August 4, 2024- Hello August

I wonder if August is perhaps the most difficult garden month. Many plants are done for the year. It is time to clean up the old foliage.

I cut back some of the coneflowers this week. They were begining to flop over. Many had been almost two feet tall. 

In August it can still be hot. This year, remarkably, it has been wet. We had over 6 inches of rain in Iowa City for the month of July. That was more than two inches above normal. 

But the heat drains enthusiasm, which can be what is needed to get you out in the heat. 

Actually as heat goes it really has not been so bad.

Of course the daylight is not what it once was. It is darker in the morning.

Signs of the changing of the season start to show up. There was a football game this past week. There will be back to school sales. 

Back to the garden-

It really is caladium time. Last year I resolved to do caladium. I had not planted them for some time. So I ordered 100 in January. The plan was to try to sell most of them. I would plant those that were left. This plan pretty much worked. I sold maybe 90 of them- for the foodbanks. The rest are scattered about, many in pots. I have so many spring bulbs that I hesitate to dig many big holes for caladium. 

Then I got another 50 bulbs July 1. As predicted they germinated almost immediately. They are now sale worthy. 

Here are pictures

This is Gingerland. It was a July 1 acquisition.

This is Seaform pink. It was slower than Gingerland but is rather nice.

Here is the caladium group, on the back driveway, for sale.

Let me now talk about another current enthusiam, adenium.

Adenium, also known as the desert rose, is a member of the apocynaceae family. I can't say that I know much about that family. Maybe you know it by its more common name dogbane. 

It is native to...Africa and the Arabian peninsula.  It is known for its colorful flowers and its large caudices. Those are thickened stems found down by the base of the plant.

I got my first adenium in 2018. I have gotten three more. They like it hot and sunny. I have the four plants in the middle of the backyard, where they get as much sun as they can- 5-6 hours during the heat of day.

I repotted them all in the spring, and they have loved it. 

They apparently like it hot and wet. Well I understand why they have thrived the last two months. (Actually I do not understand the wet requirement. They seem to be a desert plant.)

I read they are a good plant to make into a bonsai. Maybe Pat can tell us her thoughts on that. (She does some bonsai and lives in Florida.)

Here is the wonderful first flower. The plant is called Little Panda.

I had buds last year, but they fizzled. That is a botanical term for never opening. As you can tell I planted them in a light soil mix, including a fair amout of perlite.

Someone asked me yesterday how long this plant will bloom. I really don't know. There is the question of how long this firstflower will last. Yesterday was its third day. But there are lots of buds coming in this one cluster. There are two other clusters on the plant. I think it might bloom for a month.

There is a second adenium next to it that also has buds.

I think this second one might bloom this coming week.

Here is a little video from Logee's, which is where I got the Little Panda.

https://www.google.com/search?q=adenium&sca_esv=1e7101d6c772e40c&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWILV309R3ZAkzFu7sOVqKbUzRfiYxA%3A1722717812503&source=hp&ei=dJauZrvBHIqmptQPn8-NgAk&iflsig=AL9hbdgAAAAAZq6khGxIk1ha98y_ZZaj1DXfLAWbtKWR&ved=0ahUKEwi7y4r619mHAxUKk4kEHZ9nA5AQ4dUDCBk&uact=5&oq=adenium&gs_lp=Egdnd3Mtd2l6IgdhZGVuaXVtMgoQIxiABBgnGIoFMgoQLhiABBgnGIoFMggQLhiABBixAzILEC4YgAQYsQMY1AIyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQLhiABDIFEAAYgARIkRNQAFj9DXAAeACQAQCYAXGgAekEqgEDNS4yuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIHoAKKBcICERAuGIAEGLEDGNEDGIMBGMcBwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAg4QLhiABBixAxiDARiKBcICERAuGIAEGLEDGIMBGMcBGK8BwgIOEC4YgAQYsQMY0QMYxwHCAg4QLhiABBixAxiDARjlBMICFBAuGIAEGLEDGIMBGMcBGI4FGK8BwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAggQABiABBixA8ICDhAuGIAEGMcBGI4FGK8BmAMAkgcDNS4yoAfpbw&sclient=gws-wiz#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:1ae19bd9,vid:w5FWGPdWccQ,st:0

Here are other pictures.

This is a closeup of the new hardy hibiscus I got several weeks ago.

The lantna are happy.

This is a slighty different coneflower.

Julia's recipe

Frozen dessert

 I found this recipe in a recent issue of Better Homes and Gardens, the magazine that I have subscribed to for a million years. More interested in trendiness than earlier, but still nice pictures and an occasional recipe. This receipt is a no-cook cold dessert. I tweaked it a little and made on substantive change, and it's a pretty good no-cook cold dessert. 

The ingredients:

1 quart whole milk Greek-style vanilla yogurt;

1/3 cup seedless raspberry spread (or preserves);

1-1/2 teaspoon espresso powder;

3/4 cup raspberries;

3/4 cup blackberries;

1/2 cup salted shelled pistachios; and

1 3oz. dark chocolate bar. 

The recipe was framed as non-fat and no sugar. I didn't go that way. I used whole milk yogurt and sweetened raspberry spread (not as sweet as preserves or jam but with some sugar). My chocolate bar was 70% cacoa and included sea salt. And some modest amount of sugar. 

First I chopped the chocolate. 

Then a Iprepared the pan. I covered it with a piece of parchment and used alligator clips to hold it in place. 

Alligator clips are my favorite office supply turned kitchen gadget. 

I rinsed the raspberries and the blackberries. I ended up cutting the blackberries in half because they were big. 

I chopped and measured out the pistachios, and put the chocolate shreds into a bowl.

I plopped all of the yogurt into a big bowl. By the way, I used Siggi's Icelandic yogurt rather than Oikos or Fage Greek yogurt. I could not find Oikos or Fage in whole milk vanilla form. Siggi's worked fine. The desired characteristic is way thick. Siggi's is. 

I whisked the espresso powder into the yogurt.

Then I plopped all of the yogurt into the prepared pan and spread it around. 

After that, I dolloped the raspberry spread all around and used the spoon to sort of swirl it into the yogurt. 

Followed by the scattering of the berries.

And the sprinkling of the pistachios and chocolate.

Then into the freezer to freeze solid.

Out of the freezer. 

On the plate. And here is where I part company from the recipe.

The recipe said to take the confection out of the freezer for 30 minutes and then to serve. As pictured. 

But this is too frozen. So after the first round, I made sure to take the pan out of the freezer until the yogurt had thawed completely. Scoopable, not hackable. Smooth and creamy, not crunchy and ice-crystally.

So I say, this is a nice dish. No baking. But it should be served after sitting out for at least one hour.  

Odds and Ends

I have sometimes wondered about plants that were names in times past when attitudes were different. There was this article this week in the NY Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/01/science/racist-slur-plant-names.html

Yesterday a group of Iowa City painters came to the garden in the morning, set up their eisles, and painted. I had know they were coming. It gave a different prospective on the garden. There were a number of painters gathered around the hibiscus.

I have been told they will email me with copies of the pictures painted.

The little ornamental kale came back to the garden. Now they have to be planted. I started yesterday. I suppose the theory will be that they should be planted close together and then later potted for sale.

Pray for peace.

Pray for strength for the people running against the crazies.

It is always good to hear from you.

Philip