May 13, 2018 The leaves are almost out

Welcome to this week's addition of the Mears Garden Blog.
I have some really nice spring pictures from this last week.
In addition Julia has a really nice recipe.


Slowly, but surely, the leaves on the trees have emerged. It had to happen eventually. The significance is there is now at least a little shade.
We have lots of trees. The big ones are a Sycamore, a Buckeye, a Linden, a Walnut, and the grand old Elm tree in the front yard. The Elm tree is one of the remaining trees that lined so many city streets 60 years ago.
We also have lots of house plants. Those are the plants that must come inside during the winter.

Well, the inside plants have to go outside when it is not winter. But they cannot be out of the bright and direct sun, at least until they have gotten used to the outside. This requires the shade to arrive.
This past week the leaves have come out, mostly. The Buckeye tree and the white Crabs have a nice bit of leaves. They give shade in the  back of the backyard. The Sycamore and the Walnut trees are some of the latest to get their leaves. Even those two trees should cast some shade in the next week or so.
So the great plant migration has begun in earnest.
This weekend all the crotons have finally gone outside, as have many of the orchids. So have the hibiscus plants.
It helps that we have several days in a row with a lot of clouds.

The plants that are still inside are the caladium. As of yesterday 6 of the 90 pots have sprouted. And those are only up about an inch.
Being positive I expect that number to go up quickly in the next week.

Let's get to the pictures.

In last week's voting you liked these two pictures best, the hellebore and the bluebells. Here they are again.

The full voting was
Hellebore  13
Bluebells  13
Monsella tulip  12
Mitsch daffodil  11
Wonderful big tulip  9
Red Iceland poppy  7
Yellow tulip  7
Daffodil Pheasant's eye  4
tiniest daffodil  3
epimedium  3
white anemone blanda  3

This week's pictures

How about some pictures? As has been the case for several weeks, you can vote for as many as you want.

#1 Lovely pinkish tulip

What color is this? Red? Pink? What is that color that is right between Red and Pink.
I do not have many tulips. I do not like how they break down after the first year. But some do last and they are the good ones.




#2 Small Bearded Iris with blue beard

It is the time of the little bearded iris. I have been adding a few each of the last 2 years. There are now some really interesting color combinations.

#3 Red and Yellow tulip

If the Monsella tulip is the wild one, this one always has its shirt tucked in.
As with so much of the garden this time of year, having a little blue in the background really works.




#4  Bluebells with El Niño hosta

The hosta are exploding everywhere in the garden. With the bluebells they make a rather dramatic statement.


#5 Iris cristata

This is a little wild flower that blooms now and then will grow the rest of the year. It is not a bearded iris. Iris have remarkably different roots. The bearded iris have a rhizome, that is not very hard. It will rot if it gets too wet. This has a hard rhizome, like a Louisiana Iris. It can presumably survive wetter conditions. To get all this Iris root thing said, the Siberian and Japanese Iris have what could be thought of as a more conventional root. They can get very wet.
But what wonderful color. It grows very close to the surface, making it really hard to weed.
There is a bonus picture giving you an idea about what it is like in a clump.



#6 Green tulip?

It might be green but it is rather nice.




#7 White little iris

I love the blue beards and the subtile yellow coloring around the beards.




#8 All pink rhododendron

We put this bush in about 5 years ago.
It has had its best bloom ever, this year. It is enough to start looking for it to get a friend.





9 Another tulip duo

Many tulips break down after 1 or 2 years. The ones that survive can be quite vigorous. There is something in the makeup of these survivors that makes for big statements. I have several of these pairs in the garden. They are actually quite tall, standing up to the wind without staking.
These survive year after year with a friend or two close by.




10 Camassia- the unknown spring bulb

Camassia. Remember that name. It is one of a group of late season spring bulbs. It really puts on a show after most of the rest have finished. Check out the bonus section.


11 Dramatic little beard iris

Julia so liked this color combination that she incorporated it into something she is knitting.




#12 Cypripedium 'Gisela'

This orchid has four stems this year with a total of 5 flowers. Last year it had 3 stems after having two for about five years.
It seems to be the easiest of these slippers to grow. I used to have some that were yellow and pink. I am satisfied with this one.


There you have it for the week.
There really were quite a few gems to be found. The little bearded iris should continue for a few weeks.

Once again you can vote for as many as you like. Just select the ones that you really like. If that is 2 that is ok. If it is 10 that is ok too.

Bonus Pictures

Here are more camassia pictures. They grow in tall spikes, clumping up over the years.




Here is just about the most perfect pulmonaria.
Like so many plants this time of year it could use a weed job.

Here are more pictures of the rhododendron. The bluebells do make a nice contrast.





Here is what the cristata looks like after a few years.

More hosta with bluebells.

Julia's recipe

Scallops and leeks

When the children were young, they liked orange food (raw carrots, canned peaches and apricots, oranges and tangerines, cantaloupe, boxed mac and cheese) and orangey-brownish food like french-fried shrimp and fish sticks. It was grim. Then when they hit kindergarten/first grade, for no good reason, they went straight for the good stuff - fresh grilled tuna, fettuccine alfredo, chicken paprikash, green salad, and especially scallops. The cost to feed us went up, but so did morale. I have several scallop recipes, and here is one that is fast and tasty.

Here are the players: leeks, scallops, chicken stock, white wine, lemon juice, butter, salt, dried thyme and pepper.

I started with 4 good sized leeks. I cut off the tops and the root ends, keeping the light green and white parts. I cut each leek length-wise and rinsed thoroughly as the most respectable leek can have dirt or grit in the layers. When they were clean, I sliced across the length-wise halves and ended up with about 3-1/2 cups of leek half-moons.

I melted 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and then added the leeks and a healthy pinch (say 1/4 teaspoon) of salt. I cooked them on medium-high heat until the leeks wilted. I think that took about 5-7 minutes.

After the leeks were soft, I added 1 cup of chicken stock, 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme and 1/2 cup of non-sweet white wine. Wine is optional. You could add an extra 1/2 cup of chicken stock. I brought that to a boil, and then reduced the heat so that the mixture simmered.

Then I added the scallops. I used small scallops, and I had just under 2 cups. If you have big (aka sea) scallops, you can cut them in half if you like.

I cooked the scallops for about 4 minutes, just until they were done. Sea scallops will take maybe 8 minutes. 

When the scallops were done, I used a slotted spoon to take the scallops (and inevitably, some of the leeks) out to a bowl, which I covered.

I then turned up the heat and cooked the sauce down some. When the sauce had reduced (say after 5-8 minutes), I added 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 more tablespoons of butter, cut into little pieces and stirred in gradually.

After the butter had melted, I poured the scallops, stray leeks and juices back into the skillet and heated everything through. No need to boil.

That's it. In the picture, you see a big pot in which we cooked orzo (or rice if you are a non-gluten person) and a smaller pot in which we cooked broccoli.

We served the scallops over a scoop of orzo. We later added some broccoli to our bowls to swim in the remains butter/leek/lemon sauce.

Maggie joined us for supper, so there weren't many leftovers, just enough for lunch for one the next day.

Odds and ends

This coming week looks to be a good one.

First the tree peonies are about to bloom.

The first orchid cactus has big buds, which should open soon.

Some of the other large ones also have buds. I may need some help moving and hanging some of them.

It is a little hard to see but the buds are forming on the lupine.
There is a really good crop of lupines this year.









Be safe. Find time to see the flowers. They come around every year. But if you miss them when they bloom you have to wait until next year.

Better times are coming.
Philip