December 8, 2024- Week #2 of the contest

Welcome to the picture contest from rather wintry Iowa. At least it was winter for a while. 

Week #1 was a real success, as there were over 50 votes, including a number of new people. I also heard from many of you. I love those numbers, so spread the pictures and encourage people to vote.

Week $1 was also the week in real time when the temperatures hit single digits and there was a big wind. That meant getting out the big winter coats.

The ground has frozen solid, much to the disappointment to anyone who had not dug up their non hardy bulbs, like cannas or callas. Last winter the ground never really froze. (This was unusual.) It stayed mild until January. When the real cold weather arrived, a blanket of snow insulated the ground. When the snow melted the temperatures were back to being mild. The ground was warm enough to not really freeze. I had calla lilies that actually wintered over in the ground. There were spring bulbs blooming in February,

Update- The temperature bounced back to the mid 50's yesterday. I guess that is Iowa.

Last week in the contest

The winner was the violet with the great name- Birth of a Galaxy.

The full vote was

Contest notes

I would encourage people to look at the archives, when you have the time. They go back to 2007. I also encourage you to look at the separate blog of Julia's recipes. They go back to 2016, the last time we faced a scary next four years.https://mearskitchen.wordpress.com/

At the end of 13 weeks there are three playoff weeks. To make 5 contestants each week, I add two wildcards. Those spots are given to the second place pictures with the hightest percentages.

Here is Week #2

#1 White Crocuses (March 2, 2024)

I love crocuses. They arrive after the snowdrops and winter aconite have already started blooming. They come in many colors. They do come back every year. 

In the first years of the blog I limited the contest to pictures with only one flower. Over the years I have come to appreciate the group shot. 

I particularly like the background in these early spring pictures. The different shapes of brown contrast nicely with the flowers.

#2 Wonderful Woodpecker (March 15, 2024)

This is largest woodpecker that can be found in Iowa. This was actually the first time we have ever seen one of these in the garden.

It came for a few days in late March, and then went elsewhere. It obliged by not flying away when I got out of the car to take the picture.

#3 Species Tulip dasystemon April 13, 2024

I love species tulip. This one is called Tulip dasystemon. It is available from most mail order bulb companies. They are available for 50 for $17 from John Sheepers.

Something is a species tulip if it can be found growing in the wild. As such that is in contrast with a hybrid. According to the article I reference, there are 76 species tulips.This gets confusing when someone hybridizes a species tulip.

Another definition of species is as classification of similar things, being smaller than a genus. Pushing the definition a little it is a group of organisms where there can be offspring.

But back to tulips.

As the species type at  are closer to growing in the wild, they have certain characteristics

They are smaller. They are more of a perennial. They come back every year, unlike the fancy ones. They also do not taste as good. I am talking deer and rabbits. (Do squirrels eat tulips?) Since deer really like hybridized tulips this is important.

Here is a nice article about species tulips

https://www.gardensillustrated.com/plants/bulbs/species-tulips-to-grow

#4 Pink Siberian Iris May 18, 2024

Iris are one of the backbones of the garden. There are iris from March to August. It is just that there are many kinds of iris over that time.

Early in the spring there are little reticulata iris.

Then come the all-important bearded iris, from the dwaft to the tall.

In the iris progression, the Siberian Iris bloom right after the bearded iris. This pinkish flower is such a beauty. I wish I could tell you the name. 

Iris siberica is the name of the species. The genus, wait for it, is Iris. Remember that genus is the bigger grouping. Each genus has many species.

One major difference between the Siberians and the Bearded iris is in the roots. Bearded iris have rhizomes, that are the size of your fingers. The rhizomes then have some roots.

Siberian iris just have roots. 

Bearded iris will rot (not do well) if they are too wet. Siberian iris love the moisture. They also love the sun.

Siberians comes from lots of places in Eastern Europe and Asia.

#5 Ruby Spider daylily (June 29, 2024)

This is probably my favorite daylily. When the deer staart nibbling on the daylilies, which they like, I particularly will spray this lily. Usually that works.

A daylily will only bloom for one day. However each plant has many stalks or scapes. Each stalk will have 5-10 flowers. A mature clump like this could have 150 flowers.

There you have the contestants for week 2. We have taken one step towards spring. 

Encourage all the members of your household to vote. If you refresh the website, another person can vote on the poll.

Bonus section

This was the part of the walnut tree the woodpecker was working on.

The first crocus in 2024 bloomed on February 10. Let me just say that last spring was quite unusual in that it was so early.

Crocuses usually are the third spring bulb to emerge. Crocuses follow snowdrops and winter aconite (eranthus). 

Crocuses really are wonderful. I have found they are mostly left alone by the garden menaces. They are also inexpensive. You can buy 100 for not much more than $35.

I will write more about crocuses during the contest, as there can be more than one picture of a type of flower.

Right Now

I just got this lovely phalanopsis. The flowers are pretty. What made me pick this plant was the leaves. They look like a hosta or many other things but not an orchid.

Orchids do tend to be centerpieces this time of year.

This literally is the centerpiece of the dining room table at the moment. It is an oncidium, probably called Twinkles. It blooms this time of year, and has for a decade. 

The big wind this week was strong enough to blow over the wooden bench in the backyard.

Here is one of the little blooming jade plants.

Julia's recipe

Cranberry Grilled Cheese

Philip likes grilled cheese sandwiches, and he likes cranberry sauce. So when the NYT had a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich with cranberry sauce, it was a natural. Philip made the sandwiches. They turned out a bit darker than one might like. But interestingly enough, too dark did not equal a burned taste. So, no harm, no foul. Next time (and I've already made more cranberry sauce), we'll watch a little more closely to pull the sandwiches a minute or two sooner. 

On to the sandwich making. 

The ingredients for each sandwich:

1 tablespoon (or so) softened butter;

1 tablespoon (or so) mayonnaise;

2 slices sandwich bread;

about 1/4 to 1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese; and

2 tablespoons or so of cranberry sauce.

We had leftover whole cranberry sauce. Cranberry orange relish would be nice. There would be no problem with using canned cranberry sauce or cranberry jelly.

We had somewhat wholesome bread, but it was fine. Don't use artisanal bread. You don't want bread with a crispy crust.

Step one: grate some cheese. We used sharp cheddar from the co-op. 

Step two: Spread some mayo on one side of each slice of bread and softened butter on the other side of each slice of bread. 

Philip put two skillets on the stove, and heated both up on medium high while he was taking step three. 

Step three: Put some cheddar cheese on the buttered side of each piece of bread.

You will observe that Philip made both sandwiches at the same time. 

Step four: Put the slices of bread, mayo side down, in the hot skillet. 

Step five: When the cheese had melted, take the skillet off the heat briefly and add a tablespoon or two of cranberry sauce to one slice of bread. 

Step six:  Pick up the non-cranberry piece of bread and flip it onto the cranberried piece of bread. This is a little bit tricky. 

On the plate. As I said, a bit darker than your usual grilled cheese, but it did not affect the taste. Which was very good - cheesy and cranberry-ish. A slice of deli ham would be a good addition and maybe a little mustard with the butter. 

Nonetheless, next time, we'll peek at the skillet-down side of the bread as soon as the cheese looks at all melted. 

We had our sandwiches with Waldorf salad (apple, celery, walnut, raisin with a mayo and yogurt dressing) and raspberries with yogurt. 

Odds and Ends

There is this website I like. It is maintained by someone at Iowa State University. It has weather data for many towns in Iowa, by month, going back to 2004. If you wonder about February of 2013, you can look it up.https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/sites/hist.phtml?network=IA_COOP&station=ICYI4

Here is last month, November, 2024, for Iowa City. You can really see how the freeze really waited until late in the month. I know it says there  was a 28 at the beginning of the month. It was not that cold in our yard. This just shows that and "data" should always be qualified a little.

I sometimes say that gardening brings together the past and the future. 

One way gardening is about the future is when you plant seeds.

Several weeks ago I realized that one of my hoya plants had a cluster of flowers that had gone to seed. Hoyas are related to milkweeds. The seeds are about the same. The little flower opens up and the seeds have a silky parachute that will blow away outside. Inside it did not blow away.

I noticed the seeds and read about them. I was told they would germinate in a week. None of this wait 3 months and then maybe put them in your refrigerator.

So I gathered some seeds and planted them 2 weeks ago. The first were up in a week and now even more.

I have baby hoyas.

The sunset last night was rather wonderful. Pink and red and some very light blue.

It is a pretty world if we do not mess it up.

Pray for the people in Syria, in Gaza, and the Ukraine. Then pray for the people and the children in all those other places where violence and hunger is ever present. Then remember the billionaires and how they have too stuff.

What you do at that point is up to you.

But be kind.

Find something to do to make all this world a better place.

Then write to me and tell me something. How do you feel about woodpeckers? Do you have any seeds you are thinking about for next year? 

The comment section at the end of the blog allows  other people to see what you think. Or you can email me. 

Philip