Gardening for Enjoyment Over Beauty

Season 4, Episode 33, June 22, 2022

The ‘Stella D’Oro’ daylily. Does it get any respect? Years ago, and I do mean years ago as in 2008, I wrote a blog post in which I called this variety of daylily out for being a tramp. Why did I do that? Because it’s everywhere: gas stations, office parks, my garden, your garden…

Today on the podcast Dee called it a “parking lot flower!”

Still no respect!

When you listen to our podcast this week, you’ll hear that we didn’t really talk too much about ‘Stella d’Oro’ daylilies but Dee did provide information on why she deadheads her daylilies daily.

Dee deadheads daylilies daily.

Say that three times real fast!

Really, try it. Out loud. Then settle down, listen to this week’s episode, and read this rundown of Season 4, Episode 33! The title is based on a comment one of us made. Garden for enjoyment! If you do it for beauty alone, you are bound to be disappointed along the way.

In our garden updates, I went on a bit about how good my lettuce harvest was this year. Was it because I grew lettuce like it was 1957? Or was it that slow spring we enjoyed? Dee talked about the pleasure she gets from pulling out Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ from places in her garden where it has tried to invade.

We also talked about moss roses, also called portulaca, also called purslane, which led to a discussion about circadian rhythms.

Then it was on to carrots! Dee's article on growing carrots for the Family Handyman website wasn’t quite published at the time we published this newsletter so do come back and read it when we’ve added the link.

On the bookshelf, we discussed The New Southern Garden Cookbook, by Sheri Castle (Amazon link)  “Enjoying the best from homegrown gardens, farmers’ markets, roadside stands, and CSA farm boxes.” We should warn you that listening to us talk about food should not be attempted on an empty stomach. Nor should you hear about Dee’s baked beans without having access to the recipe.

Down in our rabbit holes, I talked about another Lost Lady of Garden Writing: Frances Edge McIlVaine. Dee talked about everything she’s cooking with her new Green Egg smoker/grill/cooker thing.

Is it hot enough for you? If you are hiding inside where it’s cool and air-conditioned, we offer two recommendations for TV viewing in our “dirt” segment: The Garden Chronicles on the Magnolia Network, discovered by Dee, and This Beautiful Fantastic movie on Amazon Prime, suggested by our friend, Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening.

If reading is more your thing indoors, we’ll repeat a couple of links to books that we seem to be mentioning every other episode:

The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World's Favorite Insect, by Wendy Williams (Amazon link).

The Chef’s Garden by Farmer Lee Jones (also Amazon link).

Aunt Dimity cozy mystery books.

We hope you like this week’s episode. Links to books and products above are mostly affiliate links. And there’s always our affiliate link to Botanical Interest Seeds. If you need some seeds, use that link to start your search on their website.

We earn tiny commissions if you buy something after clicking on an affiliate link.

If you want to contact us, email us at TheGardenangelists@gmail.com. To start a conversation, leave a comment.

And finally….

For more info on Carol and her books, visit her website.  Visit her blog May Dreams Gardens.
For more info on Dee and her book, visit her website.  Visit her blog Red Dirt Ramblings.

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Happy Gardening, Everyone!