Let's Eat Plants
Ann Marie picked her first tomato on May 25th, from the heritage variety 'Silver Fir'.  Swiss chard continues to be a delicious addition to the garden.  The garlic was a disappointment this year, it failed to form bulbs.  Perhaps we can blame the warm winter.  It still is tasty, though, just not much of a crop.  'Baby Bubba' Okra has been used as an edging for the basil bed and is growing quickly.  Newly planted green beans are just beginning to sprout.  Basil types planted this year are 'Sweet Dani Lemon', Lime, Blue Balsam, Cinnamon, 'Aussie Sweetie',  'Siam Queen' Thai, 'Spicy Globe', Holy Basil (purchased under this name, but it is questionable if this is the true holy basil), Licorice Scented, 'Valentino' large leaf basil and, lastly, the diminutive 'Minette' grown in brightly colored containers.

Hmmmm, Fruity
Ann Marie's fascination with pelargoniums continues.  This spring she has added to the fruit plate of her scented geranium collection with 'Orange', 'Strawberry' and 'Frensham Lemon'.  The latter was rooted from cuttings sent across the country from Eric's wonderful Aunt Doris.  All three plants are smooth, small leaf pelargoniums with scents true to their names.  'Strawberry' has charming pink blossoms whose two upper petals are splotched with deep rose fading down to "freckles" in the center of the bloom.  Perhaps these new flavors will wind up in the herbal jellies Ann Marie is currently experimenting with.
 
The Vacation
Eric and Ann Marie spent a splendid week in Louisiana, eating crayfish, seeing alligators, riding the St. Charles Streetcar (you know, the one named Desire), and most importantly, meeting the wonderful members of the Herb Society of America.  The week started out with the happy couple playing tourist in New Orleans with a boat ride on the Muddy Mississippi, a visit to the Aquarium, and of course, enjoying music on Bourbon Street.  The two travelers then had their first encounter with the friendly and extremely knowledgeable HSA members at a delicious dinner in the charming Ursuline Convent Herb Garden located in the French Quarter.  What excitement to meet and greet.  The next day HSA members boarded a bus eaaarrrrly in the morning (ok, so it was 7:45) and were taken to a private home in the New Orleans Garden District where they enjoyed a wonderful Southern style breakfast in a heavenly walled garden....but....this was only the beginning....The rest of the morning was spent touring other nearby private gardens, lunch was at the gorgeous Longuevue Gardens and the afternoon was spent in the lushness of private gardens in the French Quarter.  A truly fantastic day.   The merry tourists and HSA members then headed north to Baton Rouge.  The touring continued at a fast pace, the next day found them roaming the delightful Magnolia Mound Plantation where Ann Marie learned how sugar cane is grown, having lunch and a tour of the elegant Nottoway, and finishing up at the Old State Capitol, also called the White Castle.  The touring was complete, but the HSA education seminar was just beginning!  Wonderful meals, exhibits, lectures, a visit to LSU's Burdine Research Plantation and a bit of shopping filled the remainder of the week.  Ann Marie returned home full of plans for Horsetail Haven, proper names for some of her "mystery plants", and the goal to make better use of vertical space in her garden!  The Louisiana gardens were truly an inspiration.