Stevia for One

Stevia rebaudiana is a fantastically sweet little herb that was used as a sugar substitute long before the FDA finally bestowed its approval and products like Truvia subsequently started hitting grocery store shelves. Now one can even buy a certified organic stevia plant at Lowe's, fergossakes. So I did!

This one little plant provides more than enough leaves throughout the growing season to keep my tea deliciously sweet and sugar-free. It doesn't take more than a single dried leaf per cup and I only need enough for myself. Hubby doesn't like his tea sweet; he likes his tea bitter... like he likes his women.

Today I spotted a single, tiny, white flower on my stevia plant. Time to harvest!

I snipped the stems and tied 'em up with thread, then hung them from a trousers hanger in a closet to dry.














Pretty soon I'll have a bunch of crispy leaves to strip from the stems and pop into a jar. I still have some from last year's stevia plant. Maybe this year I'll start some baby plants from tip cuttings and then overwinter them in the garage for next year. Or maybe I'll forget. Meh. For now, I'm going to go make myself a nice cup of tea!

Tangled

This evergreen clematis (C. armandii 'Apple Blossom') has tied itself in knots. Literally, in knots. I cannot untie it. I tried awhile ago to no avail. Now it's only gotten itself into more of a tangle. What an idiot. Where does it think it's going to go from there? It's already aborted one tiny new growth tip. If any others start shriveling up, I'm going to have to cut the knot right out. Silly thing.

To its credit, this clematis has survived my bungling for over two years now. Its first year, I put it in the ground and trained it against a trellis on a south-facing wall. That winter, harsh winds decimated the foliage. The entire vine dried up. It had to be cut to the ground. The following year, thankfully, new growth arrived on schedule, so I dug it up and popped it into a big, heavy container with a couple of short friends to shade its roots. Then, brilliantly, I left the container in the path of those drying winter winds again. I tried covering it with a sheet, but I wasn't particularly effective about it. Another season's growth destroyed. So, I cut it down again. Mind you, this is a clematis that only flowers on old wood. What with all of my screwing up and starting over, I haven't gotten to enjoy those sweet-smelling, blushing white blooms since I bought the damned thing. This year, new clematis growth sprang up practically overnight. It grew from a two inch stub to eight inches tall in one day. I'm thinking to myself, This will be the year that I take proper care of this thing. This year's growth will survive the winter. Next year I will have flowers! So, I'm going to have to make it a priority to find a place for this clematis to take shelter over the winter. Perhaps it would like to live on the north side of the house? We shall see...

Here's what the 'Apple Blossom' clematis is supposed to look like when it actually flowers in the spring. Photo taken from WaysideGardens.com