A Slow Day in the Garden

It's a little chilly outside today and I was not feeling all that ambitious so I didn't get out until early afternoon.

I bought and planted a few more flowers and I decided to sand and stain this table white.

I also touched up the yellow paint on the chairs I will use with the table.

I found two of these tulips blooming. They are beautiful, but I don't recall planting them. Are they parrot tulips?


My woodland area is looking pretty green and has some forget-me-nots in bloom.

Rustic Blueberry Cobbler Anyone?

I cut into that *#@!* pie and sure enough it was more like blueberry soup.

Kasmira, I wish I had used cornstarch instead of flour. Darn! I seem to have better luck thickening with cornstarch.

Well, I was not about to let 7 cups of blueberries go to waste.

I had to put my culinary thinking cap on to salvage this one.

Here's what I did...

I carefully removed the top crust (in pieces) and layed it on a dinner plate.

Then I scooped out the runny filling and put it in a pan on the stove and heated it to boiling and ...

darned if it wasn't thick as could be....I did not even have to add anything to it. Now I believe I just cut into it too early...it was still warm.......I cooked that thing over an hour so it must have gotten hot enough to boil and thicken up....wouldn't you think?

Anyway, I scooped the filling into little individual serving dishes and layed a piece of the crust on top........Voila! Country Cobbler. LOL


I have been cleaning my tush off this morning... good thing I have a rather large amount of tush, so I can keep going with no danger of losing it all.

See this mess?


Everything that was under my sink came out. I scrubbed the inside (even the pipes) and then put everything back neatly


Since I am on a roll, I thought it was a good time to clean my baking cupboard, too. I removed all the stuff before I made coffee for the little break I am currently taking. I know once I sit down I may not feel like doing it, so this forces me to finish.



Break time is over....off to put everything back in an orderly fashion.

Update:
That didn't take any time at all...10 minutes maybe. Look how organized it is now

Here it is all done



These things didn't make it back in because I don't use them anyway.

Any Day Your on Vacation is a Good Day

It's not looking like a very good day for outside work. All that green area is right over my city.

I was considering going in to work today and saving the vacation day.

But I've decided I don't feel like it, so will just stay home and work inside. My sewing room would benefit from a good cleaning...there are kitchen cupboards that could be sorted...dusting needs to be done....the list is endless.

Maybe in between rain storms I can get out and edge & weed those three small beds near the road.

And if I am really feeling ambitious, I may make DH a blueberry pie. . . that's a long shot, but I am not totally ruling it out.

The one good thing about this wet weather -- I have not had to water any of the deck plants :)

Update: Here it is 7:10 a.m. and I have the blueberry pie in the oven. LOL. I thought it was the longshot, but right after posting I decided that was what I would do.

I just stood out on the front porch to get another pic of the crabapple (please indulge me. It only blooms EVERY TWO YEARS, so I don't get to see it very often). Actually I wanted to show you that I did put creeping phlox under it. It will take about two years for the phlox to fill in nicely. Just in time for its next bloom, it should have a thick purple border and it should bloom at the same time. I'm pretty happy to have decided on the phlox--I really was not even thinking about the bloom time. Every now and then I luck out!


9:00 a.m.
Well, it looks good, but will it be runny?

I have a terrible time with homemade pies. No matter how much flour I put in, they are always too watery. That is why I rarely make one.

Cold Rainy Day

I can't work outside today, so I took this pic from my bedroom window at 6:00 a.m. to show you some of the creeping phlox that is blooming around my yard. Too bad I don't have anything blooming with it!

Such a Beautiful Time of the Year

The crabapple tree in my front yard.

In a comment below, herblover asked what another name for verbena was.
Hmmmmm...I don't know any other name.
Does anyone know?

I Couldn't Wait

to try out my new deck quilts.

I went to a little garden place near my home and they had the most wonderful hanging baskets in the perfect colors

All the plants are Proven Winners: Calibrachoa 'Superbells Blue', Verbena 'Temari Patio Red', Bacopa "Snowstorm Giant Snowflake' and Osteospermum 'Orange Symphony'.
I thought they would be just PERFECT with my quilts so I bought six of them.

Before I bought them, I ask her if there was any discount if I bought six. Hey, it's worth a try...................and she gave me $5 off each. I was thrilled to find the perfect hanging baskets and at a good price.

I just LOVE how everything works together





Here is the opposite side.
I will be staining that table in the background white as soon as I get some solid stain.



This little tree frog has been sitting on this chair for the past 5 hours! I am afraid I will plop down and squish him to death.



And here is the bigger side of the deck, still waiting to get decorated


I must say, I was totally exhausted about two o'clock this afternoon. This gardening stuff is hard, hard work.

I've been working continuously for three days and it seems I have barely begun. Everyplace I look, I see more work waiting for me. I never finished edging the main beds out by the roadside so that is my goal for tomorrow.

I ran out of plants for the deck, so I have to go shopping for more so I can finish the containers.

Most of my containers have tubers, bulbs or seeds in them, so they look bare. It will be weeks before they throw up enough foliage to be useful in deck-orating. That is why I now buy my hanging baskets pre made. The baskets give me some structure and color while I wait for everything else to fill in.

Cherry Trees in Bloom

Last year I planted these two cherry trees in the rockwall garden and they both survived and are blooming now.

I have been outside at 6:30 a.m. every morning this week planting, digging and just enjoying all the garden work.

Alice asked me what I decided to plant around my crabapple tree (where I removed all that sedum a couple of weeks ago).

Well today I decided to dig up some creeping phlox and use that. I have tons of creeping phlox, so I can get all I need and it's free. At the nursery they charge $6.99 for a quarter flat of creeping phlox...that's about one small shovel full...I probably used about $100 worth already this morning. I will post a pic as soon as the crab is in full bloom.

Back outside ... can't waste my days off sitting in the house!

Can you stand to see another tulip picture?

I know everyplace you go, you see tulips,but I must show you may favorite orange ones,too. Then I will be done with tulips for this year.




I have really grown to LOVE orange the past few years!
Isn't it strange how our taste changes with plants?

The Cushion Spurge is Gone

Even though I liked the yellow color,
I decided to remove it before it got too out of control. It was already getting into the grass, especially further down the border near the deck.

I am sure it will continue to come up in places for quite some time because it is impossible to get every little piece out. I will just dig it out as it comes back.

I still have it in a good-sized area in the main arbor garden. I may remove that later today. I was getting eaten alive by bugs, so came in for a coffee break.

I also started removing a bunch of obedient plant (see this post from last fall). It's another of those "almost impossible" to dig out plants, so I put the shovel away and hit it with Round Up in hopes of killing all the roots.

I was not enjoying it and I am sure I can put that space to better use.

Spilanthes "Peek-A-Boo"

I found a new plant yesterday and two of them jumped into my cart.

I did a little net research and found this info:

In addition to the unique flowers, ‘Peek-A-Boo’ has attractive bronzy, dark green foliage which is edible. This annual is used in salads because of it’s pepper like flavor, and is also chewed for toothache because of it’s anesthetic properties, this is how it gets it’s other common name of Toothache Plant.

One person had this to say,"Of many hundreds of different kinds of plants that I eat in salads, only this species causes my tongue and lips to go numb. It is a fascinating plant in several respects, but its numbing or local anesthetic effect is unique, recalling Novocain® used by dentists.
If you chew any part of the herb, especially an entire flowerhead, at first your mouth experiences a warm sensation akin to that lent by French Tarragon. Next you sense some shocking acridity, then start salivating as if on command, and finally your mouth loses sensation for a few minutes. The tingling feeling that Toothache Plant causes has been traced to a constituent named spilanthol."

I doubt that I will be eating any of this plant, but it was interesting blog fodder.

There is a good plant profile here.

The Creeping Phlox is Blooming

on the sunny side of the rockwall garden.


The center section is not yet ready as it gets less sun.



Sometimes I think dandies get a bad rap.
Look at how lovely this large dandelion looks next to my big mossy rock.

Yesterday afternoon we removed all of the containers from the crawl space.
These are callas, cannas, and dahlias that I over winter in their pots and soil

I am sure this is NOT the expert's way of saving these bulbs/tubers, but I know of no easier method.

Jut remove the foliage and stick the whole container in a cold, but not freezing place and leave it until spring.

I put these in hibernation last October...they have been 7 months in the dark without one drop of water.

See how dry the soil is?
Yet they are already coming up.

I will start watering and fertilizing them and I expect all to make a healthy return.


Confucis say, "Much work ahead to make this big empty deck look inviting. Only crazy lady attempt such task"

Destined for Round Up?

There are thousands of species of Euphorbias in the world (poinsettia is one).

The Euphorbias are named after a Greek surgeon of a North African kingdom called Euphorbus. He is supposed to have used their milky latex as an ingredient for his potions.



Euphorbia cyparissias (often referred to as spurge) can be an invasive perennial reproducing by seed and lateral root buds. I daresay there are those who would vehemently refer to it as a weed. Cypress spurge emits a poisonous milky sap when broken, as most euphorbias do. If you have sensitive skin you must wear gloves.

On the plus side, it is low-maintenance growing in partial to full sun and it will even grow in rocky compacted soil. Its foliage looks like evergreen trees, but it is very soft to the touch. I love to run my hand over it as I walk past. In the spring it has these lovely yellow-green bracts and in the fall its narrow green leaves turn shades of red/orange/yellow.

I have it as an underplanting to a yew hedge where I want it to spread and fill the entire area. I planted it two seasons ago and it is already spreading like crazy.


It may end up being too much trouble to keep contained. I have been trying to make sure I cut off the flowers before they seed, but that is not so easy to do when you have a ton of it (Of course, I have it in other areas besides this one).

I will be keeping a close watch on this plant. As much as I do like it, I fear I may have to destroy it due its aggressive nature.

Note to Self

Run around yard with litttle spade and dig up oodles of grape hyacinths to fill in bare areas around these tulips.

I like the color combo.

Since this area is near the garage, I will see & appreciate the little hyacinths more than I do now where I can only see them if I take a stroll around the "Ponderosa" (as hubby refers to my massive garden plantings).

Bergenia in Bloom

I must admit that I am not in love with this plant. Many people rave about it, but as yet I have not been overcome with the same emotion.
The leaves do stay green, but really they are not that beautiful. A hosta leaf (in my humble opinion) is much more lovely.
I guess I should have picked off the brown-edged leaves. In fact, I did pick off some a few weeks ago, but I see I missed a few.
Maybe they just need to get bigger to look better?

I Really Like Primroses

I think they are beautiful and easy to care for, yet I don't see them being planted as often as I would expect.




I wonder why?

My flowering crabapple tree (on the left) only blooms once every two years.

It's a long wait between blooms. When it does bloom, it only lasts a few days.

This is the year it will bloom.

It is loaded with buds.

In a couple more days it will be completely covered in pink flowers.
I am anxiously awaiting.................

Strobilanthes Dyerianus

Now that's a mouthful, isn't it? LOL.
I just call it Persian Shield.
Other than my 4 hibiscus trees, it is the only plant I tried to overwinter in the basement.


It looks a little sick, but it did survive with almost no sun and just a small drink of water once a week.

I should look like this

I am feeling pretty confident that it will after a few weeks of warm sunshine and a few treatments of miracle grow.

Had to perform a little surgery this morning before work

I left this Osteospermum outside in the rain storms yesterday and the poor thing was jostled so hard it's roots were sitting on top of the soil.

I don't want to lose this one because it has those spooned petals that are so difficult to find in my area.



Aren't they the coolest? They are not all the way opened in this pic, but trust me, they are very cool.

I brought him to the kitchen sink and tried to recover the roots. It was kinda of tough to dig around that little container as it's pretty full of the root ball. I must get this guy planted soon...this is why one should not buy plants too early ...but I do it every year.