Great Plant Combo from the Boerner Botanical in Milwaukee

A black stemmed elephant ear, a couple grasses, coleus, and gas plant; a great combo.

Everyone Needs a Good Laugh

Everyone needs a good laugh. John Branyan tells the story of the "Three Little Pigs". I believe the third little pig already has his own TV show and favorite phrase, "Gitter Done!"

Blueberry Scones

Sunday morning, coffee, and blueberry scones-- perfection.

Here's the recipe!

1 3/4 cup flour
2 1/4 t. baking powder
2 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/3 cup soft butter
2 eggs beaten
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (F). Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in butter. Mix eggs and cream separately. Add to dry ingredients. Add blueberries. Stir until flour is just moistened. Empty bowl onto lightly floured counter or pastry board and pat to 1/2" thick. Cut into diamond or triangle pattern. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes. Makes 12-15 scones.

My New Favorite Vegetable: Spaghetti Squash

Okay, I will confess. I am not a big squash eater. It just seems too much trouble. They are hard to cut in half. They take a long time to cook. Oh, I like summer squash in salads, and in stir fries, and just to chow on raw, but winter squash, that's a whole different vegetable.

This last summer, I grew spaghetti squash. My sister-in-law, a near vegan and needing a strict gluten-free diet, suggested it. Not for a minute did I believe the hype that it "tastes like pasta." And it doesn't. It tastes like a veggie, but a crunchy tasty one that is great with melted cheese and basil, so in effect you can use it like spaghetti.

My sister-in-law and I have also came up with quickie cooking method. We wash them, stick them with a knife making vent holes, and then microwave them whole for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then, we bake for approximately 15-20 minutes. This cuts the cooking time in less than half. Once cooked, they are easily cut in half. I can then scoop out the seeds and store it in the fridge, I can scoop/scratch out a serving at a time, top with cheese, and sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper. One squash is 4-5 servings.

Another way I've found to eat spaghetti squash is scooping out the insides and mix with two eggs and press into a pie dish, top with pizza sauce, cheese, and spices and cook like a deep dish pizza.

It is a productive squash and easy to grow. It stores well. Pick before your frost and wash with a 10% bleach solution. Be careful not to nick the squash with fingernails or tools when harvested. Dry for 10 days before storing in a root cellar or basement. Check for spoilage, regularly.

If you are looking for something different to grow this spring, try spaghetti squash.

Sweet Autumn Clematis

This is another of my favorite clematis. I trim it to about 18" from the ground each spring. It's a big show very quickly. It likes a bit of water. It takes full sun and needs something to scamper across.

Earthen Head: Extreme Gardening

My friend Sandie Mintz in Mississippi shared this head on FaceBook. It is so cool I had to share it here. I'm not sure what you would call this. It isn't topiary, but it has that feel, but it is a lot easier to keep watered. It is not just a planted design because of it's three-dimensional aspect. And while it has a couple mosaic features, the ear and eyes, it is not a true mosaic.

It is almost like a green man in that it is an earth spirit, or a giant of the earth. So cool is it, I am thinking of other anima that could be featured in a rounded mound, yet give the impression of a spirit of the earth arising from it. Whatever the feature you would choose it could be a one of a kind garden feature done on the cheap as long as it is well thought out.

(Identified as a head of Hegilan in Cornwall, UK.)

Poo Star Juniper: A Rant

Look closely. Those aren't juniper berries.

Last spring, after the heavy snows had melted and before the torrential spring rains could wash clean my garden beds of the multitude of collected debris of a very cold winter, I was livid.

Like an intricate puzzle, a layer of dog poo overlaid my perennial beds, the tops of low herbaceous perennials and shrubs, and even on top of my blue star junipers, azaleas, and deutzia.

Okay, I have a dog, Faithful Companion. But she is ALWAYS on a lease. She loves to run free and feel the air ruffle her soft, floppy ears and short, brown coat just like the next dog. Unlike most dogs, she would care less, unfortunately, if I yelled for her to come. She would be three counties away before she realized where she was and then she'd be lost.

There are leash laws for a reason. One of those reasons is dog owners need to clean up after their dogs. No deposits allowed.

After last winter, the amount of dog poo I picked up from my perennial beds was incredible. Yet, I really haven't wanted to confront the dogs' owner. (Two dogs, same owner.) I know the owner has a few anger issues, and it might make the situation even worse. And while I seldom shy from confrontation, these days and times, neither of us can just get up and move. Nor can I easily build a fence. I have a fence on one side of my yard, but alley on two side and height and other restrictions on the front side of my yard.

Actually, my fence was the first constructed in the village, built just ten years ago. But after last winter and the infringements of dogs on my space, I was attempting to come up with a way to effectively fence my entire yard without giving up valuable space to easements, right-of-ways, and roadway sight lines.

I couldn't come up with a good plan.

This fall I did take my peony cages and unstring them and staple them across my open arch at the front of my property. This one thing I think has cut poo in my beds down by maybe twenty percent. I also moved my metal garden chairs to block openings in my alley hedging over the winter; another small incremental improvement.

My village is really a village of dogs. I would say there are more ambulatory dogs than people. Nineteen percent of the village are residents over 65 years of age living alone, not sure how ambulatory they are. I don't see them. The village's population density is 536 people to a square mile. In just my block, there are 32 people, 18 dogs. On a daily basis, I see maybe 5-6 of my neighbors. I see 8-10 of their dogs.

This last fall when Faithful Companion was in heat, one of the male dogs tried to come through the door and window into my house. Literally, clawing at the window, and ramming the door with its body. My neighbor got a call, right away.

I told them in no uncertain terms to come get their dog and leash it. My son walked Faithful Companion with a broom for about a week, providing, in effect, an armed guard.

Now last night at a village board meeting, one of my other neighbors was complaining about the amount of dog poo on the library lawn. Not only the unleashed dogs, but dogs on retractable leashes being walked by their owners have been seen leaving poo just off the sidewalks. This is also a problem in my front yard. People like to walk our street, because of the number of attractive yards; yet quixotically, they allow their dogs to poo in those same yards while they stand and admire the variety of hosta, daylilies, or roses!

Now, I don't think there is any place in America looking quite as prosperous as they did just five years ago. A few more houses needing to be painted that aren't getting painted, a few more obviously vacant houses, and houses for rent and for sale. (When I bought my house in the village a dozen years ago, it was the first house I had seen with a for sale sign in the village-- ever.) Luckily, we have no boarded up real estate or gutted, foreclosed houses. A lot of my neighbors are working a lot more and earning less and spending less time and money on their homes. I see a bit more accumulation of debris around their sheds and garages that either is not accepted in county landfills or they have no way to get it there.

Maybe this rant belongs in the weekly newspaper rather than in my blog, but I think it is a problem in many places. I don't know if it is laziness or just a don't care attitude, but it is a small step. No, I am not so delusional thinking that if you pick up your dog's poo, the economy will improve. But it is a first step, maybe on a long path. We all need to care about the communities we live in and to stage them as well as we can. We need to look as prosperous as we can, so our homes are perceived as valuable and worthwhile places to live and grow. We need to care about our neighborhoods.

Undeveloped countries have villages with wild "village dogs". I hope this is not a trend coming soon to America.

More Garden Art

All from this previous summer's garden walks...if you are looking for ideas to accessorize your garden.

Mud Season - Extended

Hydrangea in winter...

What used to be 3-5 days in the spring when the ground wasn't quite unfrozen yet the snow certainly was melting creating a very soggy top few inches of mud seems to be the state of the winter weather here. This freeze and thaw cycle is probably not good for my perennials or the strawberries that seem to be sited in a small pond at the lowest point in my yard.

When the ground is suitably warm , to have spring rains pool in a spot where the more moisture will only make the berries bigger, is a good thing. To have same berries underwater or frozen in water, I don't think that can be a good thing.

Faithful Companion, my boxer, tip-toes about like she is a princess hopping over puddles and being all in favor of going the other way around the car rather than through the puddles and mud.

And while walking Faithful Companion, I came across the first visible tent caterpillar egg case. (A reminder to check your apple, cherry, and plum trees!)

And as nearly every garden blogger is lamenting, too many shades of brown! Bring on the colors! I need some green!


... hydrangea in summer.

Rattlesnake Master

Beautiful structural aspect, rattlesnake master takes a long time to establish in a garden. It sets seed each year that germinates for me, but does not seem viable. The plants grow well for a couple weeks and then diminish and eventually succumb.

Still not sure, other than that its a native, whether it has merit to grow in my garden.

Congratulation 'Little Fingers', You Passed!

'Little Fingers' carrots passed their germination test. They had a fairly even and good germination in just 11 days. I've read parsnip seed is only good for a year, but did not see the same information for carrots. As the carrot is in the same family and I have a lot of seed from last year, I thought I'd better give some the test, just to be sure. In garden soil with a host of a bit more uncontrollable germination conditions, using good seed is a basic first step.

I have a lot of seed left over because the family garden's soil did not get prepared as well as I would have like. Running out of time, I planted carrots only in the potager. As everyone likes carrots, this was a failing in our garden planting scheme I hope to correct this year.

I like to get the seed I will use lined up by about mid-March. I've already started seeing some see listed as sold out for the 2012 garden season.

A good garden starts with proper planning. Part of proper planning starts with picking good cultivars for my area.

You can perform this same test on seed about which you may be concerned. Place a minimum of 10 seeds in a piece of paper toweling, fold it up, wet it, press out the water and place in a Ziploc bag or Tupperware container. label and place in a warm location. Seventy percent or better is considered a successful and viable germination rate.