Another University Club Luncheon

It seems that the University Club regularly

has luncheons with interesting speakers.

Hooray for me.

Today's luncheon featured Greg Speichert,

director of Hilltop Garden and Nature Center

at Indiana University Bloomington.

Mr. Speichert (pronounced Spike-ert)

is a nationally recognized expert in

water gardening, has written several gardening books

and has introduced several new plant varieties.

Don't you just love these beautiful arrangements

on the table?

Such lovely flowers.

And real they be.

Today's menu included a

bibb and watercress salad

with grapefruit and avocado,

served with a delightful lemon cumin dressing.

I have so got to figure out that recipe for the dressing.

I want that recipe.

I need that recipe.

The entree was

Fischer Farms sorghum glazed pork loin,

mashed parsnip potatoes

and sauteed green beans and cherry tomatoes.

Those desiring a vegetarian option received a

quesadilla with pepper jack cheese, sauteed onions

and peppers and topped with

tomato salsa and sour cream.

The desert was a strawberry mousse

layered with chocolate genoise.

Once again,

the food was superb

and the service excellent.

Then Greg Speichert presented his show on

Color in the Garden

(or how to do it right).

His suggestions were to follow the color of the seasons.

Plan for oranges, reds, yellows, browns and blacks in the fall.

Spring calls for pastels

while summer demands bright colors that can stand up

to the bright sun.

He asked us to remember the color wheel and how it works.

Colors opposite work,

as do adjoining colors.

And of course, green goes with everything.

Mr. Speichert also recommends going to the paint store

and picking up paint chips that coordinate

and then picking out plants with those colors.

He told of his revelation while a nurseryman and

that they are in essence outdoor decorators.

Apparently, the gardening industry grows plants

to last only 30 to 90 days at our homes.

"If they survive longer, 'we are gods.'

If not, toss the plant and get another."

Sounds like a marketing plan to me.

Placing an inexpensive garage sale-find mirror

in the garden can help to visually expand

the space.

Just don't be surprised if guests walk into it.

Here are some more tips for color in the garden:

dark purple is "the little black dress" for the garden;

the color of furnishings, hardscapes, foliage,

flowers, fruit and seeds

should be considered in the overall color scheme;

and

use a punch of bright color

at the end of a dark path

or dark color at the end of a bright path

to draw the eye down the path

and make the path look longer.

*

One of the sadder items we learned was that

Indiana University has gone from a staff

of 80 people to tend to the gardens and lawns

on the Bloomington campus to just 8 people.

How's that for budget cutting?

Despite all this,

IU is planning on participating in

Bloomington in Bloom,

our town's bid to win the

America in Bloom competition for our size city.

This was a wonderful, informative program.

*

And now we slide (or is that slid) to the left.

On the way home I stopped at my neighborhood

Kroger.

I found a small refrigerated case

holding small hamburger patties.

"Try a Slidder"

Or should I try a slider?

Slidder, slider, whatev.

It's all good.

Color Me Surprised

Loyal readers will recall that I am a Master Gardener and proud of it. As such, I spend a lot of volunteer hours helping the members of my community learn to grow. But, every once in a while, hidden perks emerge. Case in point, recently our state's Master Gardener organization announced a state-wide photography contest, with the winners' photos being showcased in the 2009 Indiana Master Gardener calendar. A maximum of three garden photographs could be submitted by each Master Gardener and the winners would be announced after the annual State Master Gardener Conference in late September.

As I love to take photographs of plants and nature, this sounded like something I needed to pursue. So, grabbing my camera, I headed out to the garden to find some opportune photo ops.

This is a Christmas Cactus, which oddly enough blooms around Christmas time. I took many many 'blind' shots of this flower before finally ending up with a good shot. Since this plant's blooms hang down, I had to place the camera on the floor and just start taking pictures, all the while hoping to get a decent shot.

The contest required that I name my photos, so this is called "Color in Winter". This photo won third place in the Blooms category as well as the People's Choice Award in Blooms.

"A Moment's Rest" features a bee sitting on an Echinacea flower. This photo won second place in the Blooms category.

And finally we have "Study in Contrasts". The photo depicts Dill Weed flower buds against variegated Canna leaves.

This photo won first place in the Abstracts category.

Looking over the list of winners, it seems that I was the most prolific winner of the group. I am surprised - and amazed. And now that I am finished blowing my own horn, I will return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

The Colors of Fall

This autumn has been particularly colorful in Southern Indiana and I have been endeavoring to document its masterpiece.

Berries in a Burning Bush, or winged euonymus.

Another view of the Burning Bush.

A magnificent sugar maple.

*

One day last week I decided on a whim to take my lunch down by the lake.

But first I needed to procure my lunch.

Fortunately, a friend had told me about this little gas station in a little town nearby.

As it happens, this gas has a little restaurant business going and they make a mean breaded pork tenderloin.

What's not to like?

Just for reference, the bun is about six inches across.

And for a mere $5.08 with tax, this sandwich made a nice little lunch.

You just can't beat this ambiance.

It's just too bad that the Army Corp of Engineers decided to pick this day to have their parking lot sealed.

It proved to be a bit inconvenient as I had to park on the side of the road and then traipse across the grass to get to the dam overlook.

But you have to admit that the views overlooking Lake Monroe were worth the little bit of hassle.







I really was surprised to find that there weren't boats out on the lake.

I know that if I had a boat, I would have been out on the lake on a day like this.










I love the colors in the woods overlooking the lake.

And there's that sugar maple again.

Meanwhile, back home the dogwoods and the fothergilla are turning colors.

Fothergilla.

More fothergilla leaves.

Dogwood berries.

These won't last long as the birds will soon devour them.

Sunshine through the Canada Red Chokeberry.

Oh look, after its summer absence, 'my' barn is back.

I have to say that we are lucky to have such pretty views from our back deck.

Very lucky indeed.

Sweet gum in the neighborhood.

Farm in fall.

Autumn fields.

Thanks to the husband for taking this photo for me.

Please enjoy this short Sunday detour.

Bradford Pears in in fall color.

A bright punch of red along the roadside.

Shades of autumn.

Colorful trees all in a row.

Color, color everywhere.

See what I mean?

You can see why Bloomington loves its trees.

Just lovely.

Even against the buildings, these trees are gorgeous.

I still prefer the natural settings.

But that's just me.

Happy Autumn!

The 2012 Drought Continued and the Consequences

We had been warned and today it happened.

We are now under watering restrictions, a polite term for watering bans.

 For some strange reason my roses love this weather.

My English roses, which rarely even rebloom once,

have now rebloomed twice.

 At least some of my plants are happy.

 Somebody's got to be.

 This picture is much more representative of how my garden looks like right now.

Note the lovely brown color of the lawn.

 A butterfly visits the butterfly bushes.

Every spring I happily throw my house plants out onto the front porch.

I regain a large portion of my great room each spring.  I'm happy, the plants are happy.  I dread the fall when I have to bring these plants back inside.  The plants aren't happy, they make a mess, and they take up a good portion of the room.

Did I mention oh how happy I am when spring rolls back around?

Unfortunately, we are under a mandatory watering ban and it is now illegal for me to water my house plants while they are outside.  Oddly enough, I can legally water them inside.  Inside - legal.  Outside - illegal.  Got it?  Go figure.  As these proclamations came from a politician, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that they don't make any sense.

Soooo, I had to clean up my house plants and bring them inside a full two months too early.

Bah humbug!

We are not amused.

We are also now crowded.

At least I am still allowed to water my food plants.