Text and Photos by Jean and Roxanne Riggs

History

In Victorian times, the popular handheld bouquets did more than just look pretty. They were called “nosegays” and they were filled with fragrant herbs and flowers. Their main purpose was to hide the foul street odors of cities and towns. It was also thought that many of the herbs would provide protection against fainting and disease, sort of the smelling salts and aromatherapy of days gone by.

The lovely collections of fresh or dried leaves and flowers were given meanings and they became a form of communication. These bouquets were called “tussy mussies” and were given to friends, lovers, and even enemies with appropriate sentiments in the language of flowers. Of course, both the giver and the receiver had to use the same reference list of floral meanings, since some lists were different than others, and both the bouquet maker and the person reading the floral message had to be able to identify the plant material before they could decipher the proper response.

Plant meanings

Many of these plant meanings have been carried on in the names of the plants. Some of the more common ones that gardeners know are forget-me-not (Myosotis) which means, “Do not forget me!” or true love; love-in-a-mist (Nigella) which means perplexity or “I‘ll see you in my dreams!”; bachelor’s button (Centauria) which means single blessedness; Johnny-jump-up (Viola) which means happy thoughts; love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus) which means hopeless but not heartless; frilled panties (Protea) which means risqué; thrift (Armeria) which means thriftiness; and my own self-explanatory favorite, kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate (Polygonum).

For the wedding bouquet there are herbs, charms, and the symbolic ribbons in which knots are tied to hold good wishes for the bride and to indicate the oneness of marriage, as in “they tied the knot.” Modern bridal bouquets include orange blossoms to represent the sweet and innocent bride herself, lilies-of-the-valley to signify the return to happiness, ivy to show wedded bliss and to prevent hangovers after the parties, and orchids for beauty and refinement. Heather might be added for luck, and the silver honesty pods as a wish for money in the bridal couple’s pocket. Rosemary blesses the wedding and reminds the bride to remember her family. Myrtle blesses the bride and bay is a blessing for the groom. The red rose or the white bridal rose is for love, and lavender is for domestic bliss and loyalty. The old poem, author unknown, says “Here’s Thyme to give you courage and Rosemary for the past, Sweet Lavender for a loyal heart and Rose, a love to last; Sage for a life that is long and brave, Mint to quicken the brain, Violets to ward off evil ones and Basil to cure the pain. Then for fun and fragrance Southernwood will do; and Lemon and Ginger mean a Sixpence in your shoe.”

Tussy mussy materials & plants

It is not difficult to make a nosegay or tussy mussy. The hardest part of the whole process is collecting all of the materials that are needed. Before you start gathering the flowers, you will need to have your construction tools ready. You need a good sharp pair of garden scissors for the plant material and an all-purpose pair of cutters for everything else. Lace for the backing is especially pretty and traditional. The backing can be a wide lace ribbon gathered to fit the size of the stems in the bouquet, or a lace doily cut in the center with an “X” to accommodate the stems, or a paper doily cut with the “X”, or a ready-made backing available at craft stores and wholesale florists, usually in the bridal department. If you want to keep the plant material fresh, there are bouquet holders with a plastic handle and a built-in holder for the water-filled spongy stuff. Floral tape to wrap the stems and ribbons to tuck into the bouquet are good finishing touches. Florist’s wire or pipe cleaners make tying the bows quicker and easier. A hot glue gun or a white crafting glue is good to have on hand in case you need to add extra bits of flowers or greenery to fill in a bare spot or repair a broken stem.

There are also nosegay holders, available in some antique stores in their original ornate styles or in present day forms in florists and specialty shops. The antique holders are getting more and more difficult to find and are quite expensive, but the new ones are more common and are reasonably priced.

The next thing to do is to decide what flowers and plant materials you need to use to express your message, and collect them together. The simple messages are easier to translate into flowers. Whatever your message, be sure to include a card telling the recipient what the flowers are and what they mean because most people these days don’t have a dictionary of floral meanings.

Tussy mussy samples

We have made two tussy mussies with different meanings. The first one is “Good Wishes for Your New Venture” and has basil for good wishes, boxwood for strength, chives for usefulness, goldenrod for encouragement, honesty (Lunaria) for wealth, mint for a clear mind, sage for wisdom, and roses for congratulations and friendship. It is made from dried materials, so it will last a long time.

The second one is a patriotic tussy mussy. It is made of fresh herbs and flowers, but if it is hung upside down most of them will dry so that it too will last. It says “I’m Proud, and Very Glad, to be an American” and has a red rose for love of country, yarrow for victory in any war, nasturtium for patriotism, violets for loyalty and devotion to our country, bay leaves for glory, thyme for strength and courage, and santolina to ward off evil.

With the knowledge of floral meanings, you can make bouquets that say many things like “Happy Birthday,” “Thank You,” “I Love You,” “Welcome,” or even “Too Bad About your Hangover.” Such fun!

Symbolism of Some Herbs, Plants & Flowers

Jean and Roxanne Riggs operated Sunshine Farm and Garden in Oakland County, MI and now enjoy retirement up north.

Photos by Jean and Roxanne Riggs
Costmary, also known as bible leaf.Ah, mint! Mint is one of the plant families that divide gardeners into beginners, intermediates and advanced classifications. Beginners are excited to grow the plants that are labeled “easy-to-grow” at the nursery and buy quantities of them for their first herb garden, or accept free plants from friends. We always tell people to beware of someone bearing free plants—there is some reason that they are trying to get rid of them.

Intermediates have realized just exactly what is meant by “easy-to-grow” or “free” and have cleared every trace of mint from their gardens, and if possible, from their lives. They use every trick available to them from pulling the plants to mowing the plants to using herbicides (sometimes undiluted) to rototilling the mint bed (don’t they know that rototilling in a mint bed is the same thing as thinning, transplanting and encouraging mint roots?).

The advanced gardener knows that mint is indispensable in an herb garden and has found ways to control its desire to take over the world, from planting it in pots or hanging baskets to cutting the bottom out of a large coffee can and setting the whole can into the ground, leaving only an inch or two above the ground, with the mint plant securely planted in the center of the can.

Anise hyssopThe more advanced and serious gardeners also learn that there are plants that smell or taste like mint, but do not have mint’s naughty growth habits and are therefore welcome additions to the garden or windowsill. It is important to realize that not all true mints (Mentha) smell and taste like the familiar peppermint or spearmint. Some of them, like pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), smell more of caraway and are commonly used as insect or mouse repellants. Sometimes they smell fruity like banana mint (Mentha arvensis ‘Banana’) or sweet and flowery like heliotrope (Mentha arvensis subsp. haplocalyx). And in Michigan some mints are grown as annuals since they are not hardy this far north.

We are going to talk about just some of the plants that are mint “wannabes.” One of our favorites is costmary (Tanacetum balsamita). This is a large plant that can get four feet tall, and is hardy. The leaves used to be pressed in bibles where they were supposed to repel insects, and the leaves were used as fragrant fans during long church services, perhaps to help keep ladies in tight corsets from fainting. It also makes a fine bookmark for any book. The yellow clusters of flowers dry to a fragrant, pretty gold and are used in wreaths and other craft projects.

Another favorite is mountain mint (Pycnanthemum pilosum). This is used as a mint substitute in the kitchen where the leaves and flowers are used to flavor soups and other dishes, and to make a minty tea. The flowers are dried for a number of crafts and for their fragrance in potpourri. It is hardy in Michigan.

Did you know that there is a mint marigold (Tagetes minuta) that is used mainly as an insect repellant? It grows tall, up to four feet or more, is an annual, has lacy foliage, and rarely flowers in Michigan. It is also known as Mexican marigold or weedkiller plant. It destroys noxious weeds like bindweed and ground ivy, and is supposed to be good at mosquito control. It is used in the kitchen to flavor meats and vegetables.

Peppermint geranium, left, and mint rose geranium both smell like mint and provide a great scent for the windowsill.There are nice houseplants called St. John’s mint (Micromeria brownei) and Jamaican peppermint (Satureja viminea). St. John’s mint is used in Jamaica, where it grows naturally, to flavor herb tea. Jamaican peppermint (sometimes listed as Micromeria viminea) is used for upset tummies in Costa Rica and to flavor meat in Trinidad. It grows like a small shrub, to three feet tall. Neither of these plants is hardy in Michigan, thus they are grown indoors.

One that has been hardy in our gardens is the mint shrub (Elsholtzia stauntonii). It blooms with lavender-colored flower spikes in late summer until frost, and frequently entertains butterflies. It has an anise-mint fragrance and has woody canes that winter over. The flowers dry for crafts and potpourri, and the leaves are used for flavoring, more commonly in the Far East.

Short-lived perennials called anise mint or anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) and its close relative called Korean mint (Agastache rugosa) self-sow in our gardens and come up in other places, thanks in some part, probably, to the goldfinches that like the seeds and decorate the gardens in autumn. As you can tell by the Latin names, these are neither anise nor hyssop, although they both have a strong anise-mint fragrance and flavor. The flowers are edible and the leaves are used to flavor herb tea, meat dishes and salads.

There is also a mint thyme (Thymus ‘Mint’). It has a creeping habit with tight foliage and a mild mint fragrance, and would be nice planted among paving stones in a walk. It is perennial in Michigan.

And there is a eucalyptus tree called Australian peppermint (Eucalyptus dives) that smells like a good peppermint. It is used in liquid soaps and disinfectants, and in vaporizers for colds. It is a 50- to 70-foot tree, although it can be grown for a while in a pot in Michigan. It is not hardy.

And we haven’t even started on the scented geraniums. The most common of the peppermint geraniums is Pelargonium tomentosum, which has velvety leaves and a sprawling growth habit that does especially well in hanging baskets. These leaves are used as a poultice for bruises, and as a flavoring in teas, desserts, jellies and chocolate cakes. These plants are not frost hardy, but they make nice houseplants in the winter. There is an upright version called pungent peppermint (Pelargonium tomentosum ‘Pungent Peppermint’) that has the same fragrance and is a bit tidier on the windowsill. There are others too, including ‘Peppermint Lace’ with deeply cut leaves, and ‘Peppermint Spice’ with very deeply cut leaves and a spicy peppermint fragrance. One of our favorites, ‘Variegated Mint Rose’ (Pelargonium x asperum ‘Variegatum’), combines the fragrances of mint and rose in a very pretty plant. Even ‘Chocolate Mint’ (Pelargonium quercifolium ‘Chocolate Mint’) has a good mint fragrance and some people say smells a bit like chocolate although the old herb books tell us that the chocolate in the name refers to the chocolate-colored marks on the leaves.

Each of these fake mints has its own uses and craft projects. Most of them can be substituted for mint in your projects. The fragrance may vary a bit, but probably no one but you will be the wiser. And if someone notices, they will just think of you as an expert!

Photos by Jean and Roxanne Riggs
Rose scented geraniumMany years ago when I was first beginning an herb garden, all of the scented geraniums, or more properly Pelargoniums, were referred to as “rose geraniums” by the few people who were growing them. As more and more people became interested in these gardening gems, they were divided by scent into the rose, lemon, citrus, fruit, spice, mint, and pungent varieties. 

There are hundreds of scented-leaf pelargonium varieties to grow, but the most popular ones are always the ones scented of rose. A lot of the scented pelargoniums have a good rose smell, and a lot more of them have a rose smell mixed with another aroma like lemon or spice. There are so many varieties that many of them are accidentally misnamed in nurseries. Some varieties have several common names, and some of them are sold only as “pelargonium” or “scented geranium” with no common name at all. The variegated ones sometimes revert to being a solid color. And to top the whole thing off, many of the common rose geraniums that are correctly named vary widely in their fragrance intensity. When you buy one, try to brush the leaves to see which ones smell the best and the strongest, so you purchase the ones you prefer. 

‘Cinnamon Rose’ scented geraniumWith the essential oil of rose going for outrageous prices these days, the rose geranium has been raised for its essential oil, which is very similar to rose oil and is therefore in great demand as a substitute. The farms are found mostly on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean and in Egypt, India, and China. The particular plant that is most commonly grown for its oil for perfumery is rose geranium (Pelargonium capitatum). Less commonly grown for its oil is Pelargonium graveolens, also called rose geranium. They are easy plants to grow in the garden, in pots, or in hanging baskets, demanding only good light and adequate water with excellent drainage. They are large plants and provide lots of leaves for potpourri or flavoring food. 

A few of the more popular varieties available include ‘Attar of Roses,’ ‘Chicago Rose,’ ‘Cinnamon Rose’ (has no cinnamon smell, just rose), ‘Little Gem,’ ‘Silver Leaf Rose,’ ‘Snowflake Rose’ (variegated with white), ‘Round Leaf Rose,’ and ‘Old Fashioned Rose.’ Generally, the smaller the leaves of the plant, the smaller the plant will be at maturity, so if you want to grow them in pots in the house, you might want to look for the are quite pretty. They grow from the branch tips, so if you want flowers, you cannot clip them back until after flowering, which is most common in the spring. 

‘Silver Leaf Rose’ scented geraniumUsing rose geraniums 

There are lots of ways to use these fragrant and flavorful plants besides being potted subjects or garden gems. They are wonderful added to potpourri and other fragrant things. They are used in flavoring, skin care products, insect repellents, aromatherapy, and they also have some medicinal value. 

Here are two of our favorite recipes for potpourri: 

A rose sachet  

1 cup dried fragrant rose buds and petals
1 cup dried rose-scented geranium leaves, broken up
1/4 cup dried patchouli leaves, broken up
1 cup dried woodruff leaves, broken up
1/4 cup cut orris root
1 tablespoon cloves, crushed
2 cinnamon sticks, broken up 10 drops each: rose fragrance oil, cinnamon oil, and clove oil. 

A dream of summer 

1 cup dried rose petals
1 cup dried rose scented geranium leaves, broken up
1 cup dried calendula petals
1 cup dried lavender buds and flowers
1/2 cup dried chamomile
1/2 cup dried lemon verbena leaves broken up
1/4 cup cut orris root
2 tablespoons allspice, crushed
2 cinnamon sticks, broken up
10 drops each: rose fragrance oil, lavender oil, and cinnamon oil 

Basic directions: Add the oils to the fixative, in this case the orris root. Mix everything together in a plastic bag or glass jar and mellow for 3 or 4 weeks in a dark place. Stir or shake regularly. Add more oils if necessary, and as needed to keep the potpourri fresh. Store in a covered container, and expose to the air as desired when you want the area to smell nice, or place in muslin bags and put in drawers or closets to make them smell fresh. 

For the adventurous cooks, here are some well-used recipes using rose geraniums in the kitchen.

Rose geranium angel food cake

Line an angel food cake pan bottom with clean, washed and dried, rose geranium leaves. Fill the pan with the angel food cake batter, and bake according to directions. Cool, and remove the cake from the pan. Most people remove the leaves with a sharp knife, but some really enjoy the crunchy texture they give to the cake. Drizzle a lemon glaze in a back and forth motion over the top of the cake, and serve with fresh strawberries or other fruit. This is really delicious, and no one will know how clever you are unless you tell them—bragging rights to the cook, as they say. 

Rose geranium shortbread 

Cream 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in 2-1/2 cups flour and 1 large or 2 small dried and crushed rose geranium leaves. Chill. Divide in half. On an ungreased cookie sheet pat each half into 7 or 8 inch circles. Prick each circle several times with a fork. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Rose geranium sugar 

To make rose geranium sugar, fill a pint jar about 1/4 full of sugar, and add a layer of rose geranium leaves, gently washed and dried thoroughly, then add more sugar and add another layer of rose geranium leaves, and so on until the jar is full. Put the lid on and let it sit for a couple of weeks. Use the sugar to sweeten tea, add it to fruit salad, use it to make frosting and so on. You will think of lots of ways to use it when you have it! 

Once you start using the leaves in the kitchen, you will find lots of ways to make old recipes seem new again. A leaf in the glass of an iced tea or lemonade, a leaf in jars of jelly as you make them, a leaf under each cinnamon roll as it bakes, a few leaves in the punch bowl, a couple of leaves in the sugar cookies, and so on. So good! 

These rose geraniums are wonderful plants. Treat yourself to one or two and see how nice they can be for you. 

Jean and Roxanne Riggs operated Sunshine Farm and Garden in Oakland County, MI and now enjoy retirement in northern Michigan.

by Jean and Roxanne Riggs

When you have collected pine cones from the woods, shells from the beaches, bits and pieces of special and unique flora, or other natural materials from the outdoors, there is a wonderful way to display your treasures. We will show you how to make a beautiful potpourri that looks like and is lightly fragrant of the piney woods, shores, and footpaths—sure to bring back memories of summer.

Basic potpourri recipe

A basic recipe includes 1 quart of dried materials, 3 to 5 tablespoons of fixative, and 10 to 15 drops of fragrant or essential oil. Place everything in a glass jar with a lid and allow it to mellow for 3 or 4 weeks, while shaking or stirring it regularly. A potpourri is fragrant because its oils are evaporating, and as such, more oil will need to be added as necessary. More oils and fixatives will also be needed when more materials are added. When treated like this, the fragrance will go on for years, and so will the memories. For storage, keep the mixture in a glass jar with a closed lid. Do not use a metal container, as tin boxes corrode and might alter the fragrances.

A fixative is a material that is used to set or “fix” a fragrance and release it more slowly. The most common fixative in fragrances today is orris root. This dried root of the orris root iris (Iris x germanica var. florentina) is usually available from specialty shops as a powder or in small chunks. It can be grown in the garden and is a lovely pale blue iris, with slightly darker falls, that blooms in late May. If you grow your own, cut or grind it before it dries thoroughly since it becomes very woody and hard after it dries. It has a light violet fragrance. Another good fixative is calamus root, the dried root of Acorus calamus, a plant that grows wild in wetlands alongside the cattails. Other common fixatives include woody things like pine cones, cinnamon sticks, and small nuts and pods. Some of the more exotic items are tree resins like frankincense, myrrh, and benzoin. Musk, civet, and other scents from animal sources are not recommended.

The difference between fragrance oil and essential oil is that fragrance oils are made in a laboratory and essential oils come directly from plant material. We usually recommend essential oils if possible, but sometimes the expense is too great or they are not available, and fragrance oils then make good substitutes.

Potpourri materials list

You need to start your potpourri with good-scented dried materials like dry pine needles, dried mosses, and dried flowers and herbs. Add other things that are larger to add interest and more fragrances. We have assembled a list that we use to make our version:

Pine needles and pine cones. While the white pine is the state tree of Michigan, its cones are quite large and might need to be cut up to manageable sizes. The jack pine has pretty, medium-sized cones, and the needles are very fragrant. Smaller pine cones are easier to work into the recipe. The woody cones make good fixatives.

Acorns and other nuts. Small nuts are good additions, and also hold a fragrance well. They add lots of visual interest, and signify looking forward to the next growing season.

Sweet gum tree balls. These are the spiny-looking balls that you find under the sweet gum trees on many lawns and in some parks.

Linden or maple tree wings and seeds. The winged seeds make pretty additions to a potpourri. The wings are adaptations to help the tree disperse the seeds using the wind. Children like to toss them into the air and watch them come down spinning like propellers.

Rose hips and other flower seed pods. The rose hips are dark red, and add a citrus fragrance. Iris pods are brown, woody, and pretty. Bush clover dries tan and is nice. Some ferns have sterile fronds that add a new shape.

Dried mosses, dried lichens and mushrooms. All of these can be added and will add a little fragrance and a lot of interest.

Clam and snail shells, cleaned. At the lake shore, everyone picks up shells and other treasures, including Petoskey stones and little agates. All of these must be cleaned, especially the shells, to make sure you don’t add bad odors. These do not add fragrances, but they certainly are interesting. On these, you could write the date you found them with a permanent pen.

Dried flowers, dried herbs, sweet grass, and sweet fern. There are lots of flowers that grow freely and are not protected wildflowers, and they make good colorful accents. Tansy, white yarrow, goldenrod, roses, black-eyed Susan, Joe Pye weed, boneset, and many others are wonderful additions. Mint adds a nice fragrance and a pretty green color. Sweet grass grows in damp places and adds a wonderful vanilla fragrance. Sweet fern grows amongst the wild blueberries up north, and has a fragrance that is typical of the northern forests. Fragrance is a powerful reminder of many things, and sweet fern reminds us of warm summer days and northern woods better than most anything else.

Feathers and any other special goodies. These things do not add any fragrance, but are great additions for the memories.

Cedar leaves and chips. These add a good fragrance and additionally act as insect repellents.

The finished potpourri.

Making the potpourri

For each quart of materials that we use, we add about 15 drops of balsam fir or pine needle essential oil to about 5 tablespoons of orris root, and then add it to the mixture. We find that a few drops of cinnamon oil makes the pine fragrance more mellow, and that a few sticks of cinnamon as well as a few whole cloves can add enough spice to the fragrance to make it more interesting and give it some needed depth. You can make the aroma stronger or weaker depending on your own preferences by adding more or less oil.

Our relatives have a cottage near Lake Huron (one of the five Great Lakes, along northeastern Michigan) that they say smells musty after being closed for a period of time, and they use this potpourri when they lock it up for the season to keep it smelling fresher. You can add more things to it as more items are collected. You can give little gift packages of it to your friends or guests to help them remember their visit, which is made especially meaningful if they add something that they found too.

 Jean and Roxanne Riggs operated Sunshine Farm and Garden in Commerce Township, MI.

Fresh herb bunches are wrapped with rubber bands and dried on a homemade hanger.by Jean and Roxanne Riggs

While many gardens are grown just for their beauty, the herb garden’s primary purpose is to be harvested for use during the winter months when the garden is not available. For the herb gardener, preserving the harvest is an important part of the gardening season. And it really is something that we need to learn to do correctly so that all of the work that comes before the harvest is not wasted. If you plan to use fresh herbs from the garden during the growing season, you can clip them whenever you need them. However, if you cut the plant down to its roots, it will likely not continue to grow and you will have to nurture a new plant.

Herbs are just like other garden plants in that there are annuals, biennials, hardy perennials, and tender perennials. Each of these is harvested differently.

It is easy to harvest herbs: You need sharp scissors, rubber bands, herbs and a sunny, dry afternoon.

Annual culinary herbs

Annuals, like basil, dill weed, and savory, are plants that grow for just one season and are used for their leaves. They should be harvested before they go into flower. Once they flower and set seed, the leaves start to deteriorate and much of their flavor is lost. Most of the annual plants can be harvested more than once if only a third of the plant is cut at one time. If the first harvesting is done in July, a second harvest is still possible before the frosts kill the plants.

Annuals that are grown for their seeds, like coriander, dill, and anise, must be harvested as soon as the seeds are ripe and no longer green, or they will seed themselves everywhere for next year.

Annuals have a limited life span, so if you want to have fresh herbs on your windowsill for the winter months, you should start with new baby plants in September instead of trying to bring the old plants indoors.

Biennial and perennial culinary herbs

Biennials (plants that last two years) such as parsley and chervil, have sweeter and more tender leaves the first year. In the second year, the plant’s energy goes into producing flowers and seeds instead of new leaves, and the older weathered leaves have a more intense flavor that is rather bitter.

Hardy perennials are more tender, sweeter, and less bothered by bugs if they are harvested early in the summer, like late June or early July. They should not be cut very much at all after Labor Day, just leaves and tips, so that they have a chance to harden up for the winter weather ahead. Cutting promotes new growth that will not winter well. Shrubby herbs such as sage, winter savory, lavender and thyme, do not do well when pruned severely, and need energy in the stems to come back in the spring.

If you plan to bring tender perennials indoors for the winter, such as bay trees, pineapple sage, lemon verbena, and scented geraniums, you will probably cut some of the branches back to make the plant a more manageable size in the house. These clippings can be dried for use. Otherwise, clip as you need them for your favorite recipes and you will have fresh herbs all year round.

Hang your herbs upside-down (for straight stems) and out of the sun in a dry location for 2 to 3 weeks until crispy dry. Label them when you harvest.

Drying and storing herbs

In order to dry the herbs for storage, fasten the not-too-large bunches with rubber bands that will contract as the stems dry and shrink in size, and hang them in a dark, airy place until they are crisp and completely dry. Then the leaves can be removed from the stem and stored in jars. Be sure to label the bunches.

If you are drying a small amount of leafy material, you can place it on a paper towel on a cookie sheet on top of the refrigerator, where warm air flows over the top when the motor runs. Turn them regularly, and when they are fully crisp and dry, you can put them in jars for the winter. If you put them in the jars before they are completely dry, they will mold. Washing the herbs before drying is not usually necessary, but if you must rinse them, do it gently so that the flavorful oils don’t get left in the water. You must wait until the water has dried before you can bunch them or they will get moldy before they get dry enough to keep for the winter.

Some herbs, like chives, are better kept in the freezer. Just lay the fresh leaves on a piece of foil, fold and label the foil and put it in the freezer. When you need chives you can simply snip off the amount you need, refold the foil, and put it back into the freezer.

We do not recommend drying herbs with heat; that is, in the oven at a low temperature, in the microwave for a couple of minutes, or in a dehydrator. Your house smells wonderful when you use these methods, but heating the herbs means many of the essential oils are evaporating and therefore will not be available when you want to cook with them.

The flowers of herbs can also be dried

A few recipe ideas

Basil turns black if you freeze it, but you can turn it into pesto that freezes just fine. This is an easy-to-do pesto for your freezer and a favorite at our farm:

Put into your blender or food processor:

1 generous cup olive oil
1 handful basil leaves & tender tops
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 or 4 tbsp. lemon juice

Process until fully blended. Pour into a freezer container, label, and place in the freezer for use this winter. If you want to add pine nuts to the recipe, do it when you thaw the pesto.

When your harvest is fully dry and ready to store, here is one of our favorite recipes for Herbs de Provence:

2 tbsp. savory
2 tbsp. thyme
2 tbsp. lavender flowers
1 tbsp. rosemary
1 tbsp. sage
1 tsp. fennel leaf

Keep the herbs as whole as possible until you are ready to use them. This will help to preserve the flavors. Mix them up and put them into a jar or plastic tub with a tight-fitting lid. We like the newer, small plastic tubs because it is so easy to get at the contents when you want to use them.

A good salt substitute can be made with 2 tbsp. basil, 1 tbsp. thyme, 1 tbsp. marjoram, 2 tsp. lovage, 2 tsp. sage, and 2 tsp. savory.

When it comes to culinary herbs, you should enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. That’s why drying and preserving them correctly is so important!

Jean and Roxanne Riggs operated Sunshine Farm and Garden in Commerce Township, MI.

Jean and Roxanne Riggs
Herbal topiaries – rosemary, scented geranium and santolina.by Jean and Roxanne Riggs

As more and more people are discovering the joys of gardening in containers, both indoors and in the garden, the use of herbs in the containers has also grown in popularity. Many of the woody-stemmed herbs are especially well-suited to being grown and trimmed into artistic shapes, and the grower is doubly rewarded with a beautiful plant that can be fragrant and useful in the kitchen. Herbal topiaries require time and commitment but are among the most lovely of all potted plants. They let the herb gardener experience different plant habits and needs, along with developing creative ways to display a natural herb.

How to plant and maintain a topiary

Herb plants that are to be trained into topiaries will need the best care that you can give them. Adequate light is important, so plan on giving them at least 5 hours of sunlight a day. They must have sunlight or grow lights during the winter months when they are indoors. Pay attention to the soil in which you are growing them and make sure they have excellent drainage. Clay pots with holes in the bottom are very useful as they help with drainage; you can line the bottom inch of the pot with stones or broken pot pieces to make it even better. One of the high quality soilless mixes available at garden centers is the best choice for a growing medium. Once the plant is established and growing well, you will have to fertilize it regularly since plants grown in containers have no way of getting nutrients unless you add them. A slow-release fertilizer is recommended. Watering is very important; if the soil gets dry to the touch, you must water thoroughly. Relying on the rain will not work and you cannot sit the pot in water or it will rot the roots. Misting encourages molds and mildew on leaves. A good drenching with a watering can or watering wand attached to a hose will really do the job. In cold climates, herbal topiaries are not hardy and must be kept in good growing conditions year round. Topiaries should be moved inside before the first frost in the fall. The ideal temperatures would be 65 degrees or higher in the daytime, and 55 degrees or higher at night.

Herb plant choices

Herb plants that make good candidates to be grown artistically include most of the woody-stemmed varieties:

• Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) for the upright topiaries and prostrate rosemary (R. officinalis ‘Prostratus’) for training into the more intricate shapes like hearts and circles, as well as bonsai.

• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia, L. lanata, L. dentata and others) although the constant removal of the tips to shape the topiary may eliminate the flowers.

• Thyme (Thymus) has upright varieties that are very good for people with limited space because of their small size.

• Germander (Teucrium) with its tiny fragrant leaves that resemble oak leaves.

• Sage (Salvia officinalis) in its many colored varieties or pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) with its fruity aroma.

• Lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla) with its strong, sweet lemon fragrance and flavor—just imagine the shocked look on the faces of your guests when you pick a leaf from your prized topiary to flavor your tea!

• Myrtle (Myrtus communis) in its compact or variegated forms.

• Bay (Laurus nobilis) which is a classic shape and the largest of the plants listed here.

• Savory (Satureja montana) has shiny leaves and good taste; reputed to have been named after “satyr” for its aphrodisiac qualities.

• Scented geranium (Pelargonium) with its many varieties, although we recommend that you stay with the smaller-leaved types. Don’t bother with annuals since their short life span makes it foolish to spend your time pruning and trimming.

Creating your topiary

Many of the above plants come in beautiful variegated leaf varieties. However, we stay away from the yellow-leaved types since they sometimes look sick or uncared for in this type of use. Select young plants, from a reliable herb farm or nursery, that are tall and have a straight center stem if you want them to grow upright into the lollypop or poodle shape, or lax and trailing stems if you want them to grow on a wire form. The new plant should be transferred into a 4- or 5-inch clay pot with the soilless mix after purchase.

To start the single ball topiary, which consists of foliage clipped into a tight ball on the top of a sturdy stem, you should begin trimming the lowest leaves and branches. At least 1/3 of the plant’s foliage must remain so it will continue to grow and thrive. Keep doing this until the plant has grown to the height you want it. When the proper height is achieved, pinch the tip off. Place a bamboo stake that is just shorter than the plant into the pot to keep the plant stem straight. Use a few twist ties to loosely attach it to the stake, but don’t strangle the plant as it grows. Now cut off the bottom branches and clip the other branches to start the shape of the ball. During this part of the training process, the plant looks less than lovely. However, it will quickly fill in with new leaves and small branches and look like the art work you had in mind when you started. The same things should be done for the other shapes too, like the double ball or the cone, keeping in mind the ultimate shape and form that you want the plant to achieve. If you make a mistake (and who doesn’t?) don’t worry, the plant will grow back and give you a second chance. It just might take a little longer.

Tools that help

Even the beginner needs some basic tools to use. A really good, sharp pair of garden scissors is a great asset. Be prepared to spend $20 to $45 for these. Stay away from the large pruners for now. A pair of garden tweezers is handy for removing dead leaves and other debris. Bamboo stakes or a preformed topiary wire shape are necessary right from the start since the selection of the plants to be used depends on what the ultimate size and shape of the topiary will be. Plant ties or twist ties, preferably green, that can be cut to the sizes necessary are essential. For some of the heavier stems it might be necessary to use a wire to keep the shape desired. Clay pots are good and are heavy enough to support the taller topiaries. If the wind blows one over, double pot the plant with a second pot at least two to three inches larger than the interior pot. Layer the bottom of the outer pot with pebbles, and fill the sides with the pebbles after the interior pot has been placed into the second pot. Another trick is to run a longer bamboo stake through one of the drainage holes and down into the ground to keep them from blowing about too much.

If you are going to give one of your beauties away as a gift, be sure to include a “care tag” for the lucky recipient. Include the name of the plant and a recipe if it is a culinary herb, and basic care instructions of light, water, temperature, and clipping so that they will enjoy their topiary for a long time. 

Jean and Roxanne Riggs operated Sunshine Farm and Garden in Commerce Township, MI.

Dr. Howard’s Garden features a wide variety of medicinal herbs.Text and photos by Jean and Roxanne Riggs

There are three areas in Greenfield Village where there are herbal gardens: The Garden of the Leavened Heart, Dr. Howard’s Garden, and the Burbank Garden. There are herb plants in many other garden areas in the Village, but these three are mainly herbs.

The Garden of the Leavened Heart follows the original 1938 design of Mrs. Clara B. Ford who had the garden designed and selected the herbs to be planted. Dr. Howard’s Garden contains a variety of medicinal herbs that might have been used by doctors in the 1880’s and is located at his house. The Burbank Garden has herbs and herb-related plants, along with everlastings that are harvested and used for herb and craft demonstrations.

These three gardens have been planted and maintained by volunteers from the Village Herb Associates since the early 1980’s. The group was loosely organized by Mary Gerathy in the early 1970’s while she was teaching classes with herbs and dried flowers at Lovett Hall in the Village. When Mary left to pursue other interests, the group continued under the guidance of Shirley Swancutt in the 1980’s. In 1980 there were 25 volunteers who put in a total of 400 hours. In 2005 there were 69 dedicated volunteers from this now well-organized group who logged over 2900 hours ordering and planting seeds, transplanting plants, as well as watering, weeding, and clipping the gardens.

Comprised of 4 areas in the shape of hearts, the Garden of the Leavened Heart contains mainly perennial herbs, many of which still follow Clara Ford’s choices.The Garden of the Leavened Heart

Found in front of the Martha Mary Chapel at the edge of the Village Green, The Garden of the Leavened Heart is a beautiful garden whose parts, if pushed together, would form a circle. The parts are separated by pathways, and the planted areas are four hearts. Their connecting parts include a cross through the center, and an inner circle with an exquisite sundial. There is a bench in a stone wall next to the garden where you can sit and admire the garden and the Village Green. The plants are mainly perennial herbs and flowers which still closely follow Mrs. Ford’s choices.

Dr. Howard’s Garden

Dr. Howard’s Garden is a series of eight rectangles filled with plants that might have been used to treat patients in the late nineteenth century. There is an area for women’s health that includes raspberry (Rubus idaeus), red clover (Trifolium pratense), black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), parsley (Petroselinum crispum), and more. The first aid area contains comfrey (Symphytum), pot marigold (Calendula), broad-leaf plantain (Plantago major) which was sometimes called “white man’s foot” since it was spread so widely during colonial times, and flax (Linum). The other areas have plants for respiratory problems, digestive ills, circulatory aids, and even plants to help the nervous system with nice examples of St. John‘s wort (Hypericum perforatum), lavender, valerian (Valeriana), German chamomile (Matricaria recutita), and basil (Ocimum basilicum). The good doctor’s pharmacy was as close as his garden. This is another well-tended garden that is good for its historical information as well as showing how the medicinal plants look while growing.

The Burbank House

The Burbank House has a large garden surrounded by a white picket fence. The garden is divided into planting areas that are accessible by well-maintained pathways. This is a “working garden” that has plants for use and enjoyment. The garden provides a lot of flowers for drying that are later used for craft demonstrations and potpourri. There are benches where you can sit down to rest, and a compost bin to show how to take care of the garden discards.

The Burbank House features a working garden (above) that has plants for use and enjoyment. There are also benches (below) where visitors can take some rest.A large corner garden contains many silver-leaved plants including one of the dusty millers (Artemisia), Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia), sage (Salvia), and the rarely seen cardoon (Cynara) to celebrate the volunteer’s 25th anniversary this year. The center circle garden is made up of circles of boxwood, Santolina, lavender, curry plant (Helichrysum angustifolium), and a central pot with a large bay tree (Laurus nobilis). There are long garden areas of blue salvia, lavender, lots of celosia in different colors and types, many varieties and colors of statice, globe amaranth (Gomphrena), strawflowers (Helichrysum), love-in-a-mist (Nigella), and grasses, including sea oats and millet. These are valuable educational displays for gardeners to evaluate growth habits to see if the plants would be appropriate in their gardens.

The back and side of the Burbank House are also planted with herbs which would have been used in the kitchen. These gardens have a mix of herbs with some flowers, and some herbs used as simple remedies that would have been the responsibility of the lady of the house. This is really a delightful set of gardens that certainly enhances the buildings and their historical accuracy.

Greenfield Village: A Michigan treasure 

Greenfield Village as a part of The Henry Ford historical complex is familiar to nearly everyone in Michigan. It continues to get bigger and better as it ages. Mr. Ford did himself and his chosen city of Dearborn proud when he created this historical masterpiece for the public. The efforts of the Village Herb Associates volunteer organization to make the herbal gardens both beautiful and accurate are appreciated every day by thousands of visitors from all over the world. The Henry Ford provides educational experiences based on authentic objects, stories and lives from America’s traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation. Their purpose is to inspire people to learn from these traditions to help shape a better future.

To those of you, especially the gardeners, who haven’t yet made the time to visit Greenfield Village, we encourage you to make the arrangements. You simply won’t believe what you’ve been missing until you have seen the beautiful plantings and pleasant surroundings for yourself. Allow enough time to savor the herb gardens and rest on a bench with a view. If you are so inclined, ask for a list of the plants and let it lead you to more knowledge.

Jean and Roxanne Riggs operated Sunshine Farm and Garden in Commerce Twp, MI.