September,
1999
The heat just
keeps on coming at Horsetail Haven, a home garden in Austin, Texas
Fall Flowers
Despite the heat, now is
the time to start thinking about planting fall herbs and flowers.
In Austin, planting perennials between Labor Day and Thanksgiving will
get them off to a good start and take advantage of autumn rains.
One of the prettiest fall bloomers is Tagetes lucida, commonly known
as Mexican Mint Marigold. This anise scented perennial makes an attractively
shaped plant that is covered with charming golden daisy like blossoms in
October and November. Mexican Mint Marigold is only hardy through
zone 8, but Northern gardeners should plan on growing it as a summer annual
in 2000. The leaves and blossoms can be used in cooking. Plant
it next to the all purple flowering variety of Salvia leucantha
"Midnight" for a spectacular autumn show. Salvia leucantha,
or Mexican bush sage, commonly is found with white blossoms surrounded
by purple calyces, but "Midnight" features both calyces and blossoms of
deep purple. Be sure to give young plants plenty of water to survive
our 100 degree days.
Hummies
don't just like red flowers, this one was caught at a Heavenly Blue morning
glory
Seed
Sowing
September and October are
the time to be planting cool weather crops. As the weather begins
to cool off, plant seeds of cilantro, dill, fennel, arugula and salad greens.
Ann Marie has started seeds of raddicchio to set out in the garden when
the weather cools. Now is also a good time to plant the adorable,
cucumber flavored salad burnet. Readily available as plants, this
fast growing herb is also easily sown from seed. Just remember to
sprinkle all newly planted seeds at least daily until the weather cools.
Last year brought a new sweet pea to the garden, "Winter Elegance", developed
to be planted in the fall in Southern States, It survives the winter and
blooms in the early spring. The plants did well, and the vines were
covered with pastel blossoms that scented the whole yard. For
those unfamiliar with sweet peas, their common names derives from the blooms
that are shaped like edible pea flowers, however, Lathyrus odoratus is
not edible. Daring Southern growers may also want to plant nasturtium
seeds now, A frost will kill them, but in a mild year the gardener will
be greeted with the cheerful orange, yellow and red flowers in early spring.
As a bonus, the peppery foliage may be added to salads. The prudent
gardener will wait until February to plant nasturtiums but Ann Marie usually
gives them an early try. One never knows how Mother Nature will treat
Texas. October is also the month to sow Texas wildflowers, so get
out those packets of bluebonnet seeds. At Horsetail Haven, a bluebonnet
patch was finally started by broadcasting the seeds into an area covered
with coarsely ground wood mulch.
Use
Your Herbs
P-R-P Pie
Use
Peach, Rosemary and Pineapple to make this Positively Remarkable Pie
Enough pie crust for a double
9 inch pie*
2 cans peach pie filling
1 twenty ounce can chunky
pineapple, drained
4 six inch sprigs of rosemary
Combine peach filling, pineapple
and rosemary in a bowl, cover and let infuse 30 minutes. Remove rosemary.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
F.
Place bottom crust in a
9 inch pie pan. Add peach pineapple mixture. Top with remaining
crust and pinch edges together. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden
brown.
*Use your favorite pie crust
recipe or combine 2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut 3/4 cup
Crisco into the flour/salt mixture until the Crisco is in pea sized balls.
Add 4-5 Tablespoons ice water, quickly combining just until the dough holds
together. Divide into two portions and roll out on a floured surface
as thin as possible.
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