by angela@diggingbliss | Jan 30, 2009 | Uncategorized
Domino magazine has folded. While I was never a subscriber, I really enjoyed reading The Germinatrix, Domino’s online garden blog written by Ivette Soler. It was fresh, funny, plant-related and had photos. What’s not to love?
It’s not surprising to me that printed media is being replaced by digital media, but I’m a little surprised that Domino didn’t try to make a go of it online. Perhaps their publishing company has other online mags they want to focus on…
The good news is that Ivette will reportedly have her new website, thegerminatrix.com, up in about a month. And she’s a landscape designer, right? So she still has her day job. Anyone who can say that these days is lucky.
by angela@diggingbliss | Jan 26, 2009 | Uncategorized
Hey, all you avid, avid gardeners…
Farmer Fred reminded me that the NORCAL Horticultural Trade Show— which he says is “free…except for parking and the time & money to drive there…”– is this Thursday in San Mateo.
Go… drool… dream… see what your nurseries are going to be carrying this Spring… and be sure to take pics.
by angela@diggingbliss | Jan 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
Did you know Strybing Arboretum has a podcast? I didn’t, until just now when I got their newsletter. I’ll give it a listen. If it’s a video podcast, then just pinch me… but it’s probably audio.
by angela@diggingbliss | Jan 14, 2009 | Uncategorized
Haven’t done a dot of gardening lately. It’s cold. It’s wet. The dominant color in my garden is brown, excepting those evil little green baby weeds in the backyard beds and walkways.
I suppose I should hula hoe them… and prune my roses, and yet…
It may take awhile for something or someone to pull me out of this gardening funk. Right now I am uninspired and yet… restless. Luckily, the garden doesn’t really need me right now. My houseplants do, though, so I continue to water my orchids and my new Stapelia cuttings and the cute little carnivorous plant a friend gave me.
Too bad that little meat eater hasn’t gobbled up all the ants that are wintering in my orchids. I’m not fanatical about poison, so the most they have to put up with at the moment is an occasional surprise monsoon from my kitchen sprayer. I keep meaning to buy some ant bait.
I do have a few photos to share from a recent trip to the newly greenified Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Any place that checks you for butterfies on the way out of the elevator is cool in my book.
Take the Academy’s advice to visit mid-week in the afternoon to avoid crowds. Planetarium and 3-D bug movie tickets are first come, first served.
4-story rainforest, which felt like being in a human terrarium. Dress accordingly.
5 butterflies
weirderrific plants…
Just your everyday albino alligator…
At the moment, I must scrounge up something edible for two unexpected guitar-wielding, teenage dinner guests. It’s Finals Week, the kids get out early all week, and my son has friends over. Par… tay! Oops, I mean high school U.S. History finals rock!
I would have been frantically cramming all night back in the day. My son is a genius slacker. Slacker genius? Anyway, he almost never studies, which both frightens and impresses me.
To the new year… a new season… new life bursting forth from tight, dormant buds. Oh, and a new president! Can’t wait to see what kind of rose is named after him. I bet they’ll call it the ‘Hope’ rose. It better not be a bush rose. Make it a bicolor grandiflora or a hybrid tea, please.
by angela@diggingbliss | Dec 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
by angela@diggingbliss | Dec 10, 2008 | Uncategorized
This is the cedar cat house kit I ordered online for my outdoor cat, Emily. She’s an outdoor cat because she sprays and doesn’t get along with our 19.5-year-old indoor cat, Bud. Emily does fine outside, though. She rolls around in the dirt, supplements her PetSmart diet with a bit of hunting, and knows her way around the culdesac. The neighborhood cats know this is Emily’s place.
Still, I’ll sleep better at night knowing she has a warm house to come home to. Carmichael gets cold in winter.
The kit I bought was pre-built, then disassembled, then shipped to me so I could whine and cuss and reassemble the thing. I was having a hard time with the square-holed screws (WTF? Not flat-head? Not Phillips-head?) UNTIL I discovered the custom drill bit included in the bag with the screws. My bad. Took me a lot longer than the projected 15 minutes, but I did it all by myself! I am woman, hear me grunt, curse and whine!
This is actually a semi-enclosed front patio area. A hopseed hedge conceals Emily’s house from the street.
Emily’s temporary housing, clearly judged to be inadequate.
Emily’s first walk-through.
Emily’s imagining living here.
I think she likes it, but she seems to be saying, “Hey, this pad’s supposed to be heated. You better get crackin’ on that, Angela.”
by angela@diggingbliss | Dec 10, 2008 | Uncategorized
Yay, my tree dahlias bloomed before they froze! The open buds pictured below, which were looking happy on the day I took these pics, are fairly withered this morning. Today’s remaining unopened buds look like they could still open. Judging from the frosty feeling outside this morning, I’m not betting on that.
The lighting wasn’t great when I shot these pics, but I couldn’t really sit around all day waiting for better light.
My tree dahlias are so tall that turning on my flash didn’t help much.
Lower leaves look a little funky. A fussier person than I would probably get on a ladder and remove them.
by angela@diggingbliss | Nov 27, 2008 | Uncategorized
After seeing Cheryl’s bloom in person, ebay called out to me. For $9.99 plus shipping, here’s what I got. I hope to be able to share stem sections as the plant matures. This highly-rated ebay seller also offers lots of epi varieties. http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/mattslandscape
Ebay description:
GIANT STAPELIAD – Has 10″+ diameter blooms, likes simular soil mix as Epis-kinda rich it likes fertilizer in warm months, little or no fert in cold months. Blooms from July to Nov. and occassionally at other times (in my climate,bloom times maybe longer shorter depending on your location). Like most Stapelias it has a pungent smell the first day the blooms open to attract insects to reproduce itself, but mainly its only the first day open. The blooms are huge and look like 5″ balloons before opening. Easy to root and grow, just change the soil in spring if you want lots of blooms and fertilize when you fertilize your other plants, not a picky plant likes alot of water too except Dec to feb when its resting or semi-dormant, just dont let it go completely dry. The pictures below shows one close up and a full shot to show how it grows, its in a large 24″ opening basket to give you an idea of scale/size. The stems can grow even longer but they interfere with other plants i may have beneath it so i cut them off, new shoots emerge laterally from the main stem,self branching and self duplicating but if you want alot give it some help and you will have even more. Almost too easy to grow, doesnt really need maturity to bloom only fert and rootbound helps so many plants in one basket is best. One thing that can kill it- cannot go below freezing! Other than that its foolproof! Really easy to grow. If you remove some early developing buds on each stem leaving only one you can get 12″ + blooms too!
This auction is for 1 large branch 10″+ Long of GIANT STAPELIAD with at least 3 + stems attached ,all the stems if separated can be rooted, but this will be sent as a big piece. GIANT STAPELIAD Is an easy to grow Stapelia that grows and roots very easy and is a reliable bloomer every season.
Buyer pays $5.95 s/h to the lower 48 states, i’am willing to ship to more areas but additional shipping cost may apply. After first auction shipping is actual cost via U.S.P.S. Priority mail, just let me know when your ready and i’ll combine all for you.
Please e-mail me if you have any questions
THANKS FOR LOOKING AND HAPPY STAPELIAD & EPI GROWING!
by angela@diggingbliss | Nov 27, 2008 | Uncategorized
Lots to be thankful for. Like Obama. And tree dahlias opening before the first frost. And family and friends. And food!
Before I embark on a new stuffing recipe (see below) that I’m bringing to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner at 3:00 p.m. Lynch time (a rather nebulous concept of time), I wanted to share a few pics I just snapped in the yard.
Today is misty and overcast, with lots of dew. The moment you step out back, it feels like you’re getting a fancy facial. Or, what I imagine a fancy facial to feel like should I ever get one.
I also wanted to share a link to Anne Lamott’s Thanksgiving piece in Salon. I was wondering when we’d hear from her after this oh, so nerve-jangling election and was pleasantly surprised to come across this in my feed reader in box.
Way high up in the sky… my tree dahlia’s beginning to bloom.
My cigar plant guarantees hummingbirds will visit my garden today. I feel better knowing they’re well fed.
Valley oak leaves resting on an Acanthus leaf.
Oak leaves often pile up on my Cordyline plants this time of year.
Salvia leucantha and Tibouchina urvilleana going purple-crazy in my garden right now.
Where’s the bird bath?
Oh, yeah… my stuffing recipe. Fine Cooking has this really fun, interactive Create Your Own Recipe feature where you pick your own ingredients.
Here’s what I concocted:
Bread Stuffing, Just the Way You Like It
My Recipe: Sausage, Pine Nut and Sage Stuffing
Serves eight to ten
ingredients
16 oz. French bread
1/2 lb. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 Tbs. chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup chopped fresh, flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
2-1/2 cups low-salt turkey or chicken broth (homemade or canned)
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 tsp kosher salt; more as needed
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter (optional)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
vegetable oil or cooking spray, for baking dish
instructions
Tear or cut the bread into 3/4-inch pieces until you have 8 to 10 cups. If working a day ahead, lay the pieces out on a rack and leave them uncovered on the counter to dry overnight. Otherwise, spread the bread out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake in a 275° F oven, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until it is crisp and mostly dry; it will continue to dry a bit as it cools. Depending on how moist the bread is to begin with, oven-drying takes 15 to 45 minutes.
In a large skillet, cook sweet Italian sausage over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until browned and fully cooked. Add the garlic, celery, and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re slightly softened but still have some crunch. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in pine nuts.
Add the bread to the large mixing bowl, along with the sage, flat-leaf parsley, and lemon zest, and toss well. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour 1-1/2 cups of the broth, plus the wine, over the stuffing. If the liquid isn’t immediately absorbed and pools at the bottom of the bowl, you have enough; just toss the mixture occasionally for a few minutes until the liquid is absorbed. At first, the bread cubes may feel wet on the outside and still be dry on the inside, but they’ll even out as the stuffing cooks. If the bread immediately sucks up the initial 2 cups of liquid, add another 1/2 cup of broth and taste the mixture. The bread should be moist but not soggy. Add up to another 1/2 cup of broth if necessary.
Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper as needed. If the mixture doesn’t taste as rich as you’d like, add enough melted unsalted butter to suit your taste. Once you’re satisfied with the flavor of the mixture, stir in the beaten eggs.
by angela@diggingbliss | Nov 25, 2008 | Uncategorized
is always colorful. In between trying to attract some particular bird visitor with a tub of Birdacious Bark Butter, knocking over a cement egret (or whatever that thing is), and making sure Phoebe the dog didn’t literally bowl me over with canine enthusiasm, Cheryl walked the yard with me to scout for blooms and other camera-worthy slices of the garden.
Here are just a few. The big deal that got me out of the house on this lazy Sunday was the fact that the Stapelia her daughter gave her was in bloom for the first time. That, alone, made it worth getting out of my pajamas. I had to see that thing in the flesh. Oh, and it was nice seeing Cheryl too. 😉
It may look like she’s strangling that bird, but she’s actually trying to keep it from falling over. I think.
11 inches!
Carrion Plant (Stapelia gigantea)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapelia_gigantea
I was hoping for a hint of its reported “rotting meat” scent and maybe a few flies, but it didn’t smell like anything. I’ll bet if we get a warm day, though, Cheryl might end up moving that beauty off the front porch.
