There’s a funny typo on the Wayside Gardens website. Catch it while you can, because I’m sure someone will correct it soon.
Mmmmm…. I think I’ll take 10 purple Saliva plants. Where should I plant purple Saliva? Does purple Saliva have a scent to it? Can purple Saliva tolerate drought? A garden can’t have enough purple Saliva, don’t you agree?
Yes, I know I need to straighten and top off my birdbath and yes, I know there’s a weed in the lower left-hand corner of the photo. Too lazy at the moment to do anything about it. Must procrastinate.
I am loving ‘New Blue’ agapanthus. Its pale pinky blue florets are huge and quite elegant looking. Nothing psychologically cools down a hot August garden like a water feature and light blue agapanthus.
Here’s a description from Monterey Bay Nursery: ‘New Blue’ — flowers — the notable feature of this variety is its very large flower size, to over 3″ across. In addition, each flower displays a central blue stripe against lighter blue edges, sometimes with a defining dark marginal stripe on each side as well. Many other varieties also have this feature, which can be seen if you look closely, but in ‘New Blue’ it is obvious and distinctive because of the unusual flower size.The only drawback is that the flower clusters don’t have that high a bud count. Evergreen to semideciduous, based on how much cold it gets, and frost hardy, with rich, medium blue flowers of intermediate height. Often blooms in mid to late summer, though I have seen waves of bloom in early spring as well, and it can continue to bloom until fall. Foliage is notably thin and grassy, habit is quite compact. rev 8/2006
Asteriffic!
This hot pink sedum from POW Nursery has been in the ground for a few years. It will likely turn to mush this winter and then spring miraculously from the ground in late winter or early spring. The Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) behind the birdbath was also decimated last winter. I really didn’t think it would come back because I saw no signs of life well after other plants had rebounded. It surprised me and now I’m looking forward to its fuzzy purple fall flowers.
Finally, my attempt to conceal butt ugly irrigation valves was a success. I get to look at coleus instead of plastic and wires… till the coleus freezes, anyway.
Delicious.
Ingredients
4 medium size tomatoes
1 clove garlic
2 Anaheim peppers, seeds scraped
1 onion… oops, I’m out of onions
I’m making another batch today and will add lime juice (from my lime tree!).
Should I be adding salt? Hmmm….
I made use of a couple of slightly overgrown ‘Gold Rush’ yellow zucchini. Yum.
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups shredded zucchini (12 ounces)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through baking soda) in a large bowl.
Combine egg substitute and next 4 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl; add sugar, stirring until combined. Add zucchini; stir until well combined. Add flour mixture; stir just until combined. Stir in walnuts.
Divide batter evenly between 2 (8 x 4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
Yield
2 loaves, 12 servings per loaf (serving size: 1 slice)
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 150(26% from fat); FAT 4.3g (sat 0.4g,mono 2g,poly 1.6g); PROTEIN 2.7g; CHOLESTEROL 9mg; CALCIUM 21mg; SODIUM 96mg; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 25.3g
1 slice (1/12 of loaf) = 3 Weight Watchers Points
Lorraine Warren , Cooking Light, JULY 2005
There’s also a great-looking recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake over at Kitchen Gardeners International.
‘Anaheim’ pepper, ‘Lemon Boy’, ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Early Girl’ tomatoes, and ‘Gold Rush’ Zucchini
Ok, I’ve printed a zucchini bread recipe for my next trip to Raley’s and need to check my blog archives for salsa recipes. It’s harvest time…
Oh, and I need to make pesto.
Ok, so I played a fun game on Monrovia’s website called What’s Your Style, where they tell you what kind of garden style you should have based on a brief personality profile. Unfortunately, they got me completely wrong. According to my answers, I would be happiest with a Zen Garden Style. The accompanying photos show a typical Japanese garden and the recommended plants are, not surprisingly, things like Japanese maple, Mugo pine, bamboo (eek!), and Japanese painted fern.
I’ve been to well-known public Japanese gardens in San Jose, San Francisco and Portland and each time thought, “Wow, this is really beautiful. This is really, um… Zen. This looks like a lot of work.” While I can appreciate the beauty and discipline and peacefulness of a Japanese garden, it’s just too damned coiffed. I’d be happy if I had enough discipline to rake a comb through my hair every day, let alone rake my rock garden. Also, I’m not Asian. Why should I feel an affinity with Japanese cultural and religious symbols when I’m a pasty, mostly-Irish girl?
And my Monrovia-recommended plant palette? Well, it’s mostly a bunch of Japanese plants! I could never, ever, ever restrict myself to such a narrow palette. Boring. I’m a typical haphazard plant collector who brings home plants in ones and threes and fives that I fall in love with first and worry about where the hell I’m going to put them later. If you had to put a label on my garden style, I suppose you’d call it “California Eclectic”. Or “California Eccentric”. Or “California Artistic”. Or “California Mediterranean Artistic”. How about “Artistic Califoranean”? “Eclectifornia Style”? “Artistic Subtropifornia Style”? My horticulturally conservative neighbors probably call it “Dirty, Lazy Hippie”. Whatev… They’re just lucky I haven’t splurged on one of those spectacular kinetic sculptures by Andrew Carson I see every year at the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show. Man, I want one. For my front yard.
When it comes to plants, I’m like Donny and Marie… a little bit country… a little bit rock-n-roll… with a little bit o’ Motown in my soul. Actually, my musical tastes lean toward a typical AAA format, but the Donny and Marie thing just popped into my head… which it will probably do from time to time for the rest of my life thanks to television. My point is… I like a lot of plants and a lot of garden styles but can’t really be assigned to a particular garden style. It might have helped if Monrovia asked me where I live. Knowing that I live in northern California, USDA Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 14… might have hinted at phormiums and lavender and cannas and roses and natives and edibles and…
So, what’s your Garden Style? Will Monrovia get you right or wrong?
Ok, so I played a fun game on Monrovia’s website where they tell you what kind of garden style you should have based on a brief personality profile. Unfortunately, they got me completely wrong. According to my answers, I would be happiest with a Zen Garden Style. The accompanying photos show a typical Japanese garden and the recommended plants are, not surprisingly, things like Japanese maple, Mugo pine, bamboo (eek!), and Japanese painted fern.
I’ve been to well-known public Japanese gardens in San Jose, San Francisco and Portland and each time thought, “Wow, this is really cool. This is really, um… Zen. It’s pretty, but I would never want a garden like this.” While I can appreciate the beauty and discipline and peacefulness of a Japanese garden, it’s just too damned perfect. I’d be happy if I had enough discipline to comb my hair every day, let alone my
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, September 1, 2007
Story appeared in unknown section, Page CALIFORNIA LIFE3
Farmer Fred… Lance Walheim… Rosalind Creasy… Robert Kourik… need I say more?
http://groups.ucanr.org/sactomg/symposium/
Saturday, October 13, 2007
|
Symposium location:
Questions? |
In a previous post, I said I’d report back on ‘Heatwave’ tomato and here’s my conclusion– with this summer’s late fruit onset (was it me? was it the weather?), ‘Heatwave’ was my best producer.
Yes, it stood up to Sacramento heat. Fruits are fairly large, round, bright red, and very meaty. These are not pulpy tomatoes that, when sliced, turn your sandwich bread into gross pink wet glop. Compared to other varieties I’ve grown, ‘Heatwave’ feels firmer than usual when ripe. They also seem to last well on the counter when picked a little on the firm side.
Don’t get me wrong. I like me a wet, pulpy tomato… just not between two slices of bread. A soft, juicy heirloom seems more at home on a plate with mozzarella and olive oil or in a salad.
And the flavor? Drum roll, please… I pronounce ‘Heatwave’ flavor to be… decent. It reminds me of ‘Early Girl’, which I dubbed ‘Late Girl’ this year. ‘Heatwave’ won’t rock your world… nor will it break your heart. There’s something to be said for that.
I’ll try to remember to post a pic.
