Herb Garden

We weekend gardeners couldn't do without our convenient, one-stop-shop garden centers; but Maryland's less well-known "boutique" nurseries offer their own eco-pleasures.Some are very small, some are quirky, some specialize in one kind of plant. A few don't advertise or even list themselves in the phone book. They rely on word of mouth. All are fun to visit when you have time to linger.These specialty nurseries aren't all-purpose. You won't find mulch and gardening gloves and a faux marble cherub and 20 different kinds of impatiens.

Herb FestivalDiscover herbs -- from basil to tarragon, rosemary, lavender, thyme and more -- Saturday at the Baltimore Herb Festival at Leakin Park, Windsor Mill Road. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., you can learn to cook with herbs, select plants for your own herb garden, sample herbed food, take wild herb walks, listen to music and attend herb lectures. Admission is $4. Call 410-448-1281.'Chicago'"Chicago," the winner of six Tony Awards, including 1997 Best Musical Revival, returns to the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre, Hopkins Plaza, for one week, Tuesday through June 6. The musical tells the story of Roxie Hart, a nightclub dancer who kills her lover, then dupes the public and media by hiring Chicago's shrewdest lawyer, who ultimately twists her crime into celebrity headlines and gets her acquitted.

AT GALLOPING GOOSE Farm, the herb garden and greenhouse are the stage for Thymely Activities, a series of herb workshops this spring given by proprietor Diane Hale.The farm, at 4326 Maple Grove Road, is also home to sheep and a beginning vineyard.From 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Hale will introduce novice herbalists to the lore of culinary herbs with the easily grown parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. The workshop includes cultivation, harvesting and drying for later use, plus samples to take home.

Q. Some of the plants in my beautiful flower and herb garden (sage, coreopsis, thyme, salvia) are dying even though they are well-watered and fertilized. The stems turn black and they just PTC fold up. Is this a disease problem? What can I do about it?A.Sounds like Southern blight, a significant soil-borne fungal disease of annuals and perennials that is encouraged by hot, humid weather. Affected lower stems turn brown or black, and foliage wilts and dies.Tan-colored fungal fruiting bodies, the size of a small seed, may be seen on affected stems.

If you're looking for something festive to do during the holidays, here's a civilized idea: Take a friend to tea. The 'N Enchanted Herb Garden and Tea Room in Owings Mills is just the place, with its small, feminine dining room done in the softest lavenders and greens. Here, you can sip tea from a china cup while listening to the faint sounds of a gurgling fountain. If that sounds like the perfect antidote to the harried, last-minute shopping you've been doing this week, make your reservation now. Tables are limited.

FERNDALE UNITED Methodist Church, 117 Ferndale Road, is having vacation Bible school Aug. 10 to 14 at the church.Crafts, games and Bible stories will be available for children. A light dinner will be served at 5 p.m., and classes will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.Information or registration: 410-761-2880.Massage therapyMary Ann Roesler, a massage therapist, is offering five-minute massages to senior citizens Aug. 10 and 24 at Burwood Senior Housing, 6658 Shelly Road.Participants will have a choice of head, foot, back or neck massage.

NEW YORK -- Jay Herman made his fortune on Wall Street as a floor trader for the Commodity Exchange and then retired to his farm - a garden in the sky in midtown Manhattan.A man who used to divine the price of wool from minute to minute, he is refreshingly offhand about how he gets all his stuff to grow on his three terraces on the 12th and 13th floors of the apartment building where he lives, on East 49th Street near Second Avenue.In this concrete and steel world grow figs, blueberries, blackberries, passion fruit, peaches, apples, currants, gooseberries, lemons, navel oranges and honeysuckle berries (and kiwis, if the vines would start producing)

Herbs and spices have been around for centuries. They've been used historically for medicinal, mystical and religious purposes, as well as to flavor food.Spring is the perfect season to begin an herb garden. Many seedlings can be generated in pots sitting in a bright kitchen window, and later transplanted to either a garden or window box on a patio. An easier way is to purchase herb plants. That way, all you have to do is put them in pots or your garden.Here are a few growing tips offered by Leroy Wilton "The Herb Man" of the Smile Herb Shop in College Park:* For herbs that grow best in full sun, use a fertilizer like liquid seaweed twice a month to reduce the stress of being in the sun.* Slice off the bottom 1/4 of the root base of your potted herb seedling prior to planting in your garden.

The Friendly Thyme Herb Club has planned a wonderful day for you to immerse yourself in the fascinating subject of herbs. Get advice on herb gardens, watch demonstrations on making wreaths, potpourri, spreads and dips, and buy herbal items from the Members Marketplace. Herb Day is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Baltimore City Life Museums in the 800 block of E. Lombard Street.Lectures will be held throughout the day in the Counting Room of the Carroll Mansion and the 1840 House kitchen.

Eleven students from Ferndale Elementary School's recent class of sixth-grade graduates made the honor roll. They are: David Bush, John Cargo, Rachel Engel, Kristen Fitzgerald, Dana Hooe, Elizabeth Horn, Shannon Mason, Frank Maule, David Radford, Dana Semmont and Steven Webster.The Presidential Fitness Award for Excellence for carrying a 4.0 average went to David Radford. David Bush and Elizabeth Horn also received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Efforts.During graduation, the class gave Ferndale Elementary two beautiful potted plants that now decorate the school office.

The first of the season's festive street fairs in Baltimore County comes to Towson on Thursday, promising to make Courthouse Plaza greener, sweeter and livelier. Towson Gardens Day opens at 10 a.m. along West Pennsylvania and Baltimore avenues and encircling the courthouse fountain plaza with nearly 100 vendors, musicians and environmental educators. "The emphasis this year is on native plants and pollinators, and natural fertilizers," said Dolores K. Shamer, chairwoman of the event that began in the 1980s.

Kathy Hawkins is crazy about summer basil. She grows it outside, inside, everywhere she can. She even keeps a pot of it on the kitchen counter, so all she has to do is pinch off the leaves, chop them up and sprinkle them on her luscious homegrown tomatoes. With every pinch, there's a bonus. That heavenly basil fragrance fills her kitchen for hours. "I absolutely love that smell," she says. Hawkins, 46, is not an expert by any means, but she successfully grows lots of herbs every summer.

Your own herb garden Don't let the winter weather stop you from planting an herb garden. Learn how to create a tiny herb garden for the windowsill, porch or patio tomorrow or Saturday at the Cylburn Arboretum Association in a workshop led by city naturalist Glenda Weber. Participants will be provided with all the materials needed and will be treated to goodies made with fresh herbs. The cost is $15 for members and $17 for nonmembers. Friday's class is at 12:15 p.m., and Saturday's class is at 10:15 a.m. Advance reservations are necessary.

On June 21, 2004, HERBERT FAIRFIELD GORDON, 73, of Woodlawn, Baltimore County died of cancer. Mr. Gordon was the son of Faith Fairchild Gordon, M.D. and Hugh Gordon, golf professional. The early years of his life were spent in Richmond, Virginia. After graduating from Washington and Lee University, he came to Maryland to teach high school English in Port Deposit. He soon found his love of literature was stronger than his love of teaching and he went to work as a film editor of the Milner Fenwick Company retiring from there in the late 1980's.

You're exhausted. You've just finished painting the ceiling. And frankly, you'd like to never look at a paint roller again. Unfortunately, however, you've just noticed a few missed spots. You scream. Glidden hears your pain. Its new product -- Glidden Ceiling Paint with EZ Track Technology -- takes the guesswork out of painting the ceiling. Simple to apply, quick-drying and uncomplicated, the paint goes on pink and dries white. No more recoats or touch-ups. You see exactly where you've painted and where you need to paint.

Picture yourself on an exotic tropical island. Living in paradise in your own little world. Relaxing, savoring the sun, sipping something tasty. You could have the life -- well, almost -- in your own backyard. Yes, your own lovely backyard. Home designer John Hardy, who has lived in Bali for the past 27 years, has created a backyard paradise for average folks. OK, not exactly average folks. But for homeowners who can afford to toss around $15,000. Hardy's creation is a Bale, an open-sided bamboo pavilion with grass-thatched roof, like ancient Hindu living quarters.

Modern gardeners -- perhaps looking for a touch of instant aristocracy for the patio or just the right accent for the herb garden -- are reaching into their pocketbooks and buying lichen-encrusted stone statues, elegant sundials and handsome cast-iron urns from gardens of long ago. The garden antiques business is booming, and dealers specializing in antique garden ornaments of every description have cropped up like dandelions. Old garden ornaments have always lurked in the musty corners of antiques shops, but in the past few years, garden antiques have emerged as a category of their own, says Leanne Stella of Stella Show Management.

WOULD YOU rather stroll through a magnificent herb garden or view an art exhibit? At Saturday's "Herbs and Artists" program in Ferndale, there will be no need to choose. You can do both. The program will be at the home of Sue Latini, who has cultivated a garden with more than 130 varieties of herbs. Here, you'll find the familiar - such as oregano and rosemary - and the uncommon. Ever heard of elecampane? It's a plant favored by goldfinches, which love to eat its seeds. "I try to put in something new each year," Latini said.

It was a "duh" moment. I was staring at an herb garden, trying to figure out which plant, if any, was sage. This was stuff I should know. A car mechanic is supposed to be able to distinguish between a carburetor and a fuel injector. A copy editor is supposed to be able to spot gerunds. And a food guy is supposed to be able to name that herb. Usually I employ a time-honored system to find herbs. I go to the produce section of a grocery store, I pick up packages of herbs and I read the labels.

Weeks before the new leaves unfurl and paint winter's brown landscape Kelly green, Loudoun County heralds the arrival of spring as gloriously as anywhere in Virginia. Sometime later this month or early in April, fruit trees -- pear, peach, plum, apple and especially cherry -- blossom in pastel pink and white puffs. Lacy dogwoods and brilliant redbuds splash shadowy woods, and dainty toothworts, Virginia bluebells and aptly named spring beauties blanket the ground. But what distinguishes springtime in this northern corner of Virginia is its gardens.