The last month has been amazing for both making fresh herbal teas and drying herbs for teas after all the fresh stuff dies back in the fall and winter. Lemongrass is just one of the things I put in my teapot when making tea, but it's real simple - I cut off a couple stalks a couple inches above the ground, rinse it, and either shove the whole thing in the pot or cut it in two-inch pieces. For drying, I cut it into about six-inch pieces, then once dry I cut it into smaller pieces for addition to my tea blend. Of course, I almost never would put only that in my teapot - I'd also include some mints, some stevia, lemon balm or lemon verbena, pineapple sage, catnip, nettles, bee balm, etc. Of course bee balm is now flowering, and it has a much more sage like flavor, but I have cut and dried some of the flowers to add to my blend (the red flowers add a nice pink color to the tea). It really just depends on what I want. The other day I made a tea with a lot of strawberry mint, some lemon verbena, stevia, and anise hyssop, and a little store-bought green tea (it's looking like it will be years before the tea camelia's I planted will get big enough to supply all the green tea we drink). It was great. I think it's a far better bet to find some fresh lemongrass stalks at an Asian market or some grocery stores, put in a glass with water to see if roots sprout (or straight into a pot keeping the soil moist), and then potting it up. I've kept mine going for years, splitting what was overwintered in a pot each spring, half in the garden, half back in the pot with some fresh potting soil, bringing the pot in before danger of frost. Seed for lemongrass seems like a process that will just take far too much time, particularly for something that really wants full sun and heat but dies if left out in the winter. I want big massive bunches of it fast once it gets hot, because just like lots of other grasses, in the scorching blaze and dryness of late summer lemongrass suffers just like any other grass. I split mine and put some in the garden (here in Virginia) just a little over a month ago, and both the potted and the garden plant are already huge cascading fronds ready for tea.

Lots of plants flowering in the yard right now. Canna 'Ripples' Canna 'Angele Martin' Canna 'Gigundo' Canna 'Bengal Tiger' Longan tree Tecoma 'Sparky' Tahitian pummelo - Finally showing signs of new growth all over the tree. I've been worried about this big guy for over a month now. All my citrus trees have already flushed new leaves and are done flowering except this guy until now! All its been doing is dropping leaves. I'm guessing it's still stressed from being uprooted and replanted to my yard. Mango 'Lemon zest' flower spikes all over. My new Dwarf Namwah Banana corm finally pushed a new leaf out. The 90f temps probably helped out a lot on waking this guy up. Green and red sugarcanes - lots of new canes coming out.

"dbarron(z7_Arkansas) Ok, Paul but is her Phal thriving or in decline...they tend to die slow." Won't know 'til I next visit her again. She lives a couple hours away from me. Unfortunately, she is not much of a plant person (as the death of a pothos pretty well illustrates :p ) and as such would be unlikely to recognize the "signs of decline" until it was just about dead. ;-D Many of the commonly available orchids such as Phals, as I know you know, are much tougher plants than most folks realize. Personally, I find them far easier than African violets -- and I am not one to dote on my plants.

You can create many piles (not just a swimming pool size one - HA) or a long row. Do a web search and see how many different ways to create hügelkultur piles. I'm sure foxes are good for a lot things. Those pesky wabbits love my lilies and young hydrangeas. GRRR! It is hard to believe that we are going to be plunging into the teens here ourselves with a high barely above freezing Monday. We went shopping earlier with no jackets or coats. Feels like spring and I think I saw Forsythia in bloom somewhere today. Please keep the snow up there? HAHA!