Six on Saturday – Santa’s Selection

Welcome to my festive Six on Saturday, a meme nurtured by our own horticultural elf, Mr P.

Actually, using the word “festive” is about as seasonal as this blog is going to get.  There will be no mistletoe or holly, carols or mince pies, in fact it is singularly unfestive.  Don’t get me wrong, I love love love Christmas.  I am saving all my glitter and magic for tomorrow (she boldly says) (you may  be disappointed, don’t expect The Sound of Music).

Anyway, here goes.  My first is a rather soggy Salvia leucantha ‘Midnight’ which is cosied up close to the kitchen door, along with a few others of the chosen few.  Not at its best, but who can complain about a December bloom?

alpines

Next we have a pathetic example of alpine gardening.  The intent was good, but the neglect surpassed it. The pebbles are rather attractive though, so if I were you I would concentrate on them.

Brugmansia

Now the brugmansia bud from last week, fully unfurled.  Silly, but in a good way.

Salvia confertifolia

Another battered salvia is next, this time Salvia confertifolia, bravely soldiering on.

Wallflower

An apricot wallflower, practising for the spring.

euphorbia

Lastly a waxy euphorbia, clutching at raindrops.

Thanks Mr P, and many happy seasons greeting to you and the SoS gang.

The Crypt

Today (the last day of work before my sabbatical don’t you know) was a “don’t venture into the crypt to investigate that strange noise” kind of day.  The drive to the Mantle Estate was thick with what would be romantically described as lilting mist but was in reality fiendish fog.  The House of Hammer would have been proud.  The weather didn’t matter, I had a lovely day.  Some work was done but that was incidental.  Lunch was a bag of Twiglets all to myself (their Lordships don’t approve, bliss), Lancashire cheese and crab terrine.  Presents were exchanged (but with great restraint not opened) (they may have been shaken), some inventive wrapping was done by Lady M (a secret) then a surprise visitor arrived with his mini-me’s to bring more festive joy.  My journey in reverse was just as hazy, with a stop off to buy some proper free range eggs for our Christmas breakfast.  I am indeed a lucky lass.

Octopus Lichen

Today I was pruning out the demon canker from an old apple tree.  This fungal disease is systematically munching through its aged branches.  Although disfigured by this nibbling, it is blessed by a natty outfit comprising an assortment of lichen, including this one.  North Devon has a lot of lichen.  I am definitely not an expert (at or in anything) but I presume that our propensity in the South West to damp and mild weather is in the lichen’s favour.  Our low levels of pollution also help.  To further your education I have extensively researched (I googled “disc lichen” and scrolled down a bit) and have come up with Lecanora chlarotera as a possible identification.  Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have a common name.  As the brown discs remind me of an octopus’s suckers I thought we could called it the Octopus Lichen.  Apparently it is quite common.  Not that I have noticed it before. Which is probably more to do with me than the lichen.

Losing Battle

There is a splendid multi-stemmed myrtle in Max’s garden.   Cinnamon peeling limbs, glossy evergreen leaves, heady white blossom and bull’s eye berries; year long it gives joy.  It would be perfect, if not for one flaw.  Beneath its canopy, and further still, it flings its fruit densely and indiscriminately.  These germinate like sturdy cress, pushing woody roots deep.  Today was spent pulling these invaders from their nursery.   However it is a losing battle.  There is no doubt that they will return en masse, all in the blink of any eye.  Some you win, some you lose.  Happens from time to time.  Just to remind us who is in charge.

 

Month

As I count down the days to my sabbatical month* I find myself feeling a little sad about the things I am going to miss.  Like the early morning sun illuminating the dew on a succulent lampranthus.

* Actually the last week of December and the whole of January which of course, if we are going to be pedantic about it, is a little more than a month but who is counting? You are? Why I am not surprised? On reflection, there is a very good chance that it is indeed a month to the Lizard People of Jupiter or perhaps the Ents or even the Clangers, which in my book still counts and I am, after all, making the rules.

Late on Parade

Salvia elegans, otherwise known as Pineapple Sage, is late to the garden parade.  Only in the last few weeks has it come into its own.  Dithering throughout the summer and early autumn, holding back with dramatic flourish until early winter.  Now many of its rivals are long passed, leaving a gap in the market for attention.   With velour napped scarlet flowers and fragrant foliage, it has been most welcome to both hungry pollinator and colour starved gardener.

Six on Saturday – Abridged Version

Bit rushed so here is abridged version of SoS.

Cheers Mr P – check him out.

No. 1 –  Respect

No. 2 – New old pots

Brugmansia

No. 3 – Now? Are you serious?

primula

No. 4 – Broken primulas

garlic

No. 5 – Garlic shoot, no poo

Sophora microphylla

No. 6 – Single Sophora

Adios ’til next time!

Ice and Fire

The polar caps are receding at a terrifying rate.   I think I know where all the ice has gone, my fridge.  Today was the day of the big defrost.  This needs to be done so we can fit some food into it for the Christmas period.  Something has gone amiss.  Not only is the freezer ice-bound, so is my fridge.  In fact there may be more ice in the fridge than in the freezer.  Possibly a gumbletock has blown.  Or the like.  A shiny new (properly regulated) appliance is planned for the new year, until then we will have to make do.  With no exaggeration (moi?), so frostbound is my fridge-freezer that members of the British Museum are standing by in case I uncover a woolly mammoth in its icy depths.

In the past few weeks I have been attempting to empty the freezer, all that was left was a tub of Madagascan vanilla ice cream and a bag of peas.  These I gave to the safe-keeping of my neighbour.  Now I am wondering if I should have got a receipt.  For the peas.  She would never eat the ice cream.  Surely.

Whilst the slow thaw proceeded, I thought I would try my hand at making some crystallised ginger.  After a little research, thanks Admin Annie, I found a couple of recipes on line.  Really it didn’t look too tricky.  As I haven’t shared any of my recipes for a while, I thought this the ideal opportunity, think of it as an early Christmas present.

As always, the recipe is in normal font, my interpretation in italics.

Crystallised Ginger

Ingredients:

300g of ginger and 300g of granulated sugar

Eeeek!  That doesn’t sound very healthy.  Choose to ignore the fact.

Method:

Peel ginger using a spoon

You are joking right?  A spoon?  OK, I’ll give it a go.  Actually this working out quite well.  Who would have thought it?  Smells lovely.

Slice thinly with a mandolin

A mandolin?  I may have a tin whistle somewhere, but not sure I have any stringed instrument at all.  I am going to go off piste here and use a knife and be really really careful.  Most pieces seem to be quite thin and even.  The odd bit is a little rustic.  Rustic is good, right?

Place in heavy based pan, cover with water and simmer for 30 minutes until tender

Heavy based pan.  The pan I have will have to do, heavy or not.  Simmering.  All is well.  Set alarm.  Realise I have to pop up the post box so turn the hob off, just in case.  Return in the blink of an eye.  Turn the cooker back on.  Might have lost a couple of minutes.  Check fridge, little change.  Keep simmering ginger.  Stab after 35 minutes.  Tough as shoe leather.  Turn up a bit.  Check fridge, might take a while.  Complete a 1,000 piece jigsaw.  Check ginger again, what exactly is tender?  Test a little.  Ouch.  Who wrote this recipe? Fridge still Narnia.  Read War and Peace.  Check ginger, surely that will do, getting bored now. Remember why I am not a home baker.

When tender, drain ginger and weigh, reserving a little of the water.  Return to the pan with the same weight in sugar and three tablespoon of cooking liquor.

Did exactly as instructed, except I added a bit less sugar and more water.  

Bring to the boil and stir often until translucent.

It is boiling away nicely, although perhaps I shouldn’t have added the extra water.  Why did I do that?  Idiot.  Check fridge.  Shackleton would have felt at home.  Oops better stir.  Looking hopeful.  

Turn heat down and stir continually until almost dry.

Almost dry, what does that mean?  I know, it means, until you lose the will to live.  What do I do now?  Bit of a gap in the instructions.  Luckily I am an expert at making things up as I go along.  I  will turn it out onto baking parchment (still a mystery as to why I possess any of this stuff) and spread it out until cool.

When cool dust with more sugar.

No I won’t, so there!

The End

The fridge is still not done.  The mummified half lemon has been extracted and disappointingly the British Museum are singularly uninterested.

The ginger is rather lovely, extremely fiery.  I have forgotten about all that sugar already.

Excuses

Taking photos in bad weather is challenging.  At the best of times I am an inveterate speedy snapper.  My theory is that the more photos taken, the more likely at least one will be in focus.  When it is raining this procedure cranks up a gear.  I wrestle my camera from beneath layers of waterproofs, point it in the general direction of the subject, press the button a couple of times, return it to the relative safety of its pouch and hope for the best.  Heuchera ‘Palace Purple’ was one of today’s better results.  Bearing in mind the incessant mist, mizzle, drizzle and torrential rain, I think it worked out quite nicely.

Now I have to find an excuse for the poor fine weather photos ….