Happy Holidays!

Swedish Cardamom Coffeecake

FOR DOUGH:

1 1/4 cups warm water (105 degrees F)

3/4 stick (6 T) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

6 T granulated sugar

Two 1/4-oz. packages active dry yeast (5 T total)

3 large eggs beaten lightly

1 1/2 t salt

1/4 cup powdered nonfat dry milk

5 -6 cups all-purpose flour

FOR INSIDE:

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 T ground cinnamon

3 T cardamom seeds, (ground in a mortar with a pestle or in an electric spice/coffee grinder)  or ground cardamom from the store if fresh isn’t available

Make an egg wash by beating 1 large egg with 2 T water

MAKE DOUGH:

In a large bowl combine water, butter and sugar. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand 5 minutes, or until foamy. Then, stir in eggs, salt and dry milk until combined. With a wooden spoon, stir in 5 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, and stir mixture until a dough is formed.

On a floured surface, knead dough about 10 minutes, adding enough of the remaining 1 cup flour to make dough smooth and elastic. Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat and let rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk. About 1 hour.

Punch down dough and on floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll into a 15-by-20 inch rectangle. (or make two smaller ones) Spread butter over dough and sprinkle with granulated sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. 

Roll the dough lengthwise to make a log. Beginning at the top of the log, use clean kitchen scissors and snip about 3/4 of the way into the log every inch. Begin at the top of the log to ‘open  out’ each snipped piece, laying each piece to the left, then to the right. It will almost look braided on the cookie sheet.

Let braid rise on a buttered cookie sheet in a warm place until increased 1 1/2 times in bulk, about 1 hour.

While braid is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush top with egg wash and sprinkle generously with sugar. Bake in middle of oven until top is a pale golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Makes 1 large coffeecake or 2 smaller ones.

—recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine and my grandmother, Esther Randstrom

November colors

The colors are so perfect at this time of year. Actually, this was taken over a week ago at the Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve near my house. The light brings out those dusky chocolate and maroon colors that contrast with bleached tan grasses. No mountain or ocean is more inspiring than the autumn grasses of the Midwest. Excuse my bias.

~Susan

Thanks to the Great Pumpkin

Here is a tasty Pumpkin Bread recipe that my family has enjoyed for years. This one calls for canned pumpkin but I’m sure that you could substitute fresh if you have it at this time of year.

3 1/3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

3 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 cup oil

4 eggs

2/3 cup water

2 cups canned pumpkin

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

      Grease and flour pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1.  Sift dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl.

2.  Make a well in dry ingredients, then add all remaining ingredients.

3.  Mix until smooth and add nuts, if desired.

4.  Divide batter into 4 miniature loaf pans or 2 large loaf pans; fill pan 2/3.

5.  Bake at 350 degrees for approx. one hour. Insert toothpick. Remove loaf if it comes out clean.

6.  Cool slightly in pan.

7.  Turn onto rack to finish cooling.

8.  Wrap in foil and store in refrigerator.

So easy... wrap up a mini-loaf and share with a neighbor.

—Thanks to www.MixItandStixIt.com for the Halloween bat!

A new green website

Try out the new GoGreenOnline.com website. It is full of practical ways to be a good caretaker for our changing environment. Through the use of interactive games, quizzes and advice, this site will give you ways to go green one step at a time—without stress! 

Smiley-faced tomato?

Is that a jack-o-lantern tomato, or what? This follow-up photo is from the woman who harvested the first tomato of the season on our blog. She outdid us again!

Virtual fall color

See the fall colors change in Maine through Montana without leaving your chair. 

Live webcams show you minute by minute leaf changing at these areas listed below:

Acadia National Park, Maine- 2 cameras

Glacier National Park, Montana- 6 cameras

Pennsylvania foliage- 4 cameras

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky- 1 camera

Indiana Leaf cams-5 cameras

EarthCam Fall Foliage Cams- 100s of cameras nationwide

Good local book

I have started to read the new book, ‘Chicago Gardens: The Early History’ by Cathy Jean Maloney and published by The University of Chicago Press. 

What a great resource for information on the Chicago area’s first gardeners. It is filled with vintage photographs, line drawings of garden plans and colorful art from seed catalogs and flower shows. This well-organized book is an easy way to absorb our great horticultural heritage. 

The author is a senior editor at Chicagoland Gardening magazine. She knows her stuff!

Sound and motion

I loved listening to those grasses on my last trip up to Wisconsin. We would stop and pull over onto the side of any country road and immerse ourselves in the sounds of the wind blowing through the reeds. 

At first, it was so quiet out there but soon, I realized, that it was really noisy with the rustling of the grasses, the crickets, the birds and the occasional car that would roar by. We had more than one puzzle-faced farmer look at us taking pictures of ‘nothing’.

—Susan

Enough already!

That sounds close to blasphemy coming from a gardener. You know that we appreciate every drop we receive but this is bordering on ‘honey, is the ark ready?’ The birdbaths have been overflowing for days now. The puddles are forming into bigger expanses that might, just might, become a lake before this rain is finished. The basement is damp—even the cats are damp. And the usually tall and proud Feather Reed grasses have bent their plumes over in the saddest of ways. I think that just about sums up this weekend of water at my place. Hope is Obama and hope is that tomorrow is a sunny day.

—Susan

Just plain cool

I came across a website that has some time lapse video of the growth of seeds and plants such as corn and mushrooms. The video short of the growth of the Amanita mushroom is right out of science fiction with a little bit of Alice in Wonderland thrown in. Take a look at www.hubpages.com/hub/gardening-planting-seeds. Nature is stranger than fiction!

Video of grasses is still on my short list...

-Susan

Great books

My personal favorite books on true grasses as well as sedges, rushes and cattails. The gorgeous photography illustrates them in beautifully designed gardens and in nature. So many ideas, so little time...

Dancing with grasses

Many grasses are approaching their peak this month and will carry on into the fall and winter seasons. Their sound and motion adds yet another dimension to the garden. I will post a video of grasses as they drift and sway in the wind naturalizing on a country roadside in Wisconsin.

If you are plagued with clay soil as I am, look into these two claybusters: Andropogon gerardi and Panicum virgatum. 

If you crave information and beautiful photos of some of the finest grasses, check out these two books: Grass expert, Rick Darke’s ‘The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes,’ and author, Nancy Ondra’s ‘Grasses.’

I will post more information tomorrow when the GreenHouse page on Grasses will publish.

—Susan

Saying adios to my Asian lilies for this year!

Thought I would post some information about dividing Asiatic lilies so you can enjoy even more of them.

I love how they multiply every year and come up between the hostas and fall anemones. Almost like I planned it!

The best time to divide them is between late Sept. through early Oct.

1. Carefully dig the clump up with a garden fork so you don’t chop the bulbs in half with a regular spade.

2. Separate the larger bulbs and pull the smaller bulbs away from the stem. Sometimes it helps to spray the bulbs with water so you can see them more easily.

3. Before planting, remove the stem from this year’s growth.

4. Replant larger bulbs 4-6 inches deep and smaller bulbs about 1-2 inches deep. The bulbs tend to dig themselves in deeper over time. The Asian lilies are really great at naturalizing over time. The more the merrier!

Ode to Rain Garden Joe

Huge lavender panicles of flowers perch precariously atop a eight foot ladder of leaves after the heavy downpour last night. Slightly bowing under the weight of its massive rain drenched flower heads, this perennial on a dry day now reaches an easy 9 feet tall! Just after the first rain yesterday afternoon, the bees, joined by other intoxicated insects, were buzzing around the flower heads dizzy from the smell of nectar in the air. Even though the fragrant buds are barely open, the insects are like people waiting for the bakery doors to open on an early Sunday morning as the warm scrumptious aroma of fresh baked pastries wafts into the gathering early morning crowd. Joe's flowers really lure in the butterflies as well. Curiously, butterflies don't seem to appear until most of the flowers are open. A visit I anxiously look forward to each year.

Let’s talk tomatoes...

The tomatoes are finally arriving! Those little ‘chocolate’ tomatoes of Carol’s are just as cute as their name. I have harvested approximately five little gems from my own tomato plants so far—just about enough for half of a salad. Not much of a farmer. The chard is more than ready to eat but it looks so pretty in its elaborate container that I haven’t indulged yet. A small eggplant has been growing steadily but the other vegetables that my husband and I planted are still smallish—I think that it is because we planted them in the same area where our old oak used to be. Even after its demise, I still feel its presence...

Also, I promised to post the photo of the woman who had the first tomato (that I knew of) this season! 

Share and share alike

Chocolate cherry tomatoes...precious tasty fruits of the summer. I am not only the one that thinks so, the neighborhood woodchuck definitely agrees. I once had a cluster of five near ripe cherry tomatoes, and then there were two. My heart fell when I saw the woodchuck had greedily feasted on three of my five tomatoes. I do have to admit, he has good taste. The remaining two small plump tomatoes were mouth-watering, meaty and delicious. I guess I can learn to share (as if I have a choice).

Wowsa! Now that is a Window Box!

I had to return to the scene of this beautiful shade garden window box to snap a photo. I was just walking my chihuahua, Magic, when this window box caught my eye. As you can see it is brimming with bright lush foliage in every shape and color. Mind you there are a few flowers but the real showstoppers are the leaves...undeniably! Kudos to the homeowner/gardener that put this container garden together for all of us to enjoy!

Grassy inspiration

I just love how grasses blow in the breeze. This is a lame attempt at showing these plants at what they do best—moving! I was recently in Door County and they are blooming everywhere now—along country roads and edges of cow pastures. A few daisies thrown into the mix doesn’t hurt either. They make beautiful moving gardens. Does anyone know the names of these grasses?

—Susan 

Super Hero arrives from the skies!

Pretty unbelievable about the Praying Mantis coming from above. All gardeners respect Mother Nature and the power of the Universe but this is a pretty direct answer to Carol’s problem with the aphids. She has been talking about it and taking pictures of the aphids for a few days now. Amazing. He even waited for her to take a picture!

Pretty cute little guy.

I hope he dined well. 

—Susan

Praying for a Cure

Help is on its way! Last night I spied a small praying mantis walking gingerly across my kitchen ceiling. Without hesitation, I snatched a piece of paper and offered it as a new route for the tiny insect. Lucky for me, the mantis must have liked the new choice because it immediately walked on to the page. If you have read any of our past blogs you would know the sad fate of my ornamental rhubarb...aphids! You can probably guess where I was heading with my new passenger. I had been praying for a cure since I first saw those pesky aphids multiplying on the underside of the lush enormous leaves of my prized rhubarb. Little did I know it would come from my kitchen ceiling in the form of a uniquely shaped insect, the praying mantis! I love it when my prayers are answered!

Magnets Promoting a Greener Life

I recently designed a really cute "Make Earth Day Everyday" magnet for my car to promote awareness on protecting nature. My company has quite an assortment of ecology-minded magnets. It is important to me, especially as a gardener, to be as nice to Mother Nature as possible and share that thinking with others whenever I can. There is so much each of us can do on a daily basis to lessen our impact on the Earth. The website is www.mixitandstixit.com A little self-promotion never hurts.

Plant list for Carol’s Rain Garden

Tree peony ‘Banquet’: huge strawberry-red flowers

Herbaceous peony, ‘Charismatic’: bright pink blooms

Ornamental rhubarb ‘Red Select’: huge ruffled leaves

Salvia ‘East Friesland’: dark violet-blue, blooms all summer

Carpet rose: Blooms in red petals all summer

Sedum ‘Black Jack’: deep purple foliage, pink (?) blooms

Cushion Spurge: chartreuse yellow spring color in early spring

Aronia ‘Brilliantissima’: scarlet fall leaves with red berries, spring white, umbrel-shaped flowers

Lilac ‘Aucubaefolia’: white and green variegated leaves

Siberian Iris ‘Caesar’s Brother’: blue-purple blooms

Joe Pye Weed ‘Gateway’: 6' tall with mauve flowers in fall; butterfly magnet

Lilies, Asiatic ‘Lollipop’: white with raspberry-colored tips and Martagon lilies: golden blooms in summer

Sweet Iris, Iris pallida ‘Variegata’: green, white, cream striped, lance-shaped leaves with fragrant violet blue     flowers that bloom in late spring

Iris, ‘Dusky Challenger’: German Iris with deep, purple flowers

Clematis ‘Sweet Autumn’: fast-growing vine with abundant, starry-white flowers in late summer/fall

Rose, old-fashioned David Austin climber with white and pink double blooms

Clematis ‘Blue Light’: large flowered, periwinkle; blooms in late spring, early summer

Sweet Woodruff: groundcover with white flowers

APHIDS!!!!

Ick...aphids on the underside of the ornamental rhubarb! Not a very attractive sight... Sue, you are not the only one battling the insects. My only hope is the aphids seem to have taken up residence on only two of the leaves which I have decided to remove before they spread to the rest of the plant. Since I despise the use of pesticides this seems to be my only choice unless you have an organic remedy to share. Where are the ladybugs when you need them?

Rain Garden Bursting at the Seams

Look what three weeks can do! The most obvious change is the Joe Pye Weed now reaches five feet tall. New flower buds are also appearing on the top of each stem. Wait until it blooms! Thought you would like to see the rain garden's progress.

As far as upkeep, I do have to shear back the salvia so they will be compact and rebloom again. This is easy to do because it is literally cutting each plant down to about 8 to 12" tall. Other than that, there are a few weeds growing on the west side which need to be tilled under about 5 minutes of work. Everything has filled in so much there is barely any room for weeds. Don't you just love when that happens?----Carol

First tomato!

I couldn’t believe it when my dad told me that someone in the Chicago area got their first tomato! Then, she sent me proof. It definitely looks like a homegrown beauty. What a prize it is, snuggled and protected in that plush container. She is a waitress at Sparky’s restaurant. I wonder if she shared it with her regulars?

I am anxious for my little green ones to turn red. My dad gave me a vigorous little plant in May. I didn’t plant it outside for a few weeks after that because of the cool weather. (sounds like I am making excuses... I am.)

I know it will be worth the wait.

Rain, that magical elixir

For all who missed the story on Carol’s rain garden on the Chicago Sun-Times’ GreenHouse page on June 22, I have posted the photograph that accompanied it. Carol will put an updated photo on our blog so you can see how it has grown in just a few weeks. It is a great way to use your rainwater runoff from a garage or house to supplement your watering regime. Carol also dug shallow trenches for a variety of her plants’ needs. That way, her plant list can be much longer. Even the Sedum ‘Black Jack’ are more robust with the added water. Everyone should see this as an opportunity to plant another garden or add more ‘free’ water to an existing one. Anything to add, Carol? 

We have a plant list if anyone would like it. We can post it too. Let us know. 

Also, EarthWild Gardens sells rain garden and native plants for the Midwest. It is good local company in Lake County, Illinois, that cares about making a positive impact on the environment by the plants that they offer.

More information at www.EarthWildGardens.com.

—Susan

It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.

I have to agree with Carol about the ‘Lollipops’ Asian lilies. Our mom likes these too. Maybe its a family thing. They are so hardy and keep naturalizing—a perfect plant, especially how Carol placed them in her rain garden.

 

I made a color error by placing red-orange geraniums in a container nestled among the ‘Lollipops.’  Omigod!  That is a frightening color combination. I actually forgot about the lily colors while I watched the tough green stems of the lilies emerge this spring. I was so excited about using the color ‘red’ this year that I filled my turquoise containers with orangey-red (Coral Sunset) geraniums, coral verbena and bright green basil. When the ‘Lollipops’ opened, I was horrified! Sure brings you back down to earth. Mother Nature would never do something that ugly.  

—Susan

River Birch: Site is Everything

This River Birch, Betula nigra, has been in my mind since I last saw it. I just couldn't get that amazing bark out of my head. But I say proceed with caution with this tree. Beauty is only skin deep here unless this tree is properly sited. It has an addiction to water, hence the common name, River Birch. Have a low spot in your yard where water seems to gather, well you better make sure it isn't anywhere near a concrete foundation or patio. The roots on this tree run close to the surface and it also grows amazingly fast. If you have the acreage and the small river, creek or pond, this is a beautiful tree. If not, you will find this tree will keep you busy picking up leaves and twigs long before autumn sets in. Without a constant watering hole, this tree will not flourish. After all, location, location, location refers not only to real estate but to plants as well.

Asiatic Lilies

I had to share this recent photo of my Asiatic Lilies 'Lollipops'. Asiatic lilies are another workhorse in my gardens. Their foliage is sturdy and hardy enough to hold up their cheery blooms, except for a few that I have seen and grown. They also weather well through our rough unforgiving winters. My biggest negative remark would be I wish they bloomed longer or again. Wishful thinking on my part and probably only because they have such fantastic flowers with exquisite markings or with unbelieveable fragrance. Their neat foliage stays clean and nice throughout the growing season to make a great backdrop for other flowering plants. If you haven't tried them, please do. If you have, I would love to hear which ones are your favorites. ----Carol

Ants devour my dahlias. Oh, my.

What is with the ants eating my dahlias? I bought a few to try at the local Grayslake Garden Club sale a few weeks ago. These 4 or 5 plants were small, healthy and well-cared for—ready to pop into the ground.  I planted them shortly, which is a miracle for me this spring. I looked at them this morning and only the stem of one is left... and the white plastic tag that reminds me of a grave marker. Another little delectable plant is on its way to the same fate.

Help me before I lose them all! Ants...or something bigger? —Susan

Ornamental Rhubarb Pic

A great pic of the ornamental rhubarb, I have been gushing about.

I want one too! Rhubarb never looked so good.

That plant—with its claw-like leaves grabbing for the sky, owns that rain garden. The other plants are just its audience. This spring, every time my sister and I do our ‘walk about’ through her garden, the ornamental rhubarb is the topic of conversation and I wonder why I don’t see more people adding it to their plant list. Hopefully, Carol will get around to posting a photo of it soon...ahem.

We started this blog so we could talk casually and candidly about the plants that we grow. We aren’t going to sugar coat reality like the catalogs do. We want this to be a place where real gardeners go to gripe about or heap on the praises of their plants. Obviously, neither of us can get enough of gardening, so just picture us  sitting in our adirondack chairs and tapping away on our laptops with dirty fingers. —Susan

Ornamental Rhubarb - Don't Eat It, Eye It

Well, we have finally gone and done it! When you think we have talked all the plant talk possible, we have finally found a way to talk about them some more! A recap of this gloriously beautiful afternoon's walk through my backyard garden, or was it more like a marathon sprint...the rain garden took center stage. Clematis, roses, asiatic lilies and salvia are in full bloom. But what do I see? It is an ornamental rhubarb thrusting upward its enormous jagged-edged, heavily veined leaves. A feast for the eyes! And regarded by me with the same reverence and awe as any award-winning flower. Oh my God, it has awesome foliage. It did not bloom this year, but who cares? Not I!