Anemones and Marshmallow

I was heading for the annual garden fair, but all the trains were delayed or cancelled, so I headed to the local, downtown gardening shop instead. I did not go in vain. I found four bags of lovely red anemones and seeds for Althaea officials, or common marshmallow. “A confection made from the root since ancient Egyptian time evolved into today’s marshmallow treat” according to Wikipedia.

I thought I would shun plastic to the end of my days. Apparently not so. Here are some fake tagetes garlands that I’ll be playing around with this summer.

The Kitchen Towels

These are made by Design House Stockholm: http://www.designhousestockholm.com

Found the most adorable kitchen towels in a store today. Mrs Cabbage is originally an illustration from a children’s book by Elsa Beskow. With a hem they could easily be made into a pair of curtains.

I’m Yelling Timber

A head over heels problem.

There was a weeping willow on the plot. The landscape architect I had come visit dismissed it immediately. She said they always fall over in the end. This winter has seen two significant storms and to no surprise the willow is down for the count. Even though I liked the way visiting children played underneath it I have no regrets about taking it down.  And what a wealth of wattling material that tree crown provides!

The lazy gardener didn’t rake up her apples this fall. That’s why she now wades in rotting apple sauce.

The Confined Currants

Confined currants.

I have four currant bushes on the plot. Three red currants and one black currant. I think I will give the red currants away to a kindergarten. The only use I can think of for them is to decorate cakes, and then they will only disappoint everyone who would rather see raspberries or strawberries on top anyway. Today my husband and I dug up the black currant bush and moved it to the back of what is slowly turning into the kitchen garden. I put in two gooseberry bushes to accompany it. They are a little cramped, but I like gooseberries so much I couldn’t help myself.  Passing the Scarlet Runner Bean I noticed that the beans must be ready. Apparently Brits eat runner beans. I wonder if mine are any good?  On the way home through town there was a store with a 70% discount where I picked up new hen-shaped plant markers. The cashier said they are made from a mixture of stone and plastic. I hope they prove to be a good buy.

Pecking Order.

Update Oct 2nd: I bought a blackboard pen and did some labeling. I hope they will be weather-resistant enough.

The Garlic – Try Two

There are a few things you can plant or sow even though autumn is coming; turnip and parsley for example. And garlic. I decided to start with garlic. Last year the garlic didn’t turn out at all, but rotted away. I’m trying again. Last year I failed with dill, but this year I had all the dill I could ask for. Last year carrots where great and this year so-so. Winter salad deserves another chance. Potatoes have been disappointing two years in a row. When I stopped by the plot today I saw footprints in my newly raked lawn under the kitchen window. Fall season is also burglar season. I took the empties out and straightened everything.

Allium sativum “Vallelado”

The Green Tomato Marmalade

I have no idea whether I like tomato marmalade or not, but I am about to find out. The tomato plants have started to look tawny, and I decided to pick everything that remained on them. The  tomato marmalade recipe called for 1 kg of green tomatoes, 2 lemons, 1 dl of water, 6 1/2 dl of sugar and 1 tbsp of ground ginger. I replaced 1/2 dl of the water with orange blossom water that I happened to have in my cupboard. I didn’t particularly enjoy the smell of the marmalade as it cooked, but reviews on various cooking sites tells me I should give it a chance.

The New Flower Bed

I had so many plans for this summer. But when July and August finally came along it was often too hot to do any work.
It’s only now that I’m finally catching up with my ambitions. I’ve told you I have flower beds everywhere.  Despite of this, the actual plants have been far in between and the vegetation has looked thin. I’ve moved four roses to this new bed. The catmint (Nepeta) and irises are also recycled and so are the plants in the background. I feel rich arranging this bed without having to buy anything, and it is equally rewarding that I am now able to convert the beds that they came from into low-maintenance lawn.

 

In 2012 I looked at my water lilies as disposable. Last year’s lily was out when I got it, only to wilt and never bloom again. This one didn’t show any buds when I got it but today the very first flower came out!

Last week I completed my mint collection with some real mojito mint and Mentha Citrata “Orange”; orange mint.

Don’t Get Your Hops Up

Not unlike my mystery clematis, I found a tender plant of hop underneath a lilac bush last summer.  I’ve nurtured it for about a year.  I saved my old christmas tree on the balcony for ages so that it would have something to climb on, come spring. Hops are the female flowers of the hop plant Humulus lupulus. As you probably know,  they are used to flavor beer. Below you see my hop planted together with Scarlet Runner Bean. You also see something else; the absence of pine-cone shaped female hops flowers. My specimen turns out to be a male and therefore useless for beer. Just my luck.

Hop on debranched christmas tree.

Hop and Scarlet Runner Bean

Just hop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update Sept 8th: This is what the same plant looks like 19 days later. Was I mistaken? Is it a female plant after all?

 

Squash Is What Happens While You’re Busy Making Other Plans

Last week I was contacted by Jeff Lee behind the blog Recent Items.  He investigates  the importance of everyday creativity in relation to the creative industries that have risen in prominence over the last decades, and is especially interested personal, “under-the-radar” stories. Jeff liked my outdoor shower. He asked if he could interview me. I happily agreed, and as a consequence spent five days having to take two questions seriously; “Who am I?” and “What is art?” (I enjoyed it immensely, click here to read some of my thoughts.) While my brain was properly picked over the following days, other things weren’t. Squash, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.

“Harvest at 5-8 cm”…

Luckily, everything in the garden hadn’t aged as badly.

A Meaningful Bouquet

A friend asked me if I wanted to make a bouquet for her grandmother-in-law’s funeral. She assured me that it would be an informal occasion. Her grandmother-in-law had liked orange flowers. Asking me to do it felt more personal than asking a florist, she said. I said yes.

I planned it roughly on a post-it note and set to work. The base would be marigolds, but I added some black-eyed susans and another yellow flower, that I don’t know the name of yet, for volume. “A little black for sorrow” I thought. I added lion’s ear for height. I had decided on Japanese anemone to symbolize fall, (these are called “autumn anemones” in Swedish) and for their unexpected mauve contrast. Lamb’s ear was chosen for the silver contrast. Hylotelephium telephium was added. Unlike English, where it has many names from poetic to prosaic, this plant is called the “love herb” in Swedish. Finally I chose white sweet peas to make the bouquet a bit more delicate and refined.

The bouquet was well received. I feel honored I was offered the chance to do this.