Yogies and yoginis celebrate this day with sun salutations, while new-agers and "druids" celebrate at Stonehenge in England.

I always turn to my friend Teresa O'Connor, author of the blog Seasonal Wisdom, for the wonderful folklore surrounding the holidays and seasons, and she never fails me.

In her post on the Summer Solstice, Teresa writes that in ancient times, it was actually considered mid-summer, not the beginning of summer, and the night before was fearful because fairies and evil spirits would be about.

Folks used to build giant bonfires and bring family, friends and animals close to protect them. But some anxieties were real -- this time of year ushered in a season in which crops, humans and livestock were most vulnerable to disease and insect damage.

For more about the Summer Solstice, and other seasons of the sun and moon, check out Teresa's blog.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden history
        

Whether it is true or not, the story of George Washington and the cherry tree bears repeating -- especially on a garden blog!

Here is one version of it....

When George Washington was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was extremely fond. He went about chopping everything that came his way.

One day, as he wandered about the garden amusing himself by hacking his mother’s pea- sticks, he found a beautiful, young English cherry tree, of which his father was most proud. He tried the edge of his hatchet on the trunk of the tree and barked it so that it died.

Some time after this, his father discovered what had happened to his favorite tree. He came into the house in great anger, and demanded to know who the mischievous person was who had cut away the bark. Nobody could tell him anything about it.

Just then George, with his little hatchet, came into the room.

“George,” said his father, “do you know who has killed my beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden? I would not have taken five guineas for it!”

This was a hard question to answer, and for a moment George was staggered by it, but quickly recovering himself he cried: –

“I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot tell a lie! I did cut it with my little hatchet.”

The anger died out of his father’s face, and taking the boy tenderly in his arms, he said: –

“My son, that you should not be afraid to tell the truth is more to me than a thousand trees! yes, though they were blossomed with silver and had leaves of the purest gold!”

 

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden history
        

I can always count on my friend and fellow blogger Teresa O'Connor of Seasonal Wisdom for a her wonderful holiday folklore.

It turns out, according to Teresa, that Valentine's Day IS about the birds and the bees.

Ok, maybe not the bees.

But Teresa writes that poets believed that birds chose their mates on Feb. 14, the feast day of their patron saint.

Read more on the history of Valentine's Day traditions from Teresa. And I hope the one you love remembers you on this day.

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Barbara Taylor Haddock

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden history
        

Egypt is much in the news this week, and while the country is best known for its desserts and ancient wonders, gardens were also cherished in the ancient days and were kept both for growing food and for honoring the gods.

Gardens at private houses and villas were mostly used for growing vegetables and were located close to a canal or the river. However, during the days of the Egyptian Empire, gardens were often surrounded by walls and they were enjoyed both for pleasure and for their utility.

Garden produce was an important part of the Egyptian diet, but flowers were also cultivated for use in garlands to wear at festive occasions and for medicinal purposes.

While the poor kept a patch for growing vegetables, the rich people could afford gardens lined with sheltering trees and decorative pools with fish and waterfowl. There could be wooden structures forming pergolas to support vines of grapes from which raisins and wine were produced. There could even be elaborate stone kiosks for ornamental reasons, with decorative statues.

Temple gardens had plots for cultivating special vegetables, plants or herbs considered sacred to a certain deity and which were required in rituals and offerings, like lettuce to Min. Sacred groves and ornamental trees were planted in front of or near both cult temples and mortuary temples.

As temples were representations of heaven and built as the actual home of the god, gardens were laid out according to the same principle. Avenues leading up to the entrance could be lined with trees, courtyards could hold small gardens and between temple buildings gardens with trees, vineyards, flowers and ponds were maintained.

Continue reading "Egypt and its gardens" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden history
        

There is nothing like free plants, and that's why I am such a fan of verbena bonariensis, that tall, purple-topped spike that self-seeds so abundantly in my garden.

If some pop up where I don't want them, I have no qualms about pulling them out because there will be plenty growing where I do want them. Right now, they are doing what they were designed to do, according to my Dave's Garden newsletter -- create a kind of screen.

I have always butchered the pronounciation of this verbena, and it comes out sounding like the last name of David Boreanaz, the hunk who starred as Angel in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and now plays the dumb, strong guy opposite the smart woman in "Bones."

Continue reading "Really? I thought it was named after that guy in 'Bones.'" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden history
        

Those of us who love garden literature know Vita Sackville-West, the English poet and novelist who was probably most famous during her life for her garden writing, though she is probably known best today for her "open" marriage and her affair with Virginia Woolf.

One of the great sadnesses of her life was the loss to her through primogenture of Knole House, her ancestral home, and she sought to replace it with Sissinghurst Castle, where she and her husband, Harold Nicholson, created elaborate gardens around the castle ruins.

She was perhaps the first to design garden "rooms," and the result is the most famous garden in all of England.

The gardens at Sissinghurst are under a National Trust now, but Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson's grandson, Adam Nicholson, lives there part time with his wife as they try to make Sissinghurst a working farm.

Photo Credit: Jonathan Buckley/National Trust Photo Library

Continue reading "Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden history
        

Tomorrow is May Day, the traditional start of summer, and my friend and fellow blogger Teresa O'Connor, the blogger behind Seasonal Wisdom, writes that May Day hasn't always been about May baskets and Maypole dances!

"May Day and May Eve were also considered among the scariest days of the year – a time when fairies, witches and other evildoers created havoc.  That’s why so many seasonal rites were designed to protect families, animals and communities from these potential problems."

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Continue reading "May Day " »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden history
        

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

Poinsettia week continues here on Garden Variety, where we are paying tribute to the most popular flowering potted plant in the United States.

The poinsettia has its roots, so to speak, in Mexico, and a legend grew in that country about the Christmas plant.

A little Mexican girl named Pepita was sad because she did not have a present to give to the Christ child at an evening church service.

As she walked to church, she gathered a bouquet of roadside weeds that would be her only gift.

But as she approached the altar, her spirits lifted and she forgot the humbleness of her gift.

When she placed the bouquet at the feet of the Christ child, a miracle occured - the ordinary weeds burst into brilliant red blooms.

Thereafter, the poinsettia was known as Flores de Nochebuena, or Flowers of the Holy Night.

 If you'd like to see my photos from the holiday poinsettia show at Baltimore's Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park, check out my Flickr photostream.

If you'd like to see good photos from the show, see Jed Kirschbaum's slide show on the Baltimore Sun Web site.

The show continues through Jan. 3, Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it's free.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden history
        

Continue reading "The First Ladies' Garden" »

Posted by Susan Reimer at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden history
        

 Photo credit: The Baltimore Sun/Kim Hairston

A loyal Garden Variety reader, Dave from Joppa, emailed me to say that he remembered his father telling him many years ago (he is 62) about a blight on the Eastern Shore of Maryland that destroyed the honeydew crop.

"I have never been successful in growing any," said Dave, who grows many of his own vegetables from seed. "I wonder if you have ever heard the same and if you know if others have any information on this.

"I cannot rememberseeing any honeydew melons being sold at vegetable stands that I have ever frequented."

I checked with Sun researcher Paul McCardell, and he found ancient newpaper clippings that talk of a canteloupe mildew that damaged vines in 1924 and 1949 before they had a chance to flower and produce fruit.

My friend Jon Traunfeld at the University of Maryland agriculture department says that any number of diseases might have wiped out the melons in the event that Dave remembers. And those diseases affect all melons: musk, canteloupe and honeydew.

As to why he's not seeing honeydews at farmers' markets? He must not be going to the right ones because honeydew melons grow very well in Maryland. Dave's lack of success growing them himself, Jon says, might be due to not enough sun or poor soil.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden history