Dog Days of Summer

Our Theo - Corn Dog!

The Dog Days of Summer brought us sweltering heat & humidity but very little rain. We sure could use a good soaking from Mother Nature! I have to admit my flower beds are suffering a little from the heat, lack of water & lack of attention. We spent the last two weekends away camping with friends and family. I sure could use more time to putter in my flower beds but I don't see it on my schedule any time soon.

That's why I love low maintenance, drought tolerant plants. Our hosta, coneflower, black-eyed Susan, Russian sage and a variety of hydrangea are currently in bloom. They look beautiful. A nice contrast to our brown burnt grass.

My hosta and Cora Belles are really looking good. Both are prized for their beautiful foliage but I feel their flower is overlooked. It still surprises me how many people prefer to trim them off their hosta. I love all the flowers so we let ours bloom. We trim after the flower is spent and include hosta blooms in our garden bouquets. They make great filler flowers. We have several variety of hosta growing. Their flowers vary in size, color and bloom time. A few are ready to be dead-headed. Two varieties are in bloom right now and we have a late bloomer that will give us large white blossoms into early fall. I really love the dainty purple blossoms on this small-leaf compact variety (below).

​Our apple trees are also doing well. The old apple tree is loaded. It was here when Jason bought the property 20 years ago. It looks like we'll be picking apples from our mini-orchard this year too!

Have you noticed the ditch banks are full of beautiful white Queen Anne's Lace? We leave it growing along the property line. When I was a kid I used to pick Queen Anne's Lace and put it in vases filled with water and food coloring. (The flowers will change color as they absorb the food coloring.) I still pick Queen Anne's Lace but now I make jelly with it. Yep, you can make a delicious jelly with Queen Anne's Lace. It has a sweet herbal flavor with a hint of carrot. A yummy taste of summer for your winter toast. And it's free for the picking!

Queen Anne's Lace Jelly

• 2 cups firmly packed Queen Anne's Lace flower heads
• 4-3/4 cups water
• 3-1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 2 packages Sure-Jell 
• 4-1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Remove stems & soak flower heads to remove any bugs & dirt. Rinse well. Place water and flower heads in pot, cover and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep at least 30 minutes up to 3 hours. Strain liquid and return to pan. Add Sure-Jell mixed with 1/4 cup sugar. Bring to a boil then stir in remaining sugar. Keep at rolling boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Skim any foam from top and pour immediately into hot jars. Process jars in 5 minute water bath to be shelf stable or refrigerate.

This recipe works well with most edible, sweet smelling flowers and herbs.