Philadelphia Flower Show - Part 1

Part 1 - Lack of Much Inspiration
The Philadelphia Flower Show was as marvelous as it could be for being the biggest in the world (I think someone claimed) and judging by the crowds on Friday lots of folks thought so.  The theme was Hawaii so living in a non-tropical climate meant the inspiration pieces were not as numerous for me.  Don't get me wrong, they were stunning and make me reconsider whether or not to visit Hawaii some day.  I did not go away empty-handed or inspiration deprived because there were some lovely ideas for what to do with succulents and cacti.  I just didn't take as many photos of the tropical scenes but here are the few I did snap.

 

 Now here are some combinations that are inspiring.  The chartreuse of the ferns against the reddish purple of the plant whose name I didn't find.

 I thought the plant at the top was a coleus but it was labeled something very unfamiliar but again the color scheme was beautiful.

 Couldn't you picture yourself sitting on that open air deck?

 The window box competition featured cacti and succulents and were stunning.

 So here's a camera question:  I had the setting on foliage for the photo above but then took the same shot with the auto setting.  I think the one below looks more natural.  I loved the combination they had there.

 Another lovely window box below.

 A vendor shared this idea for a price which I figured I could do myself.  Plant a cactus or succulent in an old piece of glassware.  No need for drainage holes on the bottom with the layer of charcoal and small stones.  Besides watering of these plants is minimal anyway.

These are man made rock gardens but an idea in itself.

 Recognized my heuchera in the photo below.  There's hope it will be that size one day.

 This was a take off on a Hawaiian thing that one university did in their display.  Can you identify the layers?

 Another idea from that display on how to fasten poles horizontally.  I have so many downed limbs through my woods that I've often wondered how I could use them.  Rather than nailing them together to make a trellis or arbor I could use twine to bind them if I followed this example.

 There were vegetable garden displays.

 

But I don't think I'll be making a lettuce wall anytime soon.

 

 Independence Hall on a miniature scale with succulent plantings to absorb runoff.

Wonder what 2011 was like?  Revisit my blog post on it.

Chili

I'm coming up to the end of some of my stored produce from last season.  I think there's one more bag of tomatoes in the freezer.  On Wednesday I made chili.  Here are the  things that came from my stores:

bag of frozen tomatoes

 last head of garlic

 habenero pepper (grown in 2009)

 a mixture of frozen vegetables that I had labeled for soup

 I used 96% fat free ground beef, onions, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper.  Here the vegetables are added.

 Then the tomatoes.  I supplemented with a can of diced tomatoes.

 I used canned Northern beans, dark kidney beans and not pictured black beans.  Also added molasses, chili powder, habenero pepper, and worchestershire sauce.

 The finished chili served with grated cheddar cheese.  It was spicy and good with corn bread muffins.

See what other cooks have made from their stores at Robin's Garden of Eden

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

Seedlings

There's something magical each spring when those first seeds germinate and the new life shows itself as a tender shoot reaching up for light.

I planted 6 varieties of tomatoes and so far 4 have germinated: Rutgers, Amish paste, Goldie and Market Miracle (from Daphne).  Two pots of basil have also germinated.  My two varieties of peppers and the remaining two varieties of tomatoes are still residing in the warmth of the mechanical room awaiting their magic time.

So this isn't a harvest but it's a foreshadowing of harvests yet to come.  Check out other harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.