February 16, 2025 Week #12

Winter is back. I guess that is how it goes in February. There was the first real snow. Actually it was only about 4 inches. But it slowed everyone down. And now it is cold, as in heading to  negative numbers. All this coming week. For one thing the cold means the snow sticks around.

I love the snow hats worn by the ornaments.

Those poor snowdrops pictured last week are buried. They really are tough. Their only vulnerability is being stepped on by the 4 deer wandering through the back yard when we came home on Friday.

So it is another inside garden day.

I am going to pot up some of the arugula. The leaves are big enough to taste. You can certainly tell the diffence between the arugula and the buttercruch lettuce. I think in a week I can start picking outer leaves to supplement the professional lettuce.

Last Week which was week 11

The winner in a tight contest was... 

the English bluebell.

I thought the red poppy would win. After trailing on the first day the poppy caught up midweek. At one point there was actually a tie.  Almost all the late votes went to the bluebell.  The blackberry lily finished a close third. 

But a win is a win. And a loss means go home. No wildcards this year since there were two ties. (I will have a field of 15 pictures in the playoffs. That will be in just two weeks.

Here is the final vote

This Week is Week #12

#1 Pink Rhododendron 

April 23, 2024

We have had this plant for maybe 10-15 years. I lost its nametag. I am not even 100% certain it is a rhododendron, as oppose to an azalea. (By the time I finished writing this I believe it is a rhododendron. 

But what is the difference?

Rhododendron is the genus. They are in the heath family. OK. (The heath family is sometimes called ericaceae.) What else is in the heath family you ask?

https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-plants-in-the-family-Ericaceae-2038184

One plant in the family is called...and I kid you not,.... doghobble. Google that. 

Most plants in the heath family are shrubs.

Rhododendrons come from the higher elevations, such as the Himalayas.

They can be everygreen or deciduous.

This one keeps its leaves, but they really do not look happy when it is very cold.

Azaleas are within the genus. They are a subgenera. (Are you getting smarter?)

How do you tell the difference between an azalea and a rhododendron?

Here is the answer. 

https://www.gardenia.net/guide/azaleas-and-rhododendrons-what-difference

I am not sure that helped. It is clear that all azaleas are rhododendrons but not the other way around. Azaleas are smaller plants and have smaller leaves.

In the end I read that rhodos have 10 stamen per flower. Azaleas only 5. Look at the bonus picture. This plant's flowers have 10. It is a rhododendron.

Heather is a heath.

#2 Lots of orchids- Cypripedium Gisell 

May 4, 2024

This wonderful clump of terrestrial is about 10-15 years old. I have tried Cyps over the years. This clump has been the most successful. It not coincidentally is listed in the Cyp stores as the easiest to grow.

There are some wonderful yellow ones, and there is the pink one that is the state flower of Minnesota.

#3 Fancy concflower June 23, 2024

Coneflowers come in a variety of shapes these days.

#4 Hibiscus Buds- Starry Starry Night 

July 26, 2024

Hardy hibiscus bloom in August, or late July in an early year. This is Starry Starry Night, naed after the Don McLean song. 

I got this plant 5 years ago. It died after the second year. I was told it was due to a lack of winter moisture.

So I got another Starry Starry Night. 2024 was its second year. I got two more, planting them near SSN. It is on the shelf on the west side of the house. It gets nice afternoon sun.

#5 Epiphyllum hookeri 

August 31, 2024

This is epiphyllum hookeri. Epiphyllum is the genus. Hookeri is the species.

They are found in Mexico and further south. That is near the Gulf of Mexico. (That is the new code word for the resistance.)

This epiphyllum blooms later in the year. Sometimes it will still be making buds when I have to bring it inside for the winter. I have found it does not do well inside.

Bonus Section

Here is a closeup of the rhododendron flowers. You can count the stamen. There are certainly way more than 5. That is the clue that the plant is not an azalea.

Right Now

The clivia stalk has grow. It was performing well in the sun the other day. 

These next two pictures are new cuttings of orchid cactus I boight last summer. I would like to add some more color to the collection. They have grown nicely and will go in small hanging baskets over the summer.

This is a cutting I made from the lovely pink orchid cactus. Look at the new shoot that is growing at the side of the pot.

This new paphiopedilum started to bloom. It is special because it is reblooming. It bloomed in early March 2024. Once you get an orchid to rebloom you are starting to be hooked.

This paph has been blooming for a month.

The arugula seedlings are getting bigger

Julia's recipe

Jambalaya

This recipe, for jambalaya, takes less than 45 minutes to prepare because it starts with leftover rice. A lot of less-than-1-hour recipes assume you have some time-consuming ingredient already on hand. I often do - rice or some protein or another. I believe in leftovers, cooked pork or chicken or rice or pasta, as a key to faster dinner preparation. But you have to keep track of what's in the refrigerator. Okay. The recipe is from the NYT, but I fiddled with it a bit. 

The ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice;

1-1/3 cup or so andouille;

1 cup diced onion;

about 1/2 cup sliced celery;

about 1/2 cup diced green pepper;

about 1-1/2 teaspoons smushed garlic;

1 tablespoon tomato paste;

1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes;

2 teaspoons cajun seasoning;

1 tablespoon tabasco sauce;

1 cup raw fish (I used sablefish);

1/4 cup or so sliced scallion;

2 tablespoons olive oil; 

some fresh spinach; and 

salt and pepper. 

I added fish because I have a lot of fish. You could leave it out or use cooked chicken or pork or raw shrimp. I added about 1/2 of a 5 oz. package of spinach because why not? But that's also optional.  

I started by cutting stuff up: the andouille into half moons; the onion into little cubes; the green pepper also into little cubes; the celery into sort of half moons; the scallion into thin rounds (both white and green parts). And I smushed the garlic. 

More prep.

I put the olive oil in a big skillet (big enough to hold everything) and added the onion. On medium to medium-high heat.

After a few minutes (3 or 4), I added the andouille and stirred now and then.

Then I added the fish. Sablefish has some bones along the midline so I cut that out and put the two pieces on top of the sausage and onions. I turned the heat down to medium and put a lid on the skillet and cooked the fish for about 8 minutes. It didn't take very long.

After the fish was done, I took it out of the skillet. Sablefish comes skin-on. So when I took the fish out of the pan, I skinned it (easy at that point) and set the fish aside on the plate. 

Back to the skillet. I added the celery and green pepper. I turned the heat up a little and stirred the skillet a time or two. When the celery and green pepper has begun to soften a little, I added the garlic. 

Then I added the tomato paste and the cajun seasoning and about 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. I stirred a little and then 

added the cooked rice. 

More stirring, then I added the diced tomatoes and tabasco sauce and fish bits (which I had broken into flaky chunks on the plate).

When everything was mixed together nicely, I spread a couple of big handfuls of spinach on top and put the lid for a few minutes and turned off the heat. The spinach wilted in a few minutes. 

Then I turned it out into a nice serving bowl and sprinkled the scallions over the top. 

On the table. A nice, pretty easy one-pot meal. Protein and starch and vegetables all in one dish.

I made it on a Saturday and we had salad plus lemon pudding cake. Mostly we have dessert on Saturday night. Lemon pudding cake is good. If you're interested, the recipe is on the kitchen blog. 

We had some jambalaya left over, which Philip ate cold (he does that) and I reheated. For lunch.

Odds and Ends

Time goes by. February is over half over. It is a cold February. 

One year ago the color had started.

The kale looked good.

The early spring flowers had already started to bloom.

This early crocus bloomed on February 10.

Then there is the country and the world.

About the only positive is that bad things from Washington have made us not think about Des Moines. (That is where the Iowa R's have about run out of bad things to put into law. Most of those bad things are already there.)

This week I offer prayers for federal workers, an endangered group. I would like to know friends still have their jobs, but I hesitate to ask. 

Kindness is in short supply these days. It has been replaced by greed.

Bernie is right. Elon has taken down the curtain and shown us how the superrich are now running things.... in the open.

Pray for reeovery. I guess before we recover we have to survive.

Is it wrong to think about payback?

I close with a shout out to the Gulf of Mexico. I have made that name the current code word for the resistance.

Philip-

February 9, 2025- Week #11

Another week is over. The week started with such promise.

Last Sunday, on a day when the University retired Caitlin Clark's number, I raked leaves for the first time this year. It was in the lower 50's with some sun. Sure enough the snowdrops are coming up.

The energy from last weekend has faded. The warm weather (relatively speaking) is over.  I doubt there will be yardwork this weekend. 

I should note that the snowdrops are still there. They just will wait for the right time.

I did order my caladium this past week. I ordered a bunch including  Sea Foam Pink. What a great name. They will be shipped in April and started inside.

I planted some poppies. They are already up, after 5 days. Of course I planted too many in each little cell. Poppy seeds are rather small.

Last week, which was Week #10, the winner was

Really good color is hard to beat.

Here was the final vote

This week- Week #11

#1 Spring crocus 

February 21, 2024

Last February was unlike any February...since 2012. Not only were the snowdrops and aconite up and blooming, but the crocuses  appeared. As I have mentioned many times, I love early spring pictures... for the backgrounds. So many shapes. So little color. 

#2 English Bluebell 

April 29, 2024

Virginia bluebells are a spring constant. These in the picture are also called bluebells. They are a late blooming spring bulb called hyacinthoides in the catalogs. With a name like that it is no surprise that they are also called English or Spanish bluebells. 

Hyacinthoides is the genus. They are in the asparagras family.

What we think of as Virginia Bluebells have the formal name Mertensia Virginica. They are in the Borage family.

Hyacinthoides are thought to be somewhat invasive. I do not find them so. But they will spread.

They come in a variety of colors, including these white ones, and of course blue. And pink.

They are related to the hyacinths.

#3 Red Shirley Poppy

 May 19, 2024

This Shirley poppy needs no introduction. Such a wonderful contrast between the red petals and the yellow center. Just looking at it encourages me to start more from seed.

#4 Blackberry Lily 

August 5, 2024

This is a pardancanda. It is also known as a blackberry lily. Sometimes it is called a candy lily.

So what are pardancandas?
Are they Blackberry lilies or Candy lilies? Are they even a lily?

Here is Dave's Garden.
https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2866

More information, with pictures is found here:
http://amycampion.com/candy-lilies-why-i-love-em-how-to-grow-em/

So the genus for pardancandas is  "X Pardancanda".
The species is norrisii.
I think the X before the name of the genus means that the genus is a cross.
The person who did the crossing was Mr. Norriss.
The genus is a cross between Belamcanda chinensis and Pardanthopsis dichotoma.
Imagine that. Remember that? I certainty cannot.
Well the first one of those is the blackberry lily.

So the term pardancanda lily is ofter shortened to candy lily.
To add to the confusion they are called lilies but are really iris.
I learned that the spring after I had grown them  for the first time.  I found all these little plants coming up that looked like tiny iris. I had not planted them there. Well it was the blackberry lily seedlings coming up.
The seeds really are rather fertile.

I like these flowers in part because they bloom later in the summer, after the riot of color has ended in July.
They also will surprise you as to just what color will be where.

Whatever they are, they are  called blackberry lilies after their seeds. They form a seed head that resembles...a blackberry.

#5 Oncidium Twinkles

 December 21, 2024

What I want in an orchid is simple. I want it to live and rebloom. I have had this oncidium, prbably named twinkles for ten years. I reliably reblooms around Christmas, starting its spikes in late summer. It goes outside in the warm part of the year. It grew so much I divided it and now have two. 

Bonus pictures

I have been hoping that my new computer will be able to post videos. Maybe will this work?

A clump of English bluebells.

More blackberry lilies

These next two pictures are of hybrids that Jan and Marty of Joe Pye Weed gardens have been developing. I have found them rather fragile.

Right now

The phalanopsis have started. I have 4 in bloom at the moment.

The Clivia that has started to bloom in the basement has been allowed to come upstairs. I even watered it.

The lettuce is growing faster than I can put it into bigger pots. There are also space considerations. 

Here are little poppy seedlings. I put way too many seeds in a segment.

This nice dendrobium continues to flower.

Maisie came home with a red ribbon this year. The little flowers will open over the next month.

Julia's recipe

Cod with  Almond and Anchovy Sauce

Let me start by saying I am not an anchovy enthusiast. Anchovies were not part of my culinary world as a kid. Being told by people on cooking shows that I should not be afraid of anchovies had the opposite effect. But once in a while, I find an interesting recipe that includes anchovies, such as this one from the Sitka Salmon people. So I have a tube of anchovy paste in the refrigerator. And I used it on this occasion. Not scary. A fast and savory fish main course.

The ingredients:

1 lb. (or so) cod;

2 tablespoons coconut oil;

1/3 cup toasted almonds;

1 teaspoon anchovy paste;

about 1 teaspoon smushed garlic;

3 tablespoons olive oil;

1-1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar;

1/3 cup or so parsley;

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes;

1/2 teaspoon (or so) each, salt and pepper. 

The fish came to us frozen so I had thawed it in the refrigerator overnight. I started by patting it dry to the extent possible. 

Next I cut the fish into cubes roughly 1" square. 

I let the fish it a minute and started on the sauce, which was prepared in a food processor. So no need to mince anything. 

I chopped some parsley and peeled and sliced the garlic (on a non-fishy cutting board). I dumped those things into the food processor work bowl. 

I put the almonds in a pie plate and put the pie plate in a 350 degree oven for maybe 10 minutes. I kept a close eye on the almonds so they would not burn.

Just when I could smell them, they were done. 

I put the anchovy paste, olive oil, vinegar, red pepper flakes and about 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper into a little bowl.  

Next, I heated the coconut oil in a skillet and when it got shimmery (over medium-ish heat), I added the cubes of fish. 

I am not sure why the recipe called for coconut oil, but I had it so I used it. I think regular oil would be fine.

I was mindful of the fact that fish sticks if you try to turn it too soon. So I was patient for a couple of minutes before turning the fish. Mostly it did not stick. I turned the fish at least one more time, cooking it for about 8 or 10 minutes. 

No real browning. The fish bits should be opaque.

I took the skillet off the heat and turned my attention to the food processor. Everything (parsley, garlic, olive oil, anchovy paste, slightly cooled almonds, vinegar, red pepper, black pepper and salt) went in and I zizzed the ingredients up until they were pretty smooth. Still a bit of texture from the almonds.  

Looking at it now, I think I picked the wrong serving plate. Too large. 

Anyway, I put the fish cubes on the plate and poured the sauce over all. 

We also had rice and green beans which cooked while I was dealing with the fish.

On the plate. This just served the two of us. If you have four people, just double everything. The sauce was very flavorful. Initially, it was just rice with fish and sauce on top. Then we each added some green beans to our plates and the sauce worked with the green beans too. 

I used cod because the Sitka Salmon people send me cod. Halibut would work nicely. Maybe haddock. The fish should be thicker than sole or flounder or tilapia. A mild white fish to show off the savoriness of the sauce. 

Odds and Ends

This picture was from yesterday. It looks like the picture from a week ago. This past week was not really growing weather.

But the plant survives. Perhaps that gives us a clue of what to do in this dark time. 

Pray for peace.

Pray for the children. Governments certainly do not particularly care about them.

Pray for government workers. 

Support your friends and families.

Find a way to do the little things.

Philip