I am the Audience

Pondering herbs

April 19, 2026

dirt under my nails, grow your own, herbs, plants

Yes. I do have parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Also, oregano, cilantro, basil and chives.

The thyme, oregano and parsley are in one of the troughs. The rosemary and sage are each in a very large pot. The chives are in the ground. We have a couple of big pots where the cilantro and basil get replanted in their correct season. They overlap some; so, we don’t use the same pot for them. And I did seed some dill in front of the herb trough, too. Mostly to feed swallowtail butterflies. But, I’ll dry a little for me, just in case some recipe wants it.

I replaced the rosemary and thyme this year because they both died this winter. The rosemary didn’t care for me transplanting it and the thyme just wore out. I don’t think it lives longer than 3 or 4 years. None of mine ever has, anyway.

I’ve been considering moving the parsley and oregano to the ground. Specifically, to the area between the walkway from the patio to the driveway. They get really big and crowd each other and the green onions I store there.

It would take less effort to find a(nother damn) (s)pot to keep the thyme in and just clip those 2 more regularly. It’s not like we d/won’t use (most of) what’s dried when it slows down in winter. Neither dies back completely. So, a little fresh is available, then, too, if we ever need it.

I have 2 pots I could put the thyme in. One has a pawpaw seed in it and the other has caladium bulbs. I haven’t seen any growth from either one, yet. So….. I’m not sure which one I’d use. And I’d like to move the thyme, if I’m going to, sooner rather than later.

I may put in asparagus. I can get crowns delivered from Lowe’s. But, I think I want this summer to be sure the bed is well prepped and not trying to grow stuff I thought I got out but didn’t. But, if I plant this year, we’ll have a real harvest sooner…..

It didn’t do well in a trough in the middle of the yard. But, I think that location was bad because the metal trough got hotter than the ground and it didn’t get watered enough because it was too far from the house. It did well in the raised bed until the trees-of-heaven took it over. The last year there wasn’t enough to feed us. But, we got one good meal out of it.

So, that’s what in my head lately. I need to make some mustard and maybe pull some weeds while it’s not sweltering.
Shade garden on the north side

April 13, 2026

a day in this life, dirt under my nails, home

It could use a pressure washing.

I have removed all of the Red Hot Pokers from that side of the house. They were growing to the left of the HVAC unit and were a little stunted by the shade. I have plenty thriving on the south side. So, giving those away was no loss.

There is still a little patch of bearded irises I should probably move. But, they’re close to the fence and not in the way until I decide where I want them. I’ll deal with them later.

The muscadine I started from seeds a few years ago will stay on that piece of fence because I expect it will die if I try to move it. One day I may get fruit. Or not.

I ordered 3 bleeding heart roots from American Meadows, one each of pink, white and red. They have been planted on that left side.

I’ve also been putting wild violets over there. They are growing all over the place and I like them and I don’t mind them spreading around in that area. Some are white with purple throats and some are all purple. As I have removed them from other beds, I’ve moved them to this one.

Left side

I want to get some ferns going over here, too, and I’m dithering. The Autumn fern hasn’t come back as quickly as the other two. I took it out of its pot and planted it in 2 pieces in front of the bleeding hearts. If it actually comes up, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. If it doesn’t, it wasn’t a good choice for our yard and it’s probably just as well.

The Japanese Painted fern and the Cinnamon ferns are doing well in their pots. I would like to put part of them in the shade garden. But, I also like seeing them off the patio. I think I’ll wait until they start moving into dormancy to put pieces of them over there. That will give me the summer to be sure I’ve cleaned up that bed to my satisfaction and give them winter to get established.

Cinnamon at the bottom, Japanese Painted at the top

(I need to move the JPF to the shade. It’s getting sunburned.)

To the right of the HVAC, I have had swamp sunflowers (Helianthus angustifolius). They are native and great Fall food for pollinators. They did moderately well over there, leaning out for the sun. But, only moderately and the lean proves they aren’t in the best spot for them to be happy.

Right side

I’m taking the 3 largest pieces to a friend tomorrow (She wants them. I’m not just dumping them on her.) And the rest I’m going to plant behind the lilies growing in the middle of the back yard. Because of how all those things grow, I think it will make a nice display for a longer length of time.

A wild thing has shown up there and I’m not sure what it is. I have Eastern columbines (Aquilegia canadensis) planted in the roadside bed and this looks similar. iNaturalist thinks this is a Black Snakeroot (Sanicula canadensis). Both are native and these leaves look like it could be either one. I’m going to leave them alone for the summer and see what I think later.

Snakeroot or columbine?

Another thing in that bed? A feral asparagus showed up.

They’re everywhere

After moving the sunflowers, I think I’m leaving this alone until Autumn. (Except for making sure there are no Virginia creeper, elderberries or silk trees trying to come back.) When I get through this year, I’ll make some decision about that I want to keep/have toward the front of the house.
Tromanhood – Celia Xié

March 1, 2026

a day in this life, art
A Center that Does Not Bend, 2018 – Judith Ernst

March 1, 2026

a day in this life

Seen at the Gregg Museum of Art and Design.
Soil, insects and diseases. Oh my!

February 24, 2026

Master Gardener, plants, travel

Yesterday, I went to Raleigh with my Master Gardener class. We went to the soil lab, the insect collection and the disease lab. I learned many useful things.

Seeing the process of the soil lab was fascinating. It takes 2 days to dry down the boxes in big, walk-in ovens that hold over 3,000 samples at the time. When they’re dry, a specific amount is put in a falcon tube and a standard amount of water is added to it. (I didn’t take notes and don’t remember the exact amounts. 500g and qs DH₂O to 50 mL maybe?)

There are instruments to check the pH and instruments that measure the various nutrients. They don’t bother measuring nitrogen. It is too ubiquitous in the environment and too easily changed. What you measure this Fall may not be remotely the same next Spring.

Because of the number of steps necessary to complete the analysis, it takes about 2 weeks to get final results. It may be sooner in less busy times. But, don’t depend on that. Give them 2 weeks before you get antsy. Results come via email.

If you order a soil analysis between the end of November and the end of March, it costs $5/box (that’s a $1 increase from last year). From April 1 until around Thanksgiving, it’s free. The exact cutoff has to do with when farmers start clogging up the works in order to get ready for next Spring.

The insect collection is …. vast. They are given samples by collectors AND every one of that crowd brings things home from vacation. They have samples that were collected in the 1800s.

There are 3 ways that insect specimens are stored. Most are pinned. You know, like the Victorians did it. But, tiny ones are stored on microscope slides and soft ones, like larvae, are stored in little bottles of alcohol. Those have to be topped up periodically.

I didn’t take many pictures. But…. Lookit.

Zoom in!!

Then, we went to the Plant Disease and Insect Clinic.

Whoa.

If you have a plant that is unwell, they have someone who can find the cause for you.

Sending pictures is free. Take lots. Take a broad view so that they can see where it is and what’s around it. Take pictures of the whole plant. Take pictures of the base, even if you don’t think that’s the problem. Take pictures of the back and front of the leaves. Take pictures of the problem area from all angles. If it’s on a branch or twig, scrape off a little of the bark so they can see where it is healthy and where it is dead (that’s the transition area. HA! Look at me learning a term.). Or if it’s not at all.

IF they can’t tell you what’s wrong from all those photos, it will cost you $20 for them to examine the sample you bring or send in. (It may be easier to dieliver it yourself than to ship, depending on where in the state you are.) Bring a piece of the damaged part of the plant and the roots. Dig them, don’t pull them. If you pull, you rip off the rootlets that may have important info. Include the soil around those.

There is always someone available to answer the door and take your specimen from 8-5 during the week. Ring the bell and wait a minute.

It should take about a week to get a report.

When you are filling out the info, give every piece of data that you can think of and there’s even a place for you to tell them what they haven’t asked. Don’t feeling like you’re being excessive. The more details they have, the easier it is for them to figure out your problem.

I was tired of standing at the end and wish I’d had more time. Everyone was excited to tell us about their specialty and I would have been happy to listen longer.