So Succulent Gardens

If you do not have cash on hand this year to send mom a BLOSSOM FARM live herbal basket or our handmade Lavender products.  There is time to make Mom hand-crafted cologne.
It should be done today since MOM's day is only 10 days away.
Filter through coffee filter and visit you local $$$$ store for  unique looking bottles. 
Enjoy!  Gayle

Cologne
1/2 cup lavender
1/4 cup rosemary
peel of 1 lemon
peel of 1 orange
1/2 cup orange-mint leaves
1/2 cup lemon balm leaves
2 cups vodka
2 cups rosewater
Steep 2 weeks; filter and bottle.


Spicy Cologne
1 oz. rose petals
2 T. lavender
2 thin strips orange peel
1 (1-inch) stick cinnamon, crushed
1 tb. coriander seeds, bruised
10 oz. vodka
Steep 2 weeks; filter and bottle.

Herbal cologne
2 T. rosemary
2 T. lavender
1 T. juniper berries, crushed
1 strip lemon rind
10 oz. vodka
Steep 2 weeks; filter and bottle.

Hungary Water
1 T. rosemary
1 tsp. mint leaves
Grated peel of 1/4 lemon
Grated peel of 1/4 orange
1/4 cup vodka
1/2 cup rosewater
Steep 2 weeks; filter and bottle.

HERBAL INSECT REPELLANT

Grind 1 ½ cup of dried herbs or 3 cups fresh and place in 1 quart of water, let it sit for 24 hours, strain, add 1/4 t. of dish soap. A variety of herbs are known to repel a variety of insects. Experiment to see what works best in your situation. Here are some that may work: catmint, feverfew, marigolds, sage, thyme, pennyroyal, wormwood, chives, painted daisies, southernwood, lemon bam, tansy, lavender, bay and garlic.

The creation of a successful hummingbird habitat in your garden is easy. Like other birds, they need food, water, and spots for nesting, roosting and perching. Hummingbird metabolism dictates a diet high in sugar. A ‘typical’ hummingbird consumes half of his weight each day in sugar requiring several feedings per hour. They obtain their sugar and many other nutrients from flower nectar.


Providing a steady succession of nectar flowers from early spring until late autumn is the key to attracting these birds. Hummingbirds are particular about their flowers. These ‘hummingbird flowers’ are often red, a color which is visible to the birds, but is indistinctive for insects competing for the nectar. They often have long tubular flowers which also discourages most bees which cannot reach down far enough to get the nectar. Red is the color that gets a hummingbirds attention, but they also sample flowers of other colors and frequent them if they are good nectar producers. Although attracted to the color red flowers they won't come back if they is a poor food source.

Hummingbirds also consume many small insects which they find in the flowers. A diversity of flowers promotes a healthy diversity of insect life that is necessary for their diet.

A complete habitat also includes trees and shrubs for shade roosting, perching and nest sites. It has been suggested that willows trees are a multipurpose plant. Their flowers are a source for both nectar and small insects while the downy filaments which aid in seed dispersal are a good nest building material for the hummingbird.

Hummingbirds get their nutritional water from nectar, but they do appreciate a bird bath. The water must be shallow, to accomplish this in a regular bird bath line the bottom of the basin with flat rocks and fill with water.


Hummingbird Flowers
Anise Hyssop
Lobelia
Penstemon
Butterflybush
Rosemary
Foxglove Columbine
Honeysuckle
Salvia
Coral Bell
Trumpet Vine
Red Hot Pokers
Bee Balm
Lambs Ear
Lupine
Obedient Plant

Create a tapestry in a pot with sensational succulents! The plants have a way of capturing the imagination with beautiful flowers, and interesting foliage and textures, making them irresistible additions to the sunny, well-drained garden. Because of their small size, they are also ideal candidates for the urban garden, giving city gardeners the option of growing a wide range of plants in even the most confined of spaces. Perfect for containers where forgetting to water is not a problem. They thrive on neglect, so if mom or sending a special gift for someone that loves plants but tends to forget they need love too, this is a wonderful idea!

Rock gardens are not hard to maintain, which is great for gardeners. In fact, most care simply involves removing weeds on a regular basis. Even this task will diminish as the rock plants establish themselves and fill in any gaps where weeds might grow.

Folklore: Sempervivum and Sedum are considered ‘Old World Treasures’ and are associated with mythology. During early centuries in Scandinavian countries, they were called Thor’s Helper’ and were believed to drive off demons and guard homes if planted on roofs. The Romans called them "Beard of Jupiter" and planted them on roofs to guard against lightning.

THE BLOSSOM FARM GROWS OVER 40 VARITIES.

HAPPY PLANTING, GAYLE

There is evidence of lavender being used for centuries, in Egyptian times in perfumes and massage oils. The Greeks used lavender as medicine during the first century AD. The Romans used lavender to scent the public baths where it was believed to restore vitality to bathers.

Romans also used lavender oil to massage and heal the skin and to repel insects. There are even several references to lavender in the Bible. The Queen of Sheba offered King Solomon "spike," an early name for lavender. Judith rubbed lavender oil on her body before seducing Holofernes. In France, lavender flowers were strewn on the floor to freshen the air and mask stinking smells of the unsanitary streets. In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I drank 10 cups of lavender tea a day to ward off headaches and promote her sense of well being. The history of lavender's benefits is long and well documented.

Emotion: With antidepressant and sedative qualities, lavender lifts depression, eases stress and anxiety, and is useful in overcoming headaches, migraine and insomnia.

Insomnia: The sedative quality of lavender can induce sleep and ease problems of insomnia, restlessness and agitation.

Skin: Lavender is antiseptic and anti-inflammatory; healing cuts, burns, sunburns, insect bites, acne, eczema and even dandruff.

Breathing: Lavender is an antiseptic and can kill germs. It is also an expectorant, which breaks up congestion. It can help fight colds, throat infections, coughs, sinusitis and flu.

Circulation: Lavender is a sedative and hypotensive, and reduces high blood pressure and palpitations.

Digestion: Lavender use aids in easing indigestion, flatulence and nausea and alleviates bad breath or toothache.

Muscular: Lavender is analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic; the oil is good for aches, pains, sprains, cramps and spasms.

Source: Lavender, Nature's Way to Relaxation and Health by Philippa Waring

 "Lavender's blue, diddle diddle"- So goes the song;  All around her bush, diddle diddle, Butterflies throng;  (They love her well, diddle diddle, So do the bees While she herself, diddle diddle, ways in the breeze! Lavender's blue, diddle diddle, Lavender's green;  "She'll scent the clothes, diddle diddle, Put away clean- Clean from the wash, diddle diddle, Hanky and sheet;  lavender's spikes, diddle diddle, Make them all sweet!

MOTHERS DAY IS JUST THREE WEEKS AWAY. SO IF YOU ORDER EARLY BY April 30 through Local Harvest, Any of our GARDEN gift baskets or ANY OF our LAVENDER gift collections your MOM will receive a FREE LAVENDER SACHET or 1/4 POUND OUR SIGNATURE LAVENDER HONEY SHORTBREADS. 
Please send me a message what you prefer, or a sachet will be sent.

Sweetgrass is used in prayer, smudging, and purifying ceremonies and is regarded as a sacred plant by the Native Americans.  It is not well known that it was also sacred to early Europeans and is still used in churches on festival days. Sweet-grass aroma is strong only when moistened or burned. As the grass dries the fragrance intensifies. When burned it does not produce an open flame but smolders. Just as the sweet scent is attractive to people, it is also attractive to good spirits. Native Americans often burned the grass at the beginning of a prayer or to attract positive energies. A tea is brewed by Native Americans for coughs, sore throats, chafing and venereal infections. It is warned that because the roots contain coumarin that it may be considered carcinogenic.

The botanical latin name Hierochloë translates from Greek as sacred (hieros) and grass (chloë) Native Americans  call sweetgrass the “grass that never dies.” Even when it is cut, it retains its fragrance and spirit.
Today, sweetgrass is used inter-tribally throughout the United States.
Sweetgrass was used ceremonially by many tribes, including the Omaha, Ponca, Kiowa, Dakota, Lakota, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Winnebago. The Cheyenne, Blackfeet, and Lakota use sweetgrass in the Sun Dance.   Sweetgrass symbolizes life’s growth for the Cheyenne.
Sweetgrass used as perfumery of the Blackfeet, who braided it and kept it with their clothes like a sachet or carried it in small bags. Blackfeet women also used it as a hair rinse for shine and the men drank the tea to treat VD.  

Among the Chippewa, sweetgrass was used as an incense or smudge in ceremony, as a spiritual medicine, and in basketweaving. The use of incense is more characteristic of the Plains Indians than of the Algonquian tribes. “Men would smudge before hunting to purify body and spirit. Medicine men kept sweetgrass in the bag with their medicinal roots and herbs. Strands of sweetgrass were made into coiled and tied with strands of string to create baskets.

Sweetgrass is extremely easy to grow and enjoys a well drain but lots of compost.   They spread by underground rhizomes, and you can harvest once to twice a year. 

This plant from the BLOSSOM FARM cannot be shipped to Washingtion, Oregon, California or Arizona due to there state regulations on grasses.

Source:   U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Soon the fragrant flowers for will be blooming, it is a perfect time to make this wonderful blend to keep in a crock.  It is said that this old recipe and will keep its fragrance for 50 years, with the addition of a bit of brandy every couple of years or whenever the mixture dries out. This is not a pretty mixture, but the AROMA!

3/4 cup salt (non-iodized)
Crush the following 3 items:
3 bay leaves, 1/4 cup allspice, 1/4 cup cloves,
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 TSP. orrisroot powder
1 quart partially dried rose petals
2 cups mixed, partially dried, fragrant (jasmine, lavender, orange blossoms, violet, etc.),
1 cup dried fragrant leaves (rose geranium, bee balm, lemon verbena, etc),
2 TSP. brandy.
Mix together the salt, bay, allspice, cloves and sugar.
Blend flower petals and leaves with Orris root. Place some of the petal mixture in a large crock and sprinkle with the salt mixture. Continue alternating layers of petals and salt, ending with salt. Add the brandy, weight down with a plate. After thoroughly mixing every day for month, pour into small containers.

Herbal Baths From The Garden
Herbal baths are a perfect antidote to combat impure air and water conditions. Smoothing, soothing and hydrating to the skin.
The basic bath: Place 1/2 cup of any combination of herbs in a non-metallic pot add water to cover. Bring to boil, simmer 10-20 minutes to extract the wonderful benefits. Strain. Pour the herbal fragrant brew into your bath water or use the brew as a last rinse in the shower. If you are bathing, soak 20 minutes. Do not have the bath water too hot will make you sweat and not allowing your skin to pick up the herbal
nutrients. Note: Allergic reaction can occur with any herbal product, as always test on a small area o the skin before bath.

Herb Plants to Gather:
Lavender-rejuvenating, fragrant
Peppermint-stimulating, cooling
Sage- astringent, Helps joints
Calendula-healing to dry skin
Chamomile-reduces swelling
Horsetail-anti-fungal
Lemon Balm-relaxing
Parsley-Soothes insect bites
Marjoram-stimulating
Rosemary-astringent
Thyme-muscle relaxer
Roses-hydrator
Chervil-revitalizing
Savory-stimulating
Hop-revitalizing
Spearmint-calming
Catnip-relaxing
Strawberry leave-cleansing
Basil-relaxing