The Rainy Days of Summer

Lady's Mantle Alchemilla species

I just came back from Santa Cruz, CA and when we were back from the Logan airport in Boston, it was raining a lot! 

Lucky day yesterday  Sunday to check the healing garden project in Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, VT, cloudy and warm. 

In my Relaxing Spot, the basil herb is gone, I have to replace for a new one. The Lobelia inflata is looking good and the St John’s wart, too!

The Lady's mantle was showing off its beauty holding the rain drops. This herb  is known as a very efficient cure for women. Out of all the medicinal herbs, lady's mantle is the number one choice of specialists in phytotherapy when prescribing medication in cases of menstruation.

St. John's wart seedling.

Looking around the garden I found three small St John’s wart seedlings, it seems that the wind and birds helped spreading this gift in our garden. 


Time weeding  >> 2h.

Rain Garden Project

Campanula Americana

Maybe  the topic is not familiar to many, but there is valuable information from the Vermont Rain Garden Manual: Gardening to Absorb the Storm, that I will share with you.

Building from Lebanon city hall in New Hampshire; the location of interest

Understanding the Definition: A rain garden is a bowl‐shaped garden designed to capture and absorb rainfall and snowmelt (collectively referred to as “stormwater”). When stormwater runs off impervious surfaces such as parking lots, roofs, compacted soils, and roads, it accumulates pollutants and delivers them to a nearby lake or river either directly or via a storm drain. Stormwater pollutants typically include sediment; nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus); bacteria from animal waste; and oil, grease, and heavy metals from cars. Excess stormwater also causes increased flooding, which erodes stream banks resulting in additional problems. However, if captured by a raingarden, stormwater soaks into the ground and recharges the groundwater at a rate 30% greater than that of a typical lawn.   Through allowing stormwater to infiltrate into the ground, rain gardens help to reduce the volume of stormwater runoff thus preventing excess nutrients, sediment, pollutants, and high stormwater flows from entering local waterways.

Source: Vermont Rain Garden Manual

Cindy Heath is leading the project of Rain Garden the first one in Lebanon, NH. It is located in Eldridge Park, Spencer Street, Lebanon, NH 03766 [visit map here], and I am working as part of my continuous education in the Master Gardener Program. We started by defining the borders with string and then our goal was to remove the grass. Later, the plan is to install a berm with stones to hold rain water, work that will be done in the following days. At the time that we started to work, the weather was humid with a temperature around 90ºF.

We had the opportunity to discuss our planting plan with the well known Master Gardener Henry Homeyer.
Yesterday  the Valley News published an article titled: "Wildflowers May not Be that Wild". He described his recent hike down the Rogue River Canyon of Oregon. What he saw along the roads were wild flowers commonly seen in the nurseries: Coral Bell flowers for example! He listed many other flowers growing in their natural habitat. 

Cindy Heath, Henry Homeyer and Coralia Picardo (me)

On my way back to home,I was struck by these peonies showingoff their springtime blossoms.

The time worked on Thursday, June 8, 2011: 2hr.

Tour Information by Herbalist Sylvia Newberry

A Garden Tour was held last Saturday, June 4, 2011 by herbalist Sylvia Newberry and Master Gardener Tina Barney in the Mt Ascutney Hospital/Healing Arts Center in Windsor, VT. Sylvia toured us trough the plants, discussing common herb uses, identification. She brought all her work to display how they look and to explain the benefits. 

Sylvia Newberry (right), Tina Barney (left), 

Dried calendula flowers. 

 St. John's wort [flowers]  infused with olive oil to heal open wounds. Note the red color. 

Lobelia seedlings planted by Sylvia.

The time was perfect for me to transplant some Lobelia inflata in my relaxation spot during that morning

The tour was for about 2 hours.

Purple Traps Going Up in Ash Trees Across Vermont

USDA and Vermont Agency of Agriculture Team Up to Survey for Emerald Ash Borer

Purple Traps Going Up in Ash Trees Across Vermont

Montpelier, VT – Purple, three-sided traps resembling a box kite can be seen in ash trees throughout Vermont as part of a surveillance program by federal and state agencies. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture are partnering to survey for emerald ash borer (EAB), a non-native, wood-boring beetle that has killed tens of millions of ash trees in the eastern United States and Canada. The Monteregie region of Quebec Canada is the closest EAB infestation to Vermont’s northern border. To date, EAB has not been detected in Vermont.

These traps will be placed in ash trees in all counties and at high risk sites, such as campgrounds, sawmills, recreational areas, major transportation arteries, etc.

The purple traps are coated with an adhesive that captures the insects when they land and are baited with a lure to attract the pest if it is present. In addition, the color is thought to be attractive to EAB, and is relatively easy for humans to spot among the foliage.

“The traps being placed around Vermont will help us discover if we have EAB in Vermont early on which allows us to address this invasive pest immediately,” said Jon Turmel Vermont State Entomologist. “Early detection is the best tool we have to fight EAB. The ash tree is a very important natural resource in our state and we want to do everything we can to protect our trees.”

“The triangular purple traps do not pose a risk to humans, pets, or wildlife; however, the non-toxic glue can be extremely sticky,” said USDA State Plant Health Director, Mark Michaelis. “We want people to understand that the traps don’t attract or pull beetles into an area, but rather they are a detection tool to help find EAB if it is present in the area.”

These traps will be monitored and remain in place throughout the summer during the beetles’ flight season. The traps will be monitored throughout the summer and removed in the fall. Results from the trapping will be available once the traps are removed. 

If you see a purple trap on the ground, please call the USDA’s toll-free number: 1-866-322-4512. The EAB hotline is staffed during regular business hours and a message may be left at any time. Callers are asked to include a name and telephone number.

Emerald ash borer (EAB)  Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera:Buprestidae) is an invasive species wood boring beetle, native to China and eastern Asia, which targets ash trees.  EAB probably arrived in North America hidden in wood packing materials commonly used to ship consumer and other goods.  It was first detected in July 2002 in southeastern Michigan.

EAB attacks only ash trees (Fraxinus spp.), and all the ash species—including green, white, black, and blue—are at risk. EAB kills stressed and healthy trees and is so aggressive that ash trees may die within two or three years after they become infested. EAB larvae tunnel under the bark to feed in the phloem and outer sapwood producing galleries that eventually kill the tree. For additional information on EAB, visit www.purpleEABsurvey.info

 
Katherine A. Forrer
Urban and Community Outreach Specialist
Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program
University of Vermont Extension
617 Comstock Road, Suite 5
Berlin, VT 05602-9194
Phone: (802) 223-2389 X 210 or 1-866-860-1382 (toll free)

St John's Wort herb

St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum L.) is a wild yellow flower considered to be a weed throughout most of the United States. It has been used for medical purposes in other parts of the world for thousands of years. Today, St. John's wort is continually being studied to try to validate its alleged mood-improving benefits. The name St. John's wort apparently refers to John the Baptist, as the plant blooms around the time of the feast of St. John the Baptist in late June.

More than 30 clinical studies have been conducted over the past 22 years to evaluate the effectiveness of St. John's wort. While the true benefits of St. John's wort are still being explored, if you do choose to use it, be sure to learn all you can and check with your doctor before taking it.

St. John's Wort for Treating Depression Ways to take the herb.

Both the leaves and the flowers of St. John's wort are harvested, dried, and put into liquid or pill form. The dried leaves may also be used as a tea.

Typically, 2 to 4 grams of powdered St. John's wort is taken three times a day for several weeks. It may also be taken twice a day as a tea made with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the dried herb.

Preparations in the U.S. have varied amounts of active ingredient in them. So be careful to note how much you're getting in your tablet.

(Source: WebMD)

Transplanting St John's wort herb.

Now the question how to transplant it, since I heard from Sylvia Newberry, a well known herbalist who lives VT aerea, some weeks ago, that its transplanting is something difficult. 

I decided to email Sylvia to ask her what I should do to have success moving the seedling from one place to other. I wanted to know her secret.

Later, she answered my question:

Sylvia said: St. Johns Wort is difficult for me to transplant, simply because of what I consider to be the "spirit" of the plant.  I have friends who cultivate it as part of their gardens.  It will grow abundantly for me around the edges of my yard and in my husband's garden, but when I try to transplant it to my garden, it either just sits there and stops growing or it died.  Working with wild medicinal plants is a matter of connecting with them at the level of your heart.  It is most often not an intellectual process.  My teacher used to send us out into the woods to find a plant and spend an hour or so sitting with it.  Listening for its wisdom.  Communicating with it.  I believe that first and foremost, you need to come with an open heart, a real desire to learn, pure motives so to speak.  And you need to be willing to spend time looking and listening.  The plants tell us so much about themselves and what they are able to do to help us but we need to figure out the language.  I would say that you should go ahead and plant the St. John 's Wort if your heart tells you to and see what happens.  Talk to the plant and tell it your plans and ask if it is willing to be your teacher.  Listen for the answer and then do whatever you think is right.

Saint John's wort seedling - June 2, 2011

I was moved for what she wrote back. I listened my entire senses. I always treat the plants as living ones. They deserve my attention, my respect, my connexion, my care. Evidently, what she said was in practice today.

These are the three transplanted SJW in the Relaxing herbs spot. I used organic fish emulsion with water and lots of personal connexion. I will wait... 

blackberry in bloom.

Doing a short walk around the garden I found what make me think about. These flowers belong to the blackberry, the irony is in the colors: white in the bloom season and black for harvesting. 


Task done for today >> as part of my continuing education in Master Gardening: transplanting, weeding, cleaning and learning. Time spent: 2.5 hr.

The current bloom for Iris - June 2, 2011