My husband, Mike, and I just returned from a trip to Door County in Wisconsin. We drove 2 long days to get there from our South Central Texas farm. It was well worth the trip. We lodged at a place right on Sturgeon Bay, in the village of Sturgeon Bay. The first day was cloudy, cool and drizzly with a dark grey sky lowering over a turbulant, dark lake. Stunning. The next days were sunny and cool which turned the lake a deep and very cold-looking rich blue. The sky was a clear blue with the occasional puffy cloud.
Outlining the lake, houses and roads were towering trees, many not yet leafed out, many of them evergreens giving a full look to the very early Spring landscape. To my delight, there were daffodils everywhere: in everyone's yards, in the woods, in planters downtown and around our lodging, as well. Daffodils of all colors and sizes abounded: yellow with white trumpets, white with trumpets of
the palest peach or ringed in deeper orange. After we'd been there with a day or two of sunshine, tulips started opening: red, yellow, striped, fluted; tall and stately.
Living in the South as I have for about 20 years, I'd forgotten how colorful and vibrant the early spring bulbs are in the northland. Oh, yes, we have bulbs here, but our warm and wet winters rot many of the spring bulbs we try and grow here. I have a few daffodils that come out for a few days then fade away. They are anemic cousins of the hundreds I was treated to in and around Sturgeon Bay.
I did talk to a few folks who live year-round up there, and asked about their gardens. The most dedicated gardeners have greenhouses or sunporches they use to get plants started for later planting. The nurseries were just opening, hedging their bets on the warm weather with side curtains on the greenhouses just in case a freeze might want to nip their new stock.
The whole landscape and season was so different from what we left here. Our trees are completely leafed out, our old pear tree is full of small, green fruit that will, hopefully ripen over the summer, my tomato plants are easily 3 feet tall already and have small tomatoes on them, vines and flowers are blooming, and of course, the herb garden is already full of early summer crops, the spring flush of chamomile, borage and dill being on the decline. Rosemary is blooming its pale blue flowers which attract honey bees and tiny butterflies. The oregano plants are alreay starting to show flower buds which will also attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
Oregano is such a versatile plant. The mounding shrub of medium green, fuzzy leaves of my Italian Oregano fills the space alloted it, and more... pruning is often needed. But, it shades out weeds, and is so useful in the kitchen. Oregano is a must for tomato sauces, in fritattas, omelets and soups. It dries very well and keeps its flavor, so if you live where it doesn't survive winter outdoors, you can harvest a bunch in the fall and dry it for winter use.
Wild oregano, Origanum vulgare, is a great landscape plant due to its drought tolerance, evergreen habit in the South and Western U.S., and flowers, but has little flavor. O. onites, also known as Cretan Oregano or Turkish Oregano has a strong and intensely spicy flavor.
Another good culinary type, usually referred to as Greek Oregano is O. vulgare subspecies hirtum is a highly prized variety for cooking. It has a spicy flavor without being too strong.
Italian Oregano or Siciilian Oregano, O. majoricum, has a much sweeter flavor than the others described and is actually a hybrid between sweet marjoram and oregano. It is not as cold hardy as most other oregano, but is well worth growing for its fine sweet/spicy flavor.
Interestingly, there are a few other plants not in the
Origanum family that mimic the flavor of oregano. One that is a favorite landscape plant here in Texas is called Mexican Oregano, Poliomintha longiflora.It is a small upright shrub with bright green, shiny leaves and pink to lavender flowers that bloom continuously during the warm months. It even blooms in the hottest part of our summer, when almost nothing else can summon the energy to create flowers. The flavor is sweet, without the spicyness of many of the traditional oregano varieties.
To further confuse matters, there is another plant also called Mexican Oregano that grows well in our area, Lippia graveolens.
I love this plant. It has a terrific oregano flavor with a little spiciness. In fact, my husband prefers its flavor to any other oregano. The plants is shrubby to about 3 or 4 feet in height with medium size leaves of a fuzzy green. It has tiny white flowers on it during the summer, which are sort of insignificant, although they are fragrant if you stick your nose in them. Watch out for honey bees, though, as Lippia is also a favorite of theirs.
As you tend your herbs this summer, and add to your collection, look for some of the oregano mentioned here. They each have a distinct flavor and look about them that will add interest to both your culinary and your landscaping endeavors.
All the Origanum varieties do quite well in containers and with occasional pruning form a lovely mound of foliage that will flower for you in the summer. Trim the flower stalks off after they're through blooming to keep your oregano in a nice ball shape. If you are into dried flowers, cut the flowers after they're open for drying. They are a striking addition to dried arrangements, wreaths and swags.
There is no instance of a nation benefiting from prolonged warfare. -Sun
Tzu, general (6th century BCE)
Sources for the newsletter:
The Big Book of Herbs
A Comprehensive Illustraed Reference to Herbs of Flavor and Fragrance
authors: Arthur O. Tucker, Ph.D & Thomas DeBaggio
Organic gardening
http://www.organicgardening.com/subchannel/0,7513,s-5-71,00.html
Links to some pictures of Oregano