Reader's Questions: Tea & Gardening

Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You long to comfort all who are desolate. ~Charlotte Gray

Today I have a couple of gardening questions answered and one on green tea. Before I get to that though, I wanted to wish all of the moms out there a wonderful Mother's Day this weekend. I hope you receive MANY hugs and love from your family:)

I just planted dwarf snapdragons. Why are they wilting? Before I planted them I noticed they were wilting as well. Could you please help me out on this one. ~Corrie

The simplest explanation could be they weren't watered properly at the garden center or nursery. If this is the case, and you watered them and planted them in good soil, they should spring back. The worst case scenario is they have a fungus known as wilt (Verticillium alboatrum). If this is the case you should remove the ones that are wilted and appear sick, plus the soil they were planted in. (Just what is around that plant). While this is all happening do not fertilize or overwater. Give them time to recover.

One note-- when buying plants buy only the ones that are perky, bright and without any defects, browned leaves etc. The only exception to this is if you are getting such a good bargain that you want to take a chance on them. Trim off bad spots, and get them into the ground as quickly as you can.

Reader Looking for Rose Planting Mixture:
One of our readers was looking for a mixture to plant with her roses. There are a lot of fertilizers you can buy specifically for roses, including organic mixtures. Ask at your garden center. You can also make up your own by combining 1 part soil, 1 part peat and 2-3 handfuls of bone meal to the hole before adding the rose plant. Water your rose plant BEFORE you remove it from the pot it came in, and be very gentle when removing it. Spread the roots out in the hole, so they touch the mixture you put in the bottom. Fill the hole gently and pat the ground to remove air pockets, but DON'T crush down the soil too much, and water gently afterwards.

Any recipes for green tea, hot or cold? There are so many listed that I do not know where to start. ~Karla

Green tea can be served just like herb teas. What have found is different brands have taste variations. Some I haven't liked at all, others are great. Green tea does take some getting used to. It doesn't have the same taste as black teas, so don't expect it to. Start simple by brewing with water that is just boiling. Brew 5 minutes, and sweeten lightly.

Honey-Mint Green Tea

Ingredients:
2 cups water
1/4 cup firmly packed mint leaves
4 green tea bags
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. lime juice

Bring the water and mint to a boil. Add tea bags; steep 10 minutes. Strain. Add sugar and lime juice. Chill. Makes 2 servings. You can also use lemon balm or other types of mint.

Black tea, white tea, herb or green? A guide to tea and what the differences are:
http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/healthyteas2.html

~Brenda