Make Espresso at Home (Sip it in the Garden)

Need an extra jolt of caffeine to get you started in the morning? It is very easy and inexpensive to make good quality espresso at home in ten minutes.

Come along as The Musician demonstrates how he makes espresso coffee on the stovetop.

Espresso is used for making cappuccino and lattes. All you do is add steamed milk and foam to the espresso shots. If you have a way to steam your skim milk to 140°, then you can make all three coffee beverages.

An espresso cup (shot) is roughly 1/3 of a measuring cup and a regular size cappuccino cup holds two espresso shots, plus milk and foam. Therefore a 4 cup espresso maker will produce 4 espressos or 2 regular size cappuccinos.

What you need to make a simple espresso:

1. A stovetop espresso pot. We prefer stainless steel instead of aluminum and purchased the Primula® Stainless Steel Espresso Coffee Maker, 4 cup for around $30 USD at our local Macys®. 
2. Good quality espresso coffee. Make sure you purchase espresso strength as regular ground coffee will not be good. We select beans at the local shop, A Southern Season®, and have them grind the beans for us. If you can't get fresh espresso coffee, the Illy® brand is very satisfying.
3. A tablespoon to measure the ground espresso coffee.
4. A stovetop burner.
5. Four Espresso cups—or two cappuccino cups if adding steamed milk/foam.

Assembling the pot and heating the espresso:

Fill the bottom of the pot with water per instructions 

with the espresso maker.

Our pot is filled with water to the line just below the

screw shown on the front of this section.

Drop the espresso basket onto the bottom section 

of the pot.

Fill basket with espresso. 

Do not pack tight, loosely smooth.

This pot makes 4 espresso shots and uses

2 heaping tablespoons of espresso coffee.

Screw top of the pot together 

over bottom/basket.

Place over medium low heat.

Listen for gurgling sound.

When gurgling stops, remove

immediately from heat.

Pour into 4 ESPRESSO size cups and enjoy!

Cappuccino variation:

1. Before espresso is ready—heat 1/2 cup of skim milk to 140° using a special steamer device with a stainless steel pitcher and thermometer. There should be ample foam on top of the milk.
2. Hold foam back with a spoon and pour hot milk into 2 cappuccino cups until 1/3 full. 
3. Spoon foam on top of hot milk until cup is half full.
4. Immediately pour hot espresso (2 shots per cappuccino) through the foam in a steady stream. 

If you prefer a latte, grab a mug and use all of the espresso, all of the milk and less foam! It's that simple! 

Some cappuccino and latte recipes will instruct you to pour the espresso first, then add the milk and foam. We prefer to carefully pour the espresso through the foam and into the steamed milk to mix it without stirring.

As you experiment, you may want to adjust the ratio of espresso, milk and foam to suit your taste.

Carefully pour espresso through steamed foam and milk 

to make a cappuccino.

With cappuccinos in hand, The Musician and I ventured into the garden on a beautiful spring morning!

The garden perennials are waking up.

The seedlings of annual poppies and nigella are everywhere.

The gravel path has been refreshed.

The stream was pumped out, cleaned up and refilled.

The weeding has been done.

Ready for morning walks with cappuccino in hand.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.  All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

More of Monet's Gardens at Giverny?

Spring is in the air and gardeners anxiously await the first blooms in the garden. To boost my enthusiasm, I peruse the volumes of garden photos that I've taken in the springtime—my own garden as well as those that I have visited.

I always find myself studying the hundreds of photos that I took at Claude Monet's gardens at Giverny, France in May 2009. Are you ready for more Monet? 

Monet's Gardens at Giverny, France
The Clos Normand, May 2009.

Looking through a veil of purple. 

The beautiful Tamarisk tree
(can be invasive in some areas).

Perfectly planted in pink.

Lawn and garden merge.
No doubt the foliage of spent daffodils in the grass.

Another Monet moment?

We're returning to France in April 2011. Monet's gardens in early April will be filled with tulips and other spring bulbs. Will we take the train out of Paris for a return trip?

Sometimes seeing less can reveal more—as in the bones or structure of a garden that may be hidden behind the billowing blooms in peak season.

I may be ready for another Monet moment.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Happy Holidays!

Please enjoy this original music from The Boys from Carolina. Dobro and vocals: Chuck Schutte Mandolin and vocals: Wright Young Standup Bass: Richard Roach (my husband) Guitar and vocals: Larry Nunnery Banjo: Bob Wilkerson Happy Holidays! Freda, Richard, Garrett and Chris Video by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.

Time to Sow Fall Seeds for Spring Flowers

Seeds of larkspur, cornflowers, poppies, nigella and flax
are sown in the fall for spring and summer blooms.

As I walked around the garden, I saw the self-sowing annuals for next spring had already sprouted. It is time to think about sowing annuals for spring blooms.

I like to wait until we've had a killing frost before sowing my seeds. There is a frost in the forecast for this weekend. The frost kills back weeds. I pull out the weeds, then apply a mix of organic compost and soil around perennials. The layer provides good insulation and nourishment for the perennials while serving as a good medium for seeds.

My success rate with sowing both perennials and annuals from seeds has been encouraging and it is less expensive than buying plants in the spring. Some perennials, such as flax, coneflowers and rudbeckia, will bloom next year, but the plants may be small during the first year.

The nigella (Love-in-a-Mist) sprouts are everywhere! I collected seeds and let hundreds fall to the ground. I believe every seed must have germinated!  I'll never have to sow nigella again. (Some of you are on my list and I'll soon mail the seeds.)  Nigella can be sown almost anytime through spring as long as the ground isn't frozen. The plants and blooms have been reliably deer and rabbit resistant in my garden.

Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll Blue'

Other impressive flowers from seeds include poppies. The self-sowing California poppies (eschscholzia californica) repeated blooms so often through the summer that I've decided to forgo all other varieties. I will focus on thicker mass plantings of 'Purple Gleam'. I like the soft fern-like foliage, too. These short plants are great fillers among perennials, taking up so little space that they are easy to broadcast around the garden.

The perennial flax 'Heavenly Blue' (linum narbonense) was so beautiful that I collected seeds from my 2010 plants and also ordered more seeds to be sure to have more for 2011. The foliage is still green in my garden and I hope those plants will over-winter. Some self-sown seeds in summer are also sprouting for next year. So impressed with the blue flax, I purchased seeds of scarlet annual flax, linum grandiflorum rubrum and seeds of the perennial compact golden flax, linum flavum compactum.

Of course, my all-time favorite spring flower has to be larkspur. I can't have too much!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Ninety Days over 90 Degrees

If this is the weather pattern of the future, then I need to rethink my garden. It was 96°F  yesterday and will be 95 today.

2010 has set a record of ninety days with temperatures over 90°F. There has been virtually no rain in September (0.13 inches of rainfall).

Between the heat and drought, it is looking grim. Worse than grim, my garden looks downright bad. I cannot water it enough to keep it going. Rather than expand the garden this year or next, I think I will have to group the survivors together and make it less garden to maintain.

The drought has brought out the rabbits and the deer, foraging for food wherever they can find it. The rabbits are doing more damage as they cut down 4-foot high zinnias like little lumberjacks. I see blooms going down, and I find rabbits munching! The rabbits are even after the leaves on some salvias, such as nemorosa and guaranitica varieties.

The deer are eating the swamp sunflower, but I knew they would based upon past years. They left the zinnias alone until the last week, but the rabbits had already ruined the mass plantings. With no food in the wild, they will eat zinnias. I can't begrudge them this, given that they are all so hungry.

Fortunately, I planted a few annual purple fountain grasses this spring to perk up the agastache and salvia greggii groupings for fall. Without the grasses, it would really be a dull garden right now!

The last time I took a garden photo
September 10, 2010

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Flowers Surround the Sundial

Annuals and perennials surround
the sundial in the cottage garden. (click to enlarge photo)

If sundials reflected temperatures instead of time, the one in my cottage garden would have registered 100°F on too many days for the summer of 2010. In spite of this unusual heatwave, the annuals and perennials that surround the sundial are handling the heat with a little extra water and good compost.

The bronze sundial, a special gift, has been with me for over twenty-five years and in four gardens. For the last four years, I have moved it around my current garden in an attempt to find the perfect location. It has finally found a home in the south-facing cottage garden between the stream and the front porch. Selecting annuals on the right scale to surround the sundial was my goal for this year's spring plantings. All of the perennials were already in place and established.

Sideways view from the cottage garden
path to the front porch.

Annuals include the beautiful blue mealy cup sage, salvia 'Victoria' and Magellan 'Ivory' and 'Yellow' Zinnias. The zinnias were grown from seeds and while short enough to fit around the sundial, the blooms are as large as the giant zinnias.

The salvia 'Victoria' was purchased in April as a flat of bedding plants from a local grower. Tough in any location—I also grow this salvia along a gravel path as well as in the drought-tolerant area of the deer resistant garden—the color and shape works well in combination with many other plants. I use it with hardy geraniums, zinnias, shasta daisies and coreopsis.

The perennials, echinacea 'Prairie Splendor', monarda 'Raspberry Wine' and salvia 'Black & Blue', along with the annual Benary's Giant Zinnias are the tall plants providing a backdrop.

All of the plants want to lean south (right side of photos) toward the sun and the stream. The position of the paths in my garden are such that the staggered heights must be considered from the side and the front of this flower bed.

In addition to my enjoyment of flowers, the smorgasbord of blooms is a favorite nectar bar for hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. There's always activity! Sitting on the front porch to watch, I find the pollinator antics to be quite entertaining for a gardener.

On the south side of the sundial, perennial heliotrope grows along the bank of the stream. The lavender blooms of heliotrope are non-stop from April until frost. When placing the sundial, I decided to tuck it in behind the existing heliotrope with Sedum 'Green Expectations' and a deep pink mum. The sedum and mum will bloom when the weather cools in early autumn.

Finding the right place for the little sundial took me awhile. Perhaps the sundial will remain here, in a nest of colorful blooms each summer, for the next twenty-five years.

Perennials include hardy garden mum (left mounding foliage),
sedum 'Green Expectations' (in front of mum),
and creeping heliotrope (lower front).

Links within the story are to related stories within my blog. Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.  All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Twelve Hours of Summer Sun

Just how much heat and sun can a plant handle? Most gardeners define "full sun" as six hours or more of sunshine. My garden easily receives twelve hours of full sun in the summer. The temperature exceeded 100°F recently. Our heat index has been well over 100° on several days. We've had no significant rain in weeks while the 90°+ temperatures have pounded the garden and the gardeners.

My garden is filled with plants that can handle tough heat, but even camels eventually need a drink in the desert. It was time.

I had to water the garden last evening to prevent a meltdown! We do have a deep well. Still, I don't like to water the garden and I really don't like to water a garden in the evening—but, I wanted the water to soak into the soil instead of evaporate in the morning sun.

My husband said "you can almost hear the sigh of relief from the garden."

This morning, I rushed out at 6:30 am, hopeful for a recovery. It was hot. Too hot. I was glad that I hadn't waited until morning to water the garden because I couldn't handle the heat!

My camera lens had to clear up as it was fogged by the transition from air conditioned comfort into the inferno.

The garden put on a perky face for me. All was well—at least on the surface. The soil is still very dry, but my thorough watering revived the garden for a few days.

So, which plants performed best in this unplanned trial of dry, hot torture?

Salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue' with wide, bright green leaves was definitely looking sad. A little water did the trick and all the plants were back to normal all day today. Salvia 'May Night', 'Caradonna', 'Marcus' and 'Sensation Rose' were fine. Salvia greggii, in all colors, looked totally undaunted by the heat.

The new varieties—salvia chamaedryoides and salvia pachyphylla—were especially pleased with the dry conditions and hot temperatures, so I carefully avoided giving those two any water at all! Sounds cruel, but I won't mess with happy plants!

Most agastache varieties were real troopers, but 'Golden Jubilee' with wide, light green leaves really had to be watered. The big surprise was that the companion to drumstick allium, agastache 'Cotton Candy' (pictured above) needed no water. 'Cotton Candy' was added in September 2009 and has been blooming since April. If it continues to perform well, it is going to move into first place as my favorite agastache.

The buddleia leaves have drooped during the heat of the day, but each morning (so far), they have looked fine. No extra water has been given, but that may change as we expect another 100° day on Sunday.

The coneflowers, ageratum, joe pye weed, ironweed and daylilies needed water. I lost a few volunteer tall garden phlox planted beside the stone walk inside the cottage garden. Other patches of phlox, planted among other perennials, are fine. Sedum were fine. A few lamb's ear plants were suffering, but the older ones are doing great.

Gaillardia, lavender, ornamental grasses, flax, Russian sage, santolina, verbena and all of the coreopsis varieties were fine before the watering. I'm not sure they appreciated my efforts to drag several hundred feet of garden hose around the garden. The drip irrigation has never been extended to the drought-loving plants.

Another plant that has received no supplemental watering must have a tap root long enough to reach down to the water table. Perennial heliotrope 'Azure Skies' (that blooms six months) is simply amazing! It has been an edger in the cottage garden, and I started adding it along the edge of the outer gardens. Although all of the heliotrope in the south garden was planted since April, it is blooming like crazy, loving the heat and untouched by deer.

When I finished the watering chore (2 1/2 hours), I took on another chore last evening and worked until the moon was up.

As difficult as it was to endure the heat myself, I decided it was much better than working in the sun. I deadheaded as many spent flowers as possible, as well as cutting a few nice blooms to bring inside to enjoy. In times of little rain, I try to make an extra effort to deadhead to hopefully reduce stress on the plant.

It is these trials by nature that test both the garden and the gardener.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

The Changing of the Garden

Everything is happening so quickly in the garden this week. After weeks of no frost, the plants are practically growing while I watch. We desperately need rain, though. These weeks have been dry with no significant rainfall while temperatures have soared into the 80s and 90s.

The Hummingbirds Have Returned The hummingbirds are back! Right on schedule, our little friends returned this week. To lure them into sight, hang your feeders and wear a brightly colored shirt into your garden in the mornings. If they are back in your garden, you should get a flyby from the tiny birds. I spotted a male and female yesterday. They are quite friendly little things and visit flowers just a few feet away from me. Hummingbird food recipe: Dissolve one cup white sugar in four cups of boiling water. Let cool. Stir. Serve.

Lady Banks Reaches New Heights The Lady Banks Rose, planted beside the gable gate in autumn 2005 is now trying to climb through the upstairs guest room window. When she finishes blooming, I'll just open the window to give her a trim! Rosa banksiae 'Lutea' can grow to enormous sizes and heights. Last year, I removed the one beside our other gate. She was planted at the same time by our landscaper, but was too much work to keep in check—requiring almost constant trimming. Fortunately, Lady Banks is thornless and the branches do not twine around like a vine. The pale yellow blooms (no fragrance) are abundant again this year. Lady Banks is suitable for zones 6a-11, but give her lots of space! She can cover an arbor or pergola in short time.

More Blooms and Buds

The calla lilies are blooming; all are from one original mother plant that I purchased several years ago. She stills grows in the waterfall, and her kids are planted directly in the water of our stream in the cottage garden. The calla lily has handled full sun in the water garden here in my zone 7b garden.

Dutch irises, in many colors, dot the gardens. Alliums are mixed with other perennials for interesting shape combinations.

There are so many flowers that are in the beginning stages of blooms—lavender, cottage pinks, azaleas, roses, allium, irises and bluebells—are just a few of the stars for the color preview. The coneflowers and salvias are budding up. The yarrows are about to burst open. In just a matter of days—or hours—there will be a big show of color!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.

Cherry Blossoms and...

The winter was long, cold and wet—at least it seemed so to me. However, what the winter weather did for the garden was magical. The blooms on the flowering shrubs and trees are nothing short of stunning this spring!

The branches of our cherry tree (Prunus serrulata 'Kanzan' or 'Kwanzan') are heavily laden with huge, double pink blossoms. With the spring heat wave, some days reaching 90°F, I was concerned that the tree would blossom one day and turn to green leaves the next. However, I've been surprised to see over a week of blooms and it is still going strong.

Every spring, I tell myself to plant bulbs or sow seeds for spring flowers beneath the cherry tree. Every fall, I run out of energy, or forget about this plan.

The tree sits by itself, outside the cottage garden fence on a peninsula wrapped by our stream. The small bit of garden is too small for a chair or bench and there isn't enough head room to stand. I have to go through shrubs and step over the stream to get to this space. Therefore, the spot is largely ignored (except for weeding) until the cherry blossoms draw my attention.

And so it goes. The cherry tree is a star for a short time, then fades once again into the garden background.




Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

A Pink and Purple Pulmonaria Bloom Bouquet

Dainty pink and purple bells of blooms grace the frosted foliage of a new pulmonaria. A mass planting of this lovely perennial makes a perfect deer and rabbit resistant ground cover for a shaded or woodland garden.

Pulmonaria 'Silver Bouquet' is a 2010 introduction from Terra Nova Nurseries. I received four small plants in September 2009 to trial in my gardens. My plants have not been pampered and are blooming the first season! In fact, these are the first spring flowers in my garden this year.

The beautiful foliage remained evergreen throughout the winter here in my zone 7b garden. Planted on the east side of my house under a sweetbay magnolia, the silver foliage shines brilliantly in the understory. My plants receive dappled morning sunlight and are growing in average, well-drained soil. Grooming is simple—I removed a few of the older leaves beneath the fresh spring growth.

In addition to the lovely blooms, the foliage forms a nice, clumping bouquet that will be twenty inches wide at maturity. I can already see that the foliage growth rate will be fast. 'Silver Bouquet' is suitable for zones 4-9 and is heat and humidity tolerant.

While I would grow this pulmonaria for the foliage alone, I adore the spring blooms of pink and purple—perfect colors for my garden!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Plants courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

House Hunting is for the Birds

Spring is house hunting time. The new house must be perfect. It can't be too small or too large. A lavishly decorated house is nice, but a simple little cottage will do just fine. Of course, the house must have a garden!

The birds are house hunting again! The chickadees are scouting around the bluebird houses to select a nesting home. The bluebird population is very high here in our neighborhood, too.

There are bluebird houses mounted along the board fencing throughout our neighborhood of open meadows. We have two more birdhouses behind our house, too. When there aren't enough birdhouses to go around, the bluebirds nest in the wooden newspaper tubes below everyone's mailbox!

Each year, the chickadees are the first to nest in our bluebird houses. After they raise their young, a bluebird pair takes over the same house. Our birdhouses are four feet off the ground and positioned along the edge of our woods, facing the open meadow.

We've noticed a male chickadee standing guard on top of one of the bluebird houses. The female has been going in and out of the house for several days, carrying nesting material. However, the male chickadee isn't very territorial compared to bluebirds!

If there is a car parked in our driveway when the bluebirds are nesting, there is a problem. The male fusses at his reflection in the side mirrors for hours and hours at a time. My son left his car parked here while he was in college. I had to tie grocery bags over the car mirrors to give the poor bluebird a break from his guard duty!

Meanwhile, we'll keep the bird feeders full of seeds for the nesting couples. Nesting season is another reminder that spring is in the air!

♥
I published this story on my blog one year ago. The birds must be on the same schedule this year as they are back at house hunting. The bird activity is a reminder to make sure we have birdhouses available—cleaned before the new occupants move in. Only the title for today's story has been changed to avoid confusion with the March 2009 story.
♥

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.

Snow Season Falls Between Winter and Spring

What season is this? SNOW SEASON - that season between real Winter and real Spring.

The outdoor temperature isn't the only thing fluctuating. There seems to be a fluctuation in attitudes, too.

I thought the "Devil Went Down to Georgia", but he went to Alabama while Real Georgia Snow was seen as a blessing.

BUT...Everyone Is Doing It... so Southern Virginia, not wanting to miss out on the fun, put in an order for snow, too.

The folks in Upstate New York have no problem entertaining themselves with their idea of Winter Comic Relief.

Canadians, no wimps for winter, get up at the crack of dawn to see the Sunrise Shimmer. Just how cold is that?

The brave folks in Illinois take it all in stride. When life gives you snow and earthquakes, you make a Frosty Shake.

And for those expats asking "Who the hell says it doesn't snow in Italy" will find proof in the photos of a Piemonte Winter.

Meanwhile in Paris, there was Snow, But No-mageddon, and we're all happy to hear that the fashion world didn't end.

One centimeter of snow was reason enough to stay home and sing Let It Snow, Let It Blow, Let It Snow on the French Riviera.

Here at home in North Carolina, Charm ("The Gardening Greyhound") did what dogs all over the world do when it snows - the happy dance!




Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

The Garden Before the Storm

The snow is on the way. Our local meteorologist is confident that we're in for a big winter storm. All you gardeners up in the snow belt, please don't laugh - seven inches of snow is forecast! That's a lot for a southerner.

We did the usual things that southerners do before a storm. We went to the grocery store and bought bread and milk just like we're supposed to do. My husband has the generator ready to go in case of a power outage. We're excited about snow, but if this front moves slightly, we could get an ice storm. That wouldn't be any fun at all.

I am convinced that we're in for a snowstorm because it was 60°F here today. The worst snowstorm that I can remember followed a 75° day. So, I took advantage of this warm day to do a bit of tidying up in the garden as well as sow a few cornflower seeds.

It's rather interesting to note how many perennials retain green basal foliage during the winter in zone 7 - achillea, western agastache, coreopsis, gaillardia, mums, nepeta, rose campion, shasta daisy, stachys hummelo, solidago and verbena bonariensis.

Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue' has just started producing buds and blooms. This little perennial is evergreen here in zone 7. Unless the snow sets it back, it will bloom vigorously through the end of spring, and sporadically through fall.

Rated for zones 4-8, scabiosa (pincushion flower) is a good, carefree, short edging plant. The plant in the photo is the oldest perennial in my garden. It is growing along my stream inside the cottage garden fence. I added several more along a path, only to find out that the bunnies will eat what they can reach. I will relocate the new plants to the same area by the stream, away from little bunny noses.

While scabiosa is not deer or rabbit resistant, it is a cheerful little perennial and a fantastic butterfly magnet!

If the snow comes, it will cover all the signs of spring. I will just have to sit inside and browse the big stack of flower and seed catalogs that arrived in the mail recently!

Scabiosa blooms in winter

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel.

Winter Is Not Always Snow and Ice

Sunshine and blue skies brighten many cold, winter days from the Piedmont to the Coast of North Carolina. Sparkling crystals of frosty mornings melt with the first beams of sunlight. Snowfall and ice are rare events. Some years, we have no white precipitation. Most years, we'll have a light dusting of snow that disappears quickly. Once in awhile, we'll get a deep snow.

Evergreens, both native and ornamental, provide evidence of year-round life in the gardens, parks and woodlands. We watch the bare, graceful branches of maples and willows for the first buds that indicate spring is coming. Camellias and hellebores bloom. Holly berries provide rich color.

Ducks and swans still swim on ponds while herons, egrets and ospreys continue fishing without barriers of ice. Songbirds sip and splash in the shallow, rocky edges of streams.

While we can have days of rain, our winter months are interspersed with sunny days that lure us outside to break the doldrums of cabin fever. Get up, bundle up and go for a walk.


Photo taken by Freda Cameron at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham, NC in January 2009

2009: A Year In The Garden

January

Southerners exhibited their normal snow behavior. But, there were many days in the garden when the light was warm and fabulous.

February

I gave into the temptation and ordered more annual seeds. Fortunately, I was rewarded with spring, summer and fall blooming annuals.

March

The weather warmed up and I was back out in the garden. With help from The Musician, we cleaned up the gardens and refreshed the grit path in the cottage garden.

April

The happy hummingbirds returned. By April 12, I saw the first one and captured it on camera the next day.

May

While the Musician and I went to Paris and Monet's Garden in Giverny, the garden here at home burst into bloom with the poppies growing over four feet high!

June

Fall plantings of echinacea and monarda did not disappoint in a mass planting in the cottage garden.


July

Mid-summer brought drought, but agastache stayed alive and bloomed so well that I continued adding more varieties in the heat of the summer.

August

The Monarch butterfly migration brought these beauties to my garden where they laid eggs on the asclepias and sipped nectar from blooms throughout the garden.

September

Common hardy mums created a big display in the cottage garden. I have also been testing one out in the deer resistant garden and have had great success with no munching of the foliage so far this fall and winter.

October

Annuals sown from seeds continued to reward me with autumn blooms throughout October. By then, I declared both marigolds and zinnias (Benary Giant) to be deer resistant - at least for 2008! I did a lot of rearranging to combine perennials into better companion color schemes.

November

My Encore® Azaleas bloomed again and continued blooming into December, brightening up the cottage garden when little else was still in bloom. I sowed annuals seeds and planted allium bulbs for the 2010 growing season; added edging to the outer gardens and cleared out old spaces for new gardens.

December

Torrential rains washed away seeds as well as compost and gravel that we added in the fall. I continued to collect seeds from gaillardia and echinacea. The year is ending with many days of 20°F low temperatures, hard freezes and more torrential rains and wind. Already, winter is taking a toll on the garden. I was finally able to venture out today for a stroll to check on the conditions as I've been under the weather for several weeks. There will definitely be casualties from the weather, but the majority of perennials look well and I can see tiny green sprouts of poppies, larkspur, cornflowers, nigella, echinacea and gaillardia. All-in-all, it was a good year.

2010 is a few days away and I look forward to seeing all the garden surprises next year.



Words and photos by Freda Cameron; 2009

Betsy's Cranberry Scones

It's the holiday season, the weather is really cold, my son is driving back from Boston... and I am thinking about baking scones. Not just any scones, but those baked by my friend on one of my visits with her in California.

Once upon a time, Betsy lived here in North Carolina. I can't remember the exact year, but I think maybe 30 years have passed since we packed up her Saab and drove to California. We had a great time on the cross-country road trip and even more fun while I spent a week with her in the Bay Area. I still consider Betsy to be my best friend, even though we may go years without seeing each other in person. Thank goodness for email!


Betsy's Cranberry Scones

Makes 16 scones
Preheat oven to 400°F

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) margarine or unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

3/4 cup dried (or fresh) cranberries
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 cup buttermilk

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.


2. Add margarine/butter and beat with an electric mixer (or use pastry blender) until well blended.


3. Stir in zest and cranberries.


4. Pour in buttermilk and mix until blended.


5. Gather dough into a ball and divide in half.


6. On lightly floured surface, roll each half into a circle (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick).


7. Cut each circle into 8 wedges.


8. Place scones on lightly greased cookie sheet.


9. Bake in preheated 400° F oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden.


10. Serve warm or cooled.

I have also adapted this recipe to make lavender scones (in photo).

Photos and words by Freda Cameron. Recipe from Betsy Livak.

Azaleas Bloom Again in Autumn

I think that I enjoy my azalea blooms as much in autumn as I do in the spring. My six Encore® Azaleas reliably provide blooms twice a year. My azaleas bloomed in April and have been repeat blooming since September. All the while, they provide evergreen foliage for the cottage garden.

These azaleas work great for my south-facing garden where the azaleas get plenty of sunbeams and some afternoon shade. Three of the azaleas are planted beneath a Kwansan cherry tree. The other three are standards (tree form) up against the garage wall beside the front porch.

While there is plenty of space outside my cottage garden for azaleas, I can't really grow them successfully due to deer foraging. There's nothing I'd like more than a garden full of native azaleas. However, I have to accept the things that I cannot change!

When it comes to growing azaleas in small spaces such as my cottage garden, having two bloom seasons from the same shrubs is very rewarding.



Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Home garden; November 4, 2009

Annuals in Autumn

There are annuals still blooming boldly in the garden, even after several light frosts. There are zinnias, ageratum, cosmos and marigolds that still look great. I don't think marigolds know when to stop. Besides that, they've never looked ragged.

Granted, the marigold seeds were sown the first two weeks in July so that there would be fall color.

There are autumn colors of yellow, gold, orange and red. If you think marigolds look too gaudy for summer, try them for autumn. The combination of the annual (in my zone) purple fountain grass with the tall marigolds works well enough that I may actually plan this combination again for next year.

Please don't ask me to identify the marigolds in my garden. I picked up packets at stores, ordered online and didn't take the time to document any of these. I faintly remember sowing seeds from a 'Crackerjack Mix' somewhere in the garden.

I never cared for marigolds until I planted them this year. Previously, my impression was a vision of straight rows of plantings outside commercial buildings.

I just scattered the seeds - literally and liberally - in any blank space available. I don't advise this. I definitely got carried away and there are still little marigold seedlings sprouting everywhere. Next year, there will be a little more order and attention to my marigold seed sowing. I've already ordered a packet of lemon yellow single blooms for next summer.

As for my favorite bloom shape, I prefer the single blooms of the French marigolds over the carnation type double blooms.

As for the bees and butterflies, they love all of the marigolds. The Monarch butterflies are particularly attracted to the single marigolds and big bumblebees love to sleep on the cushions of the double blooms. And for the late-arriving Monarch butterflies that have been showing up all fall - thank goodness for marigolds.

Some of the marigolds are short and some are very tall. They've exceeded my expectations for the common marigold. I'll no longer look down my perennial-loving nose at these common annuals. They've added plenty of punch and pizzaz in the garden for autumn.


Words and photos by Freda Cameron; Home garden; late October 2009