Week #3 December 16, 2018

Welcome from far away.
We are in Palm Springs, California, this weekend, at a wedding for Julia's nephew.
It is different here.
We knew that when much of the airport did not need to have a roof.
Then we noticed that there was this brilliant red bougainvillea everywhere. I think this was in a gas station.

On that first day here we found a lovely garden that was open to the public. I do not want you to be surprised but it was some very rich person's place. But it was late in the afternoon and the sunlight was getting to be just the best angle.

Those are barrel cactus plants. I must confess that walking around in shorts and seeing these cactus plants was more refreshing that I thought it would be.

The succulents were enormous.

But now let me get to the Winter Picture contest for Week #3.

Here is your winner from Week 2.
You have certainly favored vibrant colors these first two weeks.
The Magnolia held its own for the first day. Then the purple iris ran away to an easy win.

Here was the full  voting.

Week #2
Choice	Votes	Prc
Tricolor crocus	8	19%
Star Magnolia	9	21%
Dutchman's breeches	3	7%
Orange lily	3	7%
Purple Iris	19	45%
Total votes	42

Here is Week #3

#1 Epimedium brevicornu (May 1, 2018)

 

I love all the epimedium. They are a little difficult to photograph. The flowers are so tiny. They come in white and pink and yellow, and purple to think of a few.
This variety gets to be about 15-18 inches high.
It is from someplace else- well China, to be exact.


2- Iris cristata (May 10, 2018)



This is a little tiny iris. It is also a wildflower. It grows along the top of the ground, barely getting into the dirt. I have found it to be quite hardy. It spreads nicely.
It blooms before the Siberian Iris, usually in late April and early May.

3. Black Daylily with raindrops (July 14, 2018)



Black is an interesting color to consider in the garden. It is certainly dramatic.
This daylily is about as close to black as they come.
Daylilies after a rain make for wonderful pictures.

The daylilies were quite late this year.

#4 Striped Morning glory (September 7, 2018)

This bloomed on my birthday.
The variety is called Carnevale Di Venezia.
Morning glories are wonderful in the later part of the garden year. They do need supports, growing up a trellis or even into a small tree. I got a lot of foliage on the one at the end of the porch. The ratio of bloom to green could have been better.

Do you know where morning glories comes from? I didn't until I had a little bit of extra time for this post. Wikipedia says China. But the Japanese are credited with developing it into an ornamental flower. In the 9th century. In addition that definitive source says that there was a variety in Mesoamerica.
Who knew?
Here is the link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_glory



#5 Wide open tulip (May 3, 2018)



During the day most tulips open wide. They can be quite amusing by the time they are all the way open. It doesn't look like a tulip at all. It is looks like some kind of crazy daisy.

So there you have Week #3. Tell me why you like a particular picture.

Bonus pictures

Some more wide open tulips.

















Any flower with bluebells is good.

This is a black dwarf bearded iris.
















Here are more epimedium pictures.
As I look at these pictures I think about getting a camera just for these tiny flowers.
But I guess we all make choices.
Probably I should get another dogwood or two.



Here are more desert garden pictures. It does want to make you go get a few more succulents to put under the lights for 6 months of the year. Really?
Maybe I should plant all my cactus in the ground in rows.
If you are interested the name of this place was Sunnyland, and it is located in Palm Desert, California. They get about 6 inches of rain here each year. I could not tell and did not ask how much additional water their collection was given.

Julia's Recipe

Pineapple Salsa

We first had this side-dish/condiment at dinner at the home of Barb and Larry, Iowa City friends who have since moved to Portland OR. They served it, as I recall, with salmon, and we do too. We make the salmon plain; that is, rubbed with a little olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt and that's it. Bake in a 400 degree oven until it registers 120 degrees on an instant read thermometer. But today is actually all about the salsa.



Here are the ingredients: 1 fresh pineapple, 1 red onion (I used 1/2 of it), 1 orange pepper (red would be good too), 1 jalapeno pepper, 1 banana, kosher salt, ground cumin, cumin seeds and lime juice.









I started by cutting up the pineapple. I took off both ends, then cut it in half lengthwise, then cut each 1/2 into 1/4s. As shown, I cut out the piece of core from each piece (which is okay to eat, but a bit tough), then cut each piece in half lengthwise and then cut across into vaguely pineapple tidbit shapes. I ended up with about 3 cups of cut-up pineapple.







I then cleaned and diced 1/2 of the red onion (for about 1/2 cup), cleaned and diced the orange pepper (for about 3/4 cup) and cleaned and sliced the jalapeno (for about 1/4 cup).

A word to the wise about jalapenos: they are variable, sometimes quite hot, sometimes not so much. If you are sensitive about hot stuff on your hands or if you are the sort of person who rubs their nose or eyes a lot, wear gloves when you prep the jalapeno. Use plastic bags if you don't have gloves. This is not brain surgery and clumsy gloves will provide protection and not interfere with your cutting-up work.

Then I peeled the banana, cut it in half lengthwise and cut across into half-moons (for about 1 cup).


Everything went into a big bowl. Then I sprinkled on: 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 tablespoon of lime juice.

I stirred it up and let it sit on the counter until dinner to facilitate the intermingling of the fruits and vegetables.








Here it is, on its way to the dinner table. It is terrific with plain roasted salmon. Also good with baked chicken or roast pork. The key would be to prepare the meat simply so that the flavors of the salsa have a chance to shine. Philip eats it plain out of a bowl.

Right Now

This time of year there are poinsettias in all the grocery stores.
We get one every fall.
We then try to keep it alive until it can go outside along with all the other plants.
We have one that is now 4 feet tall and about 5 years old.
We bring it in and try to make it turn color.
It is supposed to be kept away from all artificial light.
Well, this week we noticed...the first color.
Sometimes it is the little things that are really appreciated.

Odds and Ends

It has been a short week in Iowa.
On Tuesday I had an oral argument to the Iowa Supreme Court in Des Moines.
By Thursday we were on another planet.
We will be home today. It is supposed to be in the 40's and sunny. Not bad for Iowa.

There are now 95 days until the official first day of Spring.

I still have more pumpkins to carve.
I noticed that several were dripping this week, as the weather warmed.
No one has pumpkins in their trees in California.

Be safe.
Stay warm.
Better times are coming.
Philip