, which they sell. A big part of the ongoing project of the Children's Garden is the Salsa Project. The teens learn to raise tomatoes, basil, peppers and onions, and those are processed in a commercial kitchen under the guidance of a local chef into salsa. The salsa, mild, medium and hot varieties is then sold in the gift shop and in stores around Cleveland. We used to offer it through our catalog here at Long Creek Herbs, but not enough of our customers seemd to appreciate the idea of supporting children's gardens enough for us to keep offering it.

The kids community gardens in Philadelphia was founded by an elderly lady who lived in a very poor, rund0wn section of Phily. She saw lots of empty, abandoned lots growing up in weeds. She organized a few local teens and cleaned up a lot, took much of the trash, broken glass, ceramic tiles and such and enlisted a local college art class to help her teach the kids about art from trash. The artwork became a focal point in the garden. The gardens that have evolved out of her work now cover 30 or 40 lots with the assistance and permission of the Philadelphia government. She explained that on every block where a community garden is established, the crime rate goes down and there are less gangs. It's a remarkable project and continues to grow. I toured several of the gardens as part of the Garden Writers of America conference a few years back.

The Huntsville Botanic Garden's Children's Gardens incorporates a diversity of projects and displays to keep kids interested. Their approach is to make the gardens a place kids want to go, to show plants and their relationship to the environment, and to host lots of activities to keep kids coming back. There are displays of unusual plants, displays were kids can explore earthworms, soil, root structures, along with mazes of different kinds. One new maze that will be fun when it's farther along is the willow maze, made of rows of willow saplings planted, then tied together so as to make tunnels for kids to explore and find the way through. There are also displays that show how rainbows work, what a bee sees by looking through prisms and lenses.

I learned to garden from my parents. I kept pestering them to let me have my own garden and at age 5 they said ok. I was allowed to order seed of my own. My father spaded up a little spot about 6 x 6 ft and my parents allowed me to make the rows and plan and plant the seed. I made lots of mistakes that spring, planting corn too close to the peas, too many zinnias, too many crops total for the space. But the few things my garden produced were touted and featured in summer meals. I hated weeding, so my garden went to weeds, but my parents did not interfere. I learned a lot from my mistakes that year and am eternally grateful to my parents for letting me learn instead of doing it all for me. That's why I think children's gardens are so important. Kids, if given the opportunity, will develop an understanding of our relationship to nature.

Many kids who grow up without a garden or parents who garden, often don't even know that lettuce comes from anywhere other than the grocery store. Or that eggs come from chickens or milk from cows. I've had families visit my gardens here and the kids were amazed that tomatoes grow on vines, or that they might even be able to grow a potato, and that it can be turned into a french fry.

Children's gardens are important and regardless of whether they are mostly theme park or mostly working garden, both can make a lasting impression on kids.

International Herb Association Conference

I was not especially excited about traveling to Huntsville, Alabama. It's been almost 30 years since my last visit and my memories were of a dusty, backward town with a lot of red clay where soil should have been. What I did not expect was a very multicultural, cosmopolitan city with miles of space-related industrial complexes, a shopping center that has gondoliers and looks very Venice-like. And I did not expect to find a Waffle House with an official greeter.

I hear the comment from women friends fairly often, "Jim, I'm always a little intimidated to cook for you since you write cookbooks and cook with style." So for all of you who've told me that in the past few years, here's where I eat when I travel. Waffle House. Yes, really. I like Waffle House because it's fast, friendly (they always greet every customer who comes through the door) and I like their omelettes. Eating cheap for several meals means I can go somewhere nice during my trip.

Imagine my surprise to find a real first class greeter, Ms. Suzie. She greeted every customer that came through the door and was constantly chatting with, and hugging, the regulars. I looked around and the clientele was made up of African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and "generic whites," including myself. I inquired about Ms. Suzie and was told she's been at Waffle House for 17 years as a waitress. After retiring, her husband had a heart attack and the manager thought Ms. Suzie needed something to keep her busy and active and offered her a job as greeter. She drives 2 hours each way every day she works and I very much enjoyed meeting her.

The reason for this trip was to attend the International Herb Association's annual conference. It's a small group, one I used to serve on the Board of Directors for back when it had several hundred members. It's evolved over time, gotten much smaller, but is still a nice group. It is meant to support small herb businesses. The conference included an interesting mix of programs and demonstrations.

My sciatica had a flare up on the last day of the conference, the one in which we were to take a half day tour of the basil research project, led by Dr. S. Rao Mentreddy, at Alabama A & M University. Dr. Mentreddy is performing a wide range of testing on 87 varieties of basil, including examining which varieties hold the best potential for treating diabetes and the potential for preventing colon cancer. One of the high ranking (in quality of essential oils and potential usefulness for medicinal uses) is Indian Holy basil (Ocimum tenuifolorum syn. sanctum). In the 87 basils he's looking at included the one I was given by Madalene Hill, the green pepper basil (Ocimum selloi) I've written about here before. Mine came from Oxaca, Mexico while the specimum Dr. Mentreddy is using came from Paraguay. The Journal of Ethnopharmacology sites research on selloi oil as being used as mosquito repellents, as well. I was especially disappointed to have to miss the tour of his facility, but if you can't walk, you can't walk. (Another round of Prednisone and Tylenol got me home).

Dr. Art Tucker, Research Professor and Co-Director of the Claude E. Phillips Herbarium at Delaware State University and author, Susan Belsinger presented a fine program kicking off the next herb of the year, Dill, for 2010. Donna Frawley gave a bountiful cooking demonstration with Susan Belsinger on a variety of dill recipes in preparation for next year's Herb of the Year publication (check my Herb of the Year blog for links to all of the information on the "official" herbs of the year). Charles Voigt, Principal Research Specialist in Agriculture at the University of Illinois, gave a fascinating program on the plant trials he conducts in Illinois, Steven Lee gave a cooking and blending demonstration, Tina Wilcox from the Ozark Folk Center presented, "How to Raise a Kitchen Garden from Scratch, Terry Hollembaek gave, "Natural Farming, Where it Came from and Where it's Going." And Phyllis D. Light, presented "Appalachian Folk Medicine" which changed a lot of people's minds about when, and who populated the South. (A hint is, the Spanish, French and Irish were there nearly 100 years with established towns, before Jamestown Colony was founded by the British). She explained how those cultures influenced folk medicine, with considerable contributions from Native Americans and Africans.

The real big surprise of the weekend for me was the world class Huntsville Botanic Garden. It's the kind of botanic garden most cities dream of having some day. Extensive, labeled, well funded, spectacular plant collections and beautifully landscaped. On the lawn I found a series of giant ants and upon closer examination, discovered they were made of bent willow! You know how attached I am to bent wood, having written 3 books on making bentwood trellises, fences, gates and arbors. But I never imagined giant ants!

The Herb Garden, which is managed and tended by the Herb Society of Huntsville was exceptionally well done, well labeled and I spent a good deal of time there photographing plants. There was an exceptional collection of Native American plants, with labeling to explain the medicinal uses and which tribes used which plant.

But it was the Children's Garden that impressed me the most. There's an ongoing debate about children's gardens, not whether to have them, but what they should contain. Many botanic gardens put in a children's garden as a way of attracting families, and revenue, and they make it essentially a kids theme park. The opposing view is that a kid's garden should be a teaching garden with lots of displays of earthworms and how roots grow and activities to explain the garden to kids.

Huntsville Botanic's kid's garden attempts to do both. There are plant displays of unusual and interesting plants (I found my favorite bean, the Chinese red noodle long bean on a trellis). Raised beds with sides that let down so kids can look through glass and see how earthworms and roots exist in the soil, along with a fascinating "Rainbow Garden" which had water mists and several prims at kid-level to look through to see the rainbows. It included kaleidoscopes and a rainbow of flowers and pathways.

The most popular part of the kids' garden was the "Dinosaur" garden, which included a big sand pile where kids could dig for dinosaur footprints and fake bone parts. Within that area, amidst a big planting of Equisetum hyemale (which you may know as scouring rush) were intermittent mist machines. Boys and girls were carrying gravel and piling it, playing in the sand and having a great time in the mist and water. The great thing is the garden is virtually kid-proof so parents can bring a book and read and let the kids play as long as they like. And it seems to attract kids to the idea of gardens and plants and educates them while keeping them entertained.

Scouring rush is appropriate plant for a dinosaur garden simply because it is a plant that has remain unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. It is widespread around the world, contains silica and was once used medicinally. And it's not easily damaged by kids.

More stories from the gardens I visited in the next entry. For now, stay cool and happy gardening!

Linnaeus Garden, Tulsa

Summertime, the time for ripe tomatoes, starry nights, good sleeping and being with people you enjoy. Oklahoma, in places around Tulsa, however, got upwards of 110 degrees, so life switches to shady places and moving slower when it's that hot.

It was a wonderful time to be in Tulsa, in spite of the heat. I was there for a program on Monday night for the Tulsa Herb Society, an energetic and well organized group that I have spoken for in years past. They are always great hosts and for this program, and my cooking demonstration the following day, they went pulled out all the stops in their decorating.

The location was the Tulsa Garden Center, which is a turn of the century former private mansion where many of the garden and herb clubs of Tulsa meet. These great ladies combed the city for flowers and herbs and spent 2 days decorating with flowers, antiques, tables, chairs, gloves, pots, herbs and more. It looked like a wedding was planned from all of the candles and flower arrangements and I was honored they had gone to such efforts to make my programs festive.

The crackers and stuffed tomatoes (which you saw on the previous post, and for which the recipe was posted, too) were very well received on Tuesday at the cooking demonstrations. I made Banana Salsa and Green Grape with Mint Salsa (from my Salsa book). Next on the menu was Green Pea & Avocado Dip, Stuffed Tomatoes, Habanero-Cheddar Crackers, Middle Eastern Seed Crackers and a couple of salad dressings (also from my books).

My Monday night program was, "Cutting Edge Plants" and I talked about how changing ethnic food trends change the kinds of plants we buy and grow. The food we find in restaurants and see in the media, influences not only nurseries but our own backyard gardens. I focused on several plants from India, China, Thailand, Papua, New Guinea and Mexico and illustrated how those are just coming into the marketplace.

Our great hosts were long time friends, Tom & Sue Stees and it's always a delight to get to visit with them. They both cooked and hosted and wined and dined us and just generally made life wonderful for us all. Tom, who's on the Board of Directors for the Linnaeus Teaching Garden (which is behind the Tulsa Garden Center), provided me a wonderful tour of the new facility. He introduced me to the Director of Horticulture, Barry Fugatt who is largely responsible for this remarkable garden, and one of the staff, Allison Warning, who explained the history of the garden and the mansion grounds. Much of the hardscape materials were donated by area businesses, thanks to the efforts of the Board, and the concept and design came from Barry. There are many remarkable facets to this garden and it would take several visits to see it all. It includes vegetables, ornamentals, a water garden, cottage garden, herb garden, espaliered fruit trees, along with arbors, and the garden showcases some of the newest plant introductions from Ball Seed, to be introduced to the gardening public next year, such as a new lime and pink petunia.

Who was Linnaeus? Carl Linnaeus is considered the Father of Taxonomy. His system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms is still in wide use today, continuing to evolve with changes. But it was his system, begun in the 1700s for classifying all plants, that is the basis of the plant identification and classification system still in use today.

One plant that caught my attention was a stunning new crape myrtle called, 'Dynamite' and it lived up to its name. It's one of a line of new exciting new colors of crape myrtles from Tree Land Nurseries.

The Linnaeus Garden would be remarkable in any location, but is especially fitting in Tulsa, which has a very active gardening culture. The Rose Gardens are just steps away but it is the Linnaeus Garden that is stealing the spotlight currently. They host a variety of groups for programs, keep about 200 volunteers busy (and I believe Allison Warning is coordinator of those). The plant collections are impressive and it is a perfect place for workshops, teaching children and adults.

Tom & Sue's garden is perfectly groomed and beautiful with a variety of flowers, herbs and perennials. Being there and enjoying their delightful garden, then touring the Linnaeus Garden, and being hosted by the Tulsa Herb Society, made for a perfect visit to Tulsa. It reminded me of that song (click the link to hear) from the 60s by the Lovin. Spoonful, "Summer in the City."
It was just about a perfect visit to gardens and seeing friends and eating good food and enjoying more gardens. Now, I need to stay home and weed my own. Garden volunteers anyone?