Autumn Eye Catcher

Want to add a simple yet fresh look to your late season perennial garden? Here’s a cheery shot snapped yesterday during a neighborhood walk of the Nippon Daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum). Although a couple of petals seem a bit tattered from the weekend rains, you have to look at its bright side. With many attributes, such as disease-resistant and drought-tolerant, this brilliant white flower and its foliage also takes up some real estate, making this autumn eye catcher a bargain plant.

Speaking of bargains, if you’ve grown nothing else but herbs in your garden, it’s time to put these tasty tidbits to good use. Whether you’re into drying or moving your planters indoors for the winter, snipping and clipping herbs adds delectable flavors to just about everything.

Need a quick Monday night recipe? Take something as basic as ground hamburger to another level when you add a few herbs with a Mediterranean twist.

Use 1 pound of hamburger for four patties, one egg, chives or scallions (depending what’s growing in your garden) salt and pepper (take whole black peppercorns and grind them in a coffee grinder used just for spices to make fresh ground pepper), a dash of dried oregano and thyme, a dash of nutmeg and bread crumbs. These are indoor burgers; not made for the grill. Fry it on medium heat in a skillet with some olive oil until centers are cooked to your perfection. The egg and the bread crumbs keep the flavorful juices inside the burger.

Serve with fresh pita bread, arugula drizzled with a fresh lemon dressing, an orzo dish with a few of these same Mediterranean flavors, a sliver of feta cheese and you’ve taken your garden herbs and created your own Hamburger Helper.

Making life pop in this month of October, from the garden to the kitchen is an ease-y way to slide into our next season. Look for the great fall bargains, whether it’s at a local nursery or in your own garden collection. Elise Boulding points us in the right direction. “Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things.” In this month of October, find the many small but wonderful moments still to be cultivated in our gardens. Do not cut yourself off from this celebrated season of harvest by scurrying through it. Look for the autumn eye catchers.

Image of Nippon Daisy by Ann Bilowz

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