under the water so air doesn’t get into them) cut off the bottom inch or so. Put them in a cool, dry corner and give them occasional sun. It may be snowing outside, but before long, you’ll be rewarded with forsythia’s bright yellow blossoms and green leaves.
First introduced into Europe from the Orient in the early 1800s, forsythia is a deciduous, early-blooming yellow-flowered shrub with graceful, arching branches. In China, the seeds are used medicinally, for their antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and laxative properties. Yes, forsythia is an herb, too!
A Soft Touch of Spring
Another harbinger of warm days to come is the pussy willow, which I remember fondly as the surest celebration of spring on our Midwestern farm. These shrubby bushes grew beside the river, and when I found them on my Saturday hikes, I would carry home an armload, fill a vase with water, and marvel at their silvery gray, silky-soft catkins. In a week or two, the catkins would be replaced by little green leaves, and the cut branches would be sprouting roots.
In one of my childhood books, I read the story of the pussy willow. Early one spring, three kittens fell into a river. A compassionate willow, hearing their frantic cries, drooped graceful branches into the water to catch them as they swept past in the current. The kittens clung tightly to the branches and were saved. Each springtime since, the willows sprout furry buds at their tips where the kittens once clung. I still think of that lovely story when I see the soft catkins.
Our American pussy willow, Salix discolor , is a relative of the willow tree. Compassion is only one of its many virtues: see April 17 for others.
If snails come out in February, they will stay at home in March.
—TRADITIONAL WEATHER LORE
FEBRUARY 29
Every four years, February 29 is celebrated as Leap Year Day.
There is a belief in Gloucestershire and other counties, that Rosemary will not grow well unless where the mistress is master; and so touchy are some of the lords of creation upon this point, that we have more than once had reason to suspect them of privately injuring a growing rosemary in order to destroy this evidence of their want of authority.
—THE TREASURY OF BOTANY, 1855
Rosemary Remembered : About China’s Books
Today—the day when ladies traditionally rule—is a good day to celebrate rosemary, the herb that is traditionally under the sweet sway of the mistress of the house. For readers who enjoy rosemary lore and a mystery that revolves around this beautiful plant, Rosemary Remembered , the fourth in the China Bayles series, might be a good choice. The story begins when China finds her look-alike accountant, Rosemary Robbins, dead in the front seat of Mike McQuaid’s truck. What’s going on here? A case of mistaken identity, or something even more sinister? With Rosemary’s abusive ex-husband and plenty of former clients on the suspect list, China has lots of investigating to do, with the help of her new friend Sheila Dawson and a disembodied spirit who calls herself La Que Sabe.
But it is Ruby who comes up with the winning clue. Ruby has come up with a winning recipe for rosemary biscuits, as well: good for breakfast with strawberry jam, or as hot appetizers for a party.
RUBY WILCOX’S ROSEMARY BISCUITS
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves or 1 teaspoon
crumbled dried rosemary
¾ cup milk
Preheat oven to 400°. Grease and flour a baking sheet. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar together. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Add rosemary and milk and mix together into a soft dough. On a lightly floured board, roll out dough ½-inch thick. Cut into 1½-inch squares (¾-inch squares or rounds, for appetizers) and place close together on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, or serve hot. Makes about 15
First introduced into Europe from the Orient in the early 1800s, forsythia is a deciduous, early-blooming yellow-flowered shrub with graceful, arching branches. In China, the seeds are used medicinally, for their antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and laxative properties. Yes, forsythia is an herb, too!
A Soft Touch of Spring
Another harbinger of warm days to come is the pussy willow, which I remember fondly as the surest celebration of spring on our Midwestern farm. These shrubby bushes grew beside the river, and when I found them on my Saturday hikes, I would carry home an armload, fill a vase with water, and marvel at their silvery gray, silky-soft catkins. In a week or two, the catkins would be replaced by little green leaves, and the cut branches would be sprouting roots.
In one of my childhood books, I read the story of the pussy willow. Early one spring, three kittens fell into a river. A compassionate willow, hearing their frantic cries, drooped graceful branches into the water to catch them as they swept past in the current. The kittens clung tightly to the branches and were saved. Each springtime since, the willows sprout furry buds at their tips where the kittens once clung. I still think of that lovely story when I see the soft catkins.
Our American pussy willow, Salix discolor , is a relative of the willow tree. Compassion is only one of its many virtues: see April 17 for others.
If snails come out in February, they will stay at home in March.
—TRADITIONAL WEATHER LORE
FEBRUARY 29
Every four years, February 29 is celebrated as Leap Year Day.
There is a belief in Gloucestershire and other counties, that Rosemary will not grow well unless where the mistress is master; and so touchy are some of the lords of creation upon this point, that we have more than once had reason to suspect them of privately injuring a growing rosemary in order to destroy this evidence of their want of authority.
—THE TREASURY OF BOTANY, 1855
Rosemary Remembered : About China’s Books
Today—the day when ladies traditionally rule—is a good day to celebrate rosemary, the herb that is traditionally under the sweet sway of the mistress of the house. For readers who enjoy rosemary lore and a mystery that revolves around this beautiful plant, Rosemary Remembered , the fourth in the China Bayles series, might be a good choice. The story begins when China finds her look-alike accountant, Rosemary Robbins, dead in the front seat of Mike McQuaid’s truck. What’s going on here? A case of mistaken identity, or something even more sinister? With Rosemary’s abusive ex-husband and plenty of former clients on the suspect list, China has lots of investigating to do, with the help of her new friend Sheila Dawson and a disembodied spirit who calls herself La Que Sabe.
But it is Ruby who comes up with the winning clue. Ruby has come up with a winning recipe for rosemary biscuits, as well: good for breakfast with strawberry jam, or as hot appetizers for a party.
RUBY WILCOX’S ROSEMARY BISCUITS
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves or 1 teaspoon
crumbled dried rosemary
¾ cup milk
Preheat oven to 400°. Grease and flour a baking sheet. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar together. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Add rosemary and milk and mix together into a soft dough. On a lightly floured board, roll out dough ½-inch thick. Cut into 1½-inch squares (¾-inch squares or rounds, for appetizers) and place close together on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, or serve hot. Makes about 15
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