Week #3- December 12, 2021

Greetings

It has been a long week for me. I had several big projects at work, and we had finally had some cold weather. Of course cold is always a relative term. I do not think we can complain when it gets to 15 degrees because much colder temperatures are coming.

It did officially get down to 6 degrees one morning 4-5 days ago.  It did not get above freezing for several days. However there has been no snow. Now the temperatures are rising. I went out and raked some leaves the last few days in the morning before work. 

Indeed it is to get to close to 70 degrees this coming Wednesday. That really will confuse the plants.

We  had a good rain on Friday afternoon. As the ground was not frozen it all soaked in. That will particularly have some bulbs thinking about waking up.

Last Week- Week #2

Another week is in the books.

We had a closer contest this past week. The winner was the orchid.

The red double tulips had strong support, staying even with the orchid for the first 20 votes.  Here were the final totals:

Here is the wild card race after two weeks:

Week #2 Red Double tulip 27%

Week #1 Tiger Kitten daylily 24%

Week #3

#1 Red Corydalis 

March 27, 2021

Meet Corydalis.

Corydalis is a spring bulb that blooms rather early.

It blooms at the same time as the little blue scilla or squill.

The blue scilla bloom by the thousands in early spring and create a flowing carpet of blue. 

That is where the corydalis comes in. 

Gardening can be about combinations. It can be known as companion planting. 

What plants bloom at the same time as another, and go well together?

Well I can announce that scilla and corydalis go well together.

This picture is Corydalis solida George P. Baker. 

Corydalis is the genus. Solida is the species. George P. Baker is the cultivar. 

A "cultivar" is a plant which is  "raised in cultivation" which differs sufficiently from its wild ancestors to merit special names.

"The cultivar is the basic grouping, or taxon (= culton), for cultivated varieties. The word was coined by L. H. Bailey in 1923 and is now commonly used. Their naming is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP)."

Corydalis grow from a tuber. There are several colors. The bulbs companies  sell 2 to 5 varieties. They range in price from 50 cents each (in quantity) to $1-3 each. 

The wikipedia entry has pictures of 24 species.

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

#2 Blue Siberian Iris

 May 21, 2021

Plants in the genus Iris are all over the garden. They bloom from March to July. Some then might rebloom in the fall. This picture is one of the Siberian Iris. The species is called Iris siberica. 

Iris gets the name from the Greek word for rainbow. The Greek god of the rainbow was...Iris.

I have quite a few Siberian iris in the garden. The other large group of iris in the garden are the bearded iris. I will write more about them in later posts.

As I look over the 65 pictures currently selected for the contest, there are actually more iris this year than poppies. That surprised me. 

There are several important differences between Siberian iris and bearded iris. 

One has to do with their roots. Bearded iris have tubers for roots, called rhizomes. They will rot if they get too wet. Siberian iris have regular roots, even if they are not long. For that reason they can grow in wetter areas. Not to complicate things but there are Japanese iris which are cousins of the Siberians. They actually like moisture and can be planted in a boggy area. Another cousin is the Louisiana iris that has very hard rhizomes. For that reason they can grow in a wet area. 

The second difference is that Bearded iris have a beard. See the bonus section. That is a caterpillar like feature that crawls out of the center of the flower.

A third and important difference is when they bloom. The bearded iris bloom in the spring, some as early as April. Siberian iris bloom later, in May and June.

I love how Iris bloom in sequence. In the early spring there are little ones called reticulata. They are actually little bulbs. Then come the bearded iris, with sizes appropriately named- miniature dwarf, standard dwarf, intermediate, miniature tall and then tall. (Those bloom in sequence too with the shorter ones blooming first.)

After the bearded iris come the rooted iris - Siberian, Louisiana and Japanese.

To top it off there are the late comers to the iris family, the blackberry lilies. They are really iris. They will bloom as late as August.

Here is an article that discusses some of these differences.

https://www.longfield-gardens.com/article/All-About-Iris

#3 Phlox and daylilies  

July 26, 2021

Sometimes what I really like are combinations of flowers. Phlox are sort of volunteers in much of the garden. They had a good year in 2021. They bloom at the same time as  the daylilies. This picture was just right.

I think about other combinations.

Bluebells and hosta come to mind. Actually bluebells and much of anything.

#4 Shirley poppy- white with pink 

June 9, 2021

Wow. That is about all I can say about some of these poppy pictures.

I grew Shirley Poppies this year for the first time. As with Iceland poppies, I grew them from seed. I harvested many of the seeds. I will be ready to start the next generation in a little over 3 weeks. 

It would be an understatement to say they were a keeper. This will not be the first Shirley poppy in the contest this year.

They are annuals, which means have to plant them each year.

They bloomed longer than the Iceland poppies, blooming into the second half of July. I really wonder whether, if I had planted some seed in that same bed, I could have had flowers all year.

Here are a few things about Shirley poppies.

They were developed by a vicar in England from the parish named...wait for it... Shirley. I bet you saw that coming. His name was William Wilks.

There are different varieties of Shirley poppies. Some are doubles. 

Shirley poppies are a cultivar from the species Papaver rhoeas. That is the red flowered corn poppy. It is also known as the Flanders poppy. Artificial (paper or plastic) versions are worn in remembrance of those who died in war, with the tradition starting after World War I, which saw a great deal of bloodshed in Flanders. Some people may know of the poem "In Flanders Field." 

Here is more about these beauties.

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

#5 Bluebells

 April 17, 2021

Sometimes I have had a special week where there is a team competition  between colors. There are such wonderful colors in the garden. Think about it. Blue. Deep red. Bright yellow. Orange. Black.

I think the captain of team Blue would be the Bluebell. Not only is the bluebell color wonderful but the plant has several characteristics that get it near the top of the favorites list.

It spreads on its own rather extensively.  At the same time I would not call it "invasive" as it is easily dug up if you do not want it in a particular place.

It is a bulb/tuber that looks like a carrot if you dig it up. It transplants easily. You can pot it up in the spring, if you get it into the pot before it gets to be more than an inch or two. 

It is a wonderful companion plant to other spring plants. It particularly goes well with larger hosta.  See the bonus pictures. And tulips.

It is tall for a spring flower, getting to be 12-15 inches tall. It really should be moved if growing around smaller plants. (It goes well with larger hosta. It swallows the smaller ones.)

Bluebells come as a second wave of blue in the spring. The first wave was the scilla/squill. The bluebells this past spring bloomed in late April. The scilla were in early April.

Bluebells are finished by June 1 at the latest. They dry up and you can remove the spent foliage.

These are Virginia Bluebells. They are in the genus Mertensia. The species is virginica. They are a native North American wildflower. I remember seeing them in Rocky Mountain National Park, at close to 8,000 feet. There they are found along mountain streams.

Bonus Section

Bluebells

This next picture almost made it into the contest. (Actually there were two very nice versions of that same picture.) You can see  how bluebells change color from pink to blue. It was just last week I was discussing trillium grandiflorum changing from white to pink.

The front yard has a lot of bluebells. They almost glow into the evening. These two pictures give you an idea how quickly the rhododendron bloomed.

April 25, 2021

April 28, 2021

This is hosta Sagae with bluebells.

May 8, 2021

 There is also a plant called the English bluebell.   Here that is. It is also a bulb.

 It is in the genus Hyacinthoides. The species is     non-scripta. (I do not know why it is called that. I   just report what I read.)

May 6, 2021

English Bluebells are not just blue.

There is also a rare white version of the Virginia bluebell. It is sufficiently rare that I have never been able to find it in commerce.

I have had this plant for about 5-6 years. It stays the same size and does not seem to spread. I always check the little ones growing near it. So far no new ones.

I guess that is why it is rare. 

Iris

Here you can see an iris with the beard, followed by an iris without the beard. 

Menehune

Tom Shaffer

April 16, 2021

Here is one nice iris in the non bearded group. It is iris bucharica.  I have had it for a long time. It is slowly disappearing. I really should get more.

There are many kinds of corydalis.

I have 4. Here are 3 of them. They all bloom with the scilla and then disappear by the first of June. I do worry about disturbing them while weeding or planting annuals. I guess the secret would be to have so many that it does not matter if you disturb a few.

George Baker March 27, 2021

not sure of the name

Beth Evans April 4, 2021

These are all in the species C. solida.  There is a yellow one that is in the garden that is a different species, C. lutea. It actually will last and bloom throughout the year. I would give you a picture if I could find one. So far no luck. It is easier to find a picture if the plant only flowers at a particular time.

In looking up corydalis on the computer I find as many websites for herbal remedies as I do for the plants themselves.

Corydalis' closest relative is the bleeding heart. Who knew?

I want to say something else about combinations. I probably do not take pictures of combinations as much as I should.

Here are some of the betters ones I found. 

The background plant in these first pictures is euphorbia cypress, aka E. cyparissias.

Right Now

At the office we have one of the starfish sanseveria. I love those plants. This one is decent size. It will grow a new branch every once in a while. Well, we noticed that one such nubbin looked different. It turns out to have been a bud.

Here has been the progression so far.

November 28, 2021

November 30, 2021

December 5, 2021

December 10, 2021

December 11, 2021

I think this is going to be interesting. Here is a closeup.

December 11, 2021

These are more pictures from the office.

This little cactus will bloom all winter.

This is a newly developed tradescantia, named Nanouk. I can't wait for it to get big.

Julia's recipe

Pork vindaloo

This recipe came from the newspaper which said they got it from America's Test Kitchen. It purports to be a less spicy version of a Goan dish. It's still pretty spicy. Of course, I have no experience (that I know of) with Goan cooking, so maybe it's so very hot that this is tame by comparison. You should feel free to use less of the hot components. This is a longish low bake in the oven. I did bake it, but a slow cooker would be good too. Make it on the weekend. Your house will smell good, and if you make it in the amount described, there will be leftovers for lunch.  

The ingredients:

3 lb. (or so) boneless pork butt;

4 dried guajillo chiles;

1-12 inch piece of fresh ginger;

3 tablespoons chopped garlic;

1 cup diced onion;

1/2 cup cider vinegar;

2 tablespoons regular oil; 

1 tablespoon paprika;

1 tablespoon ground cumin;

2 teaspoons salt;

1 teaspoon black pepper;

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper;

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon;

1/2 teaspoon cardamom;

1/4 teaspoon cloves;

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

And some water. Yes I know this is a long list but many of the items are ground spices. 

I started by stemming and seeding the chiles. I found a package of guajillo chiles at the New Pioneer Co-op which means you should be able to get them at a regular (as opposed to specialty) grocery store. I cut the chiles up into smallish squares with scissors (they're tough to cut up with a knife) and put the pieces into a cup. I boiled water and added 1/2 cup to the chile pieces. I let that sit for 10 minutes. 

Those of you with microwaves can put the pieces and water in the microwave until the mixture is steamy and then let it sit.  

Next, I prepped and chopped the onion; prepped and chopped the garlic and sliced the ginger. I don't peel ginger. You can if you like. 

After the guajillos had been softening for 10 minutes, I dumped them into the food processor along with the ginger, garlic, salt, pepper and all of the ground spices. 

I turned the oven on to 325 degrees.

I zizzed up the mixture and then added another 1/2 cup of water (just tap water).

I ended up with a sort of spicy slurry. If you want to tone it down, reduce or eliminate the cayenne and reduce the number of guajillos. 

The recipe called for adding 2 teaspoons of loose (dry) black tea. Which I did and I don't think it made an impact at all. If you want to add loose black tea, be my guest.  

Next, I put the oil in a Dutch oven and added the onions. I cooked the onions over medium heat for about 5 minutes until they were sort of soft. 

Next, I emptied the contents of the food process into the Dutch oven with the onions and stirred the mixture over medium heat until everything was mixed and fragrant. 

Then I plopped the pork on top. I rolled the pork over so it was all covered (to some degree) with the sauce. 

I used a cut of pork called fresh ham roast. It's a shoulder or butt cut. Sometimes these cuts are called butt roast or shoulder roast or fresh ham or picnic ham.  The term "ham" does not denote curing. It appears to have to do with a part of the pig. 

These cuts are not tender (in contrast to pork tenderloin), and they take some time to cook and break down.

 I emptied the last of the food processor contents on top of the meat, put a lid on the Dutch oven and put it in the oven.

After an hour, I stirred the stuff around, flipped the meat over and stirred in about 1/3 cup of cider vinegar. 

Here it is about 2 hours later. It was done when I could pull the meat apart. 

Which I did. I removed the few pieces of fat that were lying around in the pot being unappetizing. I added 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons more of vinegar to loosen up the spice mixture a bit. 

Here it is in the bowl. We served it with rice. Some kind of Indian bread (naan for instance) would be good.

I made spinach with scallions, an Indian-ish side dish which was a nice contrast to the pork. (The recipe is somewhere on the Mearskitchen blog if you are interested.) And salad and berries with yogurt. 
 

Here is the link to the blog with all of Julia's recipes

https://mearskitchen.wordpress.com/

 

Odds and Ends

I must confess something. I am a proud parkway gardener. That means that I garden all the way down to the curb. I have done this for decades. Gardening in the parkway allows so many people to see your garden. There are the walkers. There are also people who just drive by and open their windows. They can almost touch such special plants as the daylily Ruby Spider, and the grown from seed Tree Peonies. Then there are all those little bearded iris I planted this fall.

Here was the stretch along Fairview Street on May 1, 2021.

Well there is a downside to parkway gardening. Utilities. They sometimes want to dig in their right of way. Their right of way is my parkway garden.

In almost 40 years of gardening I think this has been a problem maybe 2-3 times. There was the time the City had to put in some new water main thing. Another time there was a project that required putting in new curbs. We got notice and actually moved plants that were one foot from the curb. 

Well, perhaps you can guess where this is going. The other day we got some door-hanger announcement. We knew something was up because we saw those white painted lines in the street, near the garden. Apparently some company has city permission to become a competitor to the local cable or internet company. But that means they have to install their own cable. 

Gardening is not always about spring flowers and wonderful colors. 

About a week ago there were only 2 states with Blizzard warnings. One was Alaska. OK.

But the other one- was Hawaii. Did you know Hawaii has really tall mountains? One is 13,000 feet tall. They have snow on their mountains. 

I grow clivias. They are inside and mostly dormant now.

They will not have a representative in the contest this year. 

Sometimes I want to just allow you to remember them while I do the same.

I was trying to find some plant on the internet Friday night. I stumbled across this company called Pine Mountain Nursery. They specialize in clivias, and even variegated ones.

Of course they are on another continent, in the Southern hemisphere.  Australia to be exact.

I do have to wonder if they can ship to this country. I also wonder how much I would pay for one of those variegated clivias.

If you have some time here is the link:

https://www.pinemountainnursery.com.au/

This is their webcite just for clivias.

https://www.bestclivias.com.au/

Clivia facts- If you are an expert you can growing a blooming plant from seed in 3 years. Maybe that is if you live in Australia and are an expert.

The plant needs 12 leaves to bloom. I have heard this before, only then it was 13 leaves.

I think that is about it for this week.

Be safe. There are a lot of people out there who are not.

Philip