Bee Balm and its Uses

Monarda, or Bee Balm, is beloved by bees, butterflies and me!
by Grandma Pearl

When I was a kid, I remember a huge bed of red bee balm growing happily against the side of my grandparents' old garage.  It was perpetually filled with butterflies and happy honey bees and bumble bees.  You could always tell when they were 'working' the bee balm.  The lovely aroma filled the summer air.  To me it smelled like minty oregano, and it was wonderful.

Grandma would sometimes use the leaves when she roasted chicken.  It made the chicken taste exceptionally delicious.  Now I do the same thing in my cooking.  Whenever bee balm is in season, I grab a couple of fresh leaves and add them to the meat, or the cooking liquid, when I make chicken.  I let the meat cook on simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour.  By then the juices have concentrated and made a lovely brown thick sauce I use on mashed potatoes-YUM!  Be sure to remove the leaves before serving the sauce.

Deep Purple Bee Balm is beautiful against the dark green colors in my garden.
by Grandma Pearl

You can do the same thing, and I have, with fresh sage leaves and a couple of sprigs of thyme.  Don't go overboard, though.  Fresh herbs have a more concentrated herb flavor than dried herbs.  In this case, less is more.  When I cook 3 or 4 chicken breasts, after browning both sides in melted butter, I add one sage leaf and one sprig of thyme, and maybe the very top of a rosemary sprig to each piece of meat.  Also add salt and pepper to taste.  I just use plain water as the cooking liquid. . . about 1/2 to 3/4 cup.  Check after awhile to make sure the water has not totally evaporated.  You don't want to burn your chicken!  I cover it at first, and turn it on medium to get it going.

After 20 minutes or so, remove the cover and turn the chicken.  It won't hurt anything if the herbs end up in the bottom of the pan, they will just flavor the drippings.  At this point, I turn the heat down to low and keep the cover off.  Check in another 20 minutes or so to make sure there is still liquid in the pan.  If not, add more. . .about 1/4 cup at a time.  Also turn the chicken again.  Continue to cook until all the juices run clear when you poke the chicken with a fork.

Turn off the pan, remove from burner and cover.  Let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.  This helps the juices to stabilize inside the chicken so that when you cut into it, they don't flow out and leave you with dry meat --UGH!

Pink Bee Balm from my garden,
by Grandma Pearl

Bee Balm has antiseptic qualities as well.  Did you know that the Native American Indians used it to make poultices?  If they had a skin infection or skin wound, they would treat the area with bee balm.  After crushing the leaves and adding them to boiling water, the resulting liquid could also be used for an antiseptic mouthwash to treat bad teeth or a sore throat.  Headaches and other aches and pains could be relieved with this bee balm infusion as well, according to wikipedia.com.

There are several different colors available, including a range of lavenders, pinks and reds.

My plants are growing in partial sun.  That is, they receive about 4 to 6 hours of sunlight a day.  The red bee balm is planted in an east side garden, which gets morning sun.  The others are on the north side, and do very well there.  All are visited by beautiful butterflies and bees that sip the nectar and pollinate the rest of my garden for me.  My plant hardiness zone is 5 here in the southern tier of New York State.  You might want to give these gorgeous flowers a try!
Grandma Pearl

Attracting Birds to Your Yard with Flowers
Top 5 Alternative Lawn Ideas
Secrets to a Healthy Backyard

Top 5 Alternative Lawn Ideas

brick pathway flanked by glorious flower gardens
from:  http://www.ltmuseum.org

If you are tired of mowing lawn every time you have a day off, then you are a prime candidate for an alternative lawn.  If you want to be surrounded by fragrance, beauty, birds, butterflies and beneficial insects, then it's time to consider something other than grass in your yard.  Discover my top 5 alternatives to the plain old boring lawn.

Imagine not having to mow the lawn on your day off!
from Grandma Pearl

What’s your idea of a relaxing day?  In this busy life we lead we need downtime; time to relax and unwind.  I don't know about you, but for me relaxation does not include mowing the lawn!  Although there are people who really do enjoy that activity, this article is not aimed toward them.  This dissertation is , however, intended for those of us who would rather do almost anything other than haul out the old mowing machine, fill it with expensive fuel, and then spend the afternoon in the hot sun going in circles!

Top 5 Alternative Lawn Ideas:

1.       Low growing maintenance-free drought tolerant ground covers

2.       Herbs that are tolerant of foot traffic and drought

3.       Wildflowers with stone pathways

4.       Naturalized bulbs

5.       Flower beds that include old-fashioned fragrant varieties like lily of the valley, roses, etc.

My lily garden is an example of summer bulbs that return to flower year after year.
Learn more about Bulb Gardens as an Alternative Lawn
from Grandma Pearl

With each of these 5 alternative lawns there comes the added bonus of several benefits.  For instance, if you should choose to plant a mixture of herbs, you would find that they are drought resistant, fragrant when stepped on and tolerant of foot traffic.  They need no special fertilizer or any chemicals to help them grow.  In fact, none of my herbs even like fertilizer.  Neglect is something that makes most herbs very happy. 

But the best benefit of all is that they attract butterflies, essential pollinators like honeybees, and birds!  In light of the devastating honey bee colony collapse phenomenon, the more fragrant herbs, flowers and vegetables we plant, the better to help the bees recover.

My Number One Rule:  Use No Toxic Chemical Pesticides or Herbicides!  They are deadly to all life, including us.  Once they enter the ecosystem, they end up in our watersheds.  Look for organic, safe alternatives.  If it contains ingredients you cannot pronounce, do not use it!

Read my Article to Learn All About Alternative Lawns:  Top 5 Alternative Lawns

Using Ground Covers instead of Grass

Plant a Small Wildflower Meadow

Learn about Cut Flower Gardens 

Secrets to a Healthy Backyard

Bird Houses made by American Craftsmen from Antique Barn Wood

Finches Come In All the Colors of the Rainbow!

Remember that old mnemonic for the colors of the rainbow?  

R O Y G B I V representing Red—Orange—Yellow—Green—Blue—Indigo—Violet

Well, members of the finch family represent all those colors and more.  These seed and fruit loving birds literally come in all the colors of the rainbow!  Beautiful and musical, Mother Nature has created finches for our pleasure.  They are most helpful when ridding us of weed seeds, and serenading us with their cheerfully expressive songs. Smaller finches range in size from 5 to 6”, while grosbeaks are the largest at 8”.

Male Purple Finch
by Grandma Pearl

Blue Grosbeak from Dan Pancamo, flickr.com, cc-by-sa

The Purple Finch, also known as Raspberry Finch, and the Blue Grosbeak are just two of the colorful members of the rainbow.  Can you guess which finch is yellow? violet? orange?

Find out Here

With all the rain we've had lately, my gardens have exploded with colorful blooms!  I love to use flowers and plants that attract birds, butterflies and beneficial insects.  Adding to the native wildflowers and bushes that my resident birds recognize and that are familiar to them, keeps my yard flowering all season long.

variegated pink and white weigela bush
by Grandma Pearl

Variegated pink and white weigela bush is a hummingbird magnet.  It also attracts butterflies and bees.  I'm in zone 5 and it has always been hardy here.  It will bloom for about a month, and last year it bloomed again toward the end of the summer!  The blossoms start out pink and then turn white with blush pink centers.  I have several weigela bushes, and the hummers are in and out of them constantly all day long.

Attract Birds With Flowers

white weigela blossoms--hummingbird magnets
by Grandma Pearl

My oregano in one part of the herb garden.
Grandma Pearl

When the oregano flowers in late summer, it attracts lots of beneficial insects and bees, plus butterflies.  It's a very popular plant.  I use this herb all the time in cooking and salads.  In the foreground is golden oregano, in the background near the lattice is regular oregano.  There is also monarda, or bee balm, just starting to grow.  Bee balm is another hummingbird magnet, and it attracts butterflies and bees.  I love the smell of it, and I can always tell when the bees or hummers are working it.  The aroma is wonderful!

Grandma Pearl

See the newest Rustic Bird Houses made from antique reclaimed barnwood HERE

List of Flowers that Attract Hummingbirds

Gold Finches on a Sunny Yellow Day

Male American Goldfinch at sunflower seed tube feeder
by Grandma Pearl

I call them drops of sunshine!  American Goldfinches  are a familiar and welcome sight.  The bright yellow and contrasting black plumage of the males is distinctive.  They use both the sunflower tube feeder and the nyjer or thistle tube feeder, often lining up in the nearby trees waiting for their turn.

Nyjer Thistle Seed Tube Feeders

 These guys travel in flocks and are very social and sociable.  I love to here their 'zee-zee-zeet' call as they fly in for food.  I planted coneflowers and joe pye weed so they would have lots of natural seed sources in the fall.  

Male American Goldfinch, Female Goldfinch and Goldfinch in flight
by Grandma Pearl

Yellow Double Tulips add to the Sunshine This Morning
by Grandma Pearl
What's your favorite color in nature?

Diminutive in size at about 5", they make their presence known as they chat among themselves at the feeders.  The female in breeding plumage is a duller olive green-grey color, but I think just as beautiful in her own way as the male.  She will lay 4 or 5 light blue eggs in her nest of grass and dandelion down.

Dandelion fluff, incidentally, is used by a number of birds to line their nests and cushion their eggs.  Just this morning I saw a chickadee with a beakful!

Am I the only one who thinks dandelions are pretty?
by Grandma Pearl

White-Throated Sparrow-Morphed with Yellow Spots above Lores
by Grandma Pearl

This White-Throated Sparrow sports bright yellow

spots above the lores; and white and black stripes on its head.  Yellow spots denote the morphed version.  The white throat is easily visible in this picture.  These sparrows love to forage on the ground for seeds and small insects.  Their call sounds like 'sweet, sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada.'  Measuring about 6 1/2" they  prefer to flock and roost in thickets or hedges at night.

Narcissus with Yellow Trumpet
by Grandma Pearl

What's your favorite color in Nature?

Grandma Pearl

Attracting Birds to Your Yard With Flowers

Bird-Friendly Cottage Garden

Backyard Bird Information Center