The Blue Willow Journal

Drying Hydrangeas

It's already time to start drying hydrangeas - it seems like I just posted a photograph of them as they first bloomed!

I've been using the following method with quite good results the last few years:

Cut them when the blooms begin to fade but are still in good shape. Remove all leaves. Place them in a vase filled with water. Leave them in the vase and let the water evaporate - this will take weeks. If all goes well you'll have a nice bouquet for over the winter. Below is a photo of what they should look like when you pick them.

Easy Pickled Hot Peppers Part 2

Last July I did a posting on an easy way to make pickled hot peppers. It's pickling season again so I thought I'd post photos of what these peppers look like.

The first photo is of a jar just made - the peppers are bright green and red. These need to spend two weeks or more in the refrigerator to become pickled. The second photo is of a jar made months ago - the colors of the peppers (more drab) indicate the pickling process is complete. Once the peppers are pickled they last almost indefinitely in the refrigerator. I have some from last summer in my refrigerator right now and they are still great.

 

As Promised

My second seasonal favorite - here are the hydrangeas mentioned recently..........

Farmstand Vegetable Gardening

Some time ago we had quite a large vegetable garden. We would use the vegetables we grew not only in cooking and baking but we preserved them by doing things like canning relish, freezing tomato sauce or drying onions.
We don't have a vegetable garden anymore but our fondness for fresh vegetables hasn't changed. Solution - farmstands! We have a great one a few miles away and it makes a fine runner-up to the real thing. Here's what I "picked" for dinner tonight:

Peonies

When we moved to our present house eighteen years ago I made sure we planted some hydrangeas and peonies, my two favorite late spring and summer flowers. Here are the peonies and I will post a photo of the hydrangeas once they come out.
I also just heard about a peony farm in Tiverton,  Rhode Island, a short drive from where we live, so I will have to check that out soon since we are in the midst of blossoming time for peonies. I'm sure I will be amazed at all the peony varieties I've never seen before!

Deck Time

Cape Cod Rhodies

Made quite a discovery over the weekend - the beautiful Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich, Massachusetts. It was peak rhododendron season and the blooms were everywhere - pale pink, fuchsia, deep magenta and even a specially-bred pale yellow. Spectacular. Beyond the gorgeous flowers there are many other great activities to enjoy for every member of the family. Next time you are traveling to Cape Cod I would highly recommend a stop here.

Spring at Blithewold

Those of us living in the East Bay area of Rhode Island get to enjoy Blithewold Mansion and Gardens whenever we like -lucky us!
Here are some photos taken today, a sunny spring day which climbed to 93 degrees, a Rhode Island record:

 

 

 

 

Hypertufas

Have you ever heard of these? I hadn't until I was reading the online catalog of events held at Blithewold, a nearby garden estate. They are garden containers made out of a mixture of peat moss, Portland cement, sand and vermiculite - and Blithewold was offering a 2-part class on how to make them. I had to go.

Apparently the idea for this mixture was born of the need to replace the diminishing supply of real tufa rocks which the English used to make garden troughs in the 1920s and 1930s. Tufa rocks and the simulated hypertufa mixture are prized for their porous nature and ability to withstand harsh outdoor conditions. The hypertufa mixture also can be molded into almost any shape, an attribute quite in evidence when all ten people in the class finished their creations at the end of the first class. A week was needed for them dry and cure, and then class two was spent on planting our hypertufas with things like moss, sedums and succulents.

Take a look - I am amazed at the results and would love to learn more and make more hypertufas!

Prudence and Pumpkins

I had a fun day last week. It began with a twenty-minute ferry ride to Prudence Island just off the coast of eastern Rhode Island. Once there I joined a van tour which had been planned by the educational director of the Narragansett Bay Research Reserve (a group working to protect estuaries) whose office is located on Prudence. We spent the day visiting outstanding gardens on the island and quite a few of these gardens had something in common - pumpkins! We are talking 1,000 pound plus pumpkins, many of which will be ferried off-island to compete in a pumpkin weigh-off in mid October. The garden owners described their daily regimens to develop these bruisers into top competitive form - really something! Other highlights were a beautiful community garden reflecting the personalities of all twenty of its members and and a gardener who was growing okra and had planted two sequoia trees that were doing well.

For a six and half mile-long island there seemed to be a surprise at every turn!