Designing Susan's Landscape

This design is for Susan who lives in Indiana. Susan wanted an easy to care for, and brightly colored yard. She also wanted it to stay colorful year round. I know that Susan also likes things clean and simple and I tried to reflect that in the no nonsense, no fuss design.

The design consists of boxwood hedges as these are not only low maintenance, but also were one of the few plants that would work between the small space between the house and sidewalk. The gold mops cypress shrubs provide year round color and also require very little maintenance. The Skyrocket junipers add structure, setting off the house and creating the tone for the entire garden. Red weigelias were used to contrast with the blue/silver tones, and the gold/chartreuse tones of the other plants. Barberries were also used to achieve this and provide a different texture where needed.

A few perennials were placed in the design to include Lavender (for the silver color and winter interest), and a choice of catmint or Agastache (for plant structure contrast) Room was left in the design to choose perennials and annuals.  If the homeowner feels the desire to add to the design, she can, but if she chooses not to one year, it will still remain colorful.

Enjoy! I will certainly post more pictures as the homeowners begin the project!

Designing Susan's Landscape

This design is for Susan who lives in Indiana. Susan wanted an easy to care for, and brightly colored yard. She also wanted it to stay colorful year round. I know that Susan also likes things clean and simple and I tried to reflect that in the no nonsense, no fuss design.

The design consists of boxwood hedges as these are not only low maintenance, but also were one of the few plants that would work between the small space between the house and sidewalk. The gold mops cypress shrubs provide year round color and also require very little maintenance. The Skyrocket junipers add structure, setting off the house and creating the tone for the entire garden. Red weigelias were used to contrast with the blue/silver tones, and the gold/chartruse tones of the other plants. Barberries were also used to achieve this and provide a different texture where needed.

A few perennials were placed in the design to include Lavender (for the silver color and winter interest), and a choice of catmint or Agastache (for plant structure contrast) Room was left in the design to choose perennials and annuals.  If the homeowner feels the desire to add to the design, she can, but if she chooses not to one year, it will still remain colorful.

Enjoy! I will certainly post more pictures as the homeowners begin the project!

Fairy Candelabras: Using an Unusual Plant to Provide Year Round Interest.

(Androsace Carnea ssp. Laggeri)

Jaime Willmann

I am always on the lookout for a plant that can flower and provide year round interest. Sometimes someone loves plants so much that they either so many and need to get rid of a plant and replace it with a better one, or choose a much smaller variety to put in a spot that is “just perfect” for the new plant. If you only have a tiny spot in your yard, if you love trough gardening, alpine plants, or rock gardening, this may be a plant for you to consider.

Androsace, is also known as rock primrose or fairy candelabras. They are alpine plants belonging to the Primrose order. About 100 of this genus are known, and when the mountains of India, Tibet, and China are thoroughly explored, even more species may be found. In the Alps, about twenty species are found and they can also be seen growing in the Himalayas and China.

Of most of the Androsace, Carnea  ssp. Laggeri is the easiest of Androsace to grow. This hardy perennial is USDA zones 4-7 but care should be taken to treat it as the alpine plant it is. Laggeri is a small plant and is ideal for troughs, rock gardens and raised beds. Laggeri adds beauty in two ways – first through the late spring flush of pink flowers it provides, but also through the small evergreen cushion of foliage in the winter months.  The flowers of Laggeri are small clusters of very small cupped, deep pink flowers with yellow eyes.  The foliage consists of mid green pointed leaves arranged in small, tight rosettes. Overall, the plant creates a very small cushion reaching only 2 inch tall by 6 inches wide.

Laggeri prefers full sun, a soil ph between 5.6-7.8 and drainage is critical. These are best planted in crevices between stones at least 15 inches in depth. They should be packed firmly with pure sandy peat, or very sandy or gritty loam, not less than 15 inches deep. Providing a top dressing of soil and gravel helps before winter and should be renewed in the spring.  This not only prevents rot and disease, but it also encourages fresh roots to be made from the underside of the stems. When growing Androsace Carnea Laggeri, be on the lookout for aphids, slugs, and spiders.   Remove dead rosettes to prevent rot and disease.

I can picture this rock primrose en masse. A grouping of small evergreen cushioned mounds could be a striking contemporary display, a formal grouping, or on a sloped rock garden, or tucked in-between two or three well placed rocks. This plant may require a little extra care because it is an alpine plant in a Midwestern environment, but any plant that works hard to look good all year long, in my opinion, is worth the extra attention it may require.   

Photo Courtesy of: http://magnar.aspaker.no/liste.htm

COOKIE EXCHANGE!! Chocolate Layer Crumb Bars for your Cookie Exchange.

Simply Delicious Holiday


Chocolate Layer Crumb Bars

(Family Features) - The holidays are filled with time-honored traditions -- and none of them are sweeter than the celebratory memories you bake each year in your kitchen.  Here are some foolproof tips to make sure this year's baking goes off without a hitch.

Adding nuts to your baked desserts can take them from ordinary to extraordinary. Toasting the nuts first will intensify their flavors -- just spread chopped or whole nuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven at 350º F for five to 10 minutes or until golden and fragrant; stir them once during cooking to ensure even toasting. As an added bonus, toasted nuts are less likely to sink to the bottom of your cakes or breads.

If your recipe calls for "one cup chopped nuts," be sure to chop the nuts before measuring them. On the other hand, if it calls for "one cup nuts, chopped," measure first, then chop.

Love a decadent chocolate cake, but hate the white residue left by the flour you dusted the pan with? Next time, use cocoa powder. Not only will it look beautiful, but it will add another layer of decadent chocolate flavor.

Add some quick elegance to cookies, cakes or just about any other dessert with some chocolate morsels and a plastic bag. Just melt the morsels, put them in the baggie and then snip off a corner of the bag. You can drizzle the chocolate directly onto your desserts, or create swirls and curlycues on wax paper, chill until solid, and then place wherever you want to add visual interest.

Here's a foolproof method to avoid getting crumbs in the icing when you're decorating cakes: Once they've cooled, cover your cake layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1/2 hour before icing.

Making a pie or pastry? Add some extra flavor to your crust by very finely grinding up some nuts in your food processor and mixing them into your flour.

Ensure your cupcakes or muffins are all uniform in size by scooping batter into prepared pans with an ice cream scoop.

Need more holiday recipes and ideas? Step into our kitchen atdiamondnuts.com, select your favorite ingredients and discover more recipes for a Simply Delicious Holiday and download a coupon for Diamond® Nuts.

Chocolate Layer Crumb Bars

Description
These chocolate layer crumb bars are a must have during the holidays. They also make great gifts, either hand delivered or packaged creatively and shipped.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Diamond® Chopped Walnuts
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups (11.5-oz. pkg.) Nestlé® Toll House® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks, divided
• 1 can (14 oz.) Nestlé® Carnation® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
2. Beat butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 2 cups crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
4. Combine 1 cup chunks and sweetened condensed milk in small, heavy-duty saucepan. Warm over low heat, stirring until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Spread over hot crust.
5. Stir in walnuts and remaining chunks into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Source

Diamond Foods

© 2010 All rights reserved.

Iberis Sempervirens Evergreen Candytuft. Another great Flowering Evergreen

You can never have enough plants that look good ALL YEAR, even in the winter. I am a big believer in that it is completely possible and not too hard. Who wants a yard that look dead for months out of the year anyway???

Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens)

Figure 1Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens).

Candytuft is an excellent ground cover for the border of a perennial garden in full sun. Growing about 12 inches tall, it has small, dark green, evergreen leaves and produces a carpet of pure white flowers in spring (Figure 1). Candytuft prefers full sun and well-drained soil. It benefits from cutting back after flowering to maintain compactness.

MOBOT SAYS:

Common Name: candytuft
Zone: 3 to 8 
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Brassicaceae
Missouri Native: No
Native Range: Southern Europe
Height: 0.5 to 1 foot
Spread: 0.5 to 1.5 feet
Bloom Time: April - May   Bloom Data
Bloom Color: White
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium

General Culture:
Best grown in average, well-drained soils in full sun. Less floriferous if grown in part shade. Well-drained soil is the key to growing this plant well. Cut or sheer plants stems back by 1/3 after flowering to encourage new growth and to maintain compact habit. In cold winter climates, mulch plants with evergreen boughs in winter to help minimize potential damage from sun scorch and desiccation. Stems may root where they touch the ground creating new plants which can be left as is or transplanted to other areas.


Noteworthy Characteristics:
Evergreen candytuft (sempervirens in Latin meaning always green) is a low-growing, spreading, woody-based, herbaceous perennial (sometimes called a subshrub) which typically forms a foliage mound 6-12" tall and spreading to 18" wide. It is evergreen in warm winter climates, but semi-evergreen in cold winter climates where the foliage may suffer significant decline in harsh winters. Small, pure white, 4-petaled flowers in dense, flattened clusters (corymbs) appear in a profuse, early-to-late-spring bloom which often totally obscures the foliage. Flowers sometimes gradually age to light pink. Numerous, oblong, entire, dark green, leathery leaves (1-1.5" long).


Problems:
Wet, poorly-drained soils inevitably lead to crown rot which can devastate plantings. Susceptible to club root which results in stunted growth. Desiccation and sun scorch may damage the evergreen foliage in cold winter climates.


Uses:
Excellent edging plant (many of the cultivars of this species are more compact and may make even better edgers) for borders, paths or walkways. Rock gardens or sprawl over a wall. Interesting ground cover for small, sunny areas.

	High resolution image available.
High resolution image available.

Another EVERGREEN PLANT with great Winter interest... BRIGHT RED BERRIES!

Nandina

Prepared by Marjan Kluepfel, HGIC Information Specialist, and Bob Polomski, Extension Consumer Horticulturist, Clemson University. (New 05/99. Images added 03/07.)

HGIC 1071

Printer Friendly Version (PDF)

Nandina or heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) is an evergreen or semi-evergreen broadleaf shrub, which is tough and durable. Large plants have been growing in South Carolina for 100 or more years without any care.

Bright berries of nandina last from fall through spring.
Karen Russ, ©2007 HGIC, Clemson Extension

Mature Height/Spread

Nandina grows 6 to 10 feet high and spreads 3 to 5 feet. The plant looks like bamboo in its lightly branched, cane-like stems and delicate, fine-textured foliage. The leaves are divided into many 1- to 2- inch, pointed, oval leaflets, creating a lacy pattern. Young foliage is pinkish, then turns to soft light green. The foliage is tinged red in winter, especially in full sun and with some frost. The flowers appear in May to June and are pinkish white. Each flower is ¼ to ½ inch across, appearing in loose, erect, 6- to 12-inch clusters at the end of the branches. If plants are grouped, shiny red berries, 1/3 inch in diameter, follow the flowers in September and persist into and through the winter. Single plants seldom fruit heavily.

Growth Rate

Nandina is a slow- to moderate-growing shrub. It grows 12 to 24 inches per year, depending on conditions, including location, light, fertility and water.

Landscape Use

Suggested uses for nandina include border, specimen plant and foundation, depending on the cultivar.

Cultivation

Nandina is easily transplanted from containers. It has fleshy roots, which aid in rapid recovery from transplanting. It can be moved at any time except midsummer. Nandina prefers moist, fertile soil, protected from harsh winds. Plant nandina in partial shade to full sun. The color of the foliage varies depending on the amount of sun the plant receives. Leaves assume a reddish tint in winter when grown in full sun.

Nandina loses its leaves at 10 °F. Stems are damaged at 5 °F, but the plant usually recovers fast. Careful pruning must be practiced. It is best to thin out old stems every year or head back old canes at varying lengths to produce a dense plant. Renew neglected shrubs by removing 1/3 of the oldest canes in the spring of each year for three years.

Problems

Nandina does not have any serious diseases or insect problems.

Cultivars and Varieties

• 'Alba' is a 4- to 6-inch shrub with white berries and yellowish-green foliage, which turns yellow in fall. This cultivar is more susceptible to cold damage than the species.
• 'Compacta' or dwarf nandina only reaches 4 to 5 feet in height and has lacy foliage, which turns red in fall.
• 'Fire Power' is a very compact plant to 2 feet tall and wide. It has red-tinged leaves in summer and bright red leaves in winter.

Brilliant red leaf color of 'Fire Power' Nandina in winter.
Karen Russ, ©2007 HGIC, Clemson Extension

• 'Gulf Stream' or 'Compacta Nana' is a slow-growing, 3- to 4- foot shrub with dark blue-green summer foliage and red winter foliage. It does not have any berries.
• 'Harbor Dwarf' is a freely spreading, low-growing (to 2 feet) plant. In some types, underground stems or rhizomes send up stems several inches from the parent plant, making it a good groundcover. Winter foliage ranges in color from orange red to bronzy red.
• 'Moyer's Red' is a tall-growing form, maturing to a height of 6 feet, which develops good cold weather red pigment in the leaves. The flowers and fruits are also pinker and redder than the species.
• 'Nana' or 'Nana Purpurea' or 'Atropurpurea Nana' grows to 2 feet with mottled green foliage that turns purplish-red in winter. This plant does not flower or set fruit.
• 'Woods Dwarf' is a rounded form to 4 feet with dense, crimson red foliage in winter.
• 'Yellow Berries' is similar to the species but the foliage lacks the typical reddish tinge. The berries are yellow.

Page maintained by: Home & Garden Information Center

This information is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service is implied. All recommendations are for South Carolina conditions and may not apply to other areas. Use pesticides only according to the directions on the label. All recommendations for pesticide use are for South Carolina only and were legal at the time of publication, but the status of registration and use patterns are subject to change by action of state and federal regulatory agencies. Follow all directions, precautions and restrictions that are listed.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix in a Jar

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix in a Jar

Description
Offer a gift from the heart and make it easy for your favorite bakers to indulge their passion for sweet treats. Give them this cookie mix in a decorated glass jar.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Preparation

1. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Place flour mixture in 1-quart jar. Layer remaining ingredients in order listed above, pressing firmly after each layer. Seal with lid and decorate with fabric and ribbon.
2. Recipe To Attach: Beat 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter or margarine, 1 large egg and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until blended. Add cookie mix and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional); mix well, breaking up any clumps. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated 375° F for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Serves

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Source

Nestle Baking Products

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