Dredging drafts

Time to clean out all those posts that have been marinating in the drafts folder for. . .months.

This sadly was written in May and I completely forgot all about it.

It's just starting to get hot here. I think my plants are ready for the summer.This is my scented geranium. Rose, I think. Maybe lemon, I'm not sure. It was huge and lovely during the fall. Also quite over grown and in need of trimming back. Which I did. I also got a small packet of California Poppies. I sprinkled them throughout the pots to see what would happen to them and them promptly forgot all about them. Those feathery looking leaves are the poppy.

I have no idea what this is called. I call it the onion plant. It grows all bulby out of the garden just like an onion. It has green leaves like an onion. Then it sprouts these monstrous flowers that flail about in an unattractive manner. I hate this plant but BH loves it so I water it and love it and. . . then it needed to be transplanted. NEEDED! It got so rootbound that it cracked the pot. I had to chisel the roots out of there. I gathered up as many babies as I could and put them in a pot with some fresh dirt. It'll grow I've no doubt. Nothing can stop this beast.
I call her Miss Beetle. . I don't normally name my plants. It makes it harder later on to dig them out and transplant. I'm afraid if they die I'll be sad and who needs that? But this is special. This is a lemon verbena. Remember Miss Beetle on Little House? She loved lemon verbena, it was her favorite perfume. If you run your hand over the leaves you can smell the scent on your hands. It always reminds me of Little House on the Prairie and Half Pint. I found this at the 99 store. I know! I couldn't believe it either. It was kind of ratty and sad but it has perked up. Hopefully she will get beautiful and bushy for me this summer.

A miniture rose. I forget the color of it now. Jbug got it for me for my last surgery. Whenever I need more plants for my garden I'll just have another surgery. I'll make a wish list.
Tarregon.
I don't use tarregon much. It's kind of licorichy, which is a little wierd for some people. It's great for chicken or fish. I don't cook a lot of fish and I am not fond of this on fish. It is nice for salad dressings though. Still, I mostly just love to have it in my garden. It grows from a rizome, like ginger, and it usually goes domant in the winter. I usually forget which pot it's in and plant something else in the pot and the wierd cycle starts all over again. This year I planted a lemon balm. A beautiful fragrant plant that takes over everything. So I barely noticed when the tarregon came back this spring and nearly killed it. Again. I carefully pulled the lemon balm out and planted it in another pot.

Lemon balm
I am pleased to announce that both are doing fine after their surgeries.

Mint
What can you say about mint. You gotta have it in your garden. It grows like crazy so keep it contained, or really, you will be sorry. It's great for garnish and it's pretty, so that's a bonus.

Oregano and lemon balm
I know their are a bunch of different varieties of oregano and I can never remember which one this is. Not that it matters, I don't really like oregano and I only use it, sparingly. I've had this plant for over a year, I don't think I've ever used it.

The aloe vera and British mystery bulbs, oregano and lemon balm.

Thyme.
An herb I love and use plenty of. Unfortuanly I can never get a plant big enough to support my needs.

This, I think is called Donkey tail. It's a succulent that doesn't look very pretty here, but it will. While out on a Notary call I noticed the owner had transplanted this little darling and there were bits and pieces everywhere. I asked if I could take some home and they gave me a whole bag full of trimmings. I've hearby scattered them throughout my pots. Some will not get enough sun. Some will get to hot. And some will let me know how happy they are to be in my garden.

In the meantime, it looks like this. I'll keep you posted.

Chives
La la love chives. I have had to separate, thin and transplant this plant numerous times. It grows like crazy and makes me very happy. One little problem is that it is always in flower. You are not suppose to use herbs when they begin to flower as it reduces/changes their flavor. I use it all the time and it tastes just fine. Wish I could get it to stop flowering. At least for a little while.

Basil.
I so love basil and can think of a hundred things to do with it. I buy a plant every year and the minute it hits my yard it bolts and then I can't use it. I mean I would, but the flowers reduce the leaves to nada and the flowers are not good for anything. So last year I bought this African Basil. The grower said it was periennal and I'd have basil in my yard all year. I had dreams of fresh picked and prepared pesto, all year. Ahhh, but it was not to be. The minute I got it in my garden, it bolted. Ok, no problem, let it run it's course and in the fall, cut it back and see her leaf up all fall and winter. Come fall I trimmed all the flowers off. They grew back. Then I cut the whole thing back to almost nothing. It's diffecult to tell from this picture but the minute it leafed up, it flowered. I keep pinching off the flowers but it refuses to be tamed. I have had this a year now and I've yet to do anything with it.