May 31, 2020- a long month ends

We are sending a long month of May off in style.
There are so many wonderful flowers these days.

I am up earlier each morning, which is good.
I was in the garden by 6:15 yesterday.
There really is something magical about very early in the morning.

The birds begin to sing as first light dawns.
A light sweater is needed as it is actually cool.
It is to be cool and sunny all weekend.

It was a busy day in the garden yesterday.
I planted some annuals, splashing around the coleus and Persian Shields grown from cuttings over the winter. There are two flats of profusion zinnias waiting for the perfect moment for planting.
I am still cleaning up after the spring bulbs. You just take up the spent foliage without disturbing the bulbs.

On a discordant note, early in the morning the crows are back. They can be relentless.
One does not really have the ability to chase them away.

It is such an exciting time in the garden as the Siberian Iris, the lupines and the peonies are all arriving at the same time.
I think peonies are perhaps the flower I see most  in people's yards.
Of course most of what I see are the pink doubles that flop all over the place.
One reason for that is that peonies were developed 100 years ago for the cut flower market. You can cut a peony in bud, refrigerate it, and it will open when prompted anytime in the next several months. We did that last year with peony flowers from my mothers house, after her funeral. They them opened in several states, weeks later.

There are so many wonderful peonies.
We have 6 of the herbaceous kind. We got many of them from a peony garden in Center Point Iowa about 25 years ago. It is no longer there.
You could go to that nursery during bloom season and see scores of different varieties.
Project Green here in Iowa City manages a public garden at Ashton House, over by the Iowa River. They have several maturing peony beds that are worth visiting. You should go now, today, not in a week, after the heat has come back and have accelerated the end of the season.




Here was one of the ones I liked.
I do not know its name.




Notice that by not being double it can hold its head up on the plant better.


There will be more peonies in the rest of the post.




Last Week you looked at pictures from..just the previous week.
I can compose an entire voting group just from one week.
Each week now seems to contain so many pictures I want to show you.
Here was your favorite from last week (and mine.)
It is hard to imagine a better early favorite for the choice for the next picture contest.
I figured out how to add the black margin. I will just do that for the one you have already seen.



























This week it was difficult to limit the number of pictures. So I give you 9 pictures.
I suggest that if you wish you can vote twice. (Just refresh your browser and then you can vote again.)

#1 Orange Iceland poppy

#2 Pink primrose

The full botanical name is Primula japonica Apple Blossom.

#3 Red Iceland poppy

#4 The backside of one of the Iceland poppy

Who looks at the backside of a flower.
It turns out this particular Iceland poppy has a natural tie dye.

#5 Peony Coralie

It has coral in the name and does turn pinker as it gets older.

#6 Pink Bearded Iris pair

#7 Beauty of Livermore poppy

#8 Purple Siberian Iris

What a wonderful purple.
This was one of the first Siberians to bloom this year.

#9 Pink Lupine

It goes on and on and there are still flowers to open in the next few days. Actually one of the reasons that lupines are not in more florist arrangements is that they do not open all at the same time.



What do you think?
Can you pick just one?
How about everyone can vote twice?
All you have to do is refresh your browser and you can then vote a second time.

Bonus pictures

More lupines






Siberian Iris




Peonies








In this picture notice the seed pods in the center. They have those little pink parts, just waiting for the pollen.

Julia's recipe

Roasted Gnocchi and vegetables

This recipe appeared on the NYT recipe site, and Katie made it and recommended it highly. I made a few adjustments. For one thing, it called for peas. I don't eat peas, any kind of peas - fresh, frozen, canned (!), sugar snap or snow. It's a texture thing that grew into an aversion. So I decided to use mushrooms, as you will see below. I also adjusted the proportions some. This is a relatively quick dinner with some prep time and some roasting time when the dish will not require much attention. And it tastes good and kind of springy.



The ingredients: 1 package (mine was 17.5 oz) gnocchi; 1 cup leek (white and light green parts) cleaned and sliced into half-moon slices about 1/2" thick; 1/4 cup thinly sliced shallot; 1-1/2 cups asparagus, snapped of, washed and sliced (2" pieces); 2 cups mushrooms, cleaned and cut in half or quarters depending on size; 2 tablespoons butter; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 1 lemon's worth of lemon zest (between 1-1/2 teaspoons and 1 tablespoon depending on your lemon); 1/4 cup parsley; 1/2 cup parmesan; kosher salt and pepper.

Note on ingredients: I happened to have a couple of little shallots on hand. If not, use onion. I used cremini mushrooms because I like cremini mushrooms. White button mushrooms would be fine. If you like peas better than mushrooms, and I know there must be some who do, use 1 cup of peas and increase the asparagus to 2 or 2-1/2 cups. I used shelf stable gnocchi which had to be cooked (see below). If you have frozen gnocchi, use 2 packages (I think they must come in 12 oz. packages), thaw ahead of time and skip the cooking step.




First I put a big pot of water on to boil, adding a heaping teaspoon of salt to the water.

And turned the oven on to 425 degrees.

Then I prepped the vegetables - washed and cut the mushrooms; cleaned and sliced the leek; peeled and sliced the shallot; snapped, washed and sliced the asparagus.

When the water came to a boil, I added the gnocchi and set the timer for 2 minutes, which was not actually necessary: gnocchi are done when the float.







Here are the ingredients in the staging area before roasting. I drained the gnocchi and put them (it?) in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of butter cut into tiny bits, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and about 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.
















I spread the gnocchi on one silpat-lined baking sheet and all of the vegetables on the other. I drizzled 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the vegetables. I cut up 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkled the bits over the vegetables, and then I sprinkled the vegetables with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.


I put the gnocchi in the oven first. After 5 minutes, I put the vegetables in and stirred the gnocchi to distribute the butter. After another 5 minutes, I stirred the vegetables to distribute their pat of butter. Then I stepped away.

After 25 minutes (total), the vegetables were roasted and the gnocchi were (was?) in fact crispy on the bottom.





I poured both the gnocchi and the vegetables onto a serving platter and added 1/4 cup of parmesan plus the lemon zest. I stirred these in gently. Then I topped the dish with the rest of the parmesan and the parsley and dinner was served.

We had the usual springtime sides: green salad and berries with yogurt.


This dish is of course vegetarian. It can become vegan with the elimination of the butter and parmesan. The butter which would not be missed. Use a bit more olive oil. Is there a vegan version of parmesan? If so, use it. If not, increase the amount of parsley or use some basil along with the parsley. It will be delicious. I assume that gnocchi is vegan or that vegan gnocchi is available. Speaking of gnocchi, I know that gluten-free gnocchi is available and works just fine. Leftovers were good cold.

Odds and Ends

It is odd to go on about flowers when there is so much that is troubling in the world.
We need change.
But we need balance.
Enjoy some pretty things along the way.

Stay safe.
Have hope.
Remember hope?
Better times are coming.
Philip