China Bayles' Book of Days (38 page)

July August September

JULY 1

“Howard!” I exclaimed, irritated. “You dirty dog! Have you been digging up rabbits again?”

Howard [McQuaid’s elderly basset] regarded me with a guileless grin and a cheerful wag of his muddy tail.

“Well, it doesn’t matter where you’ve been,” I said firmly. “It’s where you’re going that counts. You’re having a bath.”

—DEAD MAN’S BONES: A CHINA BAYLES MYSTERY

Dog Days

July brings plenty of sweltering weather, and a sudden increase in the flea population, always a problem if you have pets—and sometimes if you don’t. If the dog days are dogging you, here are some herbal solutions.

Start by making an herbal flea repellent oil (see formula below) and use it in the suggested ways. Observe your dog for possible allergies.

• Add 12-14 drops of oil to a quart of pet shampoo, or use the formula for Howard’s Herbal Doggie Shampoo (see below).

• Dilute the oil with an equal amount of water, and spray, then comb, your dog’s clean coat.

• Spray diluted oil on your dog’s clean bedding.

FLEA REPELLENT OIL

4 drops eucalyptus oil
4 drops citronella oil

4 drops rosemary oil
3 tablespoons almond or olive oil.

Store in a dry cool place and apply daily until the fleas are gone.

HOWARD’S HERBAL DOGGIE SHAMPOO (FROM DEAD MAN’S BONES)

1 quart liquid shampoo, any type
2 drops pennyroyal or peppermint oil
2 drops lemon oil
2 drops rosemary oil
2 drops lavender oil
2 drops citronella

Mix all together, using amounts listed. Too much of a good thing can irritate a dog’s skin. (And do be careful when you use essential oils. Ingested, they are highly toxic.)

Read more about using herbs for dogs and cats:

Herbs for Pets
, by Gregory L. Tilford

Veterinarians Guide to Natural Remedies for Dogs
, by Martin Zucker

If the first of July be rainy weather,
’Twill rain more or less for four weeks together.
—TRADITIONAL

JULY 2

In China, July is the month of the lotus.

There is more pleasure in making a garden than in contemplating a paradise.

—ANNE SCOTT-JAMES

The Remarkable Lotus

I can’t think of anything prettier than a pool of clear, cool water in a garden, reflecting the moving clouds during the day and the silver moon at night. And there’s certainly nothing prettier in a pool than the waxen blossoms of a blooming lotus, an exotic and beautiful herb. If you have a water garden, the richly evocative lotus would be a delightful—and different—addition to your herb collection.

A PLANT OF PLENTY AND ABUNDANCE

Throughout Asia, the rhizomes, seeds, leaves and flowers of the lotus are all eaten. The rhizomes are roasted, pickled, or dried and sliced for use in curries and soups. The sweet seeds, removed from their bitter covering, are eaten raw, roasted, boiled, or candied. They are also ground into flour. The young leaves, leaf stalks and flowers are eaten as vegetables.

The flowers became symbolic of immortality and resurrection because people observed that they would grow from the bottom of dried-up pools after the monsoon rains. Lotus seeds exhibit a remarkable longevity, apparently due to a special enzyme. In the 1920s, some were recovered from a lake in northeast China, and successfully grown; in the 1990s, when scientists were at last able to determine their age, it was found that they were an astonishing 1,300 years old.

In traditional Asian medicine, the lotus has been used to treat fungal infections, diarrhea, dysentery, fevers, and sexually transmitted diseases. The dried flowers are used in a syrup to treat coughs. The perfume was also thought to be medicinal: It raised the spirits and banished melancholy. The seeds were used as prayer beads, and the fiber was woven into cloth.

Observing the lotus grow from the silt of a long-dried pool when it was filled with monsoon rains, Hindu and Buddhist artists used the plant as a symbol of death and resurrection, and the flowers as symbols of good fortune, plenty, and abundance.

GROWING LOTUS

Lotus are easy to grow, and hardy in USDA Zones 4-10. They need at least six hours of sun a day. Obtain rhizomes in the spring from your local water-garden plant supplier or from on-line sources. Plant them in enriched soil in shallow pans (a kitty-litter pan is fine), on overturned clay pots stacked at appropriate heights. Check with the supplier for additional culture instructions.

Read more about waterlilies:

Waterlilies and Lotuses
, by Perry D. Slocum

JULY 3

Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.

—THEODORE ROETHKE

Not Just for Headaches

The healing properties of willow are a familiar story to many. But have you heard that this generous plant can help you root cuttings of your favorite shrubs and perennials? Rose rustlers swear by it and rhododendron fanciers recommend it (“rhodies” are notoriously difficult to root). And since it costs nothing to try, you have nothing to lose.

ROOTING FOR WILLOW

Have you ever planted a budding willow wand in a marsh and watched it put out enthusiastic branches and eagerly stretch itself into a green tree? Willows seem to have a remarkable ability to root themselves almost anywhere. What’s more, they seem to be willing to share that ability with other plants. You can take advantage of this generosity by treating your cuttings to a drink of willow tea.

To make this all-natural rooting stimulant favored by generations of gardeners, snip pencil-thin willow wands—budding willow “whips” are best—into one-inch lengths. Put two cups of the snipped wands into a half-gallon jar, fill with boiling water, steep overnight, and strain. To give your cuttings the “root” idea, soak the lower stems overnight in the willow tea, then pot as usual. The tea you don’t use will keep for two weeks or so in the refrigerator.

Good luck, and good rooting!

Read more about starting plants from cuttings:
Growing Herbs from Seed, Cutting & Root: An Adventure in Small Miracles
, by Thomas DeBaggio

The last week in this month, but not before, you may sow onions to stand the winter. . . . Remember when the plants are come up to let them be weeded in time; for, otherwise, the weeds, which will rise with the onions, will soon get the start of them, and destroy the whole crop.

—THE GARDENERS KALENDAR, 1777

JULY 4

Throw aside your Bohea and your Green Hyson Tea,
And all things with a new fashioned duty;
Procure a good store of the choice Labradore,
For there’ll soon be enough here to suit ye;
Then do without fear, and to all you’ll appear
Fair, charming, true, lovely and clever;
Though the times remain darkish, young men may be
sparkish,
And love you much stronger than ever.
—BROADSIDE BALLAD ENCOURAGING THE DRINKING OF NATIVE TEAS

Sweet Liber-Teas

There’ll probably be a pitcher of iced tea on your picnic table today. But for the people who lived during the American Revolution, China tea was not on the menu. The whole affair had, after all, begun with the Boston Tea Party, and one of the patriots’ earliest acts was to renounce imported tea in favor of locally grown herbs.

LABRADOR TEA

The Labrador tea mentioned in the ballad was brewed from
Ledum groenlandicum.
The plant was used medicinally by Native Americans, who shared their knowledge about it with the colonists. In 1768, the
Boston Gazette
reported that the tea had been poured for a “circle of ladies and gentlemen who pronounced it nearly, if not quite, equal in flavor to genuine Bohea tea.” The editor added, “If we have the plant, nothing is wanted but the process of curing it into tea of our own manufacture.” Labrador teas were a household affair, and every housewife had her own recipe. Most included rose hips, mint, and wild ginger leaves. When available, dried citrus peels, cinnamon, and cloves were added.

SASSAFRAS TEA, AND OTHER TREE TEAS

This flavorful tea (the original taste of “root beer”) was brewed long before and after the Boston Tea Party, for it was thought to be both delicious and health-giving. And since the sassafras tree was an all-American native, it was certainly on the list of politically correct tea plants. Other trees or shrubs used as beverage teas: sweet gum, willow, rose, raspberry, and sumac.

HERBAL TEAS

Catnip and pennyroyal were easy choices, along with various mints, bergamot, lemon balm, verbena, rosemary, thyme, sage, and wintergreen. Blossoms went into the teapot, as well: elder, red clover, violet, goldenrod, linden.

YOUR OWN LIBERTY TEA

To make a pitcher of Liberty Tea, pour 10 cups boiling water over these slightly bruised fresh herbs: 5 sprigs spearmint, 3 sprigs applemint, 2 sprigs red bee-balm flowers, 2 sprigs lemon balm, 1 sprig peppermint. Steep 15 minutes. Serve iced. If you don’t have these herbs, choose others. Our brave revolutionary foremothers would applaud your experiment!

JULY 5

It was a hot afternoon, and I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?

—FROM THE FILM DOUBLE INDEMNITY

Sweet, Sweet as Honey

Honeysuckle and murder don’t usually go together, but Raymond Chandler’s line from the famous Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck film is one of China’s favorites, and she insisted that I use it somewhere in this book. Maybe I’d better explain why.

Honeysuckle, as a literary symbol, has long been beloved of poets and novelists. Calling it “woodbine,” Chaucer wrote about it in
Troilus and Cressida
:

When she understood his loyalty and pure intention,