April 24, 2022- up and down week

This week started out cool. Actually it did not get above 50 degrees until Friday. That I suppose goes beyond just "starting out." There were 4 nights in a row with frosts or freezes. We can clearly declare that this is a "late spring." While the forsythia has started to bloom, no fruit trees are blooming and no red buds either.

Hellebores are a good temperature gauge. They will bend over even if it is only 31 degrees.

If there is an actual freeze, as we had early in the week, they are all the way to the ground.

Of course they then recover as the temperature warms.

That cold week turned rather quickly towards the end. Thursday was picture perfect, if a little chilly. (50 degrees). Friday it rained, for most of the day. But it warmed to 69 degrees officially. Saturday was the first hot day, both inside our old house and outside on my feet.

Actually yesterday was rather strange day. Katie and family were due to arrive at 9 o'clock. Imagine how early they had to get up to catch a plane to get to Iowa by 9. They even had a stop in Detroit. It was a rather tight connection. Perhaps you know where this is going. Their plane was late leaving Portland. They missed their connection in Detroit. The next plane was not until 4. Even that plane might not be on time. So they rented a van and drive the 400+ miles to Iowa. 

They arrived about 4:15. Everyone ran around for 30 minutes and then we had dinner.

Christopher was all excited that there was still some squill. I found this really nice clump still going. The squill blooms in the yard for almost a month as parts of the yard are several weeks behind or ahead of others.

Christopher wondered about the aconite which he remembered from March of last year. He also has some coming up in his yard in Maine. Mostly it seemed like he ran around the paths a lot.

So yesterday it got to close to 80 after almost two inches of rain in the previous three days.Everything is ready to explode in the garden. 

The bloodroot bloomed on Thursday, and continued through the end of the week.

I have one hybrid that actually has a little pink to it.

Here is the classic double.

This hybrid is not the double, but has many extra petals.

Here is the double we all have learned to love. I now have about 5 clumps spread around the garden. Maybe next year I will try potting some up. (The last time I tried that they all disappeared on me.)

I do love the combination of plants in the spring. Here you can see the many aconite flowers that are finished.

Another spring flower that made its first appearance in the last few days was the dog tooth violet, or trout lily or erythronium.

The one that blooms in the Iowa woods is white.

Several weeks ago the pink version appeared. This picture was taken yesterday. The leaves are distinctive.

The really amazing one that bloomed yesterday, as the heat arrived, was Erythronium americanum. This is a wildflower in some parts of the country. Northern Michigan is one such place.

I have two or three of these yellow ones. plants, I acquired maybe 10 years ago. They reliably show up every year. They do not particularly They are short. They would have to be planted someplace where the aconite was not established. They would be crowded out. 

Another plant that showed up was the windflower or anemone blanda. The blandas come in all colors, something I have found strange. The early morning sun light was just right on this flower.

The garden is busy. I love some of the combinations. Here the trillium is surrounded by squill and some bluebells around the base.

Speaking of trillium this is a lovely little one, from Joe Pye Weed Garden. That is the same place where I got my bloodroot.

Primroses are good.

Do you remember the name of this daffodil? Did you know it was a daffodil? It is Rip Van WInkle.

Julia's recipe

Red Cabbage with apple 

My grandmother made this now and again. Of course, she did not write anything down. I consulted several recipes and then just did what seemed right. I serve this with pork tenderloin and sweet potatoes and something with apples (applesauce or baked slices of peeled apple with a bit of sugar and butter) and some green vegetable for a sort of "occasion" dinner, although occasions are less frequent than they used to be. May it not always be so. 

The ingredients:

4 cups of thinly sliced red cabbage;

1/4 cup diced onion;

1 cup peeled, cored and diced apple;

1 tablespoon white sugar;

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar;

2 tablespoons butter;

1/2 teaspoon kosher (or regular) salt;

2 tablespoons water; and

a sprinkle of caraway seed if you like that sort of thing.

I prepped the cabbage by peeling off the outer leaves, cutting the head in half through the stem/core; halving each half again and then slicing the quarters into thin slices until I had 4 cups.

I peeled and diced the onion, and I peeled and cored the apple (by quartering it and then cutting out the seeds, etc). I cut each quarter in half and then sliced across. 

Then I melted the butter in a skillet. 

When the butter was hot (bubbling, not brown), I added the onions and cooked them for a few (maybe 4 or 5) minutes on medium heat. The onions should not brown.

When the onions were translucent, I added the apples and sugar and cooked these things for another 3 or 4 minutes. 

Then I added the cabbage. I added the salt, vinegar and water, stirred everything up and put a lid on the skillet. 

I turned the heat down and let the mixture cook until the cabbage had wilted. I don't remember how long that took. Maybe 15 minutes? The cabbage should be wilted but not mush.

At the end, I added about 1/2 teaspoon of caraway seed, because I kind of like caraway seed. If you don't, no problem. 

Here it is. I like the color. It also smells good and tastes good in a tangy, sweet and sour way. 

As I said, it is particularly good as a side to roasted pork. Philip thinks it would be good on toast, but he is always saying things would be good on toast. 

I suppose if one had leftover pork tenderloin and decided to make a sandwich, this cabbage would be a nice topping. 

Odds and Ends

With company arriving along with 80 degree weather, I threw many plants outside the last two days. There is a 31 degree night on Tuesday. It is to be cloudy. I will chance it. We actually now have room to walk in the extra bedroom in the basement. Which is good since Julia and I are using it for the next week.

I mentioned how busy the garden is at the moment. I sometimes just stop and look at one little area to see how many different plants are in that spot. Consider this picture.

How many plants can you spot?
There is the fritillaria meleagris, one of Julia's favorites.

There is the anemone blanda.

The emerging shoots are Korean Fairy Bells.

There is the aconite foliage.

Then there are the squill. Actually you can see the squill spouts. I have blown up that part of the picture here.

The seeds stay on the surface of the ground and sprout in the spring, while the parents are blooming. But the strange thing is how the seed then rides the sprouts up into the air.

I do not know of another plant that does that.

I think that will do it for this week.

I will have grandchildren pictures next week.

I suspect that much more will happen this coming week in the garden.

Pray for peace. 

Philip