This time of year, there is so much beauty to discover in a walk through the garden...
Lovely pinks and peaches, David Austin roses.
A few for the house....in a vintage aqua jar.
And the sweet baby pinks that are so delightful spring through June.
Enjoy and Happy Summer days!
Sandy
Thanks to a Fanciful Twist for inviting me to tea~!
Alice was wandering on her own one day. She came across a large black hat. She fancied hats, so she put it on. I wonder who it belongs to, she thought....
She found a book while walking in the meadow, and sat down to read it. It proved to be quite delightful!
It seemed the world around her became more colorful as she read...
And things became more magical. Alice was suddenly not aware of her loneliness or what she had planned for the day, for she was so involved in this story...
She read of a Mad Hatter, a rabbit, a Queen of Hearts, and many other curious strangers.
And just when she was not expecting it, the Mad Hatter came along and requested his hat. She gave it to him, and thanked him, for somehow she thought the hat had lead her to a most magical afternoon with a book about Wonderland that seemed to include her, a girl named Alice.
He invited her to a tea party. He said it might be a bit mad, but that she was invited.
The Mad Hatter wandered through the garden, to the tea party....
And observed a wonderful feast of treats and teas among the flowers.
The Queen of Hearts arrived just in time....although no one was sure she was invited...
The Hatter seemed to enjoy the tea...by candlelight with sweet treats.
They wondered why a raven is like a writing desk, and why Alice was late for the tea party.
Some said she might still be reading that book, Alice in Wonderland.....hmmmmm...
Well, sadly the Hatter had to be off too soon, and off he went, looking perhaps for Alice, and to get a glimpse of that Wonderland story. The March Hare was nearby.
The Queen of Hearts was sorry to see the party end so soon, but dusk was upon them and there was still a sign of friends, perhaps memories of them, or perhaps not.
Wonderland and the tea party were still magical and soon Alice would arrive, she was sure of it.
Sometimes the life of a gardener can be a constant struggle. After spending money, digging holes, pulling weeds, planting, hoping, waiting, getting rewarded by the first lovely blooms of spring, dreaming, planning, picking bouquets, watering, fertilizing, and researching, there suddenly seem to be wild rabbits running a muck, suspicious gopher piles showing up in the least desirable places, funny looking brown edges on once flawlessly beautiful roses, and then the biggest dread of all: Worms! Or, I should say, caterpillars. When they are very tiny, they appear to be little green worms, hardly visible on green leaves (sneaky critters), but as they grow they suddenly turn to large green caterpillars who seem to have the uncanny ability to eat through an entire rose bush worth of green healthy glossy leaves in no time. Then one day you come to realize that these little devils are not just on one plant (which happens to be your favorite new David Austin by the way), but ALL of your rose bushes in the entire garden. And not only that, but they are multiplying faster than those wild bunnies, and spreading like a California wildfire!
So once getting over the shock of this unexpected attack on my outdoor sanctuary, I proceeded to wage my own war. With gloves, eyeglasses (with which to see the little devils), and a bucket in hand, I patiently investigated each bush, looking under leaves, searching for clues, and picked off hundreds of caterpillars and stripped off way too many leaves that were far beyond repair. You know how time flies when you're having fun? Well this was one of those times; I was actually enjoying myself (go figure). I felt a sudden surge of satisfaction in a sort of "so there" kind of way. I came back into the house after an hour and a half of this activity and felt like I actually had some control over the situation, that I could sit back, relax and give the roses a little time to re cooperate. Surely in a few weeks' time I would once again be gazing at my darling little sweetly scented blossoms just waiting to take center stage in a vase. WRONG! As it turns out, these little green monsters are the most destructive, fastest reproducing pests I've ever seen. And you thought gophers were bad! The next line of defense was spray. I tried it one warm evening, and I felt good to know that, even though that was the last resort, I still had a chance at some hope for the last month or two left of the rose season. To my surprise, each day that I go out into the garden to investigate, I find more. More, more, more! These caterpillars must congregate in the middle of the night, planning and scheming a way to fight back with such great force that I begin to feel like I'm in a bad dream, and that it's absolutely impossible to keep up with these guys.
So, the lavender. In a different area of my garden, several new lavender plants are growing fast and strong, and blooming like crazy with the most wonderful fragrance and attracting lots of honeybees. That makes me happy. Very happy. So I abandon my once-favorite place to sit and dream among the pinks and corals of the roses, taking in their evening scent as I read, putter, and sip my wine, to the other area of the garden where the lavender grows, fills my soul and makes me dream. The buzzing bees are relaxing, the evening sun is warm, and the scent is lovely. I try to forget the frustrations I feel about the lack of rose blooms and the stripped-off leaves leaving my once perfect bushes looking naked like a bare root. For now, I'll just have to stay with the lavender plants. They are behaving nicely.
My garden is overflowing with blooming Lavender right now. With so much abundance, I thought it would be fun to try to use some of it for making lemonade. I got the idea here. It's an unusual version of traditional lemonade, with a nice scent!
The fun surprise is that the lavender turns the lemonade pink. A pretty and refreshing cold drink for a hot summer day.
Lavender Lemonade
from Happy Valley Lavender and Herb Farm
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh or 1 tablespoon dried lavender blooms
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained
ice cubes
Lavender sprigs for garnish
1. Combine sugar with 2 1/2 cups water in a medium pan. Bring to a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
2. Add the lavender blooms to the sugar water, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand at least 20 minutes.
3. Strain mixture and discard lavender. Pour infusion into a glass pitcher. Add lemon juice and another 2 1/2 cups water. Stir well.
There's something that happens every year about this time. I find myself grabbing my camera and heading out into the garden to photograph these beauties! The thing I love most about these roses (Abraham Darby) besides the old fashioned thick petaled, sweet smelling blooms, is the incredible color. The blossoms look different depending on the light, so from morning shade to evening sunset, the display is ever-changing and simply stunning.
How could such a feminine rose be named after a man? If you would like to order one for yourself, next bare-root season, look here. Although if you're lucky you'll find one in your local nursery.
Sometimes you just want an easy dinner with lots of great flavor without spending alot of time. This pasta dish makes a nice, light, but very filling dinner. And it seems just right for spring. It is easy and fast to prepare. It would be great when you have fresh green beans from the garden.
What gives this pasta dish a special flavor is the lemon zest. It just makes it taste fresh and bright and delicious! You know, that Giada, who I got this recipe from, is always using lemon zest...I'm starting to think she has something there.
If you can find them, use Meyer lemons. They are amazingly more flavorful than regular lemons. I get them at my local produce stand, and although they are expensive, the difference they make is well worth it. I'm going to make this one again, when my cherry tomatoes are ready to harvest!
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 lemon, zested
Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl and add the ricotta cheese. Toss to combine.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the green beans, garlic, salt, and pepper and saute for 4 minutes. Add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and continue cooking until tender, about 4 more minutes. Add the pasta with ricotta to the pan with the green beans and toss to combine. Add the tomatoes and gently toss. Transfer to a serving plate and top with lemon zest. Serve.
Recently my sister showed up at my door with a huge bag of beautiful ruby red grapefruits. We enjoyed them freshly sliced with breakfast, I tried juicing some, a little too tart...and then I happened to catch a foodnetwork episode of Giada De Laurentis making a lovely looking halibut recipe with a fresh grapefruit, fennel and olive salsa. It is a yummy combination of flavors, and tastes ever so healthy and light.
Somewhere under there is the halibut, which I guess was a little bit too small of a piece for the abundance of salsa. I still have not perfected the cutting of grapefruit segments, or any citrus for that matter. It turned out to be a nice way to use up some of the grapefruits!
I used to be afraid of Gourmet Magazine, a little intimidated I guess you'd say. All those exotic recipes and long lists of ingredients. When it comes to magazines and trying out recipes, I'm a Bon Appetit kind of gal, but I recently received a gift subscription to Gourmet, so I decided what the heck and for the first time I tried one of the recipes in the May 09 issue. Let me tell you people, at first glance I thought it looked like a pretty simple, straight forward kind of soup, with a little bit of an odd combination of ingredients (zucchini, edamame, and swiss chard for example)....but as I made this soup I soon realized it isn't difficult at all, it just time consuming as heck!
So although I had made an attempt to start dinner early, a little after 4....after chopping and chopping, and then making the "Pistou", which I guess is a French Provencal version of pesto, in the food processor (thank goodness), I took a break with a glass of wine before serving dinner at 7:30! In the end my daughter and I agreed it was not our usual kind of soup, but it was very good and like the magazine described it "bright and intense tasting." It's not the prettiest soup, but it's very satisfying and delicious. I'm not sure I'd make it again however, unless I make part of it the day before, or I get my hands on a sous chef.
p.s. the little blob on top is the Pistou, a yummy combination of basil, roasted tomato,parsley,garlic,olive oil, and Gruyere cheese.
Well, day by day the big yellow shrub rose I have is filling up with more buds ready to burst, and now they are all coming open in great bursts of sunshine. I'm not one for yellow, as a color in general, and certainly not much in flowers, but over the years I have come to admire one or two yellow roses. One is this one: "Graham Thomas" as you see in my photo. It is a pretty old fashioned rose, and amazed me how big the bush grew in a short amount of time. It has a beautiful fragrance. The bloom is prettiest when it first opens, and gets pale a little too fast, but I cut them for the vase while they are still in that glorious rich gold/amber stage. Another yellow that appeals to me is "Golden Celebration" , similar to GT.
Oh, and I've been looking in the books, getting all lost in a dream world where I keep finding more roses I'd like to try but I have run out of room and will need to expand the garden before trying out some of these beauties. Oooooo..."Jayne Austin" looks so lovely, a pastel yellow tinged with apricot, so it has a rich color and doesn't look to have that pale yellow hue that leaves me cold. Also, the "Alchemist" (climber), looks incredibly gorgeous,(It looks better in some other pictures I've seen) I've wanted this one for years, but sorry to say it blooms only once each season. Still, it may be worth that one shower of glory every spring, with it's yellow/orange/pink color!
More Graham Thomas:
I was so thrilled on Mother's Day when I found that just about every
rose in my garden was in bloom! It was the most beautiful evening for
wandering, picking roses to make this lovely bouquet, just for me.
It happens every year early in MAY, the roses are at their first
peak of bloom here in my California garden.
I just love the lushness of the big floppy blooms,
mmm..it smells heavenly!
