Week #4 December 19, 2021

Week 4- We have made definite progress in getting through the winter. December is over half over. Very soon the days will start getting longer. I hope you have enjoyed the contest so far. 

It was another busy week at the office and a strange week for weather. On Wednesday morning it was in the mid 50's. By afternoon it was 74 degrees. Someone said that was more than ten degrees warmer than the record high for the day. But lurking behind this warm weather were rumored straight line winds. Everyone in Iowa thought of the 2020 derecho, which came through in August and took out some high percentage of trees in the area. It had been particularly bad in Cedar Rapids which is just 25 miles north of Iowa City.

The line of red on the radar Wednesday afternoon went from Minnesota to Missouri. It looked ominous. 

It turned out that it was bad in some places, but not in Iowa City. We did not even get any rain.

In the meantime more seasonable temperatures have arrived, but no snow. Well we did have  a light dusting on Friday night. 74 degrees on Wednesday; Snow on Friday.

And we are more than half way through December. 

Last week in the contest

The winner was the Shirley poppy.

What an incredible flower. That must be the best Shirley poppy of the season. Let me just say you should wait a few weeks.

Here was the full vote.

The Phlox and daylily combo finished with a strong second place showing. As I think about it the bluebell voters certainly were heard from.

Here is the wild card race after 3 weeks:

Phlox and daylilies 29%

Red Double tulip 27%

Tiger kitten 24%

Week #4

This week we certainly have some bright colors. We have several old favorites in the garden, and some new ones too. It is quite rare that we have entries from October. This week there are two of those.

Tell me what you think. Invite your housemates to vote. If you refresh the screen I think a second person can vote.

Think about warmer times.

And Happy Holidays.

#1 Lilium Fiamma 

June 26, 2021

I became interested in lilium again about 3 years ago. Fiamma was one of the first purchases that year. That did so well that I have added more each year since then.

The name Fiamma  means 'flame.' It has come back for several repeat performances. Those have been as vigorous as in the first season. It does not  particularly multiply. Maybe it gets a little bigger.

I grow it with a yellow lily of similar interests, and more importantly, timing. The yellow lily is called Nashville. See Bonus section.

Fiamma is listed as an Asiatic lily some places.  The grower called it an Asiatic/ Easter lily. Let me talk to you a little about names.

Lilium is the genus. These are also called true lilies. Many plants are called 'lilies' that are not in the genus. Daylilies for example are not lilium. They are in the genus hemerocallis.

The genus Lilium is divided into classifications, called "divisions". These do not necessarily track particular species. (Is this all too deep? If so skip ahead.) 

Here is the wikipedia

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

Think about daffodils or tulips. When they are listed in catalogues they are not listed by species. After all most are hybrids. They are grouped according to characteristics. The Monsella tulip is in a group called "Double Early." There is even a group of tulips sold as "Lily flowering." 

Daffodils are the same. There are groups such as "Double Narcissi" or "Large cupped."

There are 9 divisions of lilium.

One is Asiatic. Another is Oriental. (Think Star Gazer) Another is longiflorum. (Think Easter lily.)  Martagon is another, but that appears to also be its own species. Martagon lilies are quickly becoming a favorite. See bonus section

What gets complicated is that plants in the different divisions can interbreed.  Fiamma is a cross between an Asiatic lily and an Easter lily. There is an entire group at this point which are crosses between Oriental lilies and Trumpet lilies. They are call....Orienpets. This of course opens up an entire name game. Martapets? 

Let me talk a little about Asiatic lilies, as compared with Oriental lilies, which is the other big group.

Both have a long vase life. This of course distinguishes them from daylilies which are not lilies after all.

Asiatic lilies do not have scent, are shorter, bloom earlier, are faster growing, more hardy, and have a greater range of color.

Most of all, they are all lovely.

#2 Fall Crocus 

October 23, 2021

How can you resist deep purple. With a dash of yellow and orange. 

What a gem in the garden, particularly in late October. You can even plant them in August and they will bloom that fall.

This is a true fall crocus, as oppose to a colchicum, from Week 1.

They are actual cousins of the early spring flower.

#3 Night Blooming Cereus 

October 9, 2021

This is Epiphyllum oxypetalum, often called the Night Blooming Cereus. It is from the genus Epiphyllum. As a group Epiphyllum, or epis,  are often called orchid cactus. I have grown them for 20 years. My earliest digital pictures on the computer are from 2003 and include orchid cactus. 

I think the first Night Blooming Cereus bloomed in 2012. You can find a short post in the archive section dated August 16, 2012.  I wrote about discovering the first buds on the plants that had been in the garden without blooming for 5-6 years.

These Night Blooming Cereus bloom from late July until September. The flowers open after dark, which in July can be as late as 10pm but much earlier in September.

By dawn, particularly when they bloom in July,  they are done, finished, not much to look at. In those sometime rare blooms in the fall, particularly if it is cool, the flowers will stay open until morning. I can remember a few years ago when one bloomed on September 23, 2018. It was cool enough that I was able to get the first picture of one of these lovelies with a blue sky in the background.

This year's entry in the contest was even later than that, on October 9. 

You know when they are going to bloom, as the bud which had hung straight down, bends upward, and starts to show a little white after supper.

For this bloom, I posted the coming bloom on Facebook. Several people came over.

 

#4 Crown Imperial Fritillaria

 April 18, 2021

This is a flower that Dr. Seuss would have really liked. 

It is a fritillaria, which is a kind of spring bulb.

The species is fritillaria imperialis, aka crown imperial.

The genus is...fritillaria. Maybe you are getting the hang of this.

The plants are deer resistant. In fact the do not smell so great. I suppose as a trial I could plant a few with tulips all around them. Can they set up a stink shield that would protect the tulips?

Just look at this little slideshow from wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritillaria_imperialis#/media/File:%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%E2%80%8C%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D9%88%D8%A7%DA%98%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%AF%D8%B1_%DA%A9%D9%88%D9%87_%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%A7.jpg

I have found them not to reliably come back a second or third year. They want full sun in the spring, before they wither away in June. I planted some on one of the shelves in good sun in the fall of 2020.

The one in the picture was in that group. We will see in a couple of months how well they come back.

I did get some more, just in case.

#5 Monsella Tulip 

April 17, 2021

Red and Yellow are two of the most striking colors. They combine to make amazing flowers.

I have grown Monsella tulips for years. Tulips are classified by bulb sellers. Monsella tulips are in the "Double Early" group. In fact they are among the earliest tulips to bloom. The only tulips I grow that bloomed about two weeks earlier were the little species tulips. 

Monsella tulips are heavily hybridized. They really are at their best for just their first year. I am now growing them in a group of 20. That seemed to be a good number.

After they bloomed, which was for quite some time, I dug up the entire plant, including the bulb. It then made compost. I treated it as an annual. I then put 20 new bulbs in that same spot in October.

Bonus Pictures

Monsellas

April 4

  At this point I sprayed the

  newly emerged tulips with

  the  smelly anti deer stuff. It

  worked.

April 17, 2021

The buds are opening, a little ahead of the bluebells.

When you see this grouping of 20 you have to wonder what 40 would look like.

I did not yield to that temptation.

Instead I just replaced them with another 20.

I did plant them right by the front sidewalk. It really was hard to walk by and not stop to look at them.

April 17, 2021

   April 17 is the same day as

   the picture in the contest

After 11 days the bluebells have filled in, but the flowers have not really faded at all.

April 29, 2021

May 8, 2021

I think the flowers after they are finished are rather amazing.

Crown Imperials

April 6, 2021

April 7, 2021

April 12, 2021

April 17, 2021

April 17, 2021

April 18, 2021

There is another fritillaria in the garden. It is F. meleagris. Yes, meleagris is the species.

Unlike the crown imperials, meleagris comes back every year, and multiplies. There are some that are white. Some have a checkerboard pattern.

These next two pictures are Martagon lilies. They have much smaller flowers but the stems get covered with them. I am planting them under the old pink crabs. Those are mostly dead at this point. It was an age thing I am told. But that means there is more sun there now. Some hosta will have to move. More sunny things like lilium can go in there.

Gardens evolve.

Fiamma blooms just a little before Nashville, its companion.

June 17, 2021

June 22, 2021

For more pictures of the Night blooming cereus go to the blog post for October 10, 2021. That was quite a week as the NBC bloomed as did the larger cactus plant.

Right Now

Katie got me this "dwarf" amaryllis. I decided to take a few pictures along the way, to show you how long it takes for one to bloom.  Now you know.

November 12, 2021

November 27, 2021

December 5, 2021

December 15, 2021

So there you have it. One month should be all it takes with a professional bulb. I might add that this one  had a second bud just coming. I think the plant will bloom for maybe 3 weeks.

How about some art.

This bougainvillea is really doing well, brightening our bedroom.

Here is a little video from yesterday morning.

Julia's recipe

Cranberry cornbread

I like cornbread, and I like cranberries so I was naturally attracted to this NYT recipe. If you are having a modest turkey (or chicken or pork) dinner (as opposed to all-the-stops-pulled-out as in Thanksgiving), this cornbread will up the festive quotient.  

The ingredients:

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter;

1-1/4 cups cornmeal (not grits!);

1 cup all purpose white flour;

1/2 cup sugar;

2 teaspoons baking poder;

1/2 teaspoon baking soda;

1 teaspoon kosher salt;

3 eggs;

1 cup cranberries (fresh or thawed);

1 cup thinnish (as in homemade) plain yogurt (not Greek or 1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup with 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup milk).

First I turned the oven on to 375 degrees. While it was heating up, I put the stick of butter in a 9" square pan and put the pan in the oven to melt the butter. 

The recipe suggests using a 10" cast iron skillet. I don't have one that size so I used the 9" square pan which has just about the same area. 

9 x 9 = 81 square inches. 5 x 5 x 3.1416 etc is something like 76 square inches. Close enough. Who said high school geometry would not have its uses?  

While the butter was melting, I mixed the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a big bowl. I whisked the dry ingredients, then added the eggs and yogurt and whisked some more. 

At that point, the butter had melted. I poured most of it into the cornmeal mixture and used a silicon brush to brush the remaining butter around the bottom of the square pan and up the sides.  

Then I whisked the melted butter into the batter, and I poured the batter into the pan.

Lastly, I sprinkled the cranberries all over the top of the batter. 

Make extra cranberries into sauce. Cranberry sauce is good on yogurt or vanilla ice cream.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Start checking at 25 minutes. It is done when a toothpick or skewer comes out clean. 

Here it is out of the oven. Some of the cranberries sank a bit, especially around the perimeter. No idea why. 

The bread was a bit sweet and a bit tangy and very nice with a pat of butter. 

Odds and Ends

The Iowa extension service at Ames has this website I like. It gives you temperatures and rainfalls by month going back 13 years. You can ask about particular cities in Iowa. You can compare, if you wish, the temperatures in December in Iowa City with past years.

It has graphs of the temperatures.

Here was the graph at the beginning of the week.

Here was the same screen shot at the end of the week.

They had to change the chart, when the temperature topped 70. I remember past winters when they changed the chart to add double digit negative numbers.

The normal high for December 14, 2021 was 38 degrees. So this week it was 36 degrees above normal. Remarkable. And only a little bit scary.

I found another odd thing about December. We all know that the solstice is December 21.  Well, certainly the days start getting longer after that occasion. But actually sunset has gotten a little later the last few days before December 21. The earliest sunset was actually 4:37. It  was there from December 2 to December 13. 

By today, December 19 sunset has changed for the better by...2 minutes. 2 more minutes of light at the end of the day.

Sunrise however did continue to get earlier all during this time. It gets to its earliest on December 29, and then does not change until January 9.

The shortest day is in fact December 21, 2021. 

Don't think about this last bit too much. It is even more confusing to look at a chart. 

Be safe.

Philip