Things you can eat!!!!!

A beefsteak Tomato. I like these. however by the look of it I need to do some plant care!!!

A sweet Bell Pepper. I like the more exotic varieties but I at least know how to grow these!!

Peaches and cream corn. I have no love for corn at all, But this is just a fun thing to do in the garden this year. I have never grown corn so there is a first for every thing

sage is a favourite herb of mine

I rarely use Basil but what the heck!!!!!!!

Rosemary I love this in soups so well worth having

Lemon thyme, I have no idea what I will do with this but I guess it is a nice to have thing.

The notorious Mint!!!! I love mint but never will I allow it it to go free in the garden. However I think he looks great confined to a planter with a little garden stuff added.

Zuchini is my favorite veg. I just love it. So I planted three of them. I hope I have success with it.

I never planted vegetables in my gardens before so this year is a fun thing. What I did with the exception of the corn was to plant it all throughout the Gardens mixed in with other things. I think a lot of them make nice plants and I see already that most blend in nicely

My first rose blooms

A Chrysler Imperial, My first Hybrid- T of the year. This is my second favourite rose in my Garden.

The Explorer Rose Frontenac. These are just beautiful. The best part they require no winter protection, and very disease resistant. A must have in a Canadian or Northern Garden.

Annuals in the Garden

Gazania, same name in the common as well. There is a large variety of these out there in the market and all are beautiful. I find that less is more with these plants as they show better that way.

and another Gazania. I find that these are their most attractive just before the petals open up and are sort of like spikes

Begonia (Rex Begonia) These have always been one of my favourites. I love them and the yellow is my favourite of these.
I have a little story to tell about these. I grew one when I was 17 and gave the flower to my girl friend. I was all excited to do so. However being a guy, I kind of tossed it to her, she threw it back at me. No date that night, but long story short I did marry her in the end :)

Portulaga (Portulaga Sundial Peppermint). These are a favourite from the past. Every lady seemed to plant these at one time. They do not seem to have the popularity they once did and that is a shame. They love the sun and will tolerate being dry, but not dried out

Dahlia (Fiber Root Dahlia) These are wonderful in the garden if you have a small space and love Dahlias, They do not get very big and look just like the big tubular Begonias

Petunia, same in English. I am not a fan of these and I have to be kind to my neigbour as she always give me a few each spring. I always manage to find a place for them in my garden and I am always grateful for the gift.

Senecio cineraria (Dusty Miller) This is the perfect border plant if you just want a leaf border to enhance what ever is planted behind it. The biggest mistake with these is that people tend to plant them too far apart and thus looses some of the desired effect.

Rather long post to-day but I usually do not spend much time with the annuals here on the blog. To-marrow I will do a few eatables. Which is something new for me.

A Quote from Christ,, May 27 2010

“Yes I am with you always, until the very end of time”

I looked at my garden and I understand that there will be a day when it will be no more. I seen myself in the mirror and there is a time limit to my earthly self.  In the even bigger picture I seen the stars last night and they where proof of God, and I know that they to have a said allotment of time. Even the Galaxy has a life span. They say in about 5 billion years the Milky Way Galaxy will die because at that time the Andromeda Galaxy will swallow us up.
But Jesus said he will be with us till the end of time. The Experts say there is an end of time as we know it. However it is not the end of time as God knows it.

Cactus

These are some of my Cactus plants. I am a big fan of these guys. 

The Top one is a barrel Cactus close up, and it is extremely slow on the grow. This one is already 15 years of age, and still not very big.

 The next two are Prickly Pear Cactus and are Native to Canada and the United States. This variety comes from Mexico so he has to be brought in for the winter. There is a second Type in the pot as well. A little friendlier as his thorns are only a half cm long. The next picture is that of two more types in the same container, neither of which I know much about and they are wonderful on the patio. The second last one is that Barrel Cactus again but now you can see all of him. and the last one is of that big guy close up with a new pad just starting to grow.

Apple Rhubarb Pie, with fresh Rhubarb

 Ingredients

• 1 (9 inch) pie shell
• 6 apple - peeled, cored, and chopped
• 3 rhubarb, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons of maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons  corn starch

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220 o C (440 o F 
2. Combine apples, walnuts, maple syrup, and rhubarb in a large bowl. Mix together sugar, corn starch, and cinnamon in a small bowl, then sprinkle over fruit. Toss until fruit is thoroughly coated. Spoon mixture into pastry shell.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.  
4.  
5.  Okay, I was not allowed to take any pictures of the mess. So my Cook rules on such matters. So no real steps are shown here but just a few fun pics of the Rhubarb and how she served it. That Ice Milk was Walnut, and was it ever good. She refuses to use my stone wear stuff as she is afraid to mess it up. So It gets cooked in a foil pie shell and served in the stone wear !!!!! Nice anyway.
6.  
7. WARNING: The reason I am showing the leaves is that the Rhubarb is showing signs of RUST. Do not put these in your compost pile. What will happen is that the RUST will stay very alive in the compost and when you use the decomposed material you will spread it around. That is a certainty. The thing to do is get these leaves into a plastic grocery bag and remove them to the trash.
8. 
   
9. I got the Idea to post this from GardenerX as he had a recipe for Rhubarb Pie a few weeks ago from the UK, This is a Canadian one

Irises

A few pics of Water Irises in my pond. I just love these. The lower few are the bearded Irises,also in my garden. These types are my favouites of the summer flowers. There are a large variations in Irises, and many names for these. So I am just going to post as pictures to enjoy. I actually do not know the names of any of these shown

Just a cute pic of Asia

This is Asia, She acts like a Princess so she became one for a picture. Surprisingly she actually did not mind this one bit. I guess Tiaras and Asia are made for each other !!!! Being an Imperial Shih-tzu just comes naturally to K-9 Royalty !!!!!. Have a great day every one. Now to go out and cut the grass and water plants

Happy Birthday, Mary / A celebration of "Red" in Spring

Very first thing, Happy Birthday Mary. I hope you have a wonderful day and will be pampered.

This is Asia and she wishes you the best in the day as well. She told Terry S. that this had to be posted. And Terry S. told me I should!!!!!!!!! The Red Tag makes it legal !!!!!!

Now to celebrate the Spring that was in red

So Spring is all wrapped up for another year and looking forward to what Summer will bring. I promise lots of red to come. Happy Ruby Tuesday!!!!!