Forest Bathing Equals Nature Immersion

Posted on September 4, 2026 | Leave a comment

Although I have heard of “forest bathing,” I have not actually experienced it until this past month. Having graduated with a degree in clinical mental health therapy, my daughter was interested in nature as a therapy tool and I recommended forest bathing. I wanted to experience it with a certified guide so I booked two tickets from the Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) for a Saturday morning at the U.S. National Arboretum.  According to the FONA site, forest bathing, or shinrin yoku, is the simple practice of taking in the woods through the senses. The benefits are immense: boosted immunity, lowered blood pressure, and improved attention and mood.

Unfortunately, in the interim, my daughter was offered a position in another state and was not able to attend but I promised her I would write about it here so she could know what it was like.

This particular event was from 9:00 am to 11:00 am and even though the instructions said that it would take place despite light rain or snow, I thought for sure it would be cancelled. The forecast called for rain, and I kept looking at my phone for the cancellation email. Seeing none, I drove to the Asian collection within the Arboretum and met my guide, Paul Jarris. There was a light drizzle but I was prepared with my umbrella, poncho, backpack, weatherproof shoes, and water bottle.

We gathered in a circle and introduced ourselves. Although the event was sold out, 8 showed up. Probably the rest did not want to come out in the rain. All of us were new to forest bathing. Everyone was a DC resident except for me and Paul.

Paul is a certified forest therapy guide. I had hoped that my daughter could ask the guide about forest bathing training and the science behind it. For me, I wanted to learn forest bathing techniques — not just walk in nature.

Forest bathing has ancient roots in Japan. In the 1980’s, many Japanese were working too hard, were too stressed. The director for the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries knew of the health benefits and employed it as a government sponsored initiative to help stressed employees and improve preventative health care.

Paul briefly talked about this history, the process, the health benefits, and what forest bathing was not. It was not a hike, it was not plant identification, and it was not meditation. Meditation turns your attention inward while forest bathing turns your attention outward.

We walked a few minutes on an asphalt road to the crepe myrtle grove which is like being in a forest but not a true forest. As we walked, he asked us to think back to our happy times in childhood.

“I like to start with that because almost all of us have some childhood memory when we don’t have the inhibitions of an adult,” explained Paul. “We’re just in a more natural state. It is one of the ways to remind people of that, to get them a little bit out of their head and back into their memories and feelings, that notion of getting out of the adult mind and into the child mind, the creative mind, the less inhibited mind.”

I tried to think about this as we walked but the group was quickly coalescing and we ended up talking with each other. By the time we got to the crepe myrtles, the rain stopped. For August, it was a beautiful cool morning — the weather could not have been more perfect.

In a grassy clearing surrounded by tall, pink and red blooming trees, Paul instructed us to close our eyes while standing and to focus on our senses. He asked us to listen to the sounds far away and nearby, feel the feet on the ground, feel the breeze and our clothes against our skin, taste the air with an open mouth, and smell the air and the freshly washed grass and trees. We did this for about 10 minutes. We then opened our eyes and shared what we experienced. I noticed or had not noticed before that there are sounds in the distance (trucks) as well as nearby (birds) but also that there was “taste” (a bit of moist earth), and “touch” — the wind slightly caressing the arms. I became aware of layers or dimensions.

This was our first “invitation” called “Pleasures of Presence” or “POP.” Invitations are suggestions by the guide to focus on something and can differ depending on your guide.

“This really gets you to open your senses and it really does start to get you into the forest and all the ways that nature enters and causes the healing,” said Paul. “You can see how people are noticing things like, wow, I’ve never thought of sound as far away or close or the different levels or layers of sound or how vivid things are when you open your eyes.”

After each invitation (four in all), we shared our experiences. Our small size was ideal because we each had enough time to talk. Although the Arboretum caps forest bathing around 16 people I think we were lucky it rained which culled it down to 8. Depending on the space in other locations, groups can be small or large but small makes it more personal. I was struck by how quickly we opened up and talked with each other. However, I do not know if that was because of the nature setting, the small size, or the fact that we were all women except for Paul and another gentleman.

The second invitation was to walk around to see what was in motion. Paul said to not worry about time, he will make a “coyote call” when it is time for us to come back. I walked around the grove, looking at the crepe myrtles. I noticed the bees high up, buzzing around the flowers. At eye level, a few spent blossoms fell loose and dropped to the ground. At waist level were long branches of leaves and flowers swaying in the breeze. We observed for about 10 minutes and then heard the “coyote call” which was really Paul making a loud sound. We came back to the clearing and standing in a circle, we shared what we saw, felt, and thought.

Paul explained that the “what’s in motion” invitation is a way to slow down for you to begin to notice everything around you that you typically take for granted or don’t think about. “Everything’s moving, even on calm days, including the insects and the leaves.”

The third “invitation” was to find something to focus on for about 10 minutes. I had noticed that there was a sunny grassy clearing outside the grove with a small area of tall weeds. I wondered why the weeds were growing there and not anywhere else. As I got closer, I discovered a tree stump so wide it could have been a children’s bed. I sat on the stump looking at the weeds, the ants, and the singular pokeberry growing out of a crevice. It had been a very old tree; I tried counting the rings but there were too many.

At one point, I put my hand into my pocket to get my iPhone and realized that it was simply a reflex to pull it out and look at messages. Fortunately, I caught myself and stopped. It went without saying that the phones should be off during forest bathing.

When we came back, I described the tree stump and how it made me think of time past, little time left, death, and the many generations before us. Paul said the tree had been there since the Civil War because staff found Civil War artifacts near it after they had to cut it down due to disease. He explained that there is so much to see and think about when you look at a plant or a tree, everything it supports, the whole ecosystem, but just looking at it and how it developed — there’s such a story there. He said it is wonderful when people take some meaning from that into their own life. Our group in particular went very deep, tying back lessons to life. “It’s so rewarding to see a group get like that and not just be superficial and say “Oh, I noticed the green leaf, a red leaf, and a purple leaf.” He told us that in one forest bathing group there was a woman whose middle-aged son had recently died. She said her son came to her through a big oak tree which symbolized strength, and her son had that strength. She felt her son was telling her, “I’m okay, Mom, and you’re going to be okay.”

For the fourth and final invitation, which Paul called the sit spot, he gave us mats for us to sit on in front of something. I sat under the shade of a crepe myrtle and looked at a very tall but dead tree with no branches or leaves. Although I could not see anything from my vantage point, I knew it must be home to wildlife and full of insects. As I sat looking at the tree I thought about life and death again but also invisible life. Life we cannot see whether it is insects in the wood or spirits (the Arboretum was home to indigenous people many years ago).

Hearing the coyote call, we came back to a large blanket on the ground. As we sat on the blanket and shared our experiences, he distributed plastic cups and offered us our choice of cinnamon or mint tea from thermoses.

In traditional forest bathing, the event ends with tea and a snack. If this were in Japan, the guides may gather twigs and leaves from the forest to brew a tea for a formal tea ceremony. However, because of the recent pandemic, Paul now uses disposable cups and because we were in an arboretum where picking was prohibited, he brought the tea.

We spent time talking about life in general and it was not until it started to sprinkle again that some of us got up to leave. Interestingly, it was as if we had made fast friends in those brief 2 hours. And the time did fly. Paul explained that ending with tea is a way for us to transition back to real time. Because we spent 2 hours looking at trees and plants, we were in “subliminal time,” where you do not have a sense of time but are very focused on the here and now.

To me the words “forest bathing” are not truly descriptive of the experience or have little meaning to people who have not done it. I know the words cause confusion. Forest bathing is really “immersion in nature” or “nature immersion,” composed of three major parts: 1) disengagement from your daily routine (go to a place in nature where you can focus on nature and turn off your phone and other distractions); 2) connect with nature through listening with all of your senses and looking at some particular part of nature; and then 3) transition back to daily life with tea and/or snack or something reflective like reading a poem.

As we experienced forest bathing at the Arboretum, Paul cited numerous studies that showed the positive impact. There are too many to recount here but since the 1980s, there have been studies in several countries that examine the physiological and psychological effects of forest bathing. Here in the United States, within the National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine’s PubMed database, there were 3 results for a search of “forest bathing” in 1965 (before that, zero). In 2025 there were 3,096 results. For an easy read of the studies, the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy, which provides training to certify guides, lists studies by impact such as general well-being, cancer, cardiovascular, mental health, immune system, pain, pulmonary disease, sleep disorders, stress burnout, and more. There also are several books written about forest bathing as well as its impact on people’s health.

In Japan, there are more than 60 designated forest therapy trails. It is estimated that one-quarter of the population uses these trails. In some of them, researchers obtain vitals from volunteers before they enter the forest and afterwards. They have found correlations with stress and blood pressure reduction, improved mood, increased energy, improved sleep, increased concentration and increased immune cells in the body.

Here in the United States, there are forest therapy trails although none in the DC metro area. However, one does not have to be on such a trail to experience forest bathing. Paul remembers a forest bathing experience in the rose garden right in front of the Smithsonian Castle with cars whizzing by.

If you have never gone forest bathing, I recommend doing it with a certified guide to see what it is all about. Once you learn the concept, you can just go to your backyard for 20 minutes and still reap the health benefits. For forest bathing events, check out the local public gardens, park systems, and arboreta such as:
U.S. National Arboretum (through the Friends of the National Arboretum)
Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens
Green Spring Gardens
Fox Haven Organic Farm and Learning Center
Nature Forward
Brookside Gardens.

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Monarda: Natives, Herbs, and Pollinator Magnets

Posted on August 28, 2026 | Leave a comment

Monarda punctata

My dotted bee balm (Monarda punctata) is blooming and it is wondrous! I purchased this plant for its unique flower structure. The flower heads are stacked on top of each other, reminding me of the Dr. Seuss children’s books. The flowers are pink and green and would be great for a floral arrangement indoors.

I love the Monarda genus. There are 17 species and two of the species, M. didyma and M. fistulosa, have been bred to produce many cultivars for the market.

Usually, Monarda prefers moist soil in full sun to partial shade. Most are perennials that spread by rhizomes and can be “assertive” if given optimal conditions. M. didyma is more thuggish than the others.

Monarda didyma

Of all the species, scarlet bee balm (M. didyma) is most favored by hummingbirds because of the red, tubular flowers that are arranged in a whorl within a singular inflorescence. This plant was used by Native Americans for culinary and medicinal qualities. In fact, its common name comes from the practice of rubbing the foliage on the skin to alleviate the pain of bee stings. The foliage also can be used to make tea, hence its other common name, Oswego tea. In the 18th century, John Bartram, Philadelphia’s famed botanist, collected the seed in Oswego, New York. The leaves can either flavor a black tea or used as a substitute for traditional English tea, hence its popularity after the Boston tea party. I like using the red flowers to add color to a fruit salad.

Monarda fistulosa

I also have wild bergamot (M. fistulosa) which has an inflorescence similar to M. didyma but purple. My stand is about 3 feet tall. When it bloomed in early summer it provided a nice mass of purple color that butterflies and bees favored. By summer, the petals fell off leaving a stand of seed heads all summer long to the point that it looked like a different shrub altogether. M. fistulosa is called wild bergamot because its fragrance is similar to true bergamot (Citrus aurantium var. bergamia). Again, the leaves can be used to make tea or flavor a black tea plus the flowers are edible.

I also have eastern bee balm (M. bradburiana) which blooms small flowers early in the season and the seed heads remain all summer long.  The entire plant is compact, less than 2 feet tall.

This year I have been trying to grow lemon bergamot (Monarda citriodora) from seed. Unlike the others in this article, it is an annual. I have started seeds twice and got a few plants but they have not grown much; I doubt I will see flowers before frost. It is possible that the rabbits discovered them. I saw a beautiful stand at Longwood Gardens which inspired me. I have read that the scent is not really lemon but more like camphor. The leaves can be used for tea and the flowers can be used for dried floral arrangements.

Of course, there are many cultivars of M. didyma at the nurseries, including compact types.  As fall approaches, you may find monarda plants on sale because garden centers need to move their inventory of perennials before winter. Add these to your garden for their multiple uses!

Monarda citriodora at Longwood Gardens

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Epazote: Another Easy to Grow Culinary Herb

Posted on August 15, 2026 | Leave a comment

Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides) is an extremely old herb native to Mexico and Central and South America. It was used by the Aztecs in present day Mexico under the Nahuatl name of “epazotl.”  In the 16th century, Spanish King Philip II sent his physician Francisco Hernandez de Toledo to Mexico to research and document the use of “New World” plants. From 1570 to 1577, Francisco documented thousands of plants and learned that the Aztecs and Mayans used the herb for medicinal properties. The leaves contain ascaridole which is toxic to intestinal worms. A tea could expel pinworms, hookworms, and roundworms (hence the name wormseed). It also was used to treat gastrointestinal ailments, including the flatulence that is common with eating beans. From Francisco’s studies, the plant was introduced to Europe and is now naturalized in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Botanical drawing from Francisco Manuel Blanco’s Flora of the Philippines, Grand Edition, 1880-1883

Interestingly, epazote also is popular in the Philippines where it is known as pasotes or pasyotes. In the 16th century, sailors, explorers, and missionaries traveling along the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade Route brought the seeds to the Philippines where the plant was probably valued as a vermifuge. Later, Father Blanco (1778-1845), a Spanish member of the Augustinian Order, lived in the Philippines and assembled the first comprehensive flora of the area including over 900 plant species.

Epazote is about 2 to 3 feet tall with green foliage and very small, insignificant flowers. Leaves are lance shaped and deeply toothed. The effect is very weedy looking – it has no ornamental value whatsoever. It is grown as an annual here in the DMV; it is hardy to zone 8. It does produce quite a lot of seed and is known to self-seed. There is a red form called Oaxaca Red but the green form is what is used in cooking.

Epazote is easy to start from seed or small plants can be purchased. I grew it about six years ago and saved the seeds. This year I sowed the seeds and they germinated very quickly! You can sow seeds outside after the last frost in a small container. No need to cover with potting mix; seeds germinate quickly. Transfer to larger containers — one or two plants per 5-gallon container.

It is best to grow this in containers to minimize the self-seeding but it can also be grown in the garden bed.

Add a few fresh sprigs to your pot of beans

Epazote prefers full sun to partial shade in well-drained soil. When it is about 6 inches tall, pinch the plant back to delay flowering and encourage branching. Harvest when needed. If left to flower, collect the seed and sow again next year. Fertilizing is not necessary, it is a robust grower. You can remove the flowers to prevent re-seeding or you can let them go to seed and collect seed to sow next year.

Pick the leaves or cut stems any time after it is established. Do not eat the seeds or roots. It is best to use the foliage and stems fresh. If you dry the leaves you will lose some of the flavor. You can preserve the foliage by freezing them in a freezer plastic bag.

 When you read about the flavor of epazote, it can be very discouraging. Words like “petroleum” or “turpentine” pop up but don’t let that dissuade you. For me it is pungent and spicey like black pepper with citrus undertones.

Epazote is used in moles, quesadillas, fried ricotta with epazote and green chili, tortilla soup, frijoles rojos, frijoles de la olla, egg dishes, enchiladas, tamales, and beans. I add a sprig or two to my beans towards the end of the cooking period. I also add fresh chopped leaf when I make chicken quesadilla. The leaf and stem can be eaten raw or cooked but the stem is more potent. This relatively delicate herb should be added at the end of the cooking period.

Try growing this culinary herb from seed, you will be pleasantly surprised!

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Deformed Flowers? It May Be Aster Yellows

Posted on August 8, 2026 | Leave a comment

If you have noticed that your coneflowers (Echinacea) or black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) are looking strange, they may have “aster yellows” which is caused by a phytoplasma, a small bacterium. This is a disease that affects more than 300 species of plants, including asters, coneflowers, zinnias, marigolds, heleniums, and chrysanthemums. It also appears on vegetables such as garlic, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, and celery.

Aster yellows is primarily transmitted via leafhoppers. Leafhoppers are small insects, only a few centimeters long, with wedge-shaped, brown, yellow, or green bodies. As the name suggests, they quickly hop from plant to plant. When a leafhopper feeds on a plant infected with aster yellows, the pathogen enters the leafhopper’s body and stays within for as long as that leafhopper lives. So as it feeds on plants and moves around from plant to plant, it spreads the phytoplasma thus spreading the disease. Once a plant is infected, if it is not removed, it remains a host plant — a source of phytoplasma for the rest of the plants in the garden.

Symptoms vary depending on the plant but in my garden, the flowers are grossly deformed. The flower heads are twisted and some are producing small tufts of green growth in the center of the flower. Some petals are too short or green–often there is more green than the color the flower should be. Once plants are infected, they should be removed from the garden. They cannot be cured.

The only thing you can do to prevent aster yellows is to remove and destroy diseased plants as soon as possible to prevent the spread, control weeds which may harbor the disease, and purchase ornamentals that are not as susceptible such as verbena, salvia, nicotiana, geraniums, impatiens, and cockscomb.

If your plant does look weird but you are not sure if it is because of aster yellows, take a clipping to a local plant clinic (usually at farmer’s markets or libraries) or ask your extension agent.

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Plant Porterweed for Hummingbirds and Butterflies

Posted on July 31, 2026 | Leave a comment

I first saw porterweed (Stachytarpheta) in the butterfly house at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Since then, I have seen the plant in other butterfly houses and conservatories. It is distinctive, you can’t miss it. The 1 to 2 feet tall wands wind about high above the dark green foliage with relatively few small flowers, but rich in nectar.

Members of the Verbenaceae family, there are 200 species of Stachytarpheta. Almost all are native to Australia, the Caribbean, and central and south America. One is native to south Florida: S. jamaicensis (blue flowers). Hardy to zone 8, they thrive in our hot and humid summers. They will bloom until frost but not survive the winter. The term “porterweed” comes from the fact that when a tea is made from the leaves, the tea looks like porter and foams in the same manner. There are species with medicinal qualities.

In search of a hummingbird plant, I purchased one purple flowered and one coral flowered porterweed plant from a vendor at the Green Springs Gardens plant sale in May (highly recommend this event). I planted both in a large container on the deck so I could watch the hummingbirds from the dining room window.

The purple flowered one is S. cayennensis, which has a host of common names such as blue snakeweed, cayenne snakeweed, nettle-leaf porterweed, blue rat’s tail, etc. Native to Mexico and central and south America, the plant was named for Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana.

The coral flowered plant is S. mutabilis. Both are grown the same way but I have noticed that the purple porterweed is much more robust, 2 to 3 times as big as the coral one.

Porterweeds have a very interesting flowering habit. The small flowers bloom sequentially, from the bottom of the spike to the top as the spike grows upward. There are only a few flowers on one spike at a time. The flowers open in the morning and fall off in the afternoon. They do not need to be deadheaded but the entire spike should be cut back when it is done blooming or turns brown.

When you first look at the flowers, they seem flat. But if you get a side view, you can see the tubular structure, indicating a relationship with hummingbirds.

These plants can be small bushes, several feet tall and wide. I could have grown them in the ground for the summer. Although they can be grown from seed, the best way to propagate is cuttings from new growth in the spring. I fertilized my plants once in June. The high temperatures this summer have not been fazed them.

I do see butterflies and yes, Virginia, the hummingbirds visit every day.

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Saving Seeds from Your Garden

Posted on July 25, 2026 | Leave a comment

Blackberry lily seeds are easy to identify and save

As your plants flower and set seed and your fruit ripens on the vine, think of what you would like to save for next year. Saving seed can be easy and cost effective. In addition to saving seed to plant in your garden next year, you can give away seed packets as gifts or participate in seed swaps.

There are two methods for separating and cleaning the seed depending on the plant. Use the dry method for seeds that are in dried flowers, dried husks, or dried pods like beans, peas, grains, okra, marigolds, cone flowers, calendula, dianthus, basil, mustards, lettuce, kale, dill, fennel (any member of the carrot/dill family and the brassica/broccoli family). Use the wet method when the seeds are imbedded in the fleshy fruit, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, squash, and eggplant.

Dry Method of Saving Seeds

Usually the plant has more than one flower head, each with their own timeline of flowering and setting seeds. During the summer, when the individual flower head has dried or when most of the seeds appear to be dried, cut the seed head and put in a paper bag. Cut when the stalks are brown at least an inch down from the seed head. Label the bag with the plant name and date. Continue to cut and save this way until you are ready to separate seed from fruit.

The flowers of nasturtiums drop off when past their prime and the seeds grow and become prominent later

Some flowers, such as nasturtiums and four o’ clocks, have a single flower that blooms and drops revealing a seemingly empty calyx. Soon though a seed will grow and become more prominent, making it easy to separate and save.

Beans and peas are fleshy so you can cut when the pod has become leathery or yellow and not completely dry. Let it continue to dry off the vine on a cookie sheet until the seeds rattle in the pods. For peppers, it is important to let the fruit ripen to the last color stage (many progress from green to red). For the cool season lovers such as greens (lettuce) and brassica family members such as kale, mustard, pak choi, cabbage, and broccoli, let the plant bolt (flower). Then cut and put in a bag.

Many seeds, especially beans, are also beautiful

In the winter, when I can’t go outside and garden, I gather all my bags and sit down at the dining room table. I put the seed heads on a white dinner plate or a cookie sheet to make it easier to see the seeds and prevent them from rolling off the table. By this time, the seeds and husks are completely dry and I simply pull apart the seed from the husk on the plate. If it is easy to remove, like marigolds, I put the seeds in a glass jar. If it is a fine seed with a lot of husks, like pak choi, I thrash it around in a large paper bag so that the seed falls to the bottom. I pull out and throw away the stems and pods and dump out the seeds on a cookie sheet. I separate further on the plate or I use a sieve. If the seed has a lot of chaff, I continue to separate seed by screening with a sieve. Eventually I work my way down from large grocery bags to small jars.

Wet Method of Saving Seeds

For this method the fruit has to be very ripe. For pumpkins, squash, and melon, simply remove the seeds and rinse the stringy fruit parts off with water, straining with a colander. For eggplant, cut into cubes and cover with water for a day, stirring once. Squish the seeds out and clean off with water in a colander. If there are remaining seeds, repeat the process the next day to get the rest out. Put clean seeds on a cookie sheet and let dry.

Pumpkin seeds can be saved or eaten

For cucumbers, scoop seeds out and put in a jar. Add water and stir every day for 2 days. Strain to remove seeds and let dry on a cookie sheet.

For tomatoes, squeeze or cut up the flesh and put into a jar. Add enough water to be able to stir the mixture and to create volume for the pulp to separate from the seeds. I keep my jars in the kitchen out of direct light and stir daily for a few days. The tomatoes will ferment and will look gross but this process separates the seeds.

After a few days, the heavy seeds will sink to the bottom and the lighter seeds and pulp will float to the top. Skim off and throw away the top layer. Keep the heavy seeds, they are the ones that are viable. Keep adding water, swishing until the good drops down and the bad surfaces, and skim again. Keep doing this until the water is clear with good seeds at the bottom. Pour the mixture into a sieve and put the seeds on a plate or cookie sheet in a dry area, out of direct light. Every few hours, stir around until dry. You want them to dry quickly at this point in time because the moisture left on them may induce them to germinate. Once they seem dry, let them sit for several weeks until completely dry and then store in a glass jar.

Open Pollinated versus Heirloom Plants

When saving seeds, it is important to know if your plants are open-pollinated or hybrids. If they are open pollinated, then the next generation will be the same. You will get the same plant with the same characteristics such as flower color or flavor. Heirlooms are open pollinated so you can save seeds of heirloom tomatoes and grow the same tomatoes each year.

If the plant is a hybrid, it was produced by crossing two genetically distinct parents. The hybrid was bred to have desirable characteristics such as disease resistance or better flavor. In seed catalogs, hybrids are often referred to as “F1”s – filial 1 hybrid. If you save the seed of this plant, the next generation may not retain the same desirable characteristics. You will get the same type of plant, but the plant may not be as tasty or not be resistant to a disease.

Try these simple methods to save seed for your own home garden or to give as gifts. Consider saving seeds for seed swaps with friends or local seed swap events.

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Lovage: An Old World Culinary Herb

Posted on July 19, 2026 | Leave a comment

Lovage (Levisticum officinal) is an old herb from the Mediterranean region that we can grow here in the DMV as a perennial. This very useful herb is a member of the Apiaceae family (celery or parsley family).

Buy the plant in the beginning of the growing season and place in an area with morning sun and afternoon shade. Provide moist but well-drained soil — it likes its moisture. The leaves are green but jagged, like someone ripped them. Young plants do look like celery or parsley.

In the summer, lovage will get to be 2-3 feet tall with a much taller flowering stalk. We usually harvest the stems and leaves so the flowering stalk can be cut if you do not need it to seed. You can harvest any time in the summer.

Lovage tastes like celery but with a zing. To me it is a strong celery flavor with pepper. It is best used fresh but can be dried. Lovage has a natural salt taste and during the war in Europe the leaves were dried and used as a salt substitute.

Lovage blends well with the lemon herbs such as lemon basil and lemon thyme. Lovage is good with chicken, potatoes, potato salad, eggs, fish, tuna, creamed soups, and savory pies. The foliage can be cut into strips and cooked with summer veggies. The flowering stems can be candied. The stems are hollow and can be used as drink stirrers or straws in drinks such as a Bloody Mary.

Lovage produces umbels of small, yellow flowers and the resulting seeds are used as spice. The seeds can be candied, added to pickles or breads, or added to dishes for flavor, similar to celery seeds. Or leave the seeds on the plant to feed the goldfinches.

Although one plant should be enough for one family, you can divide the plant in the spring every few years to make more for you or to share with friends. Lovage can be grown from seed indoors before the last frost but germination takes a long time plus the seeds have to be fresh. In our area, small plants are easy to find in nurseries in the spring.

Try growing lovage for your culinary needs, to add ornamental value in the garden, and to support the pollinators and birds.

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African Blue Basil

Posted on July 11, 2026 | Leave a comment

Young plants from a stem cutting

In the beginning of the summer, I purchased two African blue basil plants. Unlike the sweet Genovese basil, these are grown for their flowers and pollinating power. They grow quickly in the summer, becoming large bushes, 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. Although the leaves are edible, they have a strong camphor taste so usually they are not used for cooking.

African blue basil is a cross between a camphor basil native to East Africa (Ocimum kilimandscharicum) and a cultivar called Dark Opal, (Ocimum basilicum) native to Africa and Southern Asia. Its botanical name is Ocimum kilimandscharicum x basilicum ‘Dark Opal’.  The foliage is dark green with purple veins. New leaves look almost purple. The flowers are 6-inch spires of dark pink florets set against dark purple calyxes.

Bee attracted to flowers on plants in a garden center

Because of this cross, African blue basil is sterile; it does not produce seeds. Therefore, you cannot purchase seeds. If you want to grow it, you must buy the plant.

Like all basils, stem cuttings root easily in water. Once my two plants were established, I made several stem cuttings, rooted them in water, and then potted them up once they had roots. From those plants, I made even more cuts so now I have several plants flourishing in different parts of my property. It is much like having one coleus plant and making stem cuttings until you have enough for the summer. Now in July I must stop (yes, Virginia, I probably should have stopped earlier) because cutting prevents it from flowering and the point is to let the plants flower all summer long.

African blue basil makes a great container plant

Basils should be grown in full sun in moist, well-drained soil. My plants are in different light exposures from hot full sun to shade so we will see which performs well. Although more heat tolerant than other basils, I think full sun during a heat wave warrants a little shade protection. Fortunately, African blue basil is not as susceptible to downy mildew like sweet basil. This plant also makes a great container plant, which I have done in the past.

Here in Virginia most people grow African blue basil as an annual but it really is a perennial hardy to zone 10. When the fall comes, I may either take cuttings or dig up some of the plants to bring indoors to overwinter them. That way, I won’t have to purchase them again next year.

I highly recommend this plant to grow as a colorful annual, both in the garden bed and in containers. The pink/purple flowers attract bees and butterflies and can be cut for fresh or dried floral arrangements. Plus, you can make more from one!

 

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Using Perilla Leaves in Korean Cooking

Posted on June 30, 2026 | Leave a comment

perilla leaves up close

Last Sunday I attended a Korean cooking workshop and potluck with a focus on perilla, a culinary herb that is easy to grow here in the DMV. Hosted by Hands on Harvest at the Annandale Mission Center, registration for this free event was done through Sign Up Genius. People were asked to bring a dish for the potluck (it did not have to be Korean) and an empty container to take home some of the Korean food.

Stacey Evers, board chair of Hands on Harvest, explained that this local, 5-year-old, non-profit organization enlists volunteers to grow food for the local food banks. They manage 4 community gardens and a demonstration garden in Fairfax County. For those interested in helping, they provide plenty of support and education including seeds, seedlings/transplants, and mentorships to gardeners who can grow on their own property or in community gardens. They also have events including this workshop and through food they bring together the diverse community in northern Virginia.

She then introduced Soomin Kim who was born and raised in South Korea and has lived here since 2012. She owns a company called Virginialicious where she provides tours of local Korean restaurants to help people understand the dishes, learn what to order, and learn more about Korean culture. Stacey had participated in one of these tours and said it was great, she learned a lot.

Soomin Kim (photo by Hands on Harvest)

Soomin was a delight. She first explained that perilla is a plant that we can grow easily here. However, leaves for sale at Asian supermarkets are expensive. Perilla frutescens is a green-leaf variety commonly used in Korean cuisine. This is an annual herbaceous culinary herb that will self-seed readily. To prevent too many volunteers, you can either pinch it to prevent it from flowering or grow it in a container. Soomin said that the plant is often sold at Asian supermarkets in May when it begins to warm up but you can also start the plants from seed. Perilla grows to a few feet tall and requires full sun and consistent moisture, especially if grown in a container.

Then she explained “banchan” which are the side dishes that are offered in Korean restaurants. We were going to make a banchan called perilla “kimchi” – not a true kimchi because the mixture had not fermented but one with many of the same ingredients. She prepared her own recipe in advance which included soy sauce, red pepper flakes, sugar/rice syrup, garlic, onion, green onion, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. We each received a stack of perilla leaves and a small cup of this “kimchi.” We spread the kimchi on a leaf, put another leaf on top, spread the kimchi again, put another leaf on top and so on until we had a stack of leaves. Soomin said it tastes better the next day so I did not eat them then, I stored them in my container.

stacks of perilla leaves

However, I did eat a perilla leaf. It was slightly spicy with flavors of both anise and citrus and a hint of black pepper. When I eat herbs, I often categorize them as “sweet” or “savory.” I categorized perilla as savory and I could see how the leaf could be used whole as a wrap or with something edible on it, as a garnish on the side, or minced/chopped. I asked Soomin if the leaves could be sauteed with oil and garlic, much like cooking spinach or greens, and she recommended stuffed perilla leaves where you fold the leaves around a piece of meat or tofu, dip in egg wash, and pan fry until golden. Pan-fried stuff perilla leaves are called kkaennip jeon (kkaennip is another word for perilla leaf). She also said that one could make a perilla pesto or chimichurri.

Making Korean BBQ (photo by Hands on Harvest)

She then cooked pork belly in a skillet and brought out a container of already cooked pork for Korean BBQ. She had a large container of lettuce and perilla leaves plus containers of pickled onions, sliced ginger, and a sauce to put on the pork. In addition, we could spread a dark red paste on the leaves which came in a green plastic container (the green color indicates that it is “mild.”) Called ssamjang, this thick savory paste is made of fermented soybeans, sesame oil, garlic, green onions, and chile.

We were instructed to pick up a lettuce leaf, add a perilla leaf, then add pork and condiments and roll it up so we could eat the entire thing in one bite. It was very tasty. She did offer white rice to anyone who wanted it but I did not see any takers.

After we loaded up on Korean BBQ, we took our plates to the long tables of the potluck food. As we ate dinner, Stacey asked people about their gardening challenges and accomplishments. Many of the people already knew each other from volunteering at Hands on Harvest. I met several new people and talked with some old friends. Soomin introduced us to a game where the prize was a Korean face mask which she likes so much she buys them in bulk when she is visiting Korea. When we left we were each given a small bag with Korean ramen and her business postcard with two recipes.

The potluck food was really good too and I liked the way we learned about Korean food and other food dishes that people brought. One person brought pitchers of agua de Jamaica which I have made before but this particular recipe had clove, cinnamon, anise and kalamansi concentrate. I had not heard of kalamansi before so when I asked she explained that kalamansi is from a Philippine lime. I am now on the quest to find this concentrate.

I also discovered from the woman sitting next to me that there is a good Indian spice and grocery store in Falls Church. Another future adventure.

There will be another Hands on Harvest event on July 12 that will focus on food preservation such as pickling, canning, and making Trash Soup plus a potluck. Sign up here and if you would like donate your time or money to the garden plots, please contact Stacey through the Hands on Harvest website here. If you are interested in Soomin’s Korean food tour, please visit her website here. And if you have seen or heard of this kalamansi let me know!

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A Tropical Summer Bloomer but is it a Mandevilla or a Dipladenia?

Posted on June 25, 2026 | 3 comments

Dipladenia ‘White Halo’ in my garden

Both mandevilla and dipladenia plants are popular tropical plants. They bloom all summer long in full sun, undaunted by dry spells.  The flowers are trumpet-shaped, in a range of white, pink, reds, yellow and even peach.

But there is one distinct difference between the two plants.

Mandevilla with hoya-like foliage

Mandevilla is a vining plant; it climbs up to the sunlight. You purchase it with the intent to cover an arbor, pergola, or obelisk. The stems and foliage remind me of a hoya plant (in fact, they are cousins). The leaves seem larger than the dipladenia, pointed and glossy. However, if you purchased a mandevilla and would like to grow it as a shrub, you can just prune it.

A dipladenia is a shrub. It will not climb up a structure. This makes it perfect for containers and hanging baskets. The foliage is smaller, more compact, and more matte than glossy. The space between nodes (joints where leaves arise) is shorter than the mandevilla. It is more of a slow grower while a mandevilla will grow fast to cover a structure. Although they both have trumpet-shaped flowers, to me the dipladenia flowers appear flatter with a shallow throat.

Dipladenia with compact foliage

Both need to be in full sun, and are drought tolerant with no need to deadhead. They attract pollinators and are deer and rabbit resistant.

As fall approaches, they can be kept overwinter in order to plant in the garden the following year (these are not cheap plants). There are several ways to do this depending on the space and light in your house. You can root 4 to 6-inch stem cuttings and grow them inside as houseplants. You can give your plant a good trim in the fall, up to one half of the foliage to reduce transpiration, bring the plant in and place in a sunny, cool location and water less often. Or you can cut the foliage back severely, place the plant in a cool, dark place and stop watering. Let it go dormant for the winter but check on it so it does not dry out completely.

Don’t be surprised if containers of mandevilla and dipladenia get mixed up at the local garden centers. Most people do not recognize the difference. Regardless, they are great investments for constant summer blooms especially when we have dry summers such as this one.

Mandevilla

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