November 3, 2025-A plant called Hope

Welcome to November -the time of maximum anxiety

While many hosta are done- this one still looks good. 

It is Hope Springs Eternal

What a collection of emotions this week. Scared. Tired. Hopeful. That sort of sums it up. The order is rather accurate. 

And then there is the garden.

The rain is back. We had over an inch the middle of the week. It has been raining for the last 10 hours. It has been a while since there was a rain that lasted this long.

Yesterday I worked in the garden. It was therapeutic. I transplanted a few plants, anticipating the rain. Here is one of the ornamental kale. The worms are in the past, and some are starting to look good. I should give them some fertilizer.

It is a little hard to tell in this picture, but this little kale is 10 inches high. It is also 

in the front yard bed. 

This is the very large lantana, that overwintered last winter.  Time will tell whether the plant recovers from the transplant. This next week's weather should help. It will be in the 50's for most of the week. As I check, that is about normal for the first of November. Normal drops from 56 at the beginning of the month to 42 by the end.

Mostly there has not been a frost. I still have some plants outside. Colin brought in the last of the really heavy ones Friday. That included the two large Night Blooming Cereus. The darn plant vines. Sometimes I have trimmed them when they come inside. However they do bloom on last years growth. 

Gem of the week

There are not many "oh my" moments this time of year. This little hoya gave me one of them this week.

It is Hoya nummularioides Porcelain Flower. It is one of several new plants that was healthy but small. 

I brought it inside with the hoyas about a month ago. 

Monday of this past week I must have picked up the plant for some reason. Then I noticed the bloom.

This picture gives you a better idea of the tiny size of the flower.

Let me give you more  perspective.

Different plant.

I would like to write a little about Jade plants. They are still mostly outside. 

The official name is Crassula Ovata. It is native to South Africa.

This time of year they do really well in the cool sunny weather. We brought the big one inside yesterday.

Here is the group on the back driveway yesterday.

In the sun they can develope a nice red edge.

In the fall I make cuttings, starting a few dozen plants for the coming years. In the second picture above you can see the cuttings and the one year old plants.

Here is the cutting that is going to bloom. I will continue to have pictures eack week until it blooms.

At this point it has a dozen other new plants with buds.

Here is what a jade plant blooming looks like. This is a picture from my niece Julia's yard in southern California. 

More pictures

Our sycamore tree had some branches that were either touching the top of our roof, or close to it. Our insurance company insisted that we get them cut. We finally had the tree guys come, with their big machine. It had to go in the garden. They were careful. I did have to pull up a bunch of labels. Matching the labels with the plants will be a task for the spring time.

In this picture you can see the bucket way up in the air.

Most of the zinnias are done. It was a touch year for the zinnia group. 

I really liked the color on this next picture.

A few toad lily flowers persist.

Another zinnia.

Julia's recipe

Hummus

Although I grew up eating Greek food, I did not have hummus until later. I associate hummus with middle eastern food, around the corner of the Mediterranean from Greece, past Turkey toward Lebanon and Israel and Palestine. I remember, maybe 35 years ago, eating in a small middle eastern restaurant in Mount Prospect, Illinois (the suburban neighborhood of my family). That's where I remember having hummus and baba ganoush and pitas for the first time, as well as the more familiar shish kebab and tzatziki. All terrific. We have bought hummus from time to time ever since. Recently we were having pita pocket sandwiches with ground lamb and tsatziki and spiced cashew rice. So I decided to make my own hummus. It was way easy and very good.  

The ingredients:

1 can of cooked chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans);

6 tablespoons lemon juice;

2 tablespoons water;

1/2 cup tahini;

4 tablespoons olive oil;

5 medium to large garlic cloves;

1/4 teaspoon cayenne;

1-1/2 teaspoons paprika;

1/4 teaspoon cumin; and 

some salt - maybe 1/2 teaspoon, maybe more to taste. 

I peeled and flattened the garlic cloves. Sometimes I have to smash them to get the papery skins off. No need to do more than that. This is a food processor project. 

I drained the chickpeas. I never know what might be in the liquid of canned beans. 

I added everything to the food processor work bowl. I approximiated the amount of tahini, which is hard to measure precisely. 

After everything was in the work bowl, I clamped the lid on, eventually remembering the trick to that. I pulsed the mixture a few times then let the food processor run for maybe another 30 seconds. 

I took the lid off and tasted the hummus. I thought it needed a little more salt, which I added and then briefly zizzed again. 

And that was it. I ootched the hummus out of the work bowl and onto a plate. 

I had been cooking the rice dish in a Dutch oven in the oven. It was done, and I turned off the oven. I put the pitas in the turned-off oven to warm up for a few minutes. 

I poured a little olive oil around the top for looks. One could garnish with minced parsley or a little paprika or minced kalamata olives or minced roasted red peppers.

It was very good. Smooth and savory but not harsh (despite the garlic). The leftovers held up in the refrigerator for the few days until they were all gone. 

Hummus is also good cold.

The only odd pantry ingredient (maybe) is tahini, which comes in handy in various middle easter or asian recipes. And it keeps pretty much indefinitely in the refrigerator. 

Odds and Ends

I had an extra hour this morning to work on the blog. I usually get up at 5. So of course my body woke up at what is now 4. There was plenty of time to check on spelling and add a picture or two. I also read encouraging news in Iowa about the election. I am old enough however, to only go so far with that news. It will be a long next 3 days.

I will appreciate the extra daylight in the morning. I will not like going home from work in the dark.

I need to start thinking about the picture contest. It started in 2005. How long ago was that? 

But the outside garden is not done yet. With no frost in the future there will still be things to do for a while. How will we all feel next week at this time?

The winter farmer's market starts today in Iowa City. The wonderful Saturday's market is over. The violet person should be there.  

My rocks arrived. Here is one orchid that is now stabilized.

Our favortie inflatable is over on Court Street. I do believe it glows.

The dreaded leaf drop has arrived. It hit several crotons rather hard. It was probably my own fault. I am working on that watering schedule.

It was 85 degrees on Wednesday. I was able to avoid the temptation to turn on the airconditioner.

The prayers for rain have been answered.

Let us work on that whole war thing. Remember Ukraine? Remember children?

While we are at it, let us pray for voters to have some good sense. The emperor really does not have any clothes on.

I mentioned I was scared, tired and hopeful. 

Maybe hopeful can move up to seond place.

Philip

October 27, 2024-the scary time is coming

October is almost done. It is getting to be the big scary time. Unfortunately I do not mean Halloween.  

I will try to think other thoughts.

We had actual rain this week. Thursday night there was thunder and lighting. There was a weather alert on the TV. It rained almost an inch. This went a long way to lifting a gardener's spirit. So did the fact that yesterday was a gorgeous day.

In addition there is no frost in the 10 day forcast. For the moment a number of plants can stay outside.

And there is still still color.

Maggie and I raked leaves yesterday. It was a pretty day. It is always pleasant to have someone garden with you. 

The secret to raking is not to do too much. The leaves will still be there tomorrow. We then sorted and graded amaryllis bulbs. They were dry enough now (after two weeks) to be put into dry peat moss for the winter. For the moment the boxes of bulbs can live out in the outside garage. I will bring them inside when the temperature dips below 30. 

I am learning the indoor watering schedule. Unfortunately sometimes I learn the hard way. Several crotons let me know that I had been reglecting them. I really will have to create a room by room schedule and then write down when the deed is done for that room.

I do like the schedule for the clivia. Winter care consists of putting them in some out of the way place, and then leaving them along until February.

A good watering schedule is hard for hoyas because of the size differential between plants. Some are little 5 inch pots. Others are much bigger, perhaps 12-15 inches.

Orchids really need a weekly schedule. This strange orchid is called a castasetum orchid. The plant grows these fat stalks, out of which comes the spike. It then hings down. The spike from the second stalk just showed up. Between the two the plant should bloom for well over a month.

Here is an early but reliable dendrobian.

Here is more color from outside

The oprnamental kale is progressing. I think the cooler weather has sent the cabbage worms someplace else. 

Some hosta retain their color until a real freeze.

Others change colors but are still interesting.

This is a leaf from Confused Angel.

The rhododendron has set its buds for next spring.

Speaking of buds, look at this little jade plant cutting.

Jade plants rarely bloom for me. I will write more about this wonderful plant next week.

A few caladium have stayed interesting.

Good old toad lilies.

I always pay attention to our trees. 

The buckeye has no leaves now.

The Sycamore and the Linden have leaves.

Julia's recipe

Salmon with miso and vegetables

I ran across this recipe for salmon with miso butter on the NYT recipe website. I liked the idea of cooking salmon with hearty vegetables. Everything cooked in one skillet on the stove. Flavorful, fast and a little bit different. 

The ingredients:

about 3/4 lb. salmon;

4 cups chopped green cabbage;

1/2 - 1 cup sliced carrots;

1 cup sliced onions;

1 package enoki mushrooms (optional);

1/4 cup white (tan) miso;

2 tablespoons soft butter;

2 teaspoons sugar;

1 tablespoon oil;

1/4 cup dry sherry (or dry sake if you have that); and

salt and pepper.

I started by prepping the vegetables. I peeled and cut the carrot into rounds. I am not a big fan of cooked carrots. If you are, make it more like 1 to 2 cups of sliced carrots. I cut the cabbage into square pieces about 1-1/2" squares. I cut the onion into 1/2" half moons. 

I bought enoki mushrooms (as the recipe suggested), which were all connected at the root end, which I cut off. 

I did not find the enoki mushrooms brought much to the party. I think next time I will use 1 or 1-1/2 cup of cremini mushrooms cut in halves or quarters. 

The bowl in the foreground is full of peach bits. I made peach shortcake for dessert, taking advantage of an especially flavorful peach crop this summer and early fall. 

After the vegetables were prepped, I mixed the miso, butter, and sugar in a little bowl.  

The miso butter all mixed up. 

I took the salmon out of the packaging, patted it dry and removed the bones. 

Then I put it on a plate and put a dollop of miso butter on each piece. There was miso butter left over, and that was fine. 

I used a table knife to spread the miso butter all over the salmon. 

Next, I poured the tablespoon of oil into a big skillet and added all of the vegetables. I sprinkled the vegetables with maybe 1/2 teaspoon each of slt and pepper.  

I cooked the vegetables over medium heat for 5 or 6 or 7 minutes until they began to go limp - especially the onions and cabbage. 

Then I stirred the vegetables and flattened them a bit and put the salmon, skin side down, on top. 

I dolloped the rest of the miso butter all around the vegetables and poured the sherry over all and put a lid on the skillet. 

When the liquid simmered, I turned the heat down (so there was nothing more vigorous than a simmer) and let it cook for about 10 minutes. When the fish flaked, the dish was done. 

If I had any scallions, I would have chopped one or two up for garnish. But I didn't.

Because I had two small pieces of salmon, I plated the meal in the kitchen: one dollop of rice (to mix with the vegetables), one piece of salmon, one pile of cooked vegetables. 

With sweet corn and salad and later on peach shortcake. 

The good news is this recipe can be made in the winter as well. 

Odds and Ends

Let me start with this little bit of amusement.

I need to get some rocks. Sometimes when I repot something it might be top heavy.  Without support it can fall over. I can help with a brick for large plants. But for plants like orchids the repotted plant might want to come right out of the new medium.

So you can cover some or all of the surfact with rocks. When roots have grown you remove the rocks.

I heard rocks were available from of all places Amazon. So I looked up rocks for sale. I have not gotten to the funny part. I ordered 20 pounds of rocks.

While checking out the webcite asked me if I wanted to pay an extra $3 for a protection plan. I laughed out loud.

So now it is time to close. It is still dark out. I sometimes ask you to pray for peace, or reconciliation.

So all I can say now is please let Kamala Harris win. There are so many reason. The Ukraine, personal privacy, medicaid, Obamacare, gay rights and the environment. Mostly I pray for the children and grandchildren everywhere.

And then there is, of course, the fact that the buffoon is CRAZY. We should not want that person in charge of anything. 

Do what you can in this last 9 days. We have already voted. 

Philip