January 1999

January, 1999 A freeze comes to Ann Marie's Garden, located in Austin, Texas Perennial Borde at Christmas

Brrrrrrrr!
Late December and early January brought frost to Horsetail Haven. Frozen to the ground are hoja santa, Brugmansia and Salvia coccinea. But, there are still plants to be enjoyed in the garden. The perennial border has remained green with salad burnet, lamb's ear, germander, holly fern, yarrow, santolina and dusty miller. Pansies and violas continue to bloom and, surprisingly, the Salvia gregii has kept its leaves. The 'Phalaenopsis' rose continues to open new buds when the temperature rises. The Blue Lady rosemaries suffered a slight burn in the first freeze, but Ann Marie suspects this would not have happened if they had been better watered prior to the 27 degree night. Pruning off an inch of foliage will tidy them up and encourage bushiness. One advantage of a freeze is that it forces softhearted gardeners to prune plants. However, now is not the time to do so. Pruning green perennials will only encourage tender new growth that could suffer in a future freeze. It is all right to tidy up the garden by pruning dead branches of lantana and salvias back, but avoid cutting into living areas of the plant. The second advantage of a freeze is that is allows assessment of the winter garden. Now is the time to bundle up and roam the neighborhoods, making notes of what still looks good and where your garden could use some evergreen plants or early spring bulbs.

Hmmmmmmmm....
Many birds are visiting the sunflower and suet feeders. Cardinals, house finches, gold finches, titmice and woodpeckers are common. Most delightful of all is a hummingbird who has decided to spend the winter in Austin, Texas. He has been seen at the hummingbird feeder several times, a check with the Audubon society several years ago revealed that frosty hummers are not rare in Austin. The sugar water feeder also attracts house finches who seem to like it as well as sunflower seeds.

Time to get started
January brings the arrival of seed catalogs and summer dreams, but there is work to be done, too. Ann Marie is now starting her pepper and datura seeds. She is also taking cuttings of pelargoniums (scented geraniums) but doesn't expect great results, they seem to root better a bit closer to spring time. Also being rooted are three cuttings of Russian River Rosemary given to her during a workshop at Festival Hill in December. Festival Hill is located in Round Top, Texas and the development and care of its beautiful gardens is guided by Madalene Hill, one of America's most loved herb gardeners. She and her daughter, Gwen Barclay, offer herbal workshops on a number of herbal topics. Festival Hill may be contacted at 409-249-5283.

Thyme & Lavender at Festival Hill

Use your herbs
Mulled Wine or Cider*
1 Tablespoon Dried Orange Peel
1 Tablespoon Cloves
1 Tablespoon Whole All Spice
3 Bay Leaves, crumbled
1 Tablespoon Coriander
1/2 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1 Gallon Red Wine
1 Cup Sugar, or more to taste
Combine orange peel, cloves, all spice, bay, coriander and peppercorns. Tie into a cheesecloth bag or place in a tea infuser. Place wine in a crock pot or large pan with spice mixture, cinnamon sticks and sugar. Simmer 1 hour. Taste and add more sugar as needed. Serve warm. *For Mulled Cider, replace wine with apple cider, omit sugar, and add 1/4 cup lemon juice and 2 thinly sliced oranges before simmering.
Handy hint: The white portion of orange peels is bitter, use a potato peeler to remove only the tasty, orange, zest, then dry it in your oven. If you have an "old fashioned" gas oven with a pilot light that is constantly on, the zest will dry overnight without having the oven on. For modern ovens, turn the oven on at its lowest setting and dry the zest for several hours with the oven door cracked open. Experiment to find out the timing for your oven. When the zest is dry, crush it, place in a glass container and store in the freezer.

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