ABC WEDNESDAY - B

A BOUNTIFUL BATCH OF B'S !!!!

ABC Wednesday blogroll

abc wednesday

B IS FOR BRUSSEL SPROUTS, BEGONIA AND BEEI always lift a couple of Begonia Sempiflorens each Autumn to overwinter........they are tucked away in the 'junk room' and left to their own devices....imagine my surprise when I found this one in flower


It makes me feel that Spring is coming............it won't be long before we see bees in the garden like this one I photographed last year.
B is also for BATTER......it's Shrove Tuesday next week...Pancake Day!!!....( for more info on Shrove Tuesday click on the photo below)...

Pancakes with Orange Sauce
Ingredients for the pancake mix

250g (9oz) soft plain flour

pinch of salt400ml (¾pt) milk3 eggs

sunflower oil or clarified butter

For the Orange Sauce

125g (4½oz) unsalted butter200g

(7oz) caster sugar

zest of half an orange

zest and juice of a small lemon150ml (¼pt)

orange liqueur (optional)

To make the pancakes

• Put the flour in a bowl and stir in the salt. Add the milk, whisk until smooth, then mix in the eggs.

• Strain the batter through a fine sieve and leave to rest for half an hour.• Pre-heat a non-stick frypan or pancake pan add a little oil or butter and roll around to coat the pan base. Pour off any excess.

• Using a ladle, pour the batter into the pan so that it just covers the base, being careful not to let the mixture go up the side of the pan.

• Cook until golden brown and flip with a spatula or palette knife - or simply toss it. Repeat until all the batter has been used.

To make the orange sauce

• Melt the butter in a saucepan.

• Stir in the sugar and citrus zest, mix well.

• Turn up the heat, add the citrus juice and cook for 5 minutes. Add the liqueur if desired.

To serve

Roll or fold the pancakes in halves or quarters and plate individually, or present on a serving dish. Pour the orange sauce over the pancakes.

B IS ALSO FOR AN EXCITING NEW BLOG AND ALSO FOR BEAR..........PLEASE PAY A VISIT TO EDMUND THE BEAR'S BLOG .......HE'S AN INTREPID EXPLORER FOR AN EXCELLENT CAUSE...........

BEFORE THE RAIN COMES

Things are starting to slow down in the garden as far as new blooms go and some of these are "late starters" this year; this last week besides the toad lilies that I showed in my GTS post the only new flowers are the white Phlox (the pink one started flowering some time ago), the blue Agapanthus (like the white one this is a dwarf variety)........................the dwarf lilies...unlike my taller varieties these only reach about 2 feet high but still have the most glorious scent............in the pond the Lobelia Cardinalis has started to flower....I have tried to plant it in the ground but have never had any success as after a couple of years it disappears.....this piece in a pot in the pond has been ok for about 4 years now.Another pond plant we have is what Mick and I had always called our Mini Gunnera....we picked it up a few years ago at a Boot Fair and it was just labelled Pond Plant...if anyone knows what it is I'd be grateful.....................the second photo shows the flower spike that comes on it....the flowers are very tiny.......
After waiting so long for the Eucomis to flower I've been rewarded by three more blooms...... and the orange flowered Durban Canna has now opened a bud (the red one started last week)...this must be a good three weeks later than previous years.....................
The Morning Glory is later this year too......though to be fair I did sow the seed later than I normally do..............I've only grown the one colour this year and I'm pleased they've survived at all as the slugs and snails have had a good feast on them!

The fact that the temperatures have finally risen this last week or two means that the wall manger (mostly petunias) and the begonia tub in the front garden are finally putting on some growth................ The Lantana too are starting to look happier; they really didn't like those long, grey, rainy days of a few weeks ago (I do understand that this week may be quite rainy but I won't let them know in case they start to sulk....LOL) The finer weather also brought a few nice sunsets with it..............
And just in case the weather does turn really rainy again...a quick tour round the garden while the sun's shining.....

BTW.....beautiful clear night and managed to see some of the shooting stars; made a wish or two..................

A BIT OF SUN HELPS

The first bloom of the Polish Spirit Clematis.
Although we've still had plenty of heavy rain it's been nice to see a little sun on the garden..this area which holds the largest of the Cannas really needed some sunshine.
and although it copes with the shade the wheelbarrow has looked perkier with the improved light levels
The Buddleia in the far corner is starting to flower well now;

so I can look forward to some more butterflies in the garden; this poor little thing seems to have a damaged wing but still managed to fly around quite happily...

this poor grasshopper seems to have lost one of his antenna...I wonder if it's the extremely strong wind we've had during the bad weather that has caused all these injuries..... The pink bedding Begonia is now smothered in huge bloomsand the red one has now started to bud.This pink Lily is so pretty and smells delicious................ This Yucca Mick brought home from a job he was on about 6 years ago...one of his workmates was throwing it out.....this is the first year it's ever flowered.........My camera has a video facility; not the greatest picture quality but good enough for a quick tour around the garden........as it's a movie I've laid on some popcorn.......



The sun's peeking through again now.......see you later!

PIGEON POST

As it had finally stopped raining this morning (a brief respite as I feared) I went out into the garden to see what damage the torrential rain and high wind had done. The problem with having a garden that is in the shade so much of the time is that everything is inclined to lean towards the light and grow much taller than it says in the "text books". Most of the time I can compensate for this by judicious staking but really heavy rain and high winds can take their toll. The annual poppies in the centre are completely flattened... a few days of sun would probably stand them up again but we have more rain and cloudy days forecast.....they are just coming into bud and I'm loathe to cut them back or even rip them out (boo hoo) until they've flowered...sadly I may have to make some kind of drastic decision as they are now smothering the other plants around them......I'll leave them a while and see how I feel by the end of the week.

The garden was littered with rose petals and I had plenty of deadheading to do....I didn't stay out there long though because it was bitterly cold and started to spit with rain....it felt like an Arctic wind was blowing through me. You can see the plants have enjoyed the rain though...the cannas that I left I the ground to overwinter are about 6 inches taller despite the cold weather.

I was pleased to see that the begonia hanging baskets had come through unscathed...they had been blowing about so much yesterday...I could see them through the living room window and had even considered taking them down and putting them in the shed.

As this fellow stayed around long enough for me to fetch my camera I'd better give him a mention too. He stayed watching me the whole time I was in the garden...probably hoping I'd put out more food...which, of course, I did so his patience was rewarded.

Now if you happen to have popped in from warmer climes.....please leave some sunshine in the comment box......feel free to help yourself to some rain in return if you need it.

A STROLL ROUND THE GARDEN

Well it seems ages since I asked you to pop by and have a drink with me. So as a bit of a belated birthday celebration why don't you stop and raise a glass and take a look around the garden.

Wasn't it a chilly night here in Suffolk last night. I'm glad I'd tucked all the tender plants away in the shed and greenhouse.It was a real herringbone sky this morning..click and take a closer look at that cloud just above the treeIsn't this Iris a beauty...just perfect......

and the first of the Senetti flowers is out. I love the colour of this one.

Oops...just realised I've had the Morning Glory seeds soaking for two days; you can see their little roots starting to emerge...pour yourself a drink while I get them potted up.......

These black tulips are living up to their name...Queen of the Night

and the little Leopard's Bane we bought at Roys is flowering..........

I'm so glad the slight frosts haven't affected the Camellia flowers too much..........

and the two tone colour of the variegated perennial Wallflower is really unusual.

Don't you just adore the new red shoots of the Pieris

I'm so thrilled that my experiment of overwintering some Canna in the ground has worked; there are quite a few of these shoots coming through.

Ukbob has just recently bought a Lady Boothby climbing Fuchsia. We've had ours a few years now and it's just starting to shoot.
This is a relative of the Gunnera; but this is an "ickle" one; the leaves only grow to 4 inches at the most in our pond.

I'm so glad this fern is coming through; it's Ursula's Red ................

The begonia baskets are doing well.................
the first sign of a flower bud already!!!

I must plant these Anemone De Caan corms.....I just poke my finger in the soil down a couple of cms and pop them in.
Gosh we've even got some buds on the Acer dissectum...never had those before!

These are the Strawberry Spinach seedlings I've got to plant out. Scarecrow has given me a link to some great information (which includes a warning!)....click HERE to read it. Oh and you must visit her hubby's The Frugal World of Doc blog when you have a moment.....I'd highly recommend it...there are recipes, toys to make and lots more
Ruby is looking so much better than last Autumn...her move to the front garden has suited her.

I know it was in a photo recently but I just love this Cerinthe.........just look at the colour of it's "flowers"........
Hack's Red is still flowering well....it's in a pot...no room in the soil and is getting a bit leggy...I'll give it a prune when the flowers are over.....

Oh I didn't realise how late it's getting...the sun's going down

think we'll call that it for today. See you next time and HAPPY GARDENING!