Nice Spring Day

Listened to the Rev. Dr. William Barber II on the way back from the airport this morning on the NewYorker Radio Hour. He was the president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP and is now involved with the Poor Peoples Campaign. He pointed out that Jesus was born a jew, in the middle east and most likely had dark skin (would have had a heck of a time getting a US visa I would guess these days) and was very much for Universal Health care, cause he was always healing people for free. The Reverend also had a lot more things to say about the conservative evangelicals who seem to equate having money with being good and having little or no money to being bad. He works with people of all religions, race and orientation. He is for a living wage, health care and for getting all people out of poverty. The episode was well worth listening to.

Garden chores today(done to a Miles Davis soundtrack)

• planted White Phlox
• planted dianthus next to the St Michaelmaas Daisy
• repotted Dwarf Astilbe and Geranium cinereum 'alice' outof pots that were disintergrating daily.
• Pulled up some perivinkle from around the Lilac and of course had to put some in pots. Heaven forbid I just toss perfectly good plants.
•  Moved some peppermint or spearmint (not sure which) out of the shade.
• Trimed the espaliered Witch Hazel and added another old bamboo rod to keep the plant in line.
• general weeding and pruning

Current Blooms:

 Roses

 Geranium cinereum 'alice' mit Toscano Picadilly statuette

 Sedum

 The Peony Garden, I know what a let down, after I mislead you with expectations of acres of Peonys and hundreds of specimens and this is what it comes down to, Next you'll ask if I really am a Cog.

 Iris, purple

The Edelweiss purchased in April already in bloom.

Beers in the Fridge:
Liberty IPA 6.3% ABV. It's dry-hopped you know. A nearly lost art so the copy-writers say. For me a tad too bitter, just OK.

OK it's not beer, it's a Corn 'N' Oil cocktail. OK it's not a Corn 'N' Oil because I added selzter and it's just Bacardi Gold not a fancy blackstrap rum. The bottle recipe only lists the ingredients as 1/2 oz of the Liqueur and 2 oz of either Doorly's XO Barbados Rum or R.L. Seale's rum, then garnished with a lime slice. Other recipes include a dash of bitters and lime juice. The Putney Farm blog describes Velvet Falernum this way "as for velvet falernum, it is a sweet, spicy, lightly-alcoholic liqueur with lime notes" I concur.

Memorial Day

Memorial day, when we honor those who served and died in the service of our country.
Elvis was drafted, Mel Brooks served, as did John Kerry and John McCain to name a few.

You know who did not serve?
I'll give you a hint; He got himself 5 deferments. He has declared bankruptcy 6 times. He doesn't read. Did I mention 5 deferments?
Correct, it is The Kremlin Kontrolled Karrot, the Orange OmmpaLumpa, Adolf Twitler, The short fingered Vulgarian, Draft Dodger Don.


Current Blooms:

• Red Roses
• Peonies
• Coral Bells
• Siskiyou Evening Primrose
• Geranium cinereum 'alice'
• Lewesia, one cream, one magenta, lost one this year

Saturday Garden Chores:
Planted San Marzano tomatoes, Basil, Yellow Squash and more Parsley in the back yard.
Coral Bells and bearded iris in the front garden were a bit out of hand, so they got thinned out and potted up. Creeping phlox and snow cap got trimmed.
The new violets purchased at Stonecrop Alpine Plant sale were planted into a large planter.
3 Lavender Angustifolia were planted at the front of the house.
Planted up a tiny moss garden.

Beers in the Fridge:
We had company last Sunday, a subset of cousins. One brought the Radler, I made Mint Mojitos, we ate food, we watched home movies, had desert and a real good time.

Flagship Pastime Summer Ale, 4.8% ABV 22 IBUs, really like this. Would be great on a hot summer day. Brewery Tours on Saturdays. This is our local Brewery.

Ommegang Shirt Sleeve Saison, 4.5% ABV 35 IBUs. Slight citrus/floral aroma, nicely grassy.
Located in Cooperstown, NY they have tours and a cafe. Also in Cooperstown is the Baseball Hall of Fame, Farmers Museum and a few other brewery/distilleries to visit.
Cooperstown Info here. It is about an hour and a half from Albany, NY.

 Trader Joes's Radler 4% ABV, nice.

Mother's Day 2017

Current Blooms:
There is a lot blooming.

• Lilly of the valley
• Azure bluets, Houstonia caerulea
• Spanish Bluebells
• Azalea
•  Erigeron linariifolia
• Coral bells
• Nelly Moser clematis
• gentiana angustifolia
• big blue iris
• sweet woodruff
• star of bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum
  

2017 Stonecrop Gardens Alpine Plant sale

Stonecrop Gardens

New Garden Additions

 Will live in a trough with another Gentiana.

 The Edelweiss will share accommodations with the Gentianas.

 Spring blooming Cyclamen Rhodium.

 This one should bloom in the fall, Cyclamen Hederifolium Ivy leaf.
The 2 Cyclamen will be underplantings in the Peony Garden, they don't take up much real estate or nutrients so shouldn't affect the Peonies. They will be planted in bottomless pots so their whereabouts can be tracked.

 Already have wild violets, but the speckled one caught my eye. No location planned for these yet.

Heather Calluna Firefly, colorful foliage in spring and fall and purple-pink late summer flowers. Destination Heather Garden.

 Dwarf Iris with light blue flowers.

Unsure if this will go in a trough or mix it up with the heathers.

A small selection of Stonecrop Garden Displays

 Woodland plantings

 Raised Bed

Scree Garden

Pit stop at Bear Mountain on the way back home.

View from Perkins Memorial atop Bear Mountain.

Light traffic both ways, left 7:30AM and arrived at the gardens just after 9AM, the parking field was already very full. Not sure how long I stayed, but I arrived home at 1:00PM.

Happy Easter

As Martin Luther was said to have said "Sin Boldly".  It gives God something to do, forgive you, while she is waiting to do that Rapture thing.

Beers in the Fridge (UK Version):
Mr. and Ms. Eldest came for a visit and gave me these brews from the UK.

Brixton Brewery: APA (American Pale Ale) 5.4% ABV, 45 IBU
They say "Our beers are unfiltered, unpasteurised, unfined (vegan-friendly) and full of flavour."
They are located deep in the heart of Brixton, have tours and open the brewery on Saturdays to buy beer. Tour Info
Craft Beer dot com describes an APA as "An American interpretation of a classic English style. Characterized by floral, fruity, citrus-like, piney, resinous, or sulfur-like American-variety hop character, producing medium to medium-high hop bitterness, flavor and aroma. American-style pale ales have medium body and low to medium maltiness that may include low caramel malt character."

Freedom Organic Helles, traditional Bavarian Helles Lager, 4.8 %ABV
The brewery is located north of Birmingham in Abbots Bromly, Staffordshire and they have tours. Tour Info  They also have an annoying website that asks you if you are of age every time you go to a different page.

Gypsy Hill Nomad Milk Stout  5.5% ABV. Milk Stouts have unfermentable sugars(lactose) to add body and sweetness.  The Brewery is located near Gypsy Hill train station and Crystal Palace Park, south of London.

Beers in the Fridge:

After having Birra Italia, Peroni is no longer my favorite cheap Italian swill.
The Anchor Porter (5.6% ABV) is very good, I may actually like it more than the Samuel Smith Taddy Porter, possibly more complex flavor.

Brooklyn Brown Ale (5.6% ABV, 30 IBU) from Brooklyn Brewery was very good, but I think I still like Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale (5% ABV 31 IBU) better.

Just Spring Flowers

Current Blooms:

 Siberian Squill

 Perivinkle

 Anemone Blanda "grecian windflowers"

 Ditto

 Perivinkle & Hyacinth

 Anemone Blanda

  Chionodoxa luciliae "glory of the snow"

Squill and Perivinkle

Spring Sprang Sprung

The Young One is involved with a musical project to create an opportunity for works by young local artists to be performed as well as the works of J.S. Bach. Next month Mr. and Mrs. Eldest will be in town. We were in London last April.

Current Blooms:
Here we had a warm week in the 60s and Wednesday I saw this in the Western Foundation Garden.

 Grecian Windflowers, Anemone blanda.  Love these little beauties, but for me, the blooms never last long nor do they seem to come back year to year.

And 2 days later

 Crocus

 Heaths

 Perivinkle

Siberian Squill?

Beers in the Fridge:

Smuttynose Brewing Company's Robust Porter 6.2% ABV 60.5 IBU.
Liked it a lot, had complex flavors, not too strong, just right with a ploughman's platter. This is the first beer of theirs I have tried. For some reason, I am not attracted to their labels, maybe the sideways wording? I'll have to try some others. I guess you can't judge a beer by its label.
Their brewery is located in New Hampshire about an hour north of Boston and has tours.