Thyme In My Garden
Come along with me for some "thyme" well spent in my popular
garden. Here you will find a variety of flowering plants, assorted
herbs and beautiful architecture. Not
to mention a few surprise visitors we'll talk more about later in the story.
You can touch the dew on the petals of a flower, smell the fragrant
aroma, sit in my garden atrium and learn first hand about a variety of plants
and animals. My garden creates
strong family roots so follow along closely as I guide you on this unique
tour…
In your minds eye, I will supply a rake, shovel, hoe, wheelbarrow,
decorative apron, hat and garden gloves. You
can design your own plant markers with pictures, names and even your own
imaginary nicknames if you choose.
If you are ready, let's open up the small white gate and follow along
with me into an open sunny area. Here
in a lightly sanded area I am growing Garden Thyme and Lemon Thyme.
If you've read any old stories you know that a special visitor to my
garden loves Thyme. We'll keep an
eye out for her as she sometimes can be seen fluttering around this area of my
garden. She's pretty quick so if I
catch a glimpse of her I'll let you know.
Thyme absorbs sunlight and turns it into potent volatile oils making
these herbs leaves valuable for medicine. It
also smells really nice and is an antiseptic for many different ailments.
Bees love the flowers of Thyme and the most delicious and fragrant honey
is made from it.
Guess who just fluttered by? A
little tiny "Fairy Named Crissy."
She lives in my garden and loves my Thyme.
She is very tiny with paper-thin wings and a long slender body.
She glistens in the sun as she flutters back and forth from my Garden
Thyme to my Lemon Thyme. I hope you
were able to see her. If you missed
her, we'll try and see her again later on the way back.
As you can see I have lots of herbs growing here, and speaking of herbs,
we may even run into the ever popular "Herb" later on in this story
too. But for now among my herbs in
the garden is Rosemary. It grows in
abundance and is called "The Dew Of The Sea."
Spearmint and Peppermint grow here too and the leaves are useful for many
minor acute ailments. Lavender the
perfume flower is one of my favorites. With
it's blue or purplish flowers it is a beautiful sight in any garden.
We just ventured past "Freddie The Ceramic Frog" filled with
garden herbs sitting quietly in the herb garden.
Comfrey is the next row of herbs. It
is truly the miracle worker of herbs. It
promotes rapid healing of tissues as well as its growth habits in the garden. Even a tiny piece of its root will reproduce itself in a
short period. You've probably heard
of Aloe Vera Gel, also known as "Kumari" or "Goddess."
It is commonly used for beauty and sunburn relief.
I like this plant because inside the thick outer shell lies a most
interesting gel. "Sugar"
my white Angora cat's favorite herb is Catnip.
Cats love this herb!
There before us now stands "Herb The Scarecrow."
He's supposed to keep birds and animals out of my garden but as you can
see by the large black crow perched on Herbs' outstretched arm, he really hasn't
done a very good job. In fact he's
taken on a personality of his own and talks to the birds and animals.
To cheer him up I decided to get creative and dress him up in different
outfits like a rain jacket for rainy days and shorts and tennis shoes for
summer. Herb was a happy scarecrow
and a well dressed one too.
Well now, before we head for the fragrant flower garden, would you like
to learn a little bit about seeds? The
promise of a seed is the miracle of life! Have
you ever seen a dandelion seed? You
remember, they look like tiny parachutes flying with the winds.
Some tree seeds look like tiny propellers gliding through the air.
Some plants shoot their seed s into the air, while others fly.
Rodents, deer, squirrels, and other animals carry them and some attatch
to fur, clothes and yes, even rain carry some.
Wow! Now you can see how the
promise of a seed is the miracle of life! New
plants and flowers are born from these amazing seeds!
Amazing stuff. Huh?
Now lets go into my fragrant flower garden where you will see a variety
of flowering plants. Did you know
that there are more kinds of insects than all other varieties of plants and
animals combined? They were around
before the dinosaurs too! They will
be with us forever so lets learn all we can about them, okay?
They are welcome in my garden because they are nature's way of
controlling pests. So lets give
them a great big welcome! (You can
clap your hands if you like)
Presenting; Lady The Bug, Princeton The Praying Mantis, Art The Aphid,
Stanley The Spider Mite, Arnold The Aphid Lion, and Timothy The Trichogramma
Wasp.
"Lady The Bug" may be the greatest asset to any garden.
She eats aphids, mealy bugs, leafhoppers, fleas, lice and other garden
pests in their egg and larval stages. Kids
love them with their red shells and black polka dots hiding two tiny fragile
wings.
"Princeton The Praying Mantis" also known as a camouflage
artist is a big garden bug. When
sitting still perched on a plant with their arms together in front of them it
looks like they are praying. They
have huge appetites and are indiscriminate eaters.
"Art The Aphid" is a soft green color almost transparent.
He is very destructive and sucks the juices of life right out of plants.
"Stanley The Spider Mite" is a dirty and dangerous insect like
the aphid. He can sometimes eat an
entire plant without being seen. He
is a red dot on a plant.
"Arnold The Aphid Lion" is a friend to many gardeners.
He loves to eat aphids, spider mites and mealy bugs plus other plant
attacking insects.
"Timothy The Trichogramma Wasp" is completely harmless.
He feeds on the eggs of leaf worms, fruit worms, cutworms, and more than
two hundred other pests. I decided
it might be wise to order more of these beneficial bugs in the mail and release
them in my garden.
Back in my garden if you look closely you can see that I have added a
birdbath and made a nesting place for the birds too.
They will eat the bad bugs in the summertime taking care of my garden.
We also have a red hummingbird feeder because they also occasionally feed
on spiders and insects too.
Guess what I just came across? A
butterfly bush that is also known as a summer lilac.
This is an easy to grow bush with fragrant flowers and butterflies just
love it! In fact, if you look
around you there are butterflies everywhere!
At night along the honeysuckle vine "Lucy The Luna Moth"
flutters around. Do you want
to smile? Then take a look up high
at my beautiful yellow sunflowers in which I call "Smile Flowers!"
They can grow twelve feet in a little over three months!
Try some edible roasted sunflowers or ground some into sunflower butter.
Boy, I can taste it now, can you? Just
don't let "Cat-T The Caterpillar" get a hold of your seeds or they
will be all chewed up.
Next to my feet you will see flower buds in blue, pink, and white.
Before they open they look like balloons.
Thus getting the name "Balloon Flowers."
Are you still smiling? If
not step back into my sunflower garden for another look. Whoops! There
went "Crissy The Fairy" again! I
told you she is pretty quick!
It is time now to build your own unique garden.
I gave you a guided tour through mine and you have all the tools and
supplies you need in your minds eye, remember?
You may decide to do a seashell garden with native plants, a Rock River
garden, or use pinecones, acorns, poppy's and even balloon flowers.
Let your imagination run wild! I'll
help you get started…
First prepare your bed. Make
sure it's a comfortable bed. You'll
need nutritious food, clean water, fresh air, shelter from strong winds and
excessive cold and extreme heat. Turn
over the soil and you are ready to plant your seeds.
So what are you waiting for? Every
day you spend close to nature you will make new discoveries.
Gardens are constantly changing as Mother Nature, temperatures, rainfall,
soil nutrients and local insects influence its productivity. All of which play
active parts in our gardens. I
would love a guided tour through your garden and thank-you for spending
"Thyme In My Garden!"
Copyright
1997 by Author Patti Tricoli
