Fall Plant Swap Moved!

It was just one of those days. I left a little late to start with but then the world decided to step in and see how much later I could be.

I already had somewhere to be afterward and I didn't want to be lat to it too so by the time I made it to the park there was less than two hours to do anything.

Unfortunately for me, when I got there the park was closed off to traffic due to a walk for diabetes. I have nothing against these sorts of things but no one there knew of this supposed plant swap.By the time we figured out that it wasn't anywhere in the park there was just enough time left to have lunch and go on to the next event.

After we got home that evening my ife looked on the board to see what might have happened. Apparently 4 days before the event was to take place the location was changed and since I wasn't glued to the boards I missed it.

Suffice to say there will be no pictures this time around.

There is one person who was expecting me to show up and they're still going to drop by to swap some flowering plants for a few key lime trees.

Mexican Mint

I still need to plant the mexican mint in the ground even though it seems to like it on the widnow sill. It's even putting out some nice little yellow flowers.
As far as where to plant it, I have been told that it looks really good next to purple flowers so I think I'll find a spot near the lavendar bushes.

Candy Lily Sprouts, Fort Wroth Fall Plant Swap

I have great news! The candy lillies have sprouted! Well, at least 5 out of 6 have sprouted. I plan on planting some more of the seeds soon in some more pots for propogation and I have to remember to bring one of them to work as a thank you for the seeds in the first place, maybe get her a nice pot to boot.
Anyhow there are now at least 4 candy lilly plant sprouts to trade come Saturday.



Right now they look like little blades of grass but I believe she said they were relate to the iris.
Ok, after taking the picture the flash has revealed that the 6th pot has indeed sprouted. You can also see the basil and the coleus at the edge of the picture.

Spice of a tree

There are many herbs and veggies out there that get tons of attention. We all know about parsley, mint, onion, beets, carrots, rosemary, thyme and a whole slew of others. One of the often left out of the delicious seasonings comes from a tree. You're probably thinking about cinnamon or cloves, maybe even cocoa.
When I was little I was camping with my family and my mom foud some of this wonderful bit of the plant family and made some tea. It was one of the oddest taste and yet familiar. It was sassafras tea, ok so not really a tea but see my other blog about that.
It was once the main flavoring of rootbeer but is now illegal to put in there since it is a very mild narcotic. I guess some narcotic is too much for the FDA. Amazing how some things still get through... Anyhow that wasn't the wierdest part. We probably know various plants that make pretty good flavoring from the root but this tree has another use. An entirely different seasioning comes from it's leaves and you can buy this in the store, at least down here in Texas. If you've ever heard much cajun music you are bound to have heard of the "filé gumbo." Pronounced fee-lay it is the dried leaf of the sassafras tree. I have found a local sassafras tree on a nearby street and as soon as I muster up a little more boldness I'm going to ask if I can rake the yard for this wonderful spice. Ok, maybe not rake the yard but at least pick up a few leaves for drying so I can have fresh filé.