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 The Ashcombe Gardens If you visit Ashcombe this season, you can't help but notice our colorful display gardens. You may also note some recent changes. In the fall of 1999, a team of Ashcombe associates set out to expand and renovate the gardens adjacent to the parking lot of our store. We pooled our ideas, built new paths, designed new beds and finished planting in the spring of 2000. These gardens are designed to provide ideas and inspiration for gardeners. They enable visitors to see mature specimens of many plants we sell and demonstrate how plants can be used in home landscapes. Several new theme beds have been developed. One area is devoted to habitat gardening - demonstrating how beautiful gardens can be developed that will attract and provide homes for wildlife. There are 3 separate beds: a Butterfly Garden, a Hummingbird Garden and a Bird Garden. The Ashcombe gardens have come into full glory this summer. If you visit our store, take a few extra moments to visit our gardens. Go through the new picket fence, stroll down the stone paths, relax on a bench or picnic on a table and gather ideas you can use in your own gardens. BUTTERFLY GARDENING Butterflies can be attracted to your backyard, patio or window sill by planting flowers and plants that encourage butterflies to visit, return and even set up residence. Creating a habitat for butterflies will also help to preserve butterfly populations. Butterfly populations everywhere have dramatically declined in recent years, largely due to development of land for human use. Many species are endangered and others are less plentiful than they used to be. Butterflies are closely linked to their environment. Drastic changes to the ecosystem can be devastating to a localized population or species. By providing food, shelter and water in your garden, you can help support butterfly populations. Choose a Sunny Location Butterflies avoid shady areas. Sun is extremely important for butterflies. They need sun to keep their bodies warm enough so they can fly. Only when their body temperature is about 85-100F can they fly well. When the air temperature is cooler than this, they bask in the sun to warm themselves to an effective flight temperature. This is why on cloudy days you may not see butterflies at all. They are perching, waiting for the sun. Butterflies use early morning sunlight for basking on sun-warmed rocks, bricks or gravel paths. As morning temperatures rise, they begin visiting their favorite nectar flowers, but always in sunlit areas of the garden. Provide Shelter A butterfly garden should be planted in a location that is sheltered from the prevailing winds. This helps butterflies in two ways: they are not cooled by breezes and they do not have to expend extra energy fighting wind currents as they try to feed, mate and lay eggs. Warm, protected, sunny places are particularly important to butterflies in spring and fall, when the nights are cooler and it might take them longer to heat up to a level at which they can fly. Grow Lots of Nectar Plants The main food of adult butterflies is nectar from flowers. As they gather nectar, they also inadvertently do some pollination. Certain flowers are more appealing to butterflies. The following are some good choices: Achillea Armeria Aster Candytuft Coreopsis Dianthus Echinacea Lavender Liatris Monarda Nepeta Phlox Rudbeckia These are just a few. For a more extensive list, please look under 'Karen For Your Garden.' Grow Caterpillar Food Plants If you want more butterflies in your garden, provide food for caterpillars (the larval stage of butterflies) as well. They require a different menu than adult butterflies. Caterpillars eat the leaves and sometimes flowers and seeds of certain plants. They are often highly selective in their tastes. It is actually the adult female that chooses these plants and then lays her eggs on them. So by planting larval food plants you will attract egg-laying females to your garden. Many larval plants are wildflowers, weeds and grasses that belong in an informal setting, not in a flower border. You may want to designate a separate area for this, away from the main flower garden. Create A Mud Puddle Some butterflies like to drink from the wet edges of mud puddles or wet sandy areas. This is a common behavior called puddling. When doing this they are ingesting important minerals and nutrients needed for survival and reproduction. Puddling sites are often along dirt roads or paths through fields, where water regularly accumulates and then evaporates, thus concentrating minerals.
Do Not Use Pesticides
ATTENTION!
Fall is for Bulbs ...and Birds...and Antiques... Fall bulbs are slated to begin arriving at Ashcombe around mid-September with many traditional favorites in tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and rock garden varieties. There are also new varieties being introduced for the fall millennium, so shop early for the best selection. Buying trips locally and as far away as New York for antiques and collectibles have stocked Ashcombe's shelves full with a wide array of glassware, crocks, jugs, tinware, tools, iron and many pieces of antique furniture. Be sure to check out our new line line of decorator furniture in mahogany, classic and Victorian styles. We also have Old World containers to decorate your home for the contemporary or antique decor. Winter is coming! It's time to look ahead and prepare to help our feathered ones who need a little human assistance during the cold months ahead. Our new lines of bird feeders include the traditional, as well as an expanded emphasis on hummingbird products, including glass blown feeders in exotic, bright colors! Ashcombe always has the accessories to complete the package for the bird lover: poles, brackets, hooks, bird seed and so much more! Childrens Gardening Classes 2000 Ashcombe offers gardening classes for children between the ages of 5 and 12. These classes are held the first and third Saturday of each month with two sessions each Saturday. The first runs from 9:00-10:00am and the second from 10:30-11:30am. Pre-registration is required for these classes as class size is limited to 20. The following is a list of upcoming classes:
HERE ARE SOME GREAT IDEAS!
Roast Chicken with Butternut Squash
Coat the chicken quarters with 1 Tbsp. of the oil, 1/2 tsp. of the salt and 1/8 tsp. of the pepper. Arrange the chicken quarters, skin-side up, in a large roasting pan. Toast the cubes of butternut squash with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil, 1/4 tsp. of salt and 1/8 tsp. of pepper and the sage. Add the cubes of squash to the roasting pan. Cook, stirring the squash occasionally, until the chicken breasts are just done, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the breasts from the pan. Tilt the roasting pan and spoon off most of the fat from the pan. Return the pan to the oven. continue cooking until the chicken legs and the squash are done, about 10 minutes longer. Pour off the fat from the roasting pan. Set the pan over moderate heat and add the water. Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan to dislodge any brown bits. Boil until reduced to approximately 2 Tbsp. Add any accumulated juices from the chicken. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Apricot Squash Soup
In blender or food processor, puree onions, half the squash, half the canned apricots with syrup and 1/4 cup chicken stock. Repeat with remaining squash, apricots and 1/4 cup chicken stock. Return puree to saucepan. Add remaining chicken stock; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with cilantro and green onion. Butternut Squash Bisque
Peel squash. Using a large knife, cut squash crosswise into 1/2 inch slices, discarding seeds and membrane. Cut slices into 1/2 inch pieces. Add to saucepan with broth; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until squash is very tender. Transfer half of mixture to blender. Cover and process at high speed until mixture is pureed. Return to saucepan. Repeat with remaining squash mixture. Add half and half, salt, nutmeg and cayenne pepper to squash mixture in saucepan; heat through.
VIRGINIA SWEETSPIRE (Itea virginica) Virginia sweetspire, Itea virginica, is a little-known plant that deserves wider recognition and use. This shrub has great appeal. In late October, foliage and stems glow with rose, burgundy and scarlet color. The sweetspire's fall color is not just a flash in the pan! Once turned, the leaves linger on the shrub into December in the garden and they may last all winter long in the south. It's autumn show is reason enough to grow Virginia sweetspire, but the shrub also produces flowers with delightful fragrance and unusual beauty. Slender clusters of dainty white blossoms seem to spill off the ends of the branches in early summer. The flower spikes are typically three inches long, but those on 'Henry's Garnet' are twice that length. The blossoms would likely be lost among the showier competition at the height of spring, but virginia sweetspire blooms on the late side. The flowers open in late June - early July. Flowers at the base of the clusters open first, while buds at the tips remain tightly closed, so the flowers continue to open for two weeks. Itea virginica is the only North American native in a genus of only about 12 species, the rest are found in Asia. Its natural range is limited to wet woods and swamps throughout the Southeast, mostly on the coastal plain, and up the Mississippi River Valley. It is reliably hardy north of this range to USDA Zone 6. In the wild the plant is often scraggly, reaching as tall as 10 feet but lacking grace. In cultivation, the shrub generally stays three to five feet tall and forms a graceful mound of arching branches. Although a mature shrub may become more upright, rarely will Virginia sweetspire generate the itch to prune. (If it does, take the older stems back to the ground, a practice that enourages the plant to continually renew itself). Furthermore, while sweetspire grows in wet soils and in partial shade in the wild, it does fine, or even better, in drier, sunnier garden sites. In full shade, however, it becomes leggy, produces fewer flowers and turns a bronze-yellow in fall compared to the glowing reds of shrubs given more sun. There are few reports of diseases or pests that afflict the species. 'Henry's Garnet' was collected in November 1954 in Georgia by Mary G. Henry, an ardent collector-explorer with a remarkable eye for a plant's potential. Mrs. Henry explored the United States for some 40 years, assembling an unusual collection of natives long before the current surge of interest in native plants. It is said that she would venture into coves infested with water moccasins in search of plants, protecting herself by suiting up in armor made of stovepipes. Ashcombe's Gift Department is ALIVE with Fall Color! This is a marvelous time of the year, with the sight of changing leaves, hayrides, bluer skies, and the scent in the air as autumn makes its subtle approach. Ashcombe's gift department reflects the changing of the season with many new fall items incuding silk and dried flowers, candles and candle rings and seasonal accessories for your home and garden. Our gift department is the perfect place to find that unique gift for someone who seems to have everything. From fragrant Yankee Candles to furniture and home decor, you're sure to find something to delight your senses. Home decor has become the primary focus of our gift department with emphasis on wall hangings, furniture, linens, lamps, rugs and a multitude of accessories for all types of homes. We are lucky to have a very talented group of designers who are happy to create beautiful custom designs. Our gift manager and buyer travels to gift shows throughout the year to ensure an ever changing supply of distinctive home furnishings.
Upcoming Special Events
Message From the President To be perfectly honest, we would be a destination stop for families, singles and couples who need relaxation from the fast pace of the lives we all lead. Located in the midst of lush corn fields and surrounded by gardens and farm animals, Ashcombe is a place for all seasons. Fall brings the beauty of coloring foliage, pumpkins, mums, pansies and hayrides. With all we have to do and see as well as a place to eat, you can spend several hours here and not see it all. Our calendar of events is available at the cash register area and can be found here on our web site. We are seeing increasing numbers of buses and garden center groups stopping to see us. If you are interested in bringing a group to our facility, please call Andrea for more details. We hope you will make our store a destination stop this fall and experience the pleasures of Ashcombe. --Glenn M. Gross Previous Newsletters: |