Angular leaf spot is a bacterial disease affecting cucumber and other cucurbits, including squash, pumpkin, and melon. The infection begins with small, angular, brown to straw-colored water soaked spots on the leaves, usually confined within the veins of the leaves and often with yellow halos. As the disease progresses, the leaf spots dry, and the center of the spot falls out leaving an irregular hole. Petioles, stems, and fruits may also be affected. When lesions develop on the fruit, the bacteria may also infect the seed. In addition, the lesions provide an entry way for soft rot bacteria that may entirely rot the fruit. A sticky white exude may form on the underside of the leaves and become crusty when dry. Warm, humid, rainy conditions, and high soil nitrogen favor the development of the disease which is spread by infected seed and plant debris, water, workers, and machinery that has had contact with diseased plants. Photo Credit Clemson, Wikipedia
Also known as common poppy and Flanders poppy, this annual wildflower is native from Africa to temperate and tropical Asia and Europe. It is a member of the poppy family, Papaveraceae, that also includes bleeding heart and corydalis. The plant grows 8-18″ tall and has hairy, irregularly pinnate leaves that are up to 6″ long and have coarsely-toothed margins. The flowers appear on bristly-hairy stems from late spring to mid-summer and are up to 4″ across. They have 4-6 overlapping papery petals with a black blotch at their base and are usually red but may be purple or white. The flowers give way to a many-seeded capsules that explode their content when ripe. The seed lie dormant in the soil for up to 80 years and germinate when the soil is disturbed. This phenomena produced memorable results during WW I, especially in Flanders, and inspired the symbol of the flower to honor the dead and sacrifice of lives in war. As beautiful as the poppies are, their prolific seed production with long life in the soil has led them to become weedy in some places. Corn poppy is a good choice for beds and borders, as well as for cottage, rock and wildflower gardens. The genus name, Papaver, is the ancient Latin name for the plant. The specific epithet, rhoeas, is the Greek word ῥοιάς (rhoiás), meaning red and refers to the flower color.
Wine can be made from both the flowers and berries of various elder plants including American elder (Sambucus canadensis) and European elder (S. nigra). In her book, Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wine (published 1909), my paternal grandmother, Helen S. Wright, includes seven wine recipes and one flavored water recipe that use either the elder flowers or berries. She does not specify the species of elder but since she collected her recipes in Massachusetts it is likely that the American elder is intended. Both American and European elders are deciduous shrubs with the European species taller, less hardy, and more weedy than its American cousin. Both have flat, 10″ wide clusters of flowers in June followed by black berries in late summer. The berries of both species are used for jams, jellies and pie fillings as well as wine. Photo Credit H. Zell Wikipedia
Also known as puke weed, this herbaceous annual or biennial is native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada, south to Alabama and west to Kansas, where it grows in fields, woods, and waste places. It is a member of the bellflower family, Campanulaceae, that also includes balloon flower (Platycodon), and ladybell (Adenophora). The plant grows 6-40″ tall from a taproot and has erect stems usually covered with bristly white hairs. The stem may be unbranched or branched in the upper portions and carries alternate, lanceolate to ovate leaves that are 2-3″ long and have toothed margins. From mid summer to fall, racemes of tubular, pale blue to white flowers appear but only 1-2 flowers bloom at a time. The flowers are about 1/3″ long and have a yellowish base with tufts of white hairs, a 3-lobed lower lip and 2-lobbed upper lip, and calyx with 5 narrow prong-like lobes. The fruit that follows is a papery inflated capsule 1/3″ across, and contains numerous tiny translucent, golden brown seeds. The nectar attracts small bees, but the acrid foliage is highly toxic and avoided by mammals. The leaves of Indian tobacco were smoked by Native Americans. The plant has been used in folk medicine in the past and is now used to deter smoking tobacco. The genus name, Lobelia, honors the Flemish botanist Matthias de Lobel (1538–1616). The specific epithet, inflata, is the Latin word meaning swollen or inflated and refers to the bladder like fruit. H. Zell Wikimedia Commons
Fairy Gardening, by Julie Bawden-Davis and Beverly Turner offers an exciting adventure into the world of fairy gardens. With abundant photographs, the authors provide a guide to creating these miniature landscapes from planning, to buying, planting, and maintaining them. Whether you have a fairy garden or are just thinking about making one, this book will provide many ideas to stimulate both interest and thought.
The most common corn rust is caused by the fungus Puccinia sorghi and usually appears after tasseling as dark, reddish-brown pustules on the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves. Infection is usually worst when temperatures are between 60° and 74°F and the relative humidity is high for an extended period of time. The rust fungus does not overwinter in the crop residue and new infections result from spores blown northward from warmer areas where the fungus survives on its alternate host, wood sorrel. Photo Credit Daren Mueller Wikimedia
Also known as yellow parilla, this twining woody perennial vine is native to thickets, moist woods, and stream banks of eastern North America, from southern Canada to northern Florida, and from the Atlantic coast west to Manitoba and Texas. It is a member of the Menispermaceaea, a plant family with over 500 species, most of which are tropical vines. The plant has a rhizomatous root system and stems that are green to brownish red and slightly hairy when young becoming hairless and woody with maturity. The stems are 8-20′ long when growing over other vegetation or structures but grow indefinitely on the ground and may form a dense ground cover about 12″ tall. The alternate, medium- dark green leaves are 2-8″ across, have smooth margins, and are palmately lobed with 3-5 shallow lobes. They are carried on stalks up to 8′ long that are attached on the underside near but not at the base of the leaf. From late spring to summer, drooping, branched panicles of male and female flowers appear in the leaf axils of different plants. The panicles are 5-7′ long and the flowers are 1/4″ wide, bell-shaped, and have 4-9 greenish-white petals, and 4-9 greenish white sepals that are longer than the petals. The male flowers have 12-24 yellow tipped white stamens while the female flowers have 6-12 staminodes and 2-4 stout pistils with slightly ruffled stigmas. The berry-like fruits that follow are about 1/3″ across, ripen to blue-black, and contain a single, flat, crescent-shaped seed that is poisonous to humans. Although considered poisonous, parts of the plant have traditionally been used for medicinal purposes. The genus name, Menispermum, is from the Greek words μήν (mēn), meaning (crescent) moon, and σπέρμα (sperma) meaning seed and gives rise to the common name moonseed. The specific epithet, canadensis, is the latinized form of Canada and refers to it native distribution in North America
Native to central Asia and northeastern Iran, garlic is a herbaceous perennial and a member of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae, that also includes onion, leek, and shallot. It was cultivated in Mesopotamia 4,000 years ago and was used in ancient Egypt as both a culinary and medicinal herb. The ancient Roman naturalist, Pliny the Elder (d 79 AD) notes the pungent flavor of raw garlic and the offensive smell it imparts to the breath. He goes on to describe 61 uses of garlic in remedies for ailments ranging from blisters, bites and stings to asthma, jaundice, and madness. Sacred to Mars, the god of War, garlic was eaten by Roman soldiers to give them strength and endurance but was not widely used as a culinary herb as it is in modern Italian cuisine. Garlic grows in Pompeii today and epigraphical evidence suggest that it was also bought and sold in ancient Pompey. Photo Credit Wikipedia
Also known as waxberry, this deciduous flowering shrub is a member of the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, that also includes weigelia, scabiosa, and abelia. It is native to North America where it grows in dry, open woods from Alaska and the Northwest Territories south to California and Colorado, and east to Virginia. Snowberry is a rhizomatous, much branched, twiggy shrub growing 3-6′ tall and wide and may spread to form a thicket. It has hollow hairy stems bearing opposite, dull green, oval leaves 1-2″ long that are sometimes deeply lobed. In summer, clusters of 2-16 small, pinkish white flowers appear in the leaf axils. They are bell-shaped, have white hairs inside, and attract butterflies and other pollinators. The green berry-like fruits that follow from September through November turn white with maturity, are about 1″ across, and contain 2 nutlets. They persist after the foliage has fallen and are attractive to both birds and mammals but are considered toxic, especially to children. In addition, wildlife use the plant for nesting and cover. The genus name, Symphoricarpos, comes from the Greek words συμφορέω (sumphoréō), meaning bear together and καρπός (karpós) meaning fruit, and refers to the fact that the fruit appears in clusters. The specific epithet, albus, is the Latin word meaning white, referring to the fruit color. Photo Credit Donald Hobern Wikimedia Commons
If the title, High Tea, conjures up ladies enjoying scones and finger sandwiches accompanied by Earl Grey tea you will be surprised by Diana Isaiou’s book. As a food stylist and consulting chef, Isaiou is founder of a cannabis bakery in Washington, and her book provides recipes for cannabis baked goods that are appropriate for a British style afternoon tea. Introductory sections explain such basics as dosing and extraction recipes while the bulk of the book presents 45 recipes for sweets from candy to cake.
