Showing posts with label cocktail culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cocktail culture. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

New Design Added: Artful Cocktail Napkins to Posh-Up Your Holiday Gift Giving & Happy Hour ~ Plus Recipe!

 

The Ladies Who Lunch Conversations Cocktail Napkin Collection has a new addition ~ and it’s just so perfect for the Holidays. All bubbly and pink.. 


Here’s how you can posh up your own bar cart, barscape, Stocking Stuffers or Hostess gift with a truly artful, unique design, that also has a story you can toast to for your smashingly, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Happy Hours!   

And for the Cocktail Curious, this is the best part: It truly is the gift that keeps on giving… 


Thursday, January 7, 2021

There's no Place Like Home. Explore the Promise of a Better 2021: How to Live the Good Life with Exterior Design, Gardens, Cocktail Culture

 

I am willing to bet that most of us wouldn’t argue that making those 2020 predictions at the start of last year never, ever imagined what was about to careen into our worlds… 

So you might find it a wee bit bold or a fool’s errand that I’m even considering sharing a Trend Predictor or Forecast for 2021.


And yet. 

My belief is that rather than all the recent mea culpas by the professional prognosticators who claim that heretofore we’ve all taken things like health, family, and home for granted, (and then go on to promote their products or services…)  I am convinced we all know that is emphatically not true. I double-dare anyone to prove that that was the case. 

We’ve long cherished our family and friends.


I suggest that instead, what we crave is the normalcy that comes with scheduled regimes.  When that’s upended, we’re at a collective loss.  

We need our routines. Our disciplines.  


Therefore, my first forecast for 2021 is we will relinquish the sense of self pity. Let’s stop whining about the life we had before coronavirus. Moreover, there are far, far too many of us who have lost family and friends to this covid. Let's honor them. And recognize there have been pandemics previously - throughout history. Isolating and staying at home this time is way more connected than any previous catastrophe. 

I say buck up. Learn from those who suffered in true isolation. 


No less than Nelson Mandela who endured the most egregious form of isolation, noted that there was “no end and no beginning; there is only one’s own mind which can begin to play tricks.”  I read that he established routines. His integrity demanded courtesy and manners. Plus, he found peace in his garden on Robben Island. 

Gandhi (who was also jailed in South Africa...) found solace in cooking. He organized to gain permission (for his fellow Indians) to cook their own food. Gandhi helped in that food preparation and cooking; and twice a day distributed the food. 

In addition, these moral icons read like there was no tomorrow.

There are countless others who have much to teach us. 


In this spirit of learning from the past rather than a fake nostalgia for a life that was “before pandemic,” I share what a pragmatic future can look like for those who still pursue an artful piece of the world that embraces my favorite genres: Gardens, Homegrown Food, Tablescapes, and Garden-to-Glass Cocktails. 

I've always appreciated the determination and optimism of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and refer often to her quote, “If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with… There’s no place like home.”


Come Explore the Promise of a Better 2021 

When you first read about “pods” did you think it was relatable to you? 

As a horticulturist, I just thought it was a fruit or seed case… Ha, ha (smile).


In this new world order, it refers to those in your immediate, “small, self-contained networks of people who limit their non-distanced social interaction to one another—in other words, they're the small group of people with whom you share air without using breath-control precautions such as masks” (!) 


How to Form a Pandemic Pod | Greater Good


Trends For 2021

  • The Glory of Gardens as Home Entertainment Spaces

In the new Pandemic Portal of Hope, Entertaining in the socially distanced world we now inhabit with our global friends and family, I forecast that even more homeowners and renters, will create home-based Entertainment spaces outdoors.  

I’ve already designed a drive-in styled Garden Theater space.  

And GrillScape Gardens 

Why not home concert venues?  

You might enlist private bands or musicians -- or dancers - to host and entertain you and your guests: socially-distanced, of course. 

I can design garden rooms to amplify and embrace music. 

Second Life Marketplace - LOVE - Outdoor Concert/ Venue  Concert, garden, fairy lights, summer nights, music, backyard, intimate by  Asako M. Photo stock - Snapwire

Think fairy lights.  Blankets, Pillows. Plants. Magic.


Outdoor Entertainment is doable most of the year, in most every temperate zone. 

As a garden designer, I’ve always created garden spaces for my clients that reflect their lifestyle, including outdoor kitchens, edible gardens, and fragrance gardens.  

I see even more of a desire for that in 2021. 

You don’t need an estate or even a suburban yard.  Rooftop gardens or terrace gardens with container or raised bed gardens work their magic too.

parterre tower.jpgparterre-planter-in-situ.jpg

I saw that Pennoyer & Newman added a Parterre Planter Collection. Readers know I adore Virginia and her custom planters. I recommend them to my clients. 

The planters are recreated and cast from originals that accessorized the great gardens of the world.  There are many lightweight, beautiful planters in their collections that will add drama and enduring good looks to your terrade or rooftop or patio or pool area.  

I also recommend Brooklyn-based Opiary. I’ve reviewed and written about them previously. 

At the same time, there are many other sources. I see some good looking pots on Etsy. You can also make Hypertufa or cedar containers or ones using reclaimed wood. 

You can also support your local artists: look for a link in your online community. There are many folks who will create a container design in the medium of your choice: wood, ceramic, concrete (you can paint these pots as I have for clients), or re-purpose cans, jars, shoes, or wagons!


Make Recycled Shoe Planters » Dollar Store Crafts9 Ways to Use Old Shoes as Planters


Last year, I wanted to add something special to the three raised beds for Gina & Ted, a special garden design client, in time for their wedding.  

I was inspired by the two golden tractor tires, at the Paris Opera, titled Les Saturnales, that were used to create such an astonishing illusion. When describing the work, Claude Lévêque said, “They galvanise, for me, the organic and mechanic aspect of the symmetrical, ornamentally-charged architecture of the Palais Garnier, which is a call for performances.”

A pair of golden tyres at the Opéra Garnier in Paris provokes public ire |  The Art Newspaper 

Moi aussi!  Garden Art has long been referred to as the “slowest of the performing arts.” 


Knowing Gina and Ted are committed recycle advocates, I figured they were game. 

I selected the tires, spray-painted them gold, and voila!  Three “rings” for the wedding. One topped with a “jewel” of an heirloom vase that is Ted’s Mother’s.  Creativity is liberating.  

Now, the tires are all-season planters. We all love what Gina and Ted have added to the look this past year.  Did I say cosmos, marigolds and more sunflowers? 


  • Home is now the undisputed place where we dine and entertain.  

I’ll be looking to design more diverse outdoor garden rooms that feature cozy and relaxed entertainment centers; more seating.  

2021 will be the year you will want to add more quality outdoor seating to the various garden rooms, in addition to adding modular seating furniture that will allow you to distance and get cozy, depending on the Pod.  Munder-Skiles offers ravishingly beautiful garden furniture. 

10 best sofas and outdoor seating for summer | London Evening Standard  15 Ways to Arrange Your Porch Furniture

Frontgate, Ballard Designs, and Wayfair, to name a few resources, will provide you with lots of options.  And ask your garden designer!  


You can also make pallet furniture  Pallet Garden Seating Furniture | Pallet Furniture Plans  

And modularize as needed. 


When you create your outdoor Entertaining Garden Rooms, consider how these spaces can not only readily accommodate social distancing but how much you had been dreaming you wanted these looks and experiences. It’s not that you have to but that you want to create these home spaces.  Now, there’s no reason to put off the design. 


  • Outdoor Dining. Upgrade from the picnic table. Unless it looks like this! How to Style an Outdoor Dining Table | DIY (DIY Network)

20 DIY Ideas for Outdoor Dining Spaces • Picky Stitch (picky stitch)

Some other outdoor dining tables to consider with social distancing options: 

https://images.pexels.com/photos/1843653/pexels-photo-1843653.jpeg?cs=srgb&dl=pexels-dalila-dalprat-1843653.jpg&fm=jpg


Large Round Outdoor Dining Table - Ideas on Foter

https://p0.pikrepo.com/preview/777/283/black-wooden-table-with-chairs.jpg

I’m thinking the best outdoor dining tables are those that are most adaptable. Ones that accommodate your Pod.  These squares, for example, can be socially-distanced and later ~ when the corona risk is diminished (we need that vaccine!) - you can put the fours together to make a big table for all your beloved guests. 


I so love dining tables with the water or garden feature in the center. I saw one at the Architectural Digest Show - remember when we could attend design shows? Gosh, all those people crowding the aisles. The shows surely fed into my innate curiosity and sense of adventure, discovering artisans and craftspeople dedicated to enhancing our lifestyle. But hey, they are still there! You can read my previous posts (and linked here) for more inspiration. Those designers need us more than ever. 


Awesome Cool Ideas For with Outdoor Dining Furniture Live-edge Redwood


  • The Outdoor Cocktail Lounge is the ultimate fantasy. This will trend. 

You can create your own Tiki Bar.  Or an English Pub. Or an Amalfi Coast inspired cocktail area

 Win a four-night stay on the Amalfi coast | The Sunday Times Summertime Seascape Amalfi Coast Positano Beachitaly Stock Photo - Download  Image Now - iStock

Or a French Bistro Look: 


Gravel Patio. French style gravel patio with stone garden walls. Gravel  patio… | Gravel patio, Pea gravel patio, Backyard patioThe Uptown Acorn: Acorn Cottage Uptown {Backyard Furniture} (uptown acorn)

Garden ideas - small garden ideas | House & Garden (houseandgarden.co.uk)

You can design a space that gives you a sense of getting away. A fantasy corner. 

Position your Outdoor cocktail lounge furniture in the garden if you have the space. If you’re short on the real estate, pot up some evergreens, topiaries, and/or some fragrant herbs to drive the illusion and fuel the imagination. 

Classic Courtyard with French bistro style white garden furniture and  simple clean styling. Elega… | Courtyard gardens design, Outdoor dining  room, French courtyard


  • A trend that will continue to surge for 2021: for both outdoor and indoor mixology, is the snazzy, effervescenti Bar Cart. It serves as both the bar and the Happy Hour’s stylish focal point, adding glamour to the space. Keep it simple and elegant: stock your favorite spirits, mixing tools, glassware, ice bucket, and cocktail napkins. For a full how-to, visit my Garden Glamour post on How to Curate & Style a Home Bar Cart: The Essentials and the Glamorous Accessories.

   


 

  • We can also look forward to increasingly sophisticated Outdoor Kitchen rooms that include such built-in modular features as a pizza oven, refrigerators, sinks, trash compactor, lighting, countertops, rotisseries, herb planters, and more.  The Outdoor Kitchens can include seating, a bar, big-screen TV, a spectacular sound system for concerts, a fire pit and outdoor heaters, to really expand your living space.  If you have to shelter-in-place, might as well make your home the resort you once traveled to, to get away from it all.  Now, you're getting it all, but no traveling. Just open the door and walk to paradise!  Again, if real estate is at a premium, you can make it work with fewer modular components; a table-top grill, a few potted herbs for grilling, and a few candles. Make the Magic... 

Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet Outdoor Kitchen


            (See my Architectural Digest and Grillscape Gardens links above for more details.) 


  • I see more outdoor Zen gardens for yoga, pilates, meditation

  • Likewise there will be more Home and Garden Gyms and Exercise rooms 

  • Another stay-at-home trend I forecast is more garden rooms dedicated to Pod-friendly sports, including Boules or Pétanque. We have this pretty silver set: 

It’s a fun sport for all ages and easy to stay socially-distanced while playing the game. 

 

Likewise, Horseshoes. There wasn’t a family summer party where the horseshoes weren’t set up and enjoyed over many rounds of beer and cigars. It was mainly the Dads who threw the horseshoes back then.  Smile… 

Best Horseshoe Set in 2020 | Own The Yard(Own the Yard)

No room for tossing the horseshoes? Go with a table top.Tabletop Horseshoe Game for Kids | Highlights Your Child & You (Highlights) 


  • All these expanded home entertaining areas will inevitably lead to the need for more Garden accessories; statues, tuteurs, sundials, bird baths. And for Entertaining or serving outdoors: more sophisticated glassware, plates, and cutlery. Higher-end washable or compostable. Not one-time use products.  

  • There will be more Community Gardens. In every locale. Folks who gather to nurture their shared gardens - at a social distance - also share recipes, conversations, support, and more.  

  • Bird Watching  This is an ever-fascinating pastime. Last year during the pandemic, bird-watching increased ten-fold in some areas.  The number of bird species in a person’s surroundings correlates to happiness, according to a study reported in “Birdwatching.” Birds increase happiness! We’ve seen some exotic birds in our yards, including owls and eagles this past year. We love watching the blue jays and cardinals on our bird feeder and all the diverse avians who bathe in our bird bath. With its solar-powered fountain, it’s like having a spa shower for the birds. Ha. I signed up for the National Audubon Society’s mobile App. It’s a great resource.  Get yourself a good pair of binoculars and enjoy the show! You’ll be delighted watching the hi-jinks of the native and the migratory birds.  Which brings me to the next trend:

  • Native Plants and Healing Plants. With more and expanded gardens ~ from terrace to backyards, you can enable a more sustainable environment. The National Audubon Society has a page that will link you to a Native Plant database to help feed the birds (and other pollinators) in your zip code.   Healing Plants are not only beautiful, but their medicinal powers will increase our physical and emotional health and well-being. If you sign up for the Garden Glamour blog, I’ll send you a free top-ten list of Healing Plants - for indoors or for in the garden. (The email subscription is right below my bio) 

  • Plant Decor. More of us will use indoor and outdoor plants as part of decorating our homes and gardens.  Hot spicy colors will excite our senses while the cool blues and pinks will soothe us.  You can match your plants’ color palette to the room’s wall paint and furniture.  Likewise, outdoors in your newly expanded exterior design. While Pantone has named Ultimate Grey as one of their Colors of the year for 2021, I’m over most grey at this stage.  I’m more for the vibrancy and comfort of their Illuminating as “a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power.”  That sounds like a happy addition and one that will mix with soothing greens.

  • Growing Edibles  Last year we saw a dramatic increase in folks wanting to grow their own food, especially lettuces, herbs, all kinds of vegetables, potatoes, and fruit. We grow a lot of garlic, arugula, peppers, and asparagus. That trend will continue unabated.  If you haven’t already ordered your seeds, hop to it. There will be shortages again this year.  

  • I see an increase in DIY Home Products because they are safer and less irritating. We can readily make products such as laundry detergent, dishwashing, and body soaps; using vinegar to clean; and even Spray starch with scents. It’s utterly hilarious that I never owned an iron, yet the last few years I’ve taken to ironing our bedsheets, linen cocktail napkins and placemats because I crave that crisp look and scented experience. 

    • It’s an easy recipe:   2-3 tablespoons cornstarch to six ounces of water. I add drops of lavender to mine for a restful, meditative scent. But you can mix in any of your favorite herbal scents.  Which leads me to another 2021 Forecast: 

  • Aromatherapy. There’s an incredible benefit to using essential oils, including managing pain, improving sleep quality, and reducing stress and anxiety. I have different kinds of diffusers for use in a number of our rooms: bedroom, bathroom, office. The oils can also help fight bacteria and virus. That’s a good thing. 

  • Homemade Bitters and Simple Syrups. Along with the spike (!) in at-home craft cocktails due to covid, there will follow an increase in making our own simple syrups and bitters. You can customizel the taste you want in your drinks and - if you’re growing all those herbs and spices - why not mix up your own essential elements that make a great cocktail. It’s an artful project that makes your Happy Hour all the more delightful. Cheers to that. 

  • Tablescapes Even if we are not entertaining the way we used to and prefer ~ with family and friends, I recommend dressing up your table decor for a holiday, for the season, or when your mood wants a change. Initially, when the stay-at-home started, I wasn’t feeling it…. Then, after some time, I couldn’t resist making our diminished world more glamorous. I think we need to create pretty, inviting tablescapes more than ever.  Make every meal an event. It’s theater!  Inspired by nature or things you have in your jewelry box or on your bookshelves, approach your tablescape like you are telling a story. Layer in items that bring you joy: candles, flowers, souvenirs from past trips, photos. Re-purpose items. It’s fun! Then set the table. And revel in your personal dining experience. 

  • Volunteering.  I have to believe that volunteering for local organizations will increase. Not only do some folks have more time, but clearly they see the need to help those who’ve had a bad go of this epidemic... Whether it’s helping seniors, donating food, running errands, teaching, look up what you can do within your community. It will make you feel good and strengthen the fabric of our society.  


Now, get out there and live.   Enjoy this new world and its obstacles and challenges. 


Let’s see how many of these 2021 forecasts come to be in this year filled with hope.  

And thank you for reading my blog. I am most grateful.  If you don’t already subscribe, please enter your email and it will be sent to you. And/or share with a friend. 


There's no place like home...


Cheers to you and a bit of glamour for 2021.


Sunday, June 8, 2014

Poisons to Potions: Herbs Have power to flavor Culinary & Cocktail Recipes and How to Grow Herbs


Hippocrates wrote: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Words to live a healthy life by.

This Herbal News post is from my recent Homegrown Garden Tea Party – How to Grow a Summer Herb Garden talk for the United Way of Greater Mercer County.
Photo courtesy: Angela Scibilia UWGMC


I realized a lot of foodies and gardeners are keen to learn how to grow and use herbs.
Photo courtesy: Angela Scibilia UWGMC

Besides adding taste and flavor nuance to culinary dishes that span the spectrum from peasant country heritage to haute cuisine recipes, herbs are the magic in cooking, fairy tale love potions and sinister herbal poisons – referred to as the “Silent Weapon” during the Middle Ages. 

Throughout history every culture has traditions and tales to tell about how its herbs are used to heal, to clean, and how they play a starring role in religious ceremonies. 

The Greeks traced their discovery of poisonous plants to Hecate, the Goddess of Sorcery.
Ahh, love that girl power!
The Greeks believe Hecate’s whipped up her first potion using Aconite, the very pretty flower known as Monk’s Hood. 

Shakespeare was fond of using arsenic as a character plot. 
Bella Donna or deadly nightshade got its name because women would use eye drops made from the plant to dilate their pupils – believed to be a sign of beauty.
Ah, and people think Botox is extreme...
But then Marc Anthony’s troops were supposedly poisoned with bella donna by Scotland’s King Duncan.

The real curiosity is why do herbs hold our fascination for more than 5,000 years and yet are so little understood.
In English, even the pronunciation is different on either side of the pond.
Yanks say “erb” with the “H” silent, and the Brits give the “H” a fiull-on breathy sound – just like the man’s name.

In many ways I think herbs are misunderstood because they are ubiquitous  -- so that we take them for granted, perhaps.

Today, more than 30 percent of modern drugs come from botanicals. 
The World Health Organization estimates 8% of the Asian and African world use herbal medicine as primary health care, including the Ayurveda system and its pursuit of living in tune with nature.

Medicine men, shamans, witches, healers and herbalists (and even the big pharmaceuticals) all employ plants for their natural antioxidants, anti-aging, disease-preventing and alleviating powers.

Lore and Legend

Vervain or Verbena, referred to as the “Holy Herb” is associated with the divine or supernatural and is believed to have been used to staunch Jesus’ wounds from the Cross.

Basil is worshiped as a goddess by Hindus. 

Rastafarians consider cannabis to be a holy plant.

Because Mistletoe bears fruit at the time of Winter Solstice it was used in Druid Britain as symbol of immortality. In Celtic mythology, it is considered a remedy for barrenness and an antidote to poison.

Native American Medicine Men and woman – embraced the intimate connection with plants and medicine believing that plants were given to them by the creator to heal people.  To induce spiritual experiences they used four “Sacred Herbs:”
            Cedar
Sage
Tobacco
Sweet Grass  (purifies and cleans)

Growing Herbs

Herbs are flowering plants with leaves, seeds or flowers used for flavoring food, in medicine, in perfume.

Herbs play well with other plants – they’re versatile and are great partners for fruits, vegetables and ornamentals.
I once designed an extended edible garden where each plot in the bed was color coded and filled with a mixture of that color but different textures and shapes. 
It is gorgeous.

Have fun with the partnerings: a Pizza Garden is a mix of basil, oregano and tomato.  

Bear in mind there are very many cultivars of herbs. There is not just one fennel, for example; rather you can enjoy the herb Foeniculum vulgare. Fennel Purpureum with its bronze purple leaves, or Foeniculum dulce, Florence fennel for its anise-flavored bulbs.

Grow a diverse crop of herbs – and vegetables.

Overall, herbs can be grown from seed, cuttings, or as starter plants.

The seed catalogs that brighten a winter’s day are the “Look Book” of the garden-scene: botanical art, colorful cultivars and species, organic and hybrid, exotic and heirloom – theirs is a special language and an intoxicating presence that you can get lost in a dreamy haze of garden delight.


I recommend planting after Mother’s Day in temperate zones of 6 through 9 ish. 

We start our seeds indoors under the light in late winter/early spring and they are good to go by this time as well.

Grow a mix of annual and perennial herbs.

Purchase your plants and seeds from a grower you know and trust.  Often the big box stores import the plants where growing conditions may not be optimum and they travel great distances in tight spaces where they can pick up diseases. 

The tomato blight we experienced in the not too distant past was a result of bad circumstances. 
Food thought leader and James Beard award-winning chef, Dan Barber wrote a New York Times Op Ed piece about this issue. 

He wrote, (in part),  “Large retailers like Home Depot, Kmart, Lowe’s and Wal-Mart bought starter plants from industrial breeding operations in the South and distributed them throughout the Northeast. (Fungal spores, which can travel up to 40 miles, may also have been dispersed in transit.) Once those infected starter plants arrived at the stores, they were purchased and planted, transferring their pathogens like tiny Trojan horses into backyard and community gardens.”

Support your local growers.  

Planting Herbs

If not planting in the ground, herbs are ideal grown in containers. 
Plant near where you will use them – adjacent to the kitchen and grill.

If not using classic container pots, think creatively.  
Anything can be used as a pot – shoes, dishes or cups, urns, toys, and sports equipment!
I'm demonstrating how to pot up an herb garden in my hanging Garden Pendants   
Pot up containers with an eye to the overall look of color, texture and size utilizing this easy to remember method:

  • Thriller: tall or statement plants
  • Filler: bushier filling plants
  • Spiller: vines or hanging plants
    The United Way offered a variety of herb to sell, Jacks Nursery, Pennington 

Wash out all pots & containers from last year.
Sterilize the pots and pruning equipment.  A 10% bleach solution is most often recommended.
I prefer to use white vinegar.

If the containers don’t already have drainage hole in the bottom - place broken clay pieces from spent pots or use stones.  The idea is to allow the water to drain away from the plant to prevent root rot.

Herbs are so versatile, in fact, that they inspire a category or style of healthy, beneficial method of gardening referred to as Companion Planting.
Growing certain herbs with or near other herbs, vegetables, or flowers offers a way to increase yield naturally, reduce the need for chemical applications for pest control and encourage healthy, beneficial growing. 

A Mother Earth Living post I researched subsequent to the United Way Herb Talk summarizes the Companion Planting quite well.  
The only recommendations I can take issue with from my own experience is my sage and rue are quite simpatico – as is the rosemary and basil. 
Love that writer Lauren Holt notes how basil benefits flavor of tomatoes, oregano, peppers and even asparagus.   
See, there is more to the idea of that Pizza Garden than just happy gardening haiku.

Gotta love the benefit of growing chamomile – it’s a wonder team player that helps pretty much every other plant – and us.  And well, it is pretty all by itself.

Watering

There are many self-watering planters available with a built in water reservoir.
If not using an irrigation system to water the containers, you can purchase the glass globes with long stem that when filled with water will drip drain into the potting material to nourish the plant.
Photo courtesy: Angela Scibilia UWGMC
If this is too fancy and takes a bite out of your purse, you can drill holes in PVC pipes and insert water bottles to act the same way.

Remember to water the roots, not the leaves.

Best to water mid-morning or early evening.

Don’t over water.
Occasional misting is good.

Care

Herbs are carefree and if planted in the ground don’t need fertilizer.
You might need occasional fertilizer if container planting.

Deadhead the flowering part of the plant to encourage growth. 
Especially so when growing basil.
Pinch out to produce compact, bush plants and maximize crop yields.  If the plant sets seeds it will tend to stop flowering.

Keep the plants clean; take out spent or damaged leaves.
Good horticulture hygiene practice cuts down the risks of pests and diseases – especially for young plants.

Evergreen herbs, including rosemary, chamomile, and sage should be trimmed regularly throughout the growing season.

Some herbs need support for their trellising. 
Tuteurs, wooden framework, a fence, obelisk, drying rack, or a statue are all good choices that also add whimsy and charm to the garden while serving a function.
Trellising allows the plant to wind or grow up and also aids in air circulation.

Mulch
In the garden bed or container, plants benefit from mulch: it helps retain moisture and mitigate weeds.

Get creative here too. 
Mulch can be sea shells, stones, cocoa shells, pebbles, beach or tumbled glass, marbles, pine cones or white pine needles – especially for the acid loving plants like blueberries. 

Be sure to label your herb plants. 
Too often we forget what it is that was planted and then hesitate to use them.

You can use the markers that come with the plant – or get creative and make plant markers writing the common or botanical nomenclature on store-bought beauties, popsicle sticks,
or stones.

Spoons and forks work so well, too. After all, you are going to eat these beauties!

Harvest herbs when you need to add them to your recipes.  Many harvest the herbs in the morning when the aromatic oil in the herbs is at its peak.
                                                                                                                       
Herbs – like other plants - grow best when nurtured with sun, water, and love.

Culinary Uses & Cocktail Recipes

Herbs are used in most every recipe. 
Dried herbs are more potent that fresh – up to three times more punch -- so use accordingly.

Remember to eat the herbs’ flowers. 

To name just a few you will enjoy eating: Nasturtiums, Arugula, Agastache – Cornflowers, Clove Pinks, Daylily, (their buds and petals are like water chestnuts).

Edible flowers look gorgeous on the plate, in a salad or when crystalized, on pastries and baked treats.

Pot marigolds are like saffron and can be used to color rice, butters, cakes, or sprinkled in salads)
Primrose, and scented leaved pelargoniums and sunflowers are glamorous eat-treats, too.

Think of using herbs to infuse honey and salt.

Lavender flowers work in ice cream or vinegars or crystalize them and violas and pansies, violets, begonias, Johnny-jump-ups, rose petals, lilac, borage, pea, pinks, scented geraniums for cakes, cupcakes and puddings.

Crystalized Flower How-To
Use a recipe of beaten egg whites, a few drops of water or vodka to coat the just-picked flowers and paint the blossoms, following by a sprinkling of fine sugar and dry on a wire rack or paper towels.
Store the crystalized petals you don’t use (really?!) in a tin till next time.  They’ll keep for almost a year.

Flavor Companions

Don’t know what herbs go with what dishes?

Onions, Garlic, Chives – Allium family members are terrific in salads, soups, sauces, egg dishes, eat the leaves and bulbs

Dill – feathery anise flavored leaves in fish dishes and as garnish

French Tarragon – Anise flavored herb for egg, fish, and chicken dishes or salads.

Lemon Grass – work great in Southeast Asian and meat & fish dishes

Cilantro – The foliage is a good citrusy flavor in Mexican and Thai dishes and added flavor to make guacamole sing

When grilling, check out my Examiner Grilling column post column to learn that herbs cut down on harmful carcinogens and how to add to marinades or used in shish kabobs.

Herbal Inspired Cocktails & Drinks

Here are some fun and tasty drink suggestions that will expand your herbal imbibing:

Borage – use the pretty blue flowers and freeze into ice cubes.
The plant’s cucumber tasting leaves are a great garnish for drinks (or in salads.)

Chamomile – the daisy looking flowers are superb for tea (and as a hair conditioner!)

In fact, any kind of herb can be used as a tea, including Thyme and Sage, which are helpful to heal a sore throat.
Lemon Grass leaves are used in Tisane or tea.
Every kind of mint: pineapple, chocolate or orange are joyfully refreshing used in iced teas and as a garnish.

Shaken or stirred, Shiso Martinis use fresh lime and the mint-like shiso leaf for a bracing alternative to the standard martini. 

According to Jessica Wohlers, Brooklyn’s top-tier mixologist, “Herbs are great to infuse in wine, sherry and syrups. 
“Syrups are the best way because it’s easy and you just add a bit to a glass of wine, champagne or Presecco, a spirit or even beer,” Wohlers explained.

A veteran of bleeding edge cocktail emporiums including the Clover Club www.cloverclubny.com and
the Flatiron Lounge www.flatironlounge.com where the secret to success, according to NY Magazine, is owner-partner Julie Reiner’s cheflike approach to the cocktail craft.



Wohlers has been a featured mixologist in a recent NY Post for her culinary cocktail prowess.
The willowy and talented Wohlers embraces the stand-up taste and intriguing flavor options herbs afford a creative cocktail maker.
Two of Wohlers’ favorite herb-inspired cocktail recipes are:

Gardener’s Sangria
The drink uses rosemary-infused red wine, Oloroso sherry, homemade citrus syrup, Angostura and Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6 (www.gazregan.com )

Mix all the ingredients together, pour over ice and garnish.

You have to love Regan describe his early attempts at creating his and Mardee’s Weekend Alchemist attempts when creating Regans’ Orange Bitters No.6.

 “Strolling around a store that supplies witches, warlocks, and gremlins with the potions and what-not I found everything I needed to make Baker’s formula, and I added some gentian, cinchona and quassia to the mix for good measure…” 

Wohlers goes on to describe another good herbal drink on her current cocktail menu:

Red Sky at Night
The colorful cocktail (Naturally she’d highlight a dramatic, color-imbued sassy drink – Wohlers is also a fine art painter and stylist) uses hibiscus flower infused white rum, pear liqueur, lemon juice, Demerara syrup (a simple syrup made with demerara or turbinado sugar that gives it an almost caramel flavor found in happy tropical drinks) and Angostura bitters, shaken and served up.


Use herbs including thyme or lavender to infuse drinks as varied as lemonade, champagne or spritzers.
Love Lillet? Who doesn’t?  It’s so refreshing for summer, too. (www.lillet.com )  
Replace the orange slice with basil a sprig of cucumber or cinnamon, tonic, and basil

Not inclined to liquor? There’s an abundance of online recipes to harvest including this one:

Herbal Soda             
1/2 cups sugar
3/4 ounce fresh herbs, such as basil, lemon verbena, mint,
tarragon, or thyme
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sparkling water or club soda, ice for serving