Week #1 of the winter picture contest- November 28, 2021

Welcome to the Mears Garden Winter Picture Contest. We have done this each winter since 2006. It is our small way to get through the Iowa winter.

Each week for the next 13 weeks I will give you 5 picture contestants from the Mears garden from 2021. (Mostly outdoor; occasionally indoors.) You get to vote for the one you like best. There is a voting poll that is on the right. ( If you are viewing this on your phone you will have to go to the bottom and select "view web version.) Voting takes place through the week, through Saturday night.

At the end of 13 weeks there will be playoffs featuring the  weekly winners and a few wild cards.

For those of you who are new to the blog, there is an archive on the right, with entries and pictures back to 2007. With time you can review all the contests during those 14 years.

During the contest there is a chance to talk gardens and flowers and sometimes whatever comes to mind. I particularly appreciate hearing from you, beyond your vote. You can do that by making a "comment" in the section so named at the end of the post. Some people choose to respond by email. With those who have requested it,  I send an email right after the post. If you would like to receive such an email let me know at philip.mears@gmail,com.

Let me say a few more things about what you will find in the weekly post.

After you meet the picture contestants with information about each one, there will be a "bonus" section. There I will put additional pictures and commentary related to the contestants.

Sometimes there is a section called "right now." This will have a few thoughts about what is currently going on with the garden.

Julia adds a recipe each week, something she has done since 2016, when she started contributing a recipe a week to maintain her sanity. All of her recipes appear in a separate blog, organized by our daughter Katie. https://mearskitchen.wordpress.com/ 

At the end there is the the "Odds and Ends" section. That is for everything else that I thought about during the week.

Even more at the end is the place for "comments." 

Week #1

Here are the first group of contestants.

I should mention that I try for diversity. I try to balance each week by color, by type of flower, and even by the time of year. (If you do not do that I find April and May take up too much room.

This is a picture contest. It is not just about which flower you like most. (You can vote that way if you want, and many do.) When I select the pictures for the contest I look at many things. Good color is a big one. Combinations of color are important. Composition is important. Background counts.

#1 White Iceland Poppy 

(April 3, 2021)

It is somehow appropriate to have the first picture in a winter contest have Iceland in its name. This is an Iceland poppy. They have appeared in the garden and the contest for a long time. But it has never won. 

I love Iceland poppies. They have what I think of as sharp colors, nothing murky.  Even the pastels are sharp. And they have such a wonderful crepe paper texture.

I grow them from seed. I start them right after the first of the year. I know from experience that they will germinate and do well under lights. They are one of the first seedlings to get to spend some warm days outside. (They come into the garage for the cold nights.) This picture was possible since I took the seedlings outside in a warm March and this one bloomed earlier than usual.

Normally I would expect them to bloom in May and into June.

They like late spring. In that way they are similar to lupines. They do not like the hot weather and will usually die during the summer. They come in many colors.

I do have an educational component to the blog. You can skip those parts if you wish. In those sections I will talk about things like genus and species and cultivars.

The genus for poppies is Papaver.  The species is nudicaule. 

Here is the wikipedia entry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaver_nudicaule

Guess what. Iceland poppies do not come from Iceland. Who knew? They are however listed as being from the sub-arctic.

Then, as Julia tells me, French fries do not come from France. So why the name?

Iceland poppies are what are thought of as tender perennials. That means that mostly they do not last the hot summers. Occasionally there will be one that survives the summer and the winter. I have one at the moment that is still green.

I read that you can plant the seed in the fall. I have never done that. Perhaps someone should try that.

I also read that the flowers will last up to a week in a vase. Mostly I do not do cut flowers. 

#2 Fall Crocus

 (September 5, 2021)

This is a fall blooming crocus, probably "colchicum giant". I have had these plants for a long time. 

I like fall crocuses for at least 3 reasons: (1) So many people have never heard of them. I really like to have people see a plant or a flower they have never seen before. (2) They bloom in the fall, which is when you are looking for color. (3) You can plant them in the summer and they will bloom that same fall. 

There are two types of these fall gems. One group is in the genus colchicum. The other is in the group...wait for it...crocus.  

They both look like what we all think of as crocuses. 

The colchicum are their own genus. They are listed as being in the lily family. The regular old fall crocuses are in the iris family, like the spring crocuses. 

Once noticeable difference is that colchicum has large non blooming foliage, which grows early in the spring. Then the flowers come up without leaves in the fall.  Anyone think "naked ladies?" Those are lycoris and indeed  are cousins to the colchicum.

And of course colchicums have 3 styles and 6 stamens, while crocuses have 1 style and 3 stamens. What? 

OK- let me give you some flower terms:

stamen and pistil- stamen is the part that produces pollen. Pistil is the part connected to the seed producing part.

Then what is "style"?

Well, stigma and style are parts of the pistil. The stigma is the knob on the end of the pistil.The style is the long tube that takes the pollen to the ovary. There is a picture of the flower parts of 2 lilies in the bonus section.

This link will take you to a reasonably clear explanation of the difference between colchicum and fall crocuses.

https://www.americanmeadows.com/flower-bulbs/fall-flowering-crocus-flower-bulbs/crocus-vs-colchicum

#3 Daylily Tiger Kitten

 (July 26, 2021)

Daylilies are an important part of our garden. This is one of the nicer ones, with a good name. The rain can give you great picture opportunities.

I have been sometimes described as a serial enthusiast. The height of daylily enthusiasm was 1995-2005. I kept careful record during that time of how many scapes (or stems) each variety had. Of course there were labels and pictures. 

I have moved on from daylily compulsion. But a not so carefully selected group of maybe 100 varieties remain. 

#4 Blue Camassia 

(May 8, 2021)

Welcome this lovely blue flower to the picture contest. This is its first appearance. Most people, even gardeners, have never heard of it.

Camassia is a spring bulb that unlike most of the other bulbs is native to North America.

I have grown it for 10-20 years. At this point I have 4-5 nice big clumps out there in the middle of the back yard.

It is rather late in the season of spring bulbs. The blue variety, as shown in this picture, bloomed in early May. The almost white variety (in the bonus section) was maybe two weeks later.

It is its own genus and is in the asparagus family.

Called quamash, it was cultivated for food by indigenous people in the Pacific northwest. You eat the bulb, which is described as being like a sweet potato only sweeter.

The foliage, like most other spring bulbs, disappears by early summer, leaving room for annuals. 

#5 Yellow calla lily

 (September 15, 2021)

I have gotten excited about calla lilies in 2021. I grew them about 20 years ago. They are bulbs like dahlias and cannas. That means that in that in Iowa you have to dig them up in the fall. They would rot if left in the ground to freeze. They get stored in a dark place for the winter. Then you plant them in the spring. You then get these lovely splashes of color. 

What I did this year was plant them staggered over time. They will bloom maybe 6-8 weeks after planting. So I  planted some every month. Some I put in the ground right away. Some I waited to plant until early August. Those bloomed in September, like the one in the picture.

Keeping a bulb dormant however is not always that easy. I suppose if you have a cooler that would be help. My "cooler" is under the basement stairs. The bulbs stay there with the amaryllis. I need to check every few weeks after the first of the year. Even in the dark sometimes the amaryllis will start to sprout. When that happens there is no stopping them. 

A few facts about calla lilies:

(1) The name- The genus is Zantedeschia. They are from South Africa. There are just so many plants from there.

(2) I remember seeing big white ones growing along the highway north of San Francisco when we visited 20 years ago. 

(3) The outside of what we think of as the flower is called a spathe. Think of it as a petal.  The actual flowers are located on the spadix, which is that little thing in the middle looking a little like a caterpillar crawling out. The stamens and pistils are both located on the spadix. (Stamens produce the pollen.) Don't you feel smarter already? I did say you could skip this educational part.

(4) Georgia O'Keeffe is known for her depictions of calla lilies

https://www.philamuseum.org/collection/object/83649

(5) Here is wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zantedeschia

------------------------

There you have it for the first week, Week #1. Where will we all be at when we get to Week #10? 

In addition to your vote I really do like to hear back from you. Tell me what you like in the picture you chose. Sometimes this is not just a celebration of flowers but it can be about what you find attractive in a picture. Maybe it is the color. Perhaps it is the name. Daylilies have some wonderful names, mostly because there are so many of them out there.

If you want an extra challenge,  rank order the five contestants and then tell me what you think that order will be.

Bonus Coverage

Here are the Iceland poppies on February 20, 2021.

The poppy picture that gave us contestant #1 provides an example of what there is to like in a picture.

Here are different versions of the same picture, cropped differently.

The one in the lower right is the one I picked for the contest. I find it interesting to think about how the picture changes if you  add or subtract the dark background. Or for that matter if you extend the stem.

   

Flower parts

This is an Asiatic lily. It has rather prominent stamen and a single pistil.

At the end of the pistil is the "knob" like thing which is called the stigma.

This is a closeup of daylily Ruby Spider. It has a really long pistil and a lot of stamen. (Would a single stamen be a "staman?")

Camassia pictures

The first 3 pictures are from May 4.

This next picture was from May 21.

More daylilies and Tiger Kittens

                            

This is Ruby Spider.

There are certain plants where the name is hardwired into your brain. This is one of them.

I sometimes think I should have a garden just occupied with plants where I can remember the name of the cultivar. 

It would be interesting to see how the garden would then shrink over time.

This is a double daylily. It is Double Daffy.

This is Banned in Boston.

They do have great names.

This is Primal Scream.

Some daylilies are almost black.

Once again the rain made for a great picture.

Here are more colchicum pictures.

This is when they are just emerging. One day in late August you just notice the first one. Then you see some more.

You do have to be careful weeding around them, as you do not want to put your trowel through the one that has not broken the surface.

Right Now

Orchids start to bloom when they come inside. This certainly gives a lift as the great dark descends.

This is orchid Coelogyne viscosa. It will reliably blooms for the next month.

I divided the plant a year ago. Now I have 5 plants.

This next picture is the blooming cattleya in the living room. It has been blooming for three weeks.

Katie send me this amaryllis bulb. I planted it on November 12. In the picture to the right you can see how it looks 2 weeks later.

                                 

I do think it is on schedule to bloom by Christmas.

Julia's Recipe

Sheet pan roasted mushrooms and spinach

I like mushrooms and spinach and easy, and this recipe features all three. This recipe is from the NYTimes, and I only tinkered with proportions. It is a no-fuss side dish with baked chicken or fish or steak - any kind of simply prepared protein. 

The ingredients:

1 5 oz. box of baby spinach;

2 to 2-1/2 cups cremini mushrooms (sliced);

1 cup sliced shallot;

2-3 tablespoons olive oil;

1 to 1-1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic;

salt and pepper. 

I started turning the oven on to 425 degrees. And then I moved on by prepping the vegetables: peeling and thinly slicing the shallot; peeling and chopping the garlic; and washing and slicing (maybe 1/4" thick) the mushrooms. 

I chopped rather than smushed the garlic because I thought it would be less likely to burn in the oven that way. (Which was correct - the garlic roasted but did not burn.)

I put everything in a bowl and added 2 tablespoons of olive oil, which I stirred around to coat everything. 

Then I put a piece of parchment on a big (half sheet pan size) rimmed baking dish and dumped the vegetables onto the parchment. I spread the food out into a more or less single layer and sprinkled everything with maybe 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and some grinds of black pepper. 

The vegetables roasted for about 20 minutes, and I gave them a stir now and then. The idea is for the mushrooms and shallots to shrink some and darken. 

I am using parchment these days as I have found silpats hard to clean. Maybe I just need to recognize that silpats need to be replaced after a few years. 

At the end of 20 minutes, the mushrooms were good (as can be seen from the mushrooms peeking out from under the spinach), and I added the spinach on top. 

I put the pan back in the oven for just a minute or two and then pulled it back out to stir the spinach, which was wilting and shrinking according to plan. I did that twice - for a total of maybe 4 minutes of baking time after the addition of the spinach.

And here it is. It needed more salt and pepper, not surprisingly. This is tasty, easy and a nice companion to the roasted chicken thighs (which we baked in the other oven as it bakes at 375 degrees, not 425 - the advantage of double-hung wall ovens).

The ingredient amounts at the top of this post work for 2 or 3 people. It is easy to double, which could take a little more oven time. 

Odds and Ends

Lumens - what are they and why do I care? I have discovered LED lights. I grow plants inside during the inside time. Some plants will go dormant. Those are so appreciated. But some want light and that is where LED's are relevant. I have several grow light setups. One is a professional one from 20 years ago. It still functions, with new ballasts from maybe 15 years ago. The other setup is in the basement. It was built for me even further back in time. It has used florescent bulbs of one variety or another. The ballasts are getting old, and are being replaced with...LEDs. They are listed as have so many lumens. So what is the difference between 7000 and 10000? There is only so much information one can process at any one time.

Leaf blowers- I do not use them, even as I must confess that they were used on the garden in the past. (I had a helper who liked his tools.) I dislike them for a variety of reasons, most having to do with how they are loud and used at times for such long periods of time. I do understand their attraction as I sometimes struggle to get they leaves out of garden beds with plant labels throughout. There ought to be a named emotion for dislike- but-find-attractive.

I suppose I feel the same way about weed-whackers. 

How far away is Spring?

This picture was taken on February 28, 2021. 

One year from that date is really not that far away. Sometime I think of the indoor season lasting for six months. October 1 to April 1. That can be depressing. Certainly if you are worrying about frost or freezing temperatures those dates are accurate. But if you think about time when there is nothing blooming the down time is really mid November to March 1. 

That is just a little more than 3 months. That is not so bad.

One week later, on March 6, 2021, there was the first crocus.

When will the first crocus be in 2022?

So there you have Week #1. 

Hello to viewers who have been with the contest since the beginning, many years ago. 

Hello to everyone new. 

I hope you enjoy my meanderings through pictures and memories.

Gardening is sort of an escape. I garden to maintain a balance with my work. (I am a full-time lawyer who represents people who have done bad things.) Moreover there is a big bad world out there, with much that is hard to understand. 

But gardening is so much more than an escape. It connects us to a part of the world that is not on the front pages of most newspapers. It also connects us with each other. It is beauty, and balance, and chaos, and destruction, and perhaps most of all, it is new beginnings. 

Be safe. Spring is coming. 

Philip