hutchurson

Time to start putting all those great veggies from your garden to work with some easy recipes gathered from family and friends! I got inspired to pull together a few of my own after traveling to Vermont this past week and sampling fresh-out-of-the-garden recipes from our friends Judie and Bob and our host at the Eddington House Inn, a bed-and-breakfast where we stayed in North Bennington.

At the Eddington House Inn, a beautiful Federal style home built in 1857, we woke up to eggs put under the broiler with fresh-grated parmesan cheese and green onions. The handled ramekin was set on a plate and curved along the outside were three slices of vine-ripe tomatoes from the nearby Grandma Moses Schoolhouse at the Bennington Museum. Very simple, but verrrrry delicious.

Then, at Bob and Judie's in Shaftsbury, we were treated to a lunch of chilled gazpacho and herbed chicken and tuna salads with slices of a low-acid, orange heirloom tomato grown from seed (from Harris Seeds). It got even better at dinner, with stacks of grilled eggplant with mozzarella-tomato-basil (marinated in balsamic dressing) and green beans with feta and slivered almonds (see recipes below). Yum!

Judie's gazpacho

Heriloom tomatoes from Harris Seeds

And wouldn't you know it? When I got home, I found myself in the kitchen of my Italian neighbor, Rosalia, who delighted in showing me some of her garden-fresh recipes. Here's a pic (left to right) of her homemade tomato sauce, pickled eggplants and caponata - recipes below).

Rosalia's tomato sauce, pickled eggplants and caponata

It all inspired me to use more of the veggies from my own garden, sneaking tomatoes and onions into my grilled cheese, trying to recreate the Eddington House eggs and even making my own salsa. Here's the "Tuscany Bread" I made with just plain 'ol slices of leftover white bread, grated mozzarella and Early Girl tomatoes out of my garden. After I took them out of the oven, I squeezed lemon juice on them (a trick I learned from my days of working at Pizzeria Uno, which once offered "Tuscany Bread" as an appetizer. They added basil on the top, too. Wish I had some, but the bread still went over big with my picky 3-year-old and meat-and-potatoes husband!

My fancy "Tuscany Bread" 

Judy's garden recipes

Gazpacho

4 – 5 tomatoes  (red, orange/yellow or a mix)

1 large cucumber

1 green pepper

¼ - ½ onion, depending on taste

2-4 cloves of garlic (more if you’d like)

Cilantro (fresh if possible) – at least ¼ cup

Lemon juice (to taste – at least 1 tablespoon)

Hot or chipotle sauce, salt & pepper to taste

Chop cucumbers, tomatoes and onion into large chunks and then place in food processor with other ingredients, pulsing until nicely chopped.   Add in more lemon, salt, pepper, hot sauce & cilantro to taste.

If your tomatoes and/or cucumbers are dry, add in some tomato juice or V8 juice for a soupier consistency.   You can also add more cucumbers if you’d like (or need to get rid of them!)

Grilled Eggplant with tomato-basil-mozzarella

1 good sized, firm eggplant

2-3 tomatoes (depending on size)

Fresh mozzarella cheese

Fresh basil and chives

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar dressing (Newman’s Own or just a mix of one-third balsamic vinegar and two-thirds olive oil.)

Heat grill and while it’s heating:

Slice eggplant into 1 ½ - 2   inch thick slices (rounds).   Brush with olive oil on both sides.

Slice tomatoes so that you have an equal amount of tomato slices to place on each eggplant round.

Slice mozzarella (if not already pre-sliced) – enough for one piece on each eggplant round.

Once grill is hot, place eggplant slices on the grill, making certain to turn as needed so that they don’t burn.  Generally they cook in a few minutes. 

Remove from grill and place in flat dish/platter. Immediately add slices of mozzarella on top of each eggplant piece.

Top with tomato, chopped basil and chives to taste and then pour a small amount of balsamic dressing over entire platter.   Can be stored at room temp for an hour or so; otherwise refrigerate and bring to room temp before serving.  

Making in advance:  If you don’t have time (or space on the grill) to do this just prior to your meal, you can prepare and grill the eggplant in advance, and then refrigerate until ready to prepare the entire dish.   To finish the dish,  heat your grill, place eggplant on the grill then turn it off. Place mozzarella on eggplant and close grill lid; leave on grill for about 3-5 minutes until the cheese gets soft but not melted.   Remove from grill, place on platter and add tomato slices and other ingredients.

Green beans with feta and slivered almonds

Fresh green beans  (approximately 2 -3  cups)

Feta cheese –crumbled  (approximately ¼ - ½ cup)

Slivered almonds  (approximately ¼ cup)

Place fresh, rinsed green beans in a microwave-safe glass dish and heat on High for 3-5 minutes, depending on amount of green beans and how well you like them cooked.  Remove from microwave, drain any remaining water, sprinkle with feta cheese to taste, and top with slivered almonds.  Add pepper (or garlic pepper) to taste.

Rosalia's garden recipes

Tomato sauce

Any kind of tomatoes (although many people prefer the meatier Romas)

Cook tomatoes with onions, garlic, celery and other herbs to taste. Pass through hand strainer (or put in blender or food processor). Put in pan and boil again. Add salt and black pepper if desired. Warm canning jars in oven for 15 minutes at 100 degrees and fill up with hot sauce. Put on thick lids and let jars rest upside down (to form a good vacuum seal) for a few days (put a towel underneath and on top of jars to protect table and help keep the heat in). Can be stored indefinitely.

Pickled eggplant

Slice eggplant (use the thin, long kind and pick when young and tender). Cut into thick slices, sprinkle with salt and let sit 4 to 6 hours. Squeeze solution out of egglant and discard solution. Put eggplant slices in jar, then add white vinegar (4 or 5 cups) and 2 cups water. Let sit for 24 hours in open jar and squeeze eggplant slices again. Put eggplant back in jar with oregano, garlic and olive oil to taste. Let stand for one hour. Can also be stored indefinitely. Great for antipasto, sandwiches or as a topping/side for broiled steak or chops.

Caponata

Slice up four eggplants (long and skinny ones, picked when young and tender). On stove in a saucepan, mix together 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup sugar. Let them melt together. Then add chopped eggplant, celery, onions, capers and Italian green olives to taste. Great as a main entree, brushchetta or pasta topping.

Several months after moving into our new house, I finally got around to unpacking the last few boxes in the basement. In the process, I found my late Nana's beloved "Goddess Rain Lamp" oil lamp from the 1970s:

I smiled as I remembered that thing hanging in the middle of her ivory-and-gold, 1970s French Provincial decor with its neoclassical statues and fake plastic greenery.

As a kid, that lamp was magic to me. The glow of a refrigerator bulb lit the heavenly heads of three toga-draped goddesses, as they looked out serenely through vertical nylon strings with beads of oil running slowly down them.

When my Nana – Dorothy Hutchurson – died in 1994. I couldn't think of anything else I wanted. So down in the basement that lamp has sat, with me not knowing what to do with it but unable to let go of it.

Then it hit me: Turn it into garden art! Yes! I would devote a small section of the back yard to my Nana, with the salmon-pink geraniums in a white urn like the one she always had:

But then the idea took on a life of its own. Possessed, I started building my own tacky shrine. I made Nana's old bone china dishes into a little garden border, set in her musical porcelain tea pot and even added one of her faux-gold adorned mirrors.:

A little over the top? Perhaps … But I sure had fun playing around with the beginnings of a memory garden for my beloved Nana. Perhaps I'll tone it down a bit, and just keep a white urn of salmon-colored geraniums around every summer in her honor. But one thing's for sure – gardens are a great way to remember belated loved ones. Who doesn't remember Grandma's old rose bushes and feel a little nostalgic, or see the same hanging basket she always had on her porch?

On the other hand, maybe I'll just keep my garden whimsical and in-your-face – maybe even add the fish pond my Grandpa had going in the back yard. After all, isn't gardening about what makes YOU happy? I know every time I look at this shrine (even if it's only in this picture, or in a hidden nook in the back of our lot), it will always make me giggle - perhaps even cry. And then I'll hug myself and whisper "I miss you, Nana…"

In my previous post on ways to funkify your shade garden, I became so obsessed with finding new shade plants that I had to break it into Part 1 and 2.

So here's Part 2 – get an eyeful of these sexy plants! Me-OW!

6) Love me some lilies

Seems anything with the word "lily" in it can tolerate the shade. Here are just a few luscious examples:

Toad lily (this image courtesy This Garden is Illegal):

Bush lily (this image, of Clivia miniata 'French Hybrid,' courtesy Monrovia):

Daylily (this image of Earlybird Cardinal daylily courtesy of the Daylily Lovers Blog):

Flax lily (this image of Gold Stripe flax lily courtesy of Monrovia):

 7) Go for some groundcovers

"In dense shade and problem areas where it's hard to tend plants, there are several perennial groundcovers that can be used effectively," says Deborah L. Brown, extension agent at the University of Minnesota, in her article "Gardening in the Shade."

"Most evergreen groundcovers like Japanese spurge and periwinkle require the insulation of a good snow cover to carry them through the winter," she continues. "Other groundcovers such as wild violets, lilies of the valley, goutweed, and wild ginger are more durable. Many of these tough groundcovers can survive in a root-filled location that would be impossible for annuals or other perennials."

Jeepers Creepers® Golden Creeping Jenny (image taken by me at Bristol's Garden Center in Victor, NY):

Yellow Archangel creeping lamium (taken by me at Bristol's):

 8) Plant some spring bulbs in fall

"Spring flowering bulbs can be planted in deep shade provided you treat them as annuals, planting new bulbs each fall and then digging them up and discarding them once they've bloomed," says Brown (above). "The bulbs you buy already have miniature flowers inside. All that's needed is a cold winter in the ground for those flower buds to emerge in spring."

Some spring bulbs, she says – such as crocus, scillas, snowdrops, and species tulips – bloom and produce leaves early enough, before the trees leaf out, so that they receive adequate amounts of sun to blossom annually in a lightly shaded area. "Daffodils naturalize beautifully in an open wooded area," says Brown. "The tuberous begonia is another bulbous plant that grows well in light shade, since its delicate blossoms cannot stand full sunlight. Tuberous begonias are very tender, though, and must be stored indoors over the winter and not set out until frost danger has passed."

9) Add some veggies – yes, veggies!

 Again, I have to quote Brown: "Vegetables all do best in bright sunlight from early morning to nightfall, but a few of the leafier types can be tried in light or partial shade," she says. "These include plants that are grown for greens rather than for fruits or roots. Vegetables such as leaf lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, and beet greens will be thinner leaved and less robust when grown in light shade rather than full sunlight, but they will be tasty even though their growth is not luxurious."

I particularly like purple ornamental kale (this image courtesy of Sunset.com):

And who could say no to the rainbow-stemmed Bright Lights swiss chard (image courtesy All-Natural-Mama):

10) Don't forget the shrubs!

Just as shrubs and other woody perennials give you good "garden bones," or a framework on which to build, this rule even applies to shady, less-formal-seeming, woodland retreats. I think Nikky Phipps' "Shade-Loving Shrubs" article on GardeningKnowHow is great, especially since it includes my absolutely most coveted plant in the entire world: Carolina Allspice. Her other suggestions: Honeysuckle shrub, gardenias, viburnums, witch hazel, goatsbeard, yews, barberry, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, azaleas and boxwood.

Carolina allspice (very fragrant; image here from bhg.com):

Honeysuckle shrub (image courtesy Allan Becker - Garden Guru):

 Goatsbeard (image courtesy of My Little Patch of Green):

Before I go, I also have to share this great shade container recipe from a May 23, 2010 article in the Ottawa Citizen called "Shady Performers" by Ailsa Francis (pictured here, putting the combo together):

The ingredients:

Cimicifuga Pink Spike: A perennial (dark leaves, in back) that provides vertical interest and a focal point. (Image courtesy Van Bloem Gardens).

Lysimachia procumbens Aurea: This tender perennial with golden foliage (left) trails over the side of the pot. (Image courtesy Magnolia Gardens Nursery).

Astilbe simplicifolia Key West: A moisture-loving perennial that provides feathery texture and mid-season flowering. (Image courtesy Van Bloem Gardens).

Fuchsia Gartenmeister Bonstedt: This tender plant blooms all season long and is upright and bushy. (Image courtesy Dave's Garden).

Hakonechloa All Gold: A golden-colored perennial grass that provides luminosity and movement. (Image courtesy A Way to Garden).

Bonfire^® Begonia: This choice begonia trails and will bloom continuously through the summer. (Image courtesy Tesselaar Plants).

Stained Glassworks™ Solenostemon: A novelty coleus grown for its colorful foliage.

"What can I add to my new shade garden – that is, besides hostas and ferns?" my cousin asked last week, after showing me this hidden retreat she just carved out of the woods in her back yard:

She had already gotten creative with a corner planter box of bamboo:

And this large-leaved guy she said was elephant ears (colocasia), but I'm not so sure (anyone know?):

And so started my latest obsession: finding ways to funkify that ho-hum shade garden. I hit the garden centers, talked to some gardening friends and read some recent articles on the topic. Here are some of the tricks I learned:

1) Bring on the begonias

As noted in a number of recent articles (like this shade gardening plants story at Canada.com), tuberous begonias can add brightly colored blooms to the shade all season long. (Indeed, my Bonfire^® begonia (below) lights up my shady front yard like fireworks in the night sky). And in cold-climate gardens like mine (Zone 6a), it can be overwintered indoors.

Or, you can forget the flowers and go for the colorful foliage of rex begonias, which can take part- to deep shade. (Here are a few pics I took at the Garden Factory in Gates, NY, although Logee's has a great Web site where you can buy or just explore the wide variety of funky foliage offered by rex begonias):

2) Try the "Three Hs"

That stands for hakenochloa, heuchera and hellebores – three shade lovers that give you your money's worth in the shade. Below are pics I took of these lovelies at Bristol's Garden Center in Victor, NY.

Hakonochloa, or Japanese Forest Grass (below) is hardy in Zones 5 through 8 and the yellow-green variety is especially great for brightening up dark spots:

Heuchera (coral bells, below – my apologies if some of these are tiarellas or heucherellas – I sometimes get them mixed up), has been the darling of shade gardeners and foliage lovers for at least a decade now, with its shades of amber, lime, purple, burgundy black and more:

Then, of course, you can't leave out hellebores (who could, anyway, with a Perennial Plant of the Year designation in 2005, shiny, (mostly) evergreen foliage, a broad spectrum of bloom colors (including white, yellow, burgundy, pink and even black), late-winter/early spring blooms and an adaptability to a wide variety of climates and conditions, including shade?). This here is the beautiful 'Green Corsican' early-spring bloomer from the Helleborus Gold Collection.

(For unmatched variety when it comes to hellebores, by the way, be sure to visit Sunshine Farm and Gardens. I once sat, mesmerized, all the way through a talk by its irreverent, tie-dyed shirt owner, Barry Glick. He's passionate about hellebores and a really funny guy … he and Plant Delights owner Tony Avent should get together and go bowling).

3) Funkify your foliage

Many tried-and-true shade or woodland plants now offer colorful or variegated foliage that's a new twist on an old favorite.

Here, for instance, is ColorFlash^® Astilbe (burgundy and purple leaves) and ColorFlash Lime:

“I got my greedy little hands on ColorFlash Lime,” wrote “bloomingwriter” blogger in a May 29, 2010 post, “Focusing on Foliage (mostly).”

And About.com Gardening Guide just called ColorFlash astilbes “a personal favorite of mine” in a May 21, 2010 post on bromeliads.

 “As if astilbes weren't wonderful enough, with their lacy foliage, colorful, long-lasting flower plumes and minimal maintenance needs, ColorFlash Lime has added a whole new dimension,” she wrote in an earlier post, “ColorFlash Lime Astilbe: A Perfect Plant Made Even Better.”

“Two-tone gold /lime leaves are edged with a slightly darker lime border. This burst of sunshine works well as an accent plant, particularly in partially shaded borders. Paired with its pink feather duster flowers, it commands the eye.”

Variegated-white varieties of tried-and-true shade plants are also a way to brighten up dark areas. Here are just two of the many variegated shade perennials I found while browsing through Bristol's:

Variegated pachysandra (a little bit classier, in my opinion, than the overused, plain-green pachysandra everyone had at their tract houses when I was growing up in the '70s):

Variegated Solomon's Seal:

4) Add tropicals or houseplants

As I mentioned in my previous post about using tropicals in the garden, houseplants (many of which actually thrive in low-light conditions) are a great way to jazz up the shade garden.

"Nearly all indoor foliage plants will benefit from outdoor growing conditions if they are protected from the hot midday sun, in such locations as a spot under a tree or on the north side of a house," says University of Minnesota extension agent Deborah L. Brown in her article, "Gardening in the Shade." Pots may be sunk into the soil to conserve moisture, she writes, "but with frequent watering they also could be set right on the soil surface, an ideal way to make use of those shade areas that are compacted with tree roots."

Some houseplants with fabulous foliage that I'd love to try include croton, bromeliads, tradescantia (Wandering Jew or spiderwort), triostar stromanthe and elephant ear (alocasia).

Tradescantia (the purple stuff):

Croton (the rainbow-colored ones):

Triostar stromanthe (image courtesy Monrovia):

 Bromeliad:

Elephant ear (alocasia):

5) Sneak in some "throwaway annuals"

"Annuals work well, except in dense shade," says Brown (see "Gardening in the Shade" article above). "Browallias, coleus, wax begonias, dwarf salvias, and other shade-tolerant annuals will begin blooming soon after frost danger is past if you start with robust young bedding plants."

Browallia (image courtesy EM Canada):

Well, that's enough for now. There are so many options I have to split this post into two parts. Look for the next five tips next week! And please let me know if you have any great suggestions for beyond-the-ordinary shade garden plants!

So I planted some bare root Flower Carpet^® roses last month (in May). They've already got buds on them, ready to bloom!

Here are the Flower Carpet Amber roses I planted in masses, to knit together into a low-growing blanket along a walkway next to my house: 

And here's a Flower Carpet Scarlet (one of three Flower Carpet Next Generation Roses bred for even better heat and humidity tolerance), planted in a container with a red-bloomed canna on my deck.

Despite near-record rains for the month of June here, I'm happy to report that these disease-resistant roses' shiny, green foliage is clean and completely free of black spot. (I wish my other plants were as healthy, like my tar-spot ridden holley bushes or my mildew-covered bachelor's buttons).

So anyway, as I played around with these low-growing, easy-care roses, my mind started working on all the ways you can use them in your landscape (most of which just can't do with higher-growing roses). Here are a few ideas I came up with (all images, unless otherwise noted, are courtesy of Tesselaar Plants).

10 easy ways to use "carpet" or groundcover roses

1) As a backdrop for a special feature …

Featured here at mahoneysgarden.com:

 Shown here at backyardnature.com:

2) As a low mounding hedge softening the edges of a walkway …

3) As a full, cascading garden wall topper …

4) As a hedge of tree roses (also referred to as topiaries or standards)…

5) As large masses of color in a foundation planting …

6) As "first-tier," low-growing color at the front of the perennial border or bed:

7) As a low-growing blanket of color along walkways or the strip between the sidewalk and the street …

This image courtesy of perfectplaces.ivii-designs.com:

 This image courtesy of design-a-yard.com:

(Red Flower Carpet roses at Ladera Ranch in South Orange County, California, featured here by Landscape Design/Build magazine's e-newsletter):  

8) As matching or complementary color with other garden plants …

(Featured here in Garden Gate magazine's 2010 special issue, Great Plant Combos):

9) In containers …

This image also courtesy of perfectplaces.ivii-designs.com:

Featured here at garden-nz.co.nz:

10) At the very front of your landscape to boost curb appeal … 

So … how 'bout you? How do you use "carpet" or groundcover roses in your landscape? If so, tell me about it, and add some pics if you can!