May 2, 2021- Fast forward the garden-

There were two recurring themes in the garden this week. 

First, it is just so very busy. Everything is exploding. Plants grow inches it seems from day to day. You need to spend time each day looking at every corner of the yard so that you do not miss some little gem. This was a particularly good week to show you day to  day with pictures.

Second, we are now at the three week mark without measurable rain. Several of those days in the last week have been hot. Tuesday and Wednesday officially got to 85. Yesterday (May 1, 2021) was in the upper 80's with a stiff wind. The bluebells are ready to pack in it for another year. The paths crunch when I walk on them.

Ten days ago I put some lettuce seed in the ground over at the little sunny plot we call the farm. I do not even have to look, because I know it could not have germinated. 

But there is rain in the forecast tomorrow, always tomorrow. If we get less than a half an inch it will be disappointing.

The garden day by day

Last Sunday

In the evening the bluebells practically glow. Here you have the front of the house adorned with those great colored globes Katie got me for Christmas last year after I admired them in Portland. I look forward to the day when I can find their equivalent that operates independently of an electrical cord. Then they could be hung everywhere. 

Monday

The hosta are putting on a show. I had lamented that some had been toasted a little by the freeze of just a week ago. It seems like even those are recovering.

This is hosta Liberty, such a wonderful plant. I do think if you have to have just one hosta this would be it.

I actually have a decision to make with my largest and oldest Liberty clump. (Pictured is one of the secondary clumps.) The big clump is located under what used to be the line of pink crabapples. All but one are dead at this point, being replaced by some young dogwoods. Thwie death would be tragic but for the fact they lived for maybe 50 years, which I was told was their lifespan. (I  believe that with about 60% confidence.) 

 Last year that big Liberty clump toasted in the July afternoon sun. It did not die. It just did not look so good.

I have 3 other clumps. Maybe I should just break up the big clump and put it on the sale table. Of course I would have to decide what to put in its place. 

The tulips are grand this week. Wonderful little pieces of color sprinkled around the yard, where of course, nothing else is going on. 

This is another little species tulip, probably called 'Violetta'. 

Tuesday

The 20 Monsella tulips continue to display. In that garden imaginary board game we play,  you score points if someone walks by and stops to get a second look at some plant. There are a  more points if they take a picture. Monsella is responsible for quite a few points.

The refrain that goes through my head is "20 this year, how about 50 next year?" You do have to treat them as annuals.

Wednesday

Remember this picture from several days earlier. Pink has arrived with several warm days. This little rhododendrum is so full of flowers. We must have had the plant for 6-8 years. I will have to spend more time than I have at the moment with the picture archive to find the name and date. The bush does makes a good contrast with the bluebells.

Here is a big picture for a little flower. This Martian, the standard dwarf bearded iris. The group is in contrast with the group called miniature dwarf bearded iris.

Such a perfect plant and flower. Last September I put in a little row of these right next to the curb on Fairview.  They were not affected by the bad driving person who jumped the curb right where they were.

In this picture  you cannot appreciate how very little this plant is. The tall ones in the group of about 15 plants are about 5 inches high. They all really did grow a lot since they were planted in September. 

This is one of the ten flowers you should see at the moment if you visit the garden. It is cushion spurge 'Bonfire'. One way to keep track of the name with the picture is to take a pictue of the plant label when you take the picture of the plant. In your photo library they will be next to each other.

This little trillium arrived at the plant sale in a chunk of sod. I extracted the plant and two weeks later it is blooming. The plant sale for the food pantries continues. 

This is a little iris called iris koreana. It is also short, back by the pond. It is now quite a clump. I planted it in 2008. It is another plant on the list of ten things you should see if you come to the garden right now.

Perfection- That is the term that comes to mind with trillium grandiflorum. And so hidden away. It is on the east side of the house next to the airconditioner. It is about the last trillim to bloom. It will fade to pink, even though maybe 'fading' is not the right word. It is a nice sized clump at this point. 

It is one of those gift plants, from a friend. She is now gone. But remembered. Gift plants are scattered around the garden. 

Thursday

This is Micron, a Miniature Dwarf Bearded Iris. Just to look at these pictures makes me want to open the web catagloge and order more.

Martian again.

Following up the pink theme, the pink dogwood has opened.

Friday

This is Menehume.

Still going, and wide open.

Saturday

Hot and windy. By the afternoon the bluebells were about done. They were all bent over. Maybe with rain and cooler weather they will perk up. But there time is about done.

But it was quite nice at 6 in the morning. I sometime wish that garden tours could take place that early. 

So far I have only watered with the watering can. Mostly I water things in pots. But the lilium were looking a little droopy this afternoon. If it does not rain a good deal on Monday it will be time to set up the sprinkler.

Here was dawn on May 1. As sunup now has just reached 6 o'clock I find myself trying to get into the garden earlier and earlier. It is a bad way to start the day to feel like you are already late and it is just 6:15. I find myself thinking I have to get up even before 5.

The dried pumpkins still occupy several of the plant hangers in the front yard. They can stay until the walnut tree gets its leaves. That could be a while. Of course the sycamore tree in the backyard is even later than the walnut. The pansies in the background have done well in the pots. They survived the freeze without being sheltered.

This is Shirley, the tulip. It is one of Julia's favorites. It is in an off year. Maybe next year I will plant new ones.

Well in that bed which used to have lots of Shirley tulips, I have planted...wait for it...Shriley poppies.

Actually it was unintentional. I grew Shirley poppies this year from seed., along with the Iceland poppies. I have started planted them. I just thought I would put the Shirley poppies there, not thinking about it being a bed for Shirley tulips. I wonder if there are other plants called Shirley?

Here is that same bed with about 15 Shirley poppies planted. More will get planted maybe on Monday when it will at least cool off.

This is a little bearded iris that has been around for years.

This is the bed along Fairview Street with the little bearded iris planted last fall. 

I did look at the catalgue for 2021 today. I will at least try to order the ones that were sold out last year. And maybe a few more.

This is a hellebore flower starting to set seeds. I find it kind of interesting.

This is one of the holdover Monsella tulips. It makes a nice combination with the blue-grey tiny iris.

Here is that clump of trillium grandiflorum.

What is right around the corner?

I think the first tree peony will bloom maybe today. This picture was taken yesterday, May 1.

Also maybe this week the big clump of lady slipper orchids will open.

I almost forgot. The camassia is just about to open. Camassia is one of the last of the spring bulbs to bloom. We have 5-6 nice big clumps that do put on a show for their week of display. Stay tuned.

The plant we know as Englist bluebells is also starting to bloom. What is that. There will be pictures next week.

Some of the clematis have buds. That includes the wonderful Henryi, which put on a show last year. 

Julia's recipe

Tomato soup

Here is  the link to the other blog with all for Julia's recipes.

https://mearskitchen.wordpress.com/ 

I never liked tomato soup (or tomato juice), which is weird because I really like tomatoes and tomato-y sauces and soups with tomatoes. The only tomato soup (straight-up) in my experience was Campbell's. My mother liked it. I don't think any of us kids did. Philip remembers having Campbell's tomato soup with hot dog slices floating in the bowl. Too weird. Anyway, I decided to try home-made tomato soup, thinking that the problem may have been Campbell's. I own a copy of Alton Brown's cookbook called Everyday Cook, which contains a tomato soup recipe that erased my prejudice. And for those of you who care about such things, it's unobtrusively vegan. 

The ingredients:

2 big (28 oz.) cans of diced tomatoes;

1 cup diced red onion;

1 tablespoon smushed garlic;

6 tablespoons olive oil; 

1 cup fresh orange juice;

2 teaspoons kosher salt; 

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon; and

2 teaspoons wine vinegar (sherry if you have it, other wine vinegar if you don't). 

I diced the onion and smushed the garlic and heated 4 tablespoons (that's 1/4 cup) olive oil in a big enamel pot. 

I cooked the onions etc for about 5 minutes (maybe a bit longer) until the onions had given up. 

Then I added the salt.

Followed by the orange juice and the cinnamon. I actually squeezed my own. I think fresh-squeezed from the grocery store or even reconstituted frozen would be fine. 

Then I added the tomatoes and cooked the mixture for about 20 or maybe 25 minutes. 

After which, I took my stick blender to it until it was pretty much smooth. I stirred in the vinegar and drizzled in the rest of the olive oil (the last 2 tablespoons) and it was good to go. 

It's a pretty soup. It might need a bit of salt, depending on your taste. 

We had it with egg salad sandwiches and green salad and blackberries with yogurt. 

Leftovers were good reheated or cold. 

Alton Brown used a pressure cooker. I own (and use) a pressure cooker, but I decided to make this batch the old fashioned way to see how long it would take. Answer: maybe 45 minutes from gathering the ingredients to getting it on the table. 

Odds and ends

Pink Moon- we had one this past week. It was the name for a supermoon. I understand that a 'supermoon' is a full moon where the moon is closer to the earth so it appears bigger. That would be 7% bigger and 15% brighter according to one source.

So what is a pink moon? It is not what you think. Apparently it is a supermoon in the spring when pink reeping phlox are blooming. I kid you not.

https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-april

Slowly the inside plants are going outside. The front porch is rather crowded at the moment. I really need the leaves to come out on the walnut and sycamore trees.

I did see the person this week who is going to make me a screen to fit over the pond. This will hopefully keep the ducks away.

I had to buy some professional dirt last weekend. The City's compost supply ran out and will not be available until June 1. 

I wonder how many times I will look at the weather radar today. At 5:30 this morning there is a storm system developing in the very northwest corner of Iowa. It is suppose to slide down towards us bring much needed rain this evening, into tomorrow. There is a 70% chance of rain tomorrow. As I mentioned I hope it is more than just a few tenths of an inch.

I grew some ornamental kale from seed this spring. I just moved it up to larger pots. It is still quite small. It is the crane variety. Look it up. I potted about 40 little plants in the last few days. When they are bigger I will take them to the farm for fattening. Their time starts in the fall.

It is also time to plant zinnia seed.