July 3, 2022- It is lily time

July is here. It is lily time. That includes the lilium and, just this week, the daylilies. Daylilies were the focal point of the garden 20 years ago. They were, quite frankly, an obsession. Now they share the attention at this time of year with the lilium, which seem to be everywhere. And then there are the crotons.

This is Petra, perhaps the most common croton. I really do not know how old is the plant. Maybe 10 years? I moved it to a plastic pot last summer. It is a little easier to move around. I gave the front yard crotons some fertilizer this week. Fertilizing plants is far down on the garden to-do list. 

I love how the new growth is green when it first comes out and then turns colors. All sort of colors.

The daylilies have started. My favorite is Ruby Spider. It is right there on the corner, near the garage we use. It opened with six flowers. Its bloom should last 2 weeks and have over 100 flowers.

Here are other daylilies that caught my eye this week.

This first one is Siloam Double Classic.

There was a person in Siloam Springs, Arkansas who was responsible for many many varieties of daylilies, 30 years ago. Her name was Pauline Henry. She registered and named over 450 varieties according to one source. They all had Siloam as part of the name.

 Most were on the small side. That can be a plus.

This might be a cross I made during my obsessive phase. Daylilies are so easy to hybridize. You can do it with your fingers. You can tell within a week if fertilization has occurred. Of course if you get seed in September, you would have to wait for 4 years at least to see what you made.

This is San Ignacio, a favorite from 20 years ago. It might even have been the parent of the previous plant.

Here are lilium.

This is Fiamma, a wonderfully vibrant lily. Remarkably it has been discontinued in commerce. There would have been more Fiamma this year but for the deer. (They have really not done all that much damage he said very quietly.)

This is Kentucky, which has been around for 6-8 years I would guess. I reliably comes back and then rises to bloom through the cypress spurge.

Speckles are very fashionable.

This is Knight Rider, as close to black as I think you can get. The actual name is Night Rider. That unfortunately is a name associated with some back racist stuff in the South from some time ago.

I think the actual name is a mistake. The plant was developed in Holland in the last 10 years. In Holland the TV show with the talking car was very popular. I believe that when the name was translated into commerce the first letter was dropped. Certainly the developer had not intended to reflect American history.

I have gotten a label for it where I have called it "Knight Rider." I should add that there are some daylilies with unfortunate names. I lose those labels if I ever got them.

As I keep adding pictures I realize how much really good stuff is in the garden this time of year.

Here is a little video showing you a little more of the garden than a snapshot. 

Then there was this wonder that bloomed on Friday. Actually it started to bloom Thursday even, about an hour after dark.

It is a red orchid cactus that had a single flower this summer. It is still a smaller plant. In the 2-3 days before bloom it did just what I have come to expect from the Night Blooming Cereus. The flower had hung down. It then bends around so that when it blooms it faces out, not down. The flower then swells and opens maybe an inch the evening it will bloom. That is the first picture. It was taken at 8:32 pm.

This was taken at the same time.

This picture was taken with a flash at 10:02.

This was taken in the morning. Unlike the NBC this flower will last into the daylight.

Julia's recipe

Another Cucumber Salad

Readers of this blog may recall that I am fond of cucumbers. I think the first recipe I posted was my grandmother's cucumber-sour cream salad. Cucumbers are best in the summer, when they are local and not waxed. And crisp and tender and not necessarily needing to be peeled. We have made my grandmother's cucumber salad every week or so since the farmer's market opened in early May. And I have a couple of cold cucumber soup recipes - both somewhere on the mearskitchen blog - which are in the rotation in hot weather with gazpacho. One of the cold soup recipes is cucumber plus avocado, so I was interested in a NYT recipe for cucumber avocado salad. And it's good.  

The ingredients, for the salad:

1 long English cucumber or 2 or 3 smaller cucumbers - thin so the seeds are small;

2 avocados;

2 scallions; and

3 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds.

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil;

2 tablespoons rice vinegar;

1-1/2 teaspoons soy sauce;

1 tablespoon sugar;

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds; and

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes.

Not pictured: salt and black pepper.

First, I made the dressing, measuring all of the dressing ingredients (except the toasted sesame seeds) into a bowl and stirring it up. 

Next, I measured 4 tablespoons of raw sesame seeds into a small dry skillet and turned the heat to medium high. I swirled the skillet now and then to move the seeds around. I think it took 10 minutes or so. I decided the seeds were done when they began to take on some golden color. 

I set the seeds aside. 

Next, I half-peeled the cucumber, taking off alternate strips of peel. Then I cut off the ends and sliced the cucumber thinly.  I ended up with about 3-1/2 cups of cucumber slices. Into a bowl. I cleaned and thinly sliced the scallions and added them to the bowl. 

Next up, the avocados. I recently learned that it is easier to deal with an avocado if you cut it into quarters. The skin peels off more easily and the pit is easier to pry out. After pitting and skinning the avocados, I sliced each quarter into smallish pieces and added them to the bowl. 

On the table. I added 1 tablespoon of the toasted sesame seeds to the dressing, stirred it up and poured it over the vegetables. Then I sprinkled the rest of the sesame seeds over the salad, added a little salt and pepper (to taste) and it was ready.

We did not finish the salad and refrigerated the leftovers, which were perhaps even a bit better the next day for having spent the night mingling flavors. 

 

Odds and ends

I found my favorite spade. It had gone missing for almost a month. Finding something that was lost is always a good feeling. Now I just have to find plants to dig up.

Alstromaria- I got one at the farmer's marker two weeks ago. Yesterday I got the last 7 they had. They were not going to bring them back after today. That will be one use for the spade.

As I go to print I am watering again. It has been a week since that big rain. Particularly with annuals that are recently planted it is necessary to water often.

I have continued to water my morning glories. They really need watering in their pots every 2-3 days.

I do want to thank the people who take the time to comment or respond by email. 

The garden is on display in a week. Iowa City's garden club is have a weekend of open gardens. 30 some gardens in Iowa City are going to be open to the public for about 10 hours next Saturday and Sunday. My garden is included. I am trying to weed like crazy, particularly getting the weeds in the paths. I really need woodchips. It is not going to happen this week. 

Of course it is rather odd to think of my garden being open to the public for 10 hours next weekend. Our garden is open all the time. 

So much to do.

There is still a big bad world out there. 

Pray for peace and for reconciliation.

And maybe pray to keep the deer out of the garden for the next week.

Philip