March 15, 2020- Week #3 of the playoffs-

Welcome to this little corner of the Mears Garden.

In this world that is troubled in so many ways, I sit at my keyboard, in the dark of a fading winter, and share a little color, a little calm.
The garden is, at the same time, a greater reality and an escape.
Julia and I can mostly come hope from work over the lunch hour. Home is a little less than ten minutes from our office. It is just about a mile from downtown Iowa City, where out office is located.
We work hard at our jobs, fixing things for people. (We are lawyers if you do not know that.)
My clients have mostly earned their problems. But that does not mean they deserve them. And sometimes, at different levels, I can actually help.
But it can be hard.
The garden helps. Over the lunch hour, particularly on a sunny day, I wander around and figure out what is new. This time of year that is easy.
At the beginning of this past week Julia and I counted crocuses. There were maybe 15 throughout the garden. By Friday there were too many to count.

At this time of year there are also no weeds, and no bugs (if you do not count the bees). There have actually been no rabbits either that I have noticed. However as I mentioned last week, most everything that is blooming at the moment does not taste good.

The aconite are wonderful. Please view the video down below, which I fixed.
Last Monday, on the same day I finally got some satisfaction from the Century Link customer service department, I found a bulb company that would sell me aconite in bulk. I bought...get ready for this number...a thousand. They will come in little bags of 100 each. If you are from around here and would like part of them, they will cost about $20 for the 100. If too many people respond I can just get another 1000.
How is that for an escape? The aconite will be planted in the fall and would bloom next Spring.
Next Spring. How far away does that seem. Mostly we want to just get to April 1.

For the moment the garden is full of aconite and crocuses.




I should add that in this picture you will see little aconite seedlings that are too little to bloom. They will bloom in couple years.

Last week in the contest 

the winner was....

the Monsella tulip

The full vote was
Monsella Tulip   16
Dogwood   7
Peony      8
Cactus      6
Annuals    5
Anemone  4

Here is the third week of the playoffs.

I heard that the introductory slideshow was well received. So here is another one, for Week 3. 

#1 Starry Starry Night September 4, 2019

Here was the third seed from the pictures you selected over the winter.
What a great new addition to the garden in 2019.
I cannot wait for it to come back to do it again in late summer.
I will have a good wait.
Hardy hibiscus are just about the latest perennials to come up in the spring.

#2 Blue Siberian Iris June 1, 2019

What a great blue.
It should be a good Siberian Iris Spring. I divided several nice plants in 2018. They should be ready to bloom again. I have also obtained some nice new varieties which also should bloom.

#3  Michigan lily July 1, 2019

Orange with Spots
It is hard to beat that.
The summer heat would certainly feel good at this point.

#4 Beauty of Livermore poppy June 2, 2019

I do not think there is a color in the garden that I like better than the one that appears with this Oriental poppy.
I have more Oriental poppies on my wish list.

#5 Amaryllis February 13, 2019

These last two entries represent the winter inside garden. It really is an important part of the garden here in the north.
I want to be sure to get my amaryllis lots of sun this summer. If I need to get a city garden plot just to line them out in the sun, I will try to do that. (Last year they were none left.)

#6 Pink Orchid December 21, 2019

And then there are the orchids.
They really do make the deep winter months go by.
They bloom for so long.


Vote away.
Tell your friends.





Bonus pictures which is mostly what is going on right now

Let me start out by giving you this video. I fixed the error from last week. It has to do with properly exporting the image  or something like that. (But I did figure it out by myself.)

These pictures were all taken this last week.





Aconite and Crocuses. What a great combination.
Both plants self seed and spread in a very nice way.





A number of plants, such as magnolias, will show their buds during the winter and very early spring. One such plant is the tree peony. Tree peonies set their buds in the fall. At that time you can actually count how many flowers you will have in the spring.
One plant now has a dozen buds.
Well,  those dormant buds have been swelling this week.
Here are a few of those buds.




Sometimes there are just garden mysteries. This clump of something is coming up in the middle of the swirly bed in the back yard. While I recognize most of the spring bulbs, I am currently at a loss on this clump. It is not a hosta. It is not a daffodil. One thing is clear is that the mystery will be revealed in a few weeks. That is part of the fun.





The clumps of snowdrops are going full steam. This is a different variety that the ones that bloom much taller.







Here you can see that it is not just the aconite that jump into the path. These little crocuses, called tommies, also go where they want.
I tried transplanting some this week, right before that one inch rain we had midweek.



Wait. What is this? This next picture was yesterday morning. That snowflake that had lurked on the forecast all week actually arrived.

Most of the snow was gone by mid afternoon, when the temperature spiked to maybe 35 degrees.
I was able to do some yard work and take some pictures.
It really is going to be crocus week.






The aconite have begun to turn into this lovely carpet in places.





The crocuses and aconite were all closed yesterday, for the day.
The sun will come out today.
There should be a show in the afternoon.





Some flowers were really in their element.



The crocuses do clump up over time.
There is a little bit of snow still in the clump?
They remind me of Dale Chihuly.




This is one of my favorite crocuses. It is called Tri color.

Siberian Iris slideshow.

Poppy slideshow

This is the picture of the poppy that is one of the contestants this week. This image has  the green background removed.
Photoshop does have its place, in my opinion.





Several pictures of the orchid contestant.





This amaryllis is having its second bloom of the season at the moment.






This indoor double red hibiscus has also started to bloom. It took about a month off. Otherwise it has bloomed almost steadily since it came in last fall.
It has found its place in a east facing window.
I just took a cutting from this plant a week ago. I will see if I can make a little plant. It takes forever to put out roots. Like maybe 2 months.
But eventually I hope to have a little plant.

Julia's recipe

Squash and apples- a nice side dish

We live in troubled times, so I advise you all to eat well, maintain social distance (such an interesting term) and read frivolous books. I can help with the eating well part. This recipe is a modification of an old Betty Crocker recipe, which I have simplified as to method and made a little less sweet.





You will need: 1 butternut squash of medium to medium-large size; 2 or 3 apples (I ended up using the 2 larger ones shown); 2 or 3 tablespoons of butter; 2 or 3 tablespoons of brown sugar; 1 tablespoon of flour (which I now think is completely optional); 1/2 teaspoon of mace (or cinnamon if you don't have mace on hand) and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.

















First, I made several small slits in the squash with a paring knife. Then I set it on a rimmed baking sheet and baked it in the oven set at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

















The goal is to have the squash give up, as shown. You can test by piercing the squash with a skewer or knife. No resistance means done. It may take a little more (or a little less) than an hour depending on your squash.












Next, I scooped out the seeds (and discarded them), then scooped out the pulp and put it in a flattish-bottomed bowl.


















And I mashed the pulp with a potato masher until it was more or less smooth. I had about 2 cups of squash pulp. A bigger squash yields more pulp. I think any amount up to about 4 cups would work fine.














I lubed up an 8" square pan and spread the pulp in the pan. Then I cored and sliced the apples into thin wedges and arranged them over the pulp.

You could peel the apples, but why?
















Next I melted the butter in a little pan and mixed in the brown sugar, mace and flour.

I drizzled the melted mixture over the apples and sprinkled on the salt.

I covered the pan with foil and baked it in the oven (still set for 350 degrees) for about 45 minutes, until the apples were tender.

This might not have taken the whole 45 minutes; I forgot to look. You can do better.








Here it is: mildly spicy, a bit sweet, a nice side dish with roast pork or chicken or baked salmon or other plain (not sauced up) fish.

Or maybe dessert, especially with a shortbread cookie or two.

The recipe wanted me to peel and slice up a raw butternut squash, and for years, suggestible person that I am, I did just that.

But this is way easier and less dangerous. Try slicing (or peeling) a raw butternut squash sometime. I think the addition of flour is unnecessary. Maybe it helped thicken the squash when it started out raw, but is not needed, which I point out to you folks in the gluten-free community. You vegans can use coconut oil instead of butter which would be delicious.

Stay well and have as much fun as possible.

Odds and Ends

So when does Spring start? Why is it not on March 21?
As of this coming Tuesday, the days in Iowa City will be 2 minutes longer than the nights. But that is March 17. I thought that when the days were as long, that was the first day of Spring. What is going on? Is the daylight listing on the weather webcite fake news?
Google says Spring starts on Thursday, which by my calendar is March 19.
I think I have had this conversation/confusion before.
The equinox is when the sun crosses some line.
I assume leap year has something to do with it too.
I think I will just let this one go.


There is a mild freeze this morning. (30 degress)
Later this week there is a 24 in the forecast.
There is always the question of whether such temperatures will bother the plants that are emerging now.
One answer is it will not bother them.
Another answer is that I am not going to worry about this.


Inside work-
The outside garden has taken up so much time and attention the last 3 weeks that I forget about the inside plants.
I need to just find the time to get into all those corners and care for those inside plants.
I need to water the hoyas and orchid cactus. I do that about once a month in the winter.
I need to check the clivia and orchids for bugs.
I need to plant a few seeds, just to have some seeds coming up at all times.
I need to actually a few plants that are on my wish list.



Deer- Iowa City finally got around to announcing the totals from the December deer shoot in Iowa City. I guess it was around 300 deer, all of which was dressed and distributed by local lockers. Thank you lockers.
There is suppose to be a supplemental shoot about now. The garden still seems to be on a deer path for at least some deer.
At the moment nothing is up they will eat.
But the moment the tulips show up I will need to spray.

Micro climates
The front yard is maybe two weeks behind the back yard.
I know that.
But even in the backyard there are little pockets that don't get the sun everywhere else does.
I just noticed one such pocket.
One of the beds with aconite in it, is to the north of the Sycamore Tree. The big truck of the tree shades that end of the flower bed for 4-5 hours during the middle of the day. I have several special plants growing there that would do better with more sun.  I really should move them.
Maybe tomorrow.

Church is cancelled today. I do not recall that ever happening.
And for us 'ever' is a long time.
It is a strange time.
Stay safe.
Remember your friends.
Stay in touch.
Think about flowers.
Tell me anything that is on your mind.
We need to stay connected.
Philip