Shade Gardening While Wishing for Sun

A few weeks ago we donned our masks and headed to the local garden center.  Normally I would enjoy spending hours looking at everything and formulating new ideas for my garden.  This time it felt more like a time to keep my distance from people, find a few plants and get out of there.  So, I concentrated on picking up a few things to liven up the patio as this is where we often spend time when we are outside.  Because the patio is covered, I was on the hunt for shade loving plants that would also offer color.

Coleus and impatiens to the rescue!

The patio at our last house was in full sun so my containers were always filled with sun loving plants.

I haven't used coleus before, but as I looked at what came home with me, I had fun matching the impatiens to the coordinating coleus.  While potting them, I gained a new appreciation for the beauty of the coleus colors and patterns.  They almost look like they have been hand painted.

Since I know this isn't the year I will be making my normal weekly trips to the garden center, I pulled out the pots I had stashed in the garage and filled them up to tuck here and there. 

These will look nicer when they fill in.

For now they are providing that pop of color sorely lacking from our gloomy, rainy weather.  It rained all last week and is forecast to rain all this week.

Rain Rain Go Away!!

☔⛈⛆☔

How's the weather in your area?

From the Herb Garden ~ Dehydrating Rosemary

I've been growing rosemary in my garden for years.

Usually when I want to use some in cooking, I clip a few sprigs, mince it up and add it to the food. That works fine for the most part, but sometimes if the weather is stormy or I'm in my pj's and don't feel like trotting out to the garden, it loses it's appeal

This morning I decided to take measures to insure that there would be rosemary at the ready despite the circumstances.

Here the rosemary grows in the ground year round and, if I'm not careful, it will soon be a rather large shrub.  So it is a good idea to prune it a bit every now and then.  

After a light pruning I washed and lightly dried the trimmings.

Then I laid them out on the dehydrator rack that came with my counter top oven.

I've had this oven over a year now and just realized it had a dehydrate feature.  :)

I guess it's time to put it to the test.  

The door stays ajar while the dehydrating takes place inside.

The scent of drying rosemary is a bit like Christmas.

 Once dried, I removed the needles from the stems

and ran them through my coffee grinder.  Actually, I no longer grind coffee beans at home so it has been repurposed into an herb grinder.  

I chose to grind it up pretty fine as sometimes despite how finely I chop it, rosemary is a bit woody.  I think this will be just the texture I'm looking for when I use it on the potatoes I'll be roasting for dinner tonight.  

If you are a fan of rosemary, what are your favorite ways to use it?

Mother's Day 2020

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here, but I did want to pop in and wish all the moms out there a Happy Mother's Day.

It seems like a Mother's Day greeting should include something floral so I'm sharing a shot from a recent walk in the neighborhood.  The knock out roses have put out their first flush of blooms and they were especially beautiful on this sunny day in May.

Part of the recent busyness has to do with a visit from this little guy.

On day one of his stay he announced that he wanted to make birthday cards for Daddy, Uncle Mike and a Mother's Day card for Mommy.  So, I rounded up the crafting supplies and we went to work.  They've been tucked into a drawer waiting for the big day.

Today is the day.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Uncle Mike!

🎂🎂

Every so often Mother's Day falls on the very day my two sons were born.  This just happens to be one of those years.

So, while the celebrations will look a lot different this year, I'm happy we can be together for the day.  Couldn't ask for a nicer Mother's Day gift.