Shades of Autumn

I am admittedly not a big fan of autumn.  I don't dislike the season itself and in fact, some of my favorite garden plants flower as the days grow shorter, temperatures drop and summer begins to lose its grip.  My problem with autumn is that it precedes winter, and of winter, I am not a fan.  In my book, winter is simply a necessary evil--the cold weather I must endure in order to love the plants I love the most.  Perennials, bulbs, flowering trees, shrubs--they all have to have winter in order to survive--and not just survive, but thrive--and bloom.  And so, I survive winter knowing that at it's end, all of my garden favorites will be back to woo me with their flowers, their foliage, their fragrance and so much more.

So, if I have to endure winter, I figure autumn ought to be as beautiful as I can possibly make it.  Here are a few stars that are shining now in my gardens and a couple of others that I have visited this week.  Below, Aster novae-angliae (now technically Symphiotrichum novae-angliae because the botanists have been playing again).  The straight species, not a hybrid, it marries beautifully with Colocasia 'Elena' in the background.

Below, Helianthus simulans flowering in the Color Garden at Cheekwood Botanical Garden.  If you're a Nashvillian (or visiting) be sure not to miss Cheekwood--55 acres of beautiful gardens and the Color Garden, in the very capable hands of my friend Phillipe Chadwick, is especially beautiful this time of year.

Part of the fun of gardening is discovering new plants--or new variations of old plants, as in the case below.  I found this seedling Arum italicum in a friend's garden a few years ago and though it had but one leaf at that time, I thought it looked as though it might have some potential.  I'm so glad I talked her out of it.  Stunning variegation and these beautiful leaves will remain standing all winter long!

Tricyrtis is another genus of fall-blooming favorites.  Tricyrtis hirta, with its amethys-speckled blooms, always makes me smile.  It's not rare or even that unusual, but it sure is fun!

And last, but certainly not least, one of the best flowering bulbs around, Colchicum autumnale.  They last but a few days, but are so much fun when they suddenly burst into bloom in late September and early October.  If you look closely you can see the "checkerboard" pattern (technically known as "tesselation") in the flower petals.  In some varieties, this pattern is especially pronounced and very unique.

I hope that autumn finds you well.  I've been photographing like crazy the past few weeks and have a big announcement coming your way soon, so stay tuned!  See you in the garden!

30-Minute Bolognese

I posted some photos last night on Facebook of a "shortcut" version of traditional Bolognese that I was whipping up to use in a lasagna.  So many people asked for the details, I decided it would be easier to post it here, rather than taking up so much room on my Facebook page and only allowing my Facebook friends to have access to it.  Sorry that I don't have a good photo.  I was snapping with my phone as I went and the images really are inferior for posting here.  I'll do better next time!  At any rate, I can still tell you how you can make a really good Bolognese in 30-45 minutes and skip the traditional, all-day cooking.

Traditional Bolognese is a thick, meaty sauce with little or sometimes no tomato paste or sauce included.  The meat is the star.  The Americanized version is usually a thick, tomato-based sauce full of meat--what we typically would think of as a "meaty" spaghetti sauce.  This quick shortcut version falls somewhere in between and to me, gives you the best of both worlds.  Deep, rich, meaty flavor and a moist, silky, stick-to-the-pasta (and your ribs) texture.  And the time it saves!

What you'll need:

(This makes enough to make a BIG lasagna, 11 x 14, or would easily serve 8 if used with tagliatelle, fettuccine, or even spaghetti.)

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c. finely chopped celery
3/4 c. finely chopped carrot
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds 93% lean ground beef
2 quarts of prepared spaghetti sauce (and you may actually need a 3rd quart, store-bought, I prefer the Classico brand Sweet Basil and Tomato, or Publix Premium Sweet Basil)
2-3 Tbsp. sugar, optional
3-4 Tbsp. fresh Basil, thinly sliced

On a day when I'm home all day, I'll make traditional Bolognese that takes several hours to do right, but when I'm in a hurry, this comes as close as you can get and takes 1/4 of the time.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  You want it hot, but don't let it smoke.  The goal is to sweat the vegetables down and, after about 10 minutes of cooking, have them lightly golden brown.  Once the oil is hot, add the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, salt and pepper.  Saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables take on a nice golden color.

Add the ground beef all at once and use a spatula to break the meat up and completely incorporate it into the vegetables.  Open 1 jar of the sauce and add 1 cup of sauce to the meat mixture.  Keep working this mixture until the ground beef has broken up completely and there are no large chunks.  Simmer this mixture until all of the moisture has evaporated and the meat begins to look dry.  Add a second cup of sauce from the open jar and incorporate it thoroughly, simmering until the mixture "goes dry" again.  Repeat this action until the first jar of sauce is gone.  It doesn't take long, maybe 10-15 minutes, and your goal is a very rich, thick, brown meaty mixture when it's done.

Give a taste.  At this point, the mixture should taste very meaty with some tomato.  If it's too salty/tomato-y, this is where the sugar comes in to sweeten it up a bit.  Sugar is optional and to your personal taste.

Once the meat mixture is completely cooked, add the second jar of sauce all at once and simmer for about 5 minutes.  If the mixture is too dry for your liking, this is where the third jar (or part of the third jar) of pasta sauce may come in handy--to get the consistency right for your personal taste.  Keep in mind that good Bolognese should not "run" over the pasta, but actually stick to it.  During the last minute or two of simmering, add the fresh basil and incorporate thoroughly.  Your Bolognese is now ready to serve or use in another dish that needs further preparation, as I did last night with the lasagna.

This may sound like an involved process, but it's really quick, easy and a tasty shortcut to traditional Bolognese when you're in a pinch.

Cavolo Nero

In the states, we know this tough, cold-hardy cabbage cousin as "Dinosaur" kale, its name coming from the rough, leathery texture of its leaves.  We use it primarily as an ornamental for the fall and winter garden, combining it with pansies, violas and other cold-hardy winter growers where it provides a textural, architectural accent for its lower growing companions.  In Italy, however, Cavolo Nero, or black kale, is a staple of the fall and winter vegetable garden and its greatest claim to fame is the thick, rich tuscan soup called Ribollita.

On our trip to Italy last October, we sampled Ribollita in a variety of restaurants, from small town osterias to the finer establishments of Florence.  Each was slightly different in its makeup, but all were a hearty blend of kale, white beans and other vegetables.  Some had a touch of tomato, while others leaned most heavily on the Cavolo Nero itself.  In every case, the portion set before you was generous--and generously drizzled with the brightest green, fresh pressed olive oil available, some of it even having been pressed that very day.  Divine!

I stopped by the garden center on my way home on Friday and picked up some "Dinosaur" kale for my own garden.  I have yet to decide whether I'll plant it directly in the ground, where it would certainly attain its greatest size, or whether I'll opt to use it in a few pots up near the garden shed where I can protect them from the harshest winter weather and harvest kale until well after Christmas.  Given the current rabbit population, pots seem the most prudent way to go.  Either way, I'll be harvesting my own Cavolo Nero in a few weeks and Ribollita will be on the menu on more than one occasion this winter.  If you'd like to try some yourself, here is my favorite Ribollita recipe, shared from the most famous of all Italian cookbooks, The Silver Spoon.

Ribollita

Serves 4

1/4 cup very high quality olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1 carrot, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

3 fresh or canned tomatoes, peeled

1 fresh thyme sprig

2 potatoes, coarsely diced

7 1/2 cups Cavolo Nero (black kale), shredded

1 cup fresh white beans, or 1/2 cup dried white beans, soaked in cold water overnight and drained

4 country-style bread slices

salt and pepper, to taste

This is soup is called ribollita (reboiled) because it was originally made using the previous day's leftover vegetable soup heated in an earthenware pot with thinly sliced onion, black pepper and olive oil sprinkled on the surface.  It was taken off the heat and served when the onion had turned golden brown.  Today, however, it is normally made as follows.

Heat the 1/4 cup olive oil in a heavy pan, add the carrot, onion and celery and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until softened.  Add the tomatoes, thyme and potatoes and cook for a few minutes, then add the cavolo nero and beans.  Pour in 8 3/4 cups water and season with salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours.  Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Place the bread on the base of a large earthenware casserole and ladle in the soup.  Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.  Divide into 4 serving bowls, sprinkle with black pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

A Long Time Coming

After several months of revising and revamping, I'm proud to finally announce the re-launch of my old "Garden Notes" blog.  You'll notice that the title of the blog has changed, but don't fret.  I still plan to deliver all of the gardening information that was included in the blog before the changes--new and unusual plants, practical gardening tips, photos of gardens I have visited and more--but the new blog will also include another of my passions: food.

Food has been almost as important in my life as gardening has and it only made sense that at some point, the two would merge--my vocation and my avocation--and become one.  There are some exciting things happening that I can't discuss with you just yet, but stay tuned for future announcements about new career directions, more opportunities for one-on-one interaction, travel to visit some of the finest gardens and gastronomic destinations around the world and much, much more.

In the meantime, enjoy the new blog--GardenerCook--and watch your "In" Boxes for regular new posts about my two favorite topics.  Happy fall, and I'll see you in the garden!  Or maybe the kitchen!

Troy

Welcome To Spring!

Spring has burst forth with a vengeance in Nashville this week!  Forsythia, daffodils, quince, hellebores and many other spring favorites are at their peak, so I thought I'd share a few shots from the garden this week.

Forsythia 'Lynwood Gold'.  One of the oldest and best known varieties of Forsythia on the market, this is the one that gets the long, whiplike stems that are so great for cutting and forcing indoors in late winter and early spring.  Many other varieties have been introduced over the years--later flowering, more cold hardy, shorter and more compact, even forms with variegated leaves--but none, in my opinion compare to the golden beauty of 'Lynwood Gold'.

A tremendous amount of hybridizing has been going on in the world of hellebores, or Lenten roses, over the past twenty years.  Some of the finest results are just now making their way to market and much work is still being done.  The range of flower colors and forms has exploded just in the past 5 years.  Some of the best work being done in the world of hellebore hybridizing is that of Ernie and Marietta O'Byrne at Northwest Garden Nursery.  Their Winter Jewels (TM) series is, in my opinion, second to none.  The one pictured above is Winter Jewels (TM) 'Golden Sunrise' and has been stunning for the past month.

I have a soft spot in my heart for quince.  It's one of the things that I remember from my grandmother's garden when I was a child.  This unusual variety, 'Atsuya Hamada', is a deep, velvety blood red and the flowers are much smaller than normal--only about 3/4" in diameter.  It's perfect for cutting!

Another quince that I have fallen in love with in the past couple of years is this new cultivar, 'Chojuraku'.  Its deep, apricot orange flowers light up the garden in early spring.  It is deeper in color and a larger, more robust plant than 'Cameo', which is also beautiful and has been on the market for many years.  The tall stems of 'Chojuraku' make it great for cutting, where the dwarf habit of 'Cameo' makes it difficult to cut and use indoors.

One of the most unsual of all daffodils and a variety that has been around for over 100 years, 'Van Sion', also known as 'Telamonius Plenus', is one of the most beautiful and one of the most frustrating varieties that I have grown.  Some years, it opens perfectly double flowers like the one shown above, while other years it opens as a shredded looking blossom that resembles a dandelion!  Some years, if the weather conditions are wet and rainy while it is trying to open, the buds may blast and rot on the plant without opening at all.  In the years when it at its very best, 'Van Sion' is showstopping and it's worth the wait for those perfect years!

I hope that spring is just as beautiful in your corner of the world and I'll be back again soon!

And Spring Begins...

Don't get too comfortable in your shorts and flip-flops just yet, for winter will most assuredly return for another round or two or three.  But as I was out and about our fair city today, I couldn't help but notice that spring--just when I need it the most--has finally begun to peek slowly and cautiously out from under the blanket and that the landscape's long slumber is coming to an end.

The first sure sign of spring each year is this lawn full of crocus that flowers in mid- to late February--like clockwork--regardless of the weather, reminding me that spring, indeed, is but a few weeks away.  And while I know we'll have more cold temperatures, more of those infuriating late spring frosts that nip the buds of over zealous tender plants pushing through the soil too soon, and maybe even a little more snow (but I sure hope not), I know for sure that winter is losing a fighting battle and that spring will prevail.

The witchhazel also tells me that spring is on its way.  In my own garden, Hamamelis x intermedia 'Arnold Promise' has chosen to unfurl it's blooms early this year.  It is usually the last of the witchhazels to flower, and this year, it's one of the first!  What's a gardener to do?

Another plant that helps get me through winter's blah and boring days is this beautiful "Christmas Rose"--which is about as closely related to a rose as you are to a dinosaur--therein the problem with common names.  But I digress...  Helleborus niger 'Josef Lemper' has proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is going to be a great garden plant.  I only planted it in August and it was not a huge plant to begin with, but it is now on it's third round of bloom since the first week of December and even had buds pushing up through the melting snow in January!

For a big, bright splash of color in the late winter landscape, I can always rely on this small patch of Iris reticulata.  Although its flowers last only about a week--maybe 10 days in a good year--it's just the right week every year.  The week when I need to be reminded that winter won't last forever!

And snowdrops.  All the rage in England for decades, American gardeners are now beginning to get interested in them beyond just the common species.  I snapped this photograph in a Nashville garden today.  It has been a damp, chilly day, and the light was terrible for photographing the crocus that I really wanted to shoot, but it was overcast enough that the white flowers didn't glare and "burn out", so all in all it turned out okay.  Back to photograph the crocus on Friday, if tomorrow's rain doesn't destroy them.  If it does, there's always next year and that's part of the beauty of the garden.

When I was headed downtown earlier, I decided to take a quick spin through Centennial Park and see what was flowering in the garden there on the north side of the Parthenon.  I'm sure glad I did.  Otherwise, I would have missed this beautiful witchhazel, Hamamelis mollis 'Pallida'.

Contrary to popular belief, the following photgraph is NOT forsythia!  It's too early!  And it's the wrong color, and it has 5 petals and not 4--and, and, and..... Oh, sorry.  You now know one of my biggest late winter and early spring pet peeves.  This graceful, beautiful, weeping, yellow-flowered, fragrant shrub is always confused with Forsythia when in actuality it is a jasmine.  Jasminum nudiflorum--winter jasmine--to be precise.  It makes a great groundcover or cascading shrub and while I was a mite irritated when I found that the landscape team at this particular establishment had begun shearing this row like a hedge (it used to cascade beautifully to the ground)--I have to admit that it's rather stunning in bloom, even sheared within an inch of its life.

And last, but certainly not least, a rather unusual and lesser known (by the gardening public, anyway) cousin of the witchhazel, Parrotia persica.  These flowers will "puff up" a bit, but what you see is basically what you get.  It's not really grown for its blooms and in fact, I watched at least 20 people walk right past this today and never look up.  But even if its blooms aren't showy, it has beautiful, smooth, silver-grey bark and its tapestry of fall color in shades of red, orange and gold is second to none.

So there you have it!  Spring is officially on its way.  Winter beware.  You might have a few good gusts left in you, but you're not going to win this fight and for this year, anyway, I say good riddance.

We're Off and Traveling!

Exciting news this week!  We're off and traveling!  I am working with a local travel company even as I am writing this to you and it seems that in all likelihood my dream of taking gardeners and garden lovers like you on trips to some of the finest gardens in the world--both stateside and abroad--is finally going to come true!

We are still working on the details, but I hope that within the next few weeks we'll have an official itinerary and price for an incredible trip this fall to the Philadelphia area and the exquisite Brandywine Valley.  Destinations will include world-renowned Longwood Gardens (where yours truly was an intern 20--gasp!--years ago), Winterthur, Chanticleer and many of the other public and private gardens in the area.  We'll include some of the better garden centers and one-of-a-kind nurseries around Philadlephia, too, and trust me, I know how to pack and ship some plants.  We'll get them home, no matter where you live!

If you love gardens and you love to travel, stay tuned.  Lots more to come in the next few weeks!  In the meantime, here are a few photos from Longwood, Chanticleer and Winterthur from my last trip there in 2008 to whet your appetite.  You won't want to miss this!

The "mantel" in the Ruin at Chanticleer.

Chanticleer's incredible water garden.

Longwood's spectacular Italian water garden.

The gazebo by the pond at Longwood.  This photograph was actually part of a National Geographic Traveler spread which you can see here:  http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/brandywine-valley-road-trip/

The oval staircase inside Winterthur, also in the National Geographic Traveler feature.

And the amazing "table" inside the ruin/follie at Chanticleer.

Itineraries to Scotland, England, Italy and France are also in the works for 2012 and beyond, so tell your frieinds and neighbors and...

Get your bags packed!