Celebrate National Garden Week with Presentations, Events and Roses

Hello and welcome to National Garden Week. It starts June 7 and runs through June 13. This year we are celebrating with a couple of special events. June 14 you will find us at Garden Gait, the garden walk and boutique of the Lisle Women's Club.  A few years back I developed a special tea for them which I sell as a fund raiser for their scholarship fund. You can get GARDEN GAIT TEA as both a sun tea and a loose tea throughout the month of June.  The proceeds will be donated to the Lisle Women's Club.

Garden Gait Tea

On June 9 we will be doing the program Edible Flowers at the Wood Dale Public Library, Wood Dale, IL at 7 pm. We will discuss a variety of edible plants and flowers and sample a few items made with these delicious flowers.

 

Then on June 11 we are at the Winfield Public Library with Crafting Herbal Blends that includes our new Blending Bar where participants can create their own blend to take home using the information learned during the presentation.

 

June is also (among many other things) National Rose Month.  So are two lovely recipes using Roses for you to enjoy.

 

Happy Garden Week!

 

The classic Collins took a trip through the garden with this twist by bartending vet Charlotte Voisey, I love that it uses Rose Water as an additive.  A couple drops of red food coloring and this Gin drink will be perfect served as a holiday cocktail.

Herby Rose Collins

• 1 1/2 ounces Hendrick's gin
• 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce rose simple syrup (see below)
• 1/2 ounces fresh cucumber water
• Garnish: cucumber slice, rose petals 

1.     Craft a rose simple syrup, add 2 cups sugar to ½ cup water and bring water to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Then stir in ½ cup rose water and reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes. Then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a jar and refrigerate and use up within 3 weeks.

2.      Create cucumber water by washing and chopping an English cucumber (leave the skin on) and mashing in a juicer. Use the juice within a day.

3.      Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled. About 45 seconds.

4.      Strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice.

5.      Garnish with a cucumber slice and a crumble of rose petals.

Ricotta Crepe Blintzes with Roses

·         1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
·         1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
·         1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
·         2/3 cup whole milk
·         6 tablespoons water
·         3 large eggs
·    1 cup plus 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
·         1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
·         2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
·         1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
·         1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
·         1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
·         2 1/4 teaspoons rosewater
·         6 tablespoons unsalted butter
·         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
·         3 tablespoons honey
·         1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
·         2 teaspoons edible dried rose petals

1.      Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the chopped walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes, until browned and fragrant. Transfer to a plate to cool.

2.      In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Whisk in the milk, water and 2 eggs until a smooth batter forms. Set aside while you make the filling.

3.      In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone, ricotta, toasted walnuts, lemon zest, cinnamon and allspice. Stir in the 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar, 2 teaspoons of rosewater and the remaining egg until smooth. Refrigerate the filling while you make the crêpes.

4.      In a nonstick 6-inch skillet, melt 1/2 tablespoon of the butter over moderately high heat. Pour 2 tablespoons of the batter into the skillet, immediately swirling the pan to evenly cover the bottom. Cook until set, about 45 seconds. Flip the crêpe and cook until lightly browned on the bottom, about 45 seconds more. Transfer the cooked crêpe to a work surface and repeat with the remaining butter and batter to make 11 more crêpes.

5.      Brush a 12-by-8-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the filling into the center of a crêpe, fold in the sides and roll up into a tight tube. Transfer to the baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining crêpes and filling, fitting the crêpes in the baking dish snugly in a single layer. Brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bake for 25 minutes, until the crêpes are light golden brown and the filling is warmed through.

6.      Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the honey and lemon juice with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of rosewater and warm over moderate heat. Drizzle the honey mixture evenly over the crêpes, then lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar and sprinkle with the rose petals. Serve the crêpes warm or at room temperature.

MAKE AHEAD - Refrigerate the crêpes and filling separately for up to 3 days before filling and baking the crêpes.

NOTES - Edible dried rose petals are available at specialty food shops, online or harvest from the garden if you do not treat your roses for pests or disease.

 

Summer Charitable gifting and an Iced Tea Recipe

Hello and welcome to National Garden Week. It started June 7 and runs through June 13. 

This year we were hoping to celebrate with a participation in the Lisle Women's Club Garden Gait, garden walk and boutique held at Lisle Station Park.  However due to Covid-19 the Lisle Women's Club chose to postpone this year's event to 2021.

Garden Gait Tea

We have decided to make available our specially created Garden Gait Tea in both 100% herbs or a combination of herbs and black tea.  This tea was designed by the members of the Lisle Women's Club several years ago and we sell the tea each year and donate a portion of the sales to the Women's Club.  So if you order either style of Garden Gait Tea in the next 30 days, we will donate 50% of the sale price to the Women's Club to add to their scholarship fund. 

You can get Garden Gait Tea both with and without caffeine and as either a sun tea or a loose tea throughout the month of June.  

On June 17 we will be doing an online class called Language of Flowers.  This presentation includes learning about using the language of flowers, or floriography, to send coded messages during the Victorian era.  We also include understanding the messages and practice figuring out different bouquets created for interpretation.  This program will be done through District 214 and one can register for the class using this link: Sign up for Language of Flowers.

Participants will be sent a digital handout and a link to join the online class.

June is National Iced Tea Month, so since we were talking about tea earlier I thought I would share an easy Iced tea you can craft at home using fresh or dried herbs.

Wisdom Tea

Mint for wisdom, rosemary to improve the memory and lemon balm, sometimes called "The Scholars Herb."  We cannot guarantee it will make you wiser, but it is cooling and refreshing!

1/4 cup Peppermint

1/4 cup Spearmint 

1/4 cup Rosemary

1/4 cup Lemon Balm   

Combine the herbs together and place in an airtight jar.  For each serving of tea, use 1 tsp. mix to 1 cup boiling water.  Add some honey, if desired.  Store in fridge for a delicious iced tea.

Play the Game Tangle - Indoor Craft with Scented Herbs

Below I will be giving you instructions for making a simple game like Twister with an herbal twist.  And the best part is you make it from recycled materials.  It is actually part of my kids program called "Play-it-Again Games." 

If you needs some calming and some activity, then this is a great game to play.  It is raining here for the third day in a row, so there is no outside play going on, so to keep from becomeing couch / computer potatoes, my hubby and I decided to try the game after I made it.

What this really caused was a great deal of laughing, because my husband and I are not as limber as we thought we were.  Thank goodness there is no photographic evidence.

Make the Game of Tangle

All you need is:
 2 milk or juice cartons
 Scissors
6 colors of construction paper
Glue

Steps to Create Tangle Game:
      1.                Cut 2 squares boxes from carton bottoms.

     2.                Cut a slit at one corner of one box 

 3.   Create a combo of aromatic herbs in any amount inside one box.  Use about 2 to 3 Tablespoons of mixed herbs. Roses, lavender, lemon herbs mints, etc.  

If you do not have herbs, but have some essential or perfume or potpourri oil, place a few drops and some scraps of paper.

4.  Push the 2 boxes together with the scented items inside.  They fit tightly, no glue required.  When you shake it (toss it,) the herbs stay inside, but give off their scent.

5.              Trace the sides of the box onto 6 different colors of construction paper.

6.              Cut out 5 squares of each color.

7.              Glue one square of each color onto the 6 sides of the cube, creating a colored die.

The splash of almond milk makes it look like I poured glue on the box, but that is actually a glue stick, which worked perfectly.  I smoothed the paper over the glue putting one color on each side until entirely covered creating a color dice.

Now you are ready to play the game.  The entire process took me about 15 minutes, so you can have a game ready in no time.

TO PLAY TANGLE – 2 to 6 players

1.   Find a clear space on the floor for play.

2.   Scatter the paper squares (4 of each color) on the floor.

3.   Roll the colored dice once.  The color on top is the color to use.  

4.   Try to get both hands and both feet on the matching color in the scatter on the floor.

5.   Try not to get too tangled. I put the phone down and hubby and I tried the game.  With me getting blue first and him getting red, he had to stretch over me to reach his colors and when I tossed the dice for my next color we ended up in a pile on the floor laughing!

6.   Play continues with other members of the team. If you have more than 4 players, you can work with 2 squares instead of 4 for each person and alternate hands and feet.  Have fun!

Making cuttings from Scented Geraniums

Tonight we are traveling to Park Forest to do one of my favorite programs Herbology 101, sometimes just called Fun with Herbs.  I can adjust this program to fit the seasons and tonight I am discussing harvesting and preserving herbs as well as how to bring them in the house for winter.  I am doing it again in September for the Schaumburg Township District Library where I will be having make and take stations too.  However, they are on a waiting list already, but you might be able to join us if you check it out soon.

Of the things I am talking about tonight I am discussing Scented gernaiums.  They are a great item to take a cutting from for winter gorwing, or you can bring them in and take a cutting come spring for a new outdoor crop next year.

When rooting a scented geranium the best medium is damp sand.  Get some landscape or gardeners sand, not play sand.  Fill a container.  I used a window box.  You can use paper cups, small pots or even plastic pots or containers.

Make sure the sand is nice and damp, but not waterlogged.

Then you need the plant to take cuttings from.

This is this year's crop of Scented Geraniums.  There is Mable Grey on the far left and right with apple scented in the round leaves in front and the rose scented with round leaves in the back.  The ferny leaf ones are lemon and lemon-rose scented.

I am taking a cutting from the old-fashioned rose scented geranium with the long stems with multiple round leaves and the Rober's Lemon rose with the deeply cut and ferny leaves.

You only need two or three simple tools to make cuttings.  You need the medium to put the cutting in, ground cinnamon to keep germs away from your cuttings, and a sharp pair of scissors to take the cuttings.  I also use a pencil to make the holes in the sand, so I don't bend or crush the stem and it can make good roots.

Take a cutting from near the growing node of the plant.  The node is that area of the stem where leaves emerge and is the best place to get a new plant started, rather than cutting in the middle of a stem.

You then remove all the leaves from the stem except for a couple at the top .  You want the branch to spend energy making roots not keeping leaves alive, so remove as many as you can.

Then use a pointy stick or sharpened pencil (this is my special Berol #2.5 pencils that I own numbering in the hundreds) to make a hole in the sand to place the cutting.

Roll the end of the stem in ground cinnamon if you want to keep germs from forming on the cutting and place it in the hole, using only one finger to firm the sand around the cutting, so you don't crush it.

You can place the pot outside in a shady location or indoors in a sunny window.  Keep the sand moist, by misting it regularly and wait about two to three weeks for roots to form.  You will know it works when the leaves start to grow again.  Some cuttings will die.  This is a fact of growing plants.  Do not fear.

Replant the cuttings into potting soil when the root systems are fully developed (about 6 to 9 weeks.) Then keep them in a sunny window for the winter and take them outdoors for summer growth.   Scented geraniums like to dry out between watering, so do not over water them.

You can use this same technique with other plants as well.  Some herbs like Basil you can root the cuttings in water rather than sand. Always take a cutting from green stems, rather than woody stems.  You can root sage, lemon verbena, pineapple sage, mints, coleus and other firm stem herbs and plants with little difficulty and the plant provides many branches to cut, giving you plenty of stock to experiment with your technique without guilt.

Victorian Bath Tea - Bath Blend of the Month

Coming up May 1, 2019 I will being doing a special demo program called Body Beautiful Bath Botanicals (at Schaumburg Library) which will focus on how easy it is to use herbs to enhance your skin, refresh you hair and make your bath experience more relaxingly aromatic.  

I will be showing how to make bath and spa items, everything from bath tea to bath salts to lotions, salves and other items.  Participants will be able to take home a little something for themselves as part of the program.  

I have been debating what recipes to have guests make and one of the must haves is a bath tea blend.  The blend I am using is different than the one below, but in my search I found this one that I once sold at the Wheaton History Center gift shop.  It is a blend of appropriate Victorian Herbs and flowers with a refreshing traditional scent.

Lavender is balancing and will calm or rejuvenate depending on your need and what you combine it with.  Including rose petals and the geranium essential oil creates a deeply healing blend with this Bath tea.

Victorian Bath Tea

1/2 cup rose petals and buds

1/2 cup lavender buds

1/2 cup comfrey

8 drop lavender essential oil

8 drops rose geranium essential oil

Directions:

Blend the herbs together in a plastic bowl, then add each essential oil separately and stir to combine.  Allow to meld overnight, scoop ¼ cup into each muslin bag and store in an airtight container.  This recipe will make up to 8 bags.

Chicago Flower and Garden Show – worth a visit

 

2012

Brought back after years of non-existence, the Chicago Flower and Garden Show has spent several years creating a perfect combination of learning, experiments, commercial information and knowledge.  I have attended for several years starting out as a blogger in 2012 and moving to a speaker as well as reporter beginning in 2017.

  

                            2017

There are several ways to enjoy the Flower and Garden Show in Chicago March 20 to 24, 2019.  Held at Navy Pier, the event includes vendors  and show gardens of course. 

A display completion from the garden club members of the Illinois Garden Clubs as well as free (included in your ticket) garden seminars, garden related demonstrations and culinary demonstrations can be enjoyed throughout the venue.  

Along with kids’ activities and potting parties where you can sign up to create potted plant arrangements, there is so much to do you need to spend the whole day and the ticket price of $20 for a day is very reasonable.

The sponsor is Bernie's Book Bank - an organization that focuses on bring books to underserved communities, children and individuals.  Love them!  They sent me some swag last year! 

For details of all the programs and events check out their website: chicagoflower.com

Learn About Gardening

The informational portion of the event can be found in three presentation areas:

Seminar Series – everyday Learn from horticultural experts from a multitude of different professions during our free seminars every day of the show. With a wide range of interesting topics being offered, you’re sure to leave this year’s show excited, educated and inspired.

Gardening Live! stage -- Three times each day experience the biggest presentations of the show on the Gardening Live stage in the center of the venue. Watch and learn from the top professionals in horticulture as they present on exciting green topics, three times a day.

Garden Gourmet -- Four times each day you can watch Chicago’s culinary elite share their secrets on creating savory dishes from natural and home-grown ingredients during our Garden Gourmet presentations. Leave with plenty of fresh ideas for your own garden produce!

Backyard Patch Sharing about Herbs

I (Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh) will be presenting at the  Chicago Flower and Garden Show on two different days.  You can learn to make Herbal Infusions at 4:00 pm on Thursday March 21 on the Gardening Live! stage.  On Friday I will present a program on Edible flowers (at 12:15) followed by one entitled Unusual, Exotic and Medical Herbs (1:45pm). Local Radio gardening personality Mike Nowak will be broadcasting live on Sunday, March 24.

Single day tickets are $20 and evening tickets from 4 pm to closing are $10.00.  You can order tickets online.