GGClub - From Grass to Gardens - Flowers part one - by Janet Lembke

I am loving From Grass to Gardens and there are so many wonderful gardening tips that I want it available to all, so am entering it on this blog. Following are quotes from Janet Lembke, maybe slightly paraphrased, and my comments, too. Please hit reply and add your own comments.

I love what Janet says about her garden - It is my goal - the gaudier the better. Sedum pink clashes with cayenne red and marigold orange. Flowers and vegetables mixed together.

Daylilies
These are her favorite. Name means "Beauties of a day." I have eaten almost every part of the day lily (stuffed blossoms, base of greens in a salad, dead blooms in soups & stews. Janet says when she was a child, her friends and she would pick all the flowers and suck the nectar from the base - just like honeysuckle. I did not know this about the plant. The Chinese (where they originated) said the buds, made into a powder, are good to ease pain and grief. They grazed cattle on daylilies. If seedpods form at the base of the flower, cut them off (I have never done that).

MARIGOLDS
Again, I am just noting things Janet says that are new to me or prompt me to think other thoughts for you. Aster family (marigold is one) are a New World plant found by the Portuguese in 1500s. Several are native to the US Southwest and grown wild. Pot marigold (calendula officinalis) is european, but its name, Marigold was given to the Nw World flowers that went from Brazil to India to Europe and back to the Americas. Gerard reported a boy who had swollen lips and mouth after eating marigolds and a cat whose lips became swollen before it died and mice have been reported dying after eating it. "Contrary to Gerard, the petals may be eaten without fear". The roots do release a compound that kills root bug that kill tomato roots, which is why so many plant them as companion crops. One Burpee marigold is called Nema-gone.

This year they grew well from seeds in one of my deck boxes. I will try their seeds next year.

zinnia
I get to pick these from my CSA, Calvert's gift farm - all summer long. One year they did well for me. "All you need to do is broadcast the seeds." It was originally a drab weed that the Aztecs called eye-sore. Linnaeus named it after a professor of medicine, Johann Zinn, who had grown the plant from seeds sent from Mexico. "The ugly duckling became a swan after hybridizing.

Its odor repels pests. It loves sun.