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The Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Herb Associates began in 1957 when three women who loved and grew herbs — Gertrude Burdsall, Emily Rose, and Amy Bess-Miller — decided to make and sell herbal products to benefit the Garden.

This week’s stunner in the Herb Display Gardens is Perovskia atriplicifolia — otherwise known as Russian sage. This sun-loving deciduous perennial sports long panicles of lavender blue flowers on thin white stems with aromatic gray-green leaves. The overall look is loose and upright, with the flowering stems creating a cloud-like image from a distance.

USDA Forest Service photo of black ash

At the age of 70, I can remember too many epidemics of tree-killing pests sweeping through the Northeastern landscape.

Mums. Brussels sprouts. Winter rye. Spring flowering bulbs. Powdery mildew. Dill and coriander. Daylilies. Deer-proofing. And a message that Ron may have found in a fortune cookie.

American Burnet, garlic chives, harvest marmalade, apple cider, sage jelly, mint jelly, raspberry vinaigrette, sachets, herb salt, and more. Read the latest from the Hern Associates.

Pick tomatoes. Harvest shell beans. Wash vegetables in a vinegar solution. Pull out some small squares of plywood. Keep sowing. Transplant trees and shrubs that need to be moved. And what to do with your excess produce?

It must be twenty years since I first encountered arguments against the use of peat by gardeners. Their point was that peat harvesting destroyed its remarkable bog habitat, and that despite the claims of the peat extraction industry, this was not a sustainable practice.

Gardeners tend to think of their plants as passive victims of the insects that feed on them; it’s the “pests,” as we see it, that take the active role when they come to eat the plant’s tissues or suck their sap. In fact, though, as I learned during a recent conversation with Dr. Anurag Agrawal of Cornell University, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Austin Bat Refuge

For the last 8 years, Lee Mackenzie and his co-founder and wife Dianne Odegard have been rescuing, nurturing, and healing orphaned and injured bats in an open-air “bat garden,” a netting-enclosed aviary. This is not regarded as strange behavior in Austin, where the 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats that emerge every evening from under a city highway bridge have become the city’s most popular tourist attraction and where September brings the annual Bat Fest.

 

This week we’re highlighting two herbs in the Herb Display Garden: mountain mint and woad, plants that may be new to you.

It's getting chilly at night, so now what? Let's talk about houseplants, peppers, eggplants, canning, cabbage, peonies, lawns, and getting your knickers in a twist (and out of a twist).

Today’s column will focus on ways to preserve culinary herbs — particularly, on drying and freezing. While this August through October period of time is often associated with harvesting of all kinds, some gardeners in the know will already be undertaking steps to preserve their herbs.

Cantaloupe. Watermelons. Garden-grown geraniums. Flowering bulbs. Container-grown plants. Roses. And dragonflies. Let's talk. Read Ron Kujawski's latest tips and tricks. 

Lupines! Oriental poppies! Garden-grown annuals! Raspberries and blackberries! Save your "pruning juice." And many notes to self! Read Ron Kujawski's latest.

Let's talk texture! Plus, this was a week of abundance of tarragon, which lead to the production of “J. Wilson’s Tarragon French Dressing,” “Sweet and Sour Herb Dressing,” and “Oil-Free Tarragon Vinegar.”

Seed collecting! Preparing trees and shrubs for the cold weather! And it's time to get those plants indoors!

Thank you to our sponsors, donors, members, and volunteers that made our 90th Anniversary Gala a wonderful celebration of the Garden!

Let's quote Margaret B. Freeman, who wrote, “An herb is a plant with a purpose — you just need to find it. It’s not just about eating or seasoning things.”

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