Jukofsky: End of July brings garden surprises

This garden writer was having a blast.

Here I was, in a large auditorium on a Sunday afternoon with a group of master gardeners and garden writers to meet, greet and take notes that tread onto their garden knowledge and experiences.

And what a bunch of garden-smart people they were.

There was Laura Lee Rose, Beaufort County's County Agriculture Agent, who gives informational classes on what you should or should not do when planting, pruning and feeding.

There was Sandra Bullock, who keeps us up on county garden news.

There was George Westerfield, who collects plants that are being pulled up and discarded, and replants them in public places where there are no plants to camouflage cement foundations.

And, there was Nancy Hudak, who maintains a public show garden near Sea Pines.

Why are we there?

We attended a reception to mark the retirement of Ned and Faye Rahn, who have given so many of us the joy of raising our own fruit trees as well as other plants both edible and decorative. It was pure joy to visit their plant nursery on Lady's Island

We have all learned a great deal with every season this year. Some of us are discovering unusual plant growth patterns that do not conform with those of the county at large.

Ned Rahn described last winter as the worst ever. My records show that on Hilton Head Island, it was the mildest.

It has to do, I think, with where you live and how close you are to a body of water.

I recently talked to a friend about what's happening in her garden.

Her collection of day lilies have bloomed twice; once in April and now again.

Her fig tree flowered at the end of January, produced figs that dropped off, and is now full of a second crop. This pattern of flower to fruit is echoed in my own fig tree and my small kumquat tree.

I do hope geologists and horticulturists give us information as to why so many of our flowering and fruiting plants are doing a repeat.

If someone tells you that this July is the hottest we've had, remind him or her that July 2014 saw temperatures well into the nineties the first week. The climate and the plants we are growing give us a learning lesson on what to grow in the garden in summer, besides cactus.

All of my herb plants are making it, so long as they're kept watered.

The stevia plant has been moved into the shade. I very much doubt it will see September.

Basil, of course, is just soaking up the heat and growing big time.

My true hero is my oregano plant. It has grown out of the garden and into the driveway. I took the temperature of the ground near the driveway, and it was 150 degrees.

TASTY OREGONO

Did you know that there are six flavors of oregano?

There's Greek, Turkish, Mexican, common, Dittany of Crete, and marjoram.

Common oregano has purple flowers; all other flavors have white flowers of white.

Easy to grow, the plant is most flavorful when dried.

It has both culinary and medicinal value. It is highly antiseptic, antifungal, and antiviral.

In the Lower South, we can grow the oregano variety called marjoram. It's sweeter and milder. I use marjoram fresh. A roasted chicken is especially tasty when stuffed with marjoram leaves.

TRAIL CLEANUP

A Spanish Moss Trail cleanup event is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Aug. 11. If you can help, contact Kathryn Madden, kmadden@bcgov.net.

Sixty-year master gardener and environmentalist Betsy Jukofsky has spent three decades on Hilton Head Island learning the peculiarities of coastal Lowcountry gardening.

This story was originally published August 1, 2015 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Jukofsky: End of July brings garden surprises."