I’ve been contemplating an herbed scone recipe all week and today it was making me particularly hungry. It’s difficult to peruse savory recipes containing garlic, sun dried tomato, rosemary and basil without having my stomach start to rumble. It didn’t help either, that I had skipped breakfast to get a quick start on a project. I wanted something yummy and I wanted it now. Thankfully in my readings I had run across this recipe for Garlic French Grilled Cheese over at Chips That Pass in the Night (cute name, right?). What a wonderfully quick and delicious lunch this would make. The concept of the grilled cheese above was inspired by this recipe. Instead of French bread, however, I used sourdough. The cheddar mozzarella was replaced with muenster slices. I didn’t want to take the time to mix my own ingredients so I grabbed my handy bottle of Spice Hunter’s Garlic Herb Bread blend. I layered 3 slices of cheese on a piece of sourdough and gave it a dash of spice blend. Then I covered it with a slice of bread and buttered both sides of the sandwich. Each side got another sprinkle of seasoning and the top got a good sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. I slid the sandwich onto my Foreman Grill (my favorite way to do grill cheese these days) and gave it a few minutes until the cheese was well melted and the top was a lovely golden brown.

Taking photos was torture as I watched the gooey cheese melt onto the plate. Luckily the lighting was just about perfect and I didn’t need to fuss too much. My stomach was really talking now. After a few quick snaps, the sandwich was devoured in almost the same amount of time. I loved the way the incredibly smooth texture of the muenster contrasted with the crunchy sourdough. The mild flavor of the cheese was perfect with the stronger flavors of the garlic and herbs. A nice glass of sweet tea was all I needed to make this a perfect lunch. I could imagine pairing this with a robust tomato soup for dinner. Total prep and cooking time was about 15 minutes.
Hungry yet?

Keeping this guy in bounds is a great deal of work. But oh the payoff.

Lately I’ve been seeing red. It’s everywhere I look. Red pots, red furniture, red flowers. But I’m not complaining. I like it and lately have been craving it. It could be because our summer here on the coast has been anything but summery. While much of the nation suffers through a heatwave, we have been pretty cool and mild. The sun takes its sweet time breaking through the fog each morning causing the flowers to linger a bit longer in their slumber. Even the tomatoes have been hesitant to ripen. It’s only been this past week that I’ve started seeing that first hint of a color other than green. So, it’s no surprise that the color I’ve been seeking out has been bright and fiery. Creating the container on the left felt more like therapy than work. There’s just something about the power of red to shake things up a bit and make everything seem fresh and new.

Here are some of my favorite reds of the moment. Perhaps you’ll want to add one or more to your garden:

My Ladybird poppies are finally putting on a show. I love the contrasting black spots. They were planted with the intention of co-mingling with the Penny Black Nemophila, but Penny has come and gone (putting on a fantastic show of its own) and left these poppies to hold down the stage. On dreary mornings seeing this cheerful, happy color is a great way to start the day.

I can almost watch my Cypress vine grow. I’m a bit embarrassed to say just how long this packet of  seeds sat in that mason jar in the back of my fridge. But let’s just say that with proper storage the seeds stay viable for a long, long time. The red color is so bright that I actually found it a bit hard to photograph. Most likely this will be an annual here in my area, but it is so lovely that I’ll have to make time to save some more seeds.

I already have a red mimulus in my garden, but not this one. This is “Valentine” which is a perfect name for it because I love that color. I have “Jack” which is a more burgundy shade of red. So now I have a problem. Do I stay faithful to Jack or follow my heart and get a new Valentine?

And what about adding some Gaillardia “Burgunder” to the garden. Yes, I already have the traditional blanket flower and a good sized patch of “Oranges and Lemons,” but surely there must be a spot for this beauty.

Pineapple sage. Is it any surprise that my resident hummingbird adores this plant and chastises me loudly if I go anywhere near it with pruners? I grow the plant for its fragrant leaves. That minty pineapple scent makes the leaves a great addition to teas or sugar syrups. Just brushing past the plant in the garden is delightful. But this time of year, and especially this year, it’s those flowers that thrill me. That bright clear red is anything but boring.

Do you have a favorite red? Or a favorite color of the moment? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Sketch a Plant Sunday is a blog carnival started by Steve Asbell over at The Raintforest Garden. It’s a chance to get in the habit of drawing every Sunday and sharing what you’ve done. If you would like to participate in Sketch a Plant Sunday, just hop on over to Steve’s blog for details.

I paint digitally in Photoshop and every piece goes through this really ugly stage. This is at the point where I have worked out a rough sketch (here some ripening plums on a branch) and have blocked in some color. Doesn’t look like much, now does it? Perhaps if you squint, you can see where it’s going. This is just the beginning, however, and I normally don’t share this part. I like to get past this part as quickly as possible, but alas, sometimes work and fatigue get in the way. One interesting thing you can see at the moment (and something that made doing this so interesting) is just how many different colors there are in these plums. Some start out green at one end and go all the way to purple at the other with browns and oranges in between. Panting fruit and plants really does help you see them with a great deal more detail.
Over the next week, time permitting, I’ll be blending the colors and adding detail. I’ll post an update next Sunday.

Thinking ahead to next year. I already know I want more poppies. More of these girly, ruffly pink ones. Normally girly is not my style in manner or dress. But in plants? That’s a completely different story. I love flowers that are delicate and ruffled just like a party dress I’ll never wear. This particular poppy fits the bill perfectly. A volunteer it came up quite a distance from where I had the ‘Thai Silk’ Eschscholzia californica planted last year. In a spot that was rather inconvenient to be honest. But I have such a soft spot for volunteers that I let it grow rather than pull it. (Which is also the reason why I have to step over a pumpkin vine to get to the compost bin.) The amount of pastel blooms it produced this year has been amazing, however, and now that it’s almost finished I realize I will miss it in the garden. So I’m going to save some seeds in hopes that next year’s will be just as pretty.
It’s not always easy when you are new to gardening to determine when seed heads are ripe. Sometimes it’s hard to know what the seed pod even looks like. It can be confusing with a plant like this poppy. The flower is so round and fairly flat when opened. The seed pod, however, in no way resembles the flower. It is long and narrow and pointed.

Once you’ve learned to recognize the seed pod, you then have to recognize when it’s ripe. Seed pod and seed heads are ripe when dry and the seeds easily drop when the pod/head is moved or opened. In the photo at the left you can see the difference between the ripe, unripe and past prime seed pods. Eschscholzia have these cool spring loaded seed pods that burst open when ripe, projecting the seeds a distance from the parent plant. This allows the seeds to cover a larger area and compete less with each other when they come up in spring. It also makes them tricky to harvest. When harvesting the seed pods, pinch or snip the pod above the part where it joins the stem and let the pod drop into your container. Grabbing and pulling on the pod itself can cause it to explode sending seeds everywhere. Once you’ve collected your pods, you need to separate the seed from the pod. Over a large bowl, grab hold of the pod and snap it open in the center. If the pod is ripe, it easily snaps apart like the one in the far right of the photos. Gently scrape out any seeds that don’t drop right into the bowl.

Poppy seeds are tiny round seeds, dark brown to black in color. Place the seeds on a plate or tray and allow them to air dry for few days in room temp location out of direct sunlight. Put them in an  envelope, label and place the envelope inside a mason jar with a few packs of silica gel (the “do not eat” stuff that comes with your shoes) seal jar and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to plant. Heat and moisture cause seeds to become less viable. Storing them in a mason jar in the fridge keeps them dry and cool.

Remember to harvest seeds only from poppies growing in your own yard or your neighbor’s (with permission of course). Harvesting seed in the wild is bad for the future of the poppy population and may be illegal. It’s best to leave the wildflower show for everyone to enjoy.

I was excited to participate  in Steve Asbell’s “Sketch a Plant Sunday” over at The Rainforest Garden. Steve had mentioned wanting to get in the habit of drawing more often and that it has been on my to-do list for a while as well. It seemed only natural that the subject should be plants. This Sketch a Plant Sunday’s subject is a Pepino Melon. It grows pretty happily here on the Central Coast. It is aptly named. It fruit tastes like a cross between a melon and a cucumber and is yummy sprinkled with a bit of chili powder and a dash of lime.  You too can participate in Sketch a Plant Sunday by following the above link to Steve’s blog.

I was fortunate enough to have popped on Twitter just when Michelle Gervais asked if any bloggers out there wanted a review copy of  Fine Gardening’s Plant Combinations Vol. 4. I must admit that Fine Gardening magazine is a bit hit and miss for me. Not that there is anything wrong with it. It’s a wonderful, well thought out magazine. It’s just that at this stage in my gardening career, I tend to be more focused in the topics that interest me. Growing roses, for example, does not. I think they are gorgeous and smell wonderful, but I’ll just admire them in my neighbor’s garden. So an issue with pages of rose growing tips would be one I would pass on. Plant combinations and interesting new cultivars, however, are topics I can sink my teeth into.

One of the benefits of these special editions is the lack of advertising. With just a couple of pages of ads in the front and back, you certainly get what you pay for. As a matter of fact, at $7.99, you get a pretty good deal. Most magazines are ‘read and donate’ for me. I rarely pick them up and look at them again. But the issues on plant combos actually find a space on my shelf. They are a wonderful reference for gardeners and designers when you feel a bit tapped out in the creativity department. Which is reason number two that I’m glad I checked my Twitter stream that morning. In the nursery industry, we are going through what we call the summertime blahs. It’s still a great time to garden (especially here in California where it finally feels warm). But it’s the time of year when the plant material starts to feel a little boring. We are at the end of the early growing season and not quite yet into the next one. After months and months of seeing the same plants on grower’s availability lists, you crave something new. Something…anything, exciting. This edition was certainly the shot in the arm I needed. Page after page of interesting plant combination with tried and true standbys as well as new and unusual plants.

Carpet bugelwood who knew? pg. 77

The issue is broken into sections featuring plants for sun, partial sun and shade. Within each section there are pages featuring one plant in several different designs. Seeing a particular plant in different combinations really makes one view a plant differently. Suddenly something as common (on the West Coast at least) as yuccas seem new and fresh when paired with Gaillardia ‘Oranges and Lemons’ or Euphorbia myrsinites. Carpet bugelweed  goes from being just a groundcover to a showstopper when blue fescue and sedum. Seeing plants through fresh eyes allows you pick up on the subtle color nuances you may have overlooked. Another reason I like designs featured in Fine Gardening’s magazines is they don’t shy away from color. One of my favorite hues, chartreuse, makes an appearance on several pages. But in addition to pairing colors from bold to mild, the editors never fail to inspire with their selection of designs that play up texture. Often it’s the designs with no flowers at all that become some of my favorites. And as always, the design graphic makes it easy to identify exactly which plant just stole your heart. If I have a complaint about the issue, it’s a minor one and mostly just my opinion. Stipa tenuissima is featured, but not included in the warning list of possibly invasive plants. Although it is not currently listed at Invasive.org it does need to be used with a bit of caution here in California because it loves our climate.

My favorite 'texture' combo from page 75

So just who should pick up this magazine? Anyone who is feeling a bit blah about their garden or their view of gardening in general. Anyone who finds themselves reaching for the same plants over and over again. Seeing these gorgeous combinations really raises the design bar. It challenges us to play with texture, combine colors that might make us feel a little uncomfortable at first and look at plants with more possibility of potential. Get yourself a cup of coffee, grab some Post-it notes and a pen and find yourself a spot in the garden some Sunday morning soon. But don’t just bookmark designs you want to try. Read through the magazine, then read it again. Let the ideas sort of sink in. Then go to an independent garden center and play. Grab a cart and start mixing and matching. Really look past the bright flowers to the more subtle foliage. Notice what looks great in morning light or what shines in the shade. Challenge yourself to try and work with a color that daunts you. Take note of the variety of leaf shapes and sizes. Don’t just imitate the designs. Learn from them and then go create your own.

Although this is probably the best time of year bloom-wise in my garden, I’m only going to share one. Why? Because this plant NEVER stops blooming. Annie’s Annual’s describes the Knautia macedonica as “one of the longest blooming plants.” In my garden it never takes a break. It’s not fussy, keeps going without deadheading and the bees just love it. I’m very happy with its placement next to the chartreuse foilage of the Santolina ‘Lemon Fizz,’ because even on a cloudy morning (and we get many of those here on the coast) it positively glows.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day was created by Carol and is hosted over at her May Dreams garden blog. Hop on over to Carol’s blog to check out flowery goodness from around the gardening blogsphere for the month of July.

After reading Colleen’s piece over on Treehugger about the woman in Oak Park, MI, who is being taken to court by the city for growing vegetables in her front yard, I realized how thankful I am to live in the neighborhood that I do. The above photo is not from where I live. This is what I imagine the control freaks in Oak Park want their neighborhood to look like. Just look at all that neatly mowed grass, evenly spaced plantings of mundane shrubs, and overuse of New Zealand Flax. It’s all so Stepford, isn’t it? It’s OK, I guess if you like things neat and tidy. Or if you dislike color. But it’s not for me. Let’s take a quick stroll through my neighborhood. Shall we?

This is where the anarchy really began on my street. About seven years ago, these folks ripped out their front lawn and planted fruit trees! They now have a fairly mature peach and pear tree in front. On the side of their corner lot, they have a fig and pomegranate.

A few blocks away, these farmers have been turning their front yard into a pumpkin patch for about three years now. They also have onions, eggplant and some squashes doing quite nicely.

This house is positioned right along the creek which is lined with huge Eucalyptus trees. They get very little sun in their back yard. So what’s a tomato lover to do? Why grow them in the front of course.

In addition to the front yard victory gardens, my neighborhood is noticeably lacking in turf grass. Perhaps that’s because our city has been preaching the wisdom of going drought tolerant in our plantings in order to conserve that which is scare. Perhaps we just don’t like to mow.

Whatever the reason, it means I get to enjoy stunning splashes of color like this Calandrinia/Tickseed combo on my walk.

My neighbors are also a creative lot and like to embellish their yards with interesting planters. Those rustic succulent planters are actually upturned mailboxes.

Some like to add unexpected splashes of turquoise with a bit of paint.

While others tuck in a statue or two.

Succulents are everywhere and do quite nicely.

Our hell-strips are often a bit untidy.

And who says water-wise needs to be boring? (These folks also mulch with sea glass and sea shells. Crazy, I know.)

This neighbor was actually a customer of mine when I worked at the nursery in town. I sold her that red carpet rose just to the left. She must have liked my suggestion because in the past couple years I see a few more being added to the landscape.

Yes, I’m glad I don’t live in Oak Park, MI, because I fear I’d miss out on gorgeous floral displays like this one.

Which brings us back where we started. Looks like it’s going to be a good peach harvest this year.

Last year, I had a horrible time with garlic. Basically, nothing happened. This year, I thought the Spanish Red was doing the same thing, just fizzling out. But too my surprise it actually did produce some small bulbs before fizzling out. Well, since they are nothing to write home about, I figure I’ll just use them up quickly rather than trying to store them. But what to use them in? One of my favorite ways to enjoy beef is Korean BBQ style or Bul-go-gi. The sweet/salty marinade utilizes a lot of garlic and seemed like a perfect meal for a warm summer’s eve. The marinade takes only minutes to prepare. Bul-go-gi can be grilled, broiled or even pan cooked. The trick is not to cook the meat too much. The meat is so thin you barely show it a hot grill and it’s done. Here’s my favorite marinade recipe.

Bul-go-gi

1 lb Top Sirloin, thinly sliced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 pear, minced (you can use canned for this)

4 T Soy Sauce

2 T Sugar

1 1/2 T Sesame Seed Oil

1 T Rice Wine or Rice Vinegar

1 T Sesame Seeds (more for garnish)

1 T grated Ginger (I’m a ginger fan, if you aren’t, use less)

Ground Black Pepper to taste

Mix marinade ingredients together and add meat. I like to thoroughly mix the meat with the marinade with my fingers. Let it sit in the refrigerate for 3- 4 hours. Broil, grill or pan cook until just done. (meat should be brown, but not overcooked). Serve over rice sprinkled with sesame seeds, with grilled veggies or a salad.

Enjoy.