Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Flowers... of Soap wort, Oregano, Jerusalem artichoke, and Lotus...

Japan is in the midst of the O-bon season, as in All Souls Day...
The university is closed for a full week... 
Put in the two weekends, and yours truly is only too happy to be having a 9-day break...
Which means, an excellent opportunity to catch up with the chores in the potager...
Yes, it is a joy to be able to work in the garden, but still, the heat... ooh, it's killing...
We have been trying to grow this soap wort for a while now...
Am happy to see that they are growing well...
Belongs to the carnation family and has sweet smelling flowers...
Apparently can be used as a mild soap but we haven't tried doing so...
The wild marjoram a.k.a. oregano looks pretty but my missus prefers the sweet marjoram for cooking...
And so is the Jerusalem artichoke... it looks pretty...
We tried eating their tubers but did not quite like their taste...
The mini-lotus flower is doing beautifully in the pond...