FAREWELL SWEET AUGUST!

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought."

- Wallace Stevens

AUGUST SUNSET

(Hubbard Lake)

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Steal o'er the lake's warm breast,

And the ancient silence follows

The burning sun to rest.

The calm of a thousand summers,

And dreams of countless Junes,

Return when the lake-wind murmurs

Through golden August noons."

William Stanley Braithwaite

( By an Inland Lake )

(Last evening's August gift)

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"Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you."

~ Maori Proverb

'MAY ALL YOUR WEEDS BE WILDFLOWERS' ~ WILDFLOWER WEDNESDAY (QUEEN ANNE'S LACE)

"May all your weeds be wildflowers."

~ Author unknown

Queen Anne's Lace (Wild Carrot)

(Daucus carota)

Gardener's Note: "Queen Anne's Lace, also called Wild Carrot, is tall with stems covered by tiny hairs. Once a European garden plant, it has escaped to the wild and is considered a week because of its aggressive growth. Flower clusters dry and curl, forming the bird's nest shape often used in dried flower arrangements. its long taproot can be dug, roasted and ground as a coffee substitute. During its first year, the roots are soft enough to eat. It is thought to be the ancestorof the common garden carrot. TAKE CAUTION: Queen Anne's Lace is sometimes confused with deadly WATER HEMLOCK. Look closely for Queen Anne's CENTRAL PURPLE FLORET. A host plant for Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars."

~ Stan Tekiela

WILDFLOWERS of MICHIGAN

Queen Anne's Lace

Her body is not so white as
anemone petals nor so smooth--nor
so remote a thing. It is a field
of the wild carrot taking
the field by force; the grass
does not raise above it.
Here is no question of whiteness,
white as can be, with a purple mole
at the center of each flower.
Each flower is a hand's span
of her whiteness. Wherever
his hand has lain there is
a tiny purple blemish. Each part
is a blossom under his touch
to which the fibres of her being
stem one by one, each to its end,
until the whole field is a
white desire, empty, a single stem,
a cluster, flower by flower,
a pious wish to whiteness gone over--
or nothing.

~ William Carlos Williams
(1883 - 1963)

(POET'S CORNER)

~ at home at the lake

Celebrate Wildflower Wednesday with

Gail (Clay and limestone)

MONICA'S 'MISH-MASH' MONDAY ~ JILL'S FUSILLI with FRESH TOMATO & FETA

"A man taking basil from a woman will love her always."

~ Sir Thomas Moore

BASIL

(ocimum basilicum)

AUGUST ABSTRACT (ZINNIA/VERBENA) ~ GRILLED POUND CAKE with BALSAMIC PEACHES

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

~ Claude Monet

August Abstract

(Zinnia & Verbena)

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GRILLED POUND CAKE with BALSAMIC PEACHES

~ uniquely different and summer delightful!

(Bon Appetit - July 2005)

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4 1/2 Tbsp. (packed) golden brown sugar

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

6 ripe large peaches, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

1 cup chilled whipping cream

6 slices good pound cake

3-4 Tbsp. room temperature unsalted butter

• Prepare grill (medium-high heat).
• Whisk 3 Tbsp. sugar, vinegar, and mint in large bowl to blend. Add peaches and toss gently to coat. Let stand at least 5 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
• Beat whipping cream and remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar in another bowl until peaks form; refrigerate.
• Spread cake slices on both sides with butter. Grill until lightly browned. Arrange cake slices on 6 plates. Top each with peaches and syrup, then whipped cream.

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"People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love."

~ Claude Monet

'HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW' ... (MID-AUGUST GARDEN STROLL

"When gardeners garden, it is not just plants that grow,
but the gardeners themselves."

~ Ken Druse

PURPLE CONEFLOWER

(Echinacea purpurea)

CONEFLOWER

(Echinacea 'Big Sky')

Rock Garden

(Black-eyed Susan, Sedum, Daylilies, Hardy Geranium, Hosta, Zinnia, Verbena, Red Begonia, Streptocarpus, Moonbeam Coreopsis)

Streptocarpus formosus

(Cape Primrose)

SHASTA DAISY

(Leucanthemum)

Black-Eyed Susan

(Rudbeckia)

Rose of Sharon

(Hibiscus syriacus)

also called shrub althaea

Hydrangea

(Annabelle Hydrangea - H. macrophylla)

Hosta 'Sum and Substance'

Back Corner Garden

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"A garden really lives only insofar as it is an expression of faith, the embodiment of a hope and a song of praise."

~ Russell Page

'JUST FOR ONE'S HEALTH' ... ~ PURPLE CONEFLOWER (Echinacea purpurea) / 'NOT YOUR ORDINARY' BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

"Just for one's health ... it is very necessary to work in the garden and to see the flowers growing."

Vincent Van Gogh

PURPLE CONEFLOWER

(Echinacea purpurea)

'NOT YOUR ORDINARY' BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

~ On the lighter side, these are always a family favorite from ...

PICNIC! Recipes and Menus for Outdoor Enjoyment

1 2/3 cups flour

1/3 cup wheat germ

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 t sp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups MICHIGAN blueberries

(preferably small wild ones)

1 cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter

• Preheat oven to 400-degrees.
• In large bowl, combine flower, wheat germ, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add blueberries and stir to coat. Add buttermilk and butter. Stir until just mixed.
• Spoon batter into greased muffin pans. Bake 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pans for 2 minutes.

"The purple coneflower isn't really purple at all. The large, eye-catching flowers are bright rose-pink. Each flower has a bristly iridescent orange center cone that provides lively contrast with the reflexed petals and a feeding station for butterflies. Growing on moist prairies and open woods, this American native was collected in southern Michigan more than 150 years ago but typically occurs to the south and west of the Great Lakes state. Native American have long used purple coneflower and its relatives for medicine, and today echinacea is enjoying a renewed popularity in health food stores as a treatment for the common cold ..."

MICHIGAN GARDENER'S GUIDE

'HEAVENLY HIBISCUS' ~ ROSE of SHARON (Hibiscus syriacus)

"I am the Rose of Sharon,

and the Lily of the Valleys."

- Song of Solomon 2. 1-17

Rose of Sharon

(Hibiscus syriacus)

also called shrub althaea

GENERAL INFORMATION

Scientific name: Hibiscus syriacus

Pronunciation: high-BISS-kuss seer-ee-AY-kuss

Common name(s): Rose-of-Sharon, Shrub-Althea

Family: Malvaceae USDA hardiness zones: 5B through 9A

Origin: not native to North America

Uses: container or above-ground planter; near a deck or patio; trainable as a standard; specimen; no proven urban tolerance

Availability: generally available in many areas within its hardiness range

DESCRIPTION

Height: 8 to 12 feet

Spread: 4 to 10 feet

Crown uniformity: symmetrical canopy with a regular (or smooth) outline, and individuals have more

or less identical crown forms

Crown shape: upright

Crown density: open

Growth rate: slow

Texture: fine

'BOLD AND LUSCIOUS' HARDY HIBISCUS (ROSE MALLOW) ~ FROZEN WHITE CHOCOLATE PIE with RASPBERRIES

"All gardeners need to know when to accept something wonderful and unexpected, taking no credit except for letting it be."

~ Allen Lacy

Hardy Hibiscus (Rose Mallow)

"Put a grain of boldness into everything you do."

~Baltasar Gracian

FROZEN WHITE CHOCOLATE PIE with RASPBERRIES

Almond crust:
9 oz. (1 1 /4 cup) blanched toasted almonds
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Grease 9-inch glass pie plate. Chop almonds into 2-3 pieces each. Transfer to bowl with butter and corn syrup. Stir and spoon into prepared plate. Press onto bottom and up sides. Freeze.

Filling:
10 oz. coarsely chopped white chocolate
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
3 Tbsp. creme de cacao
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 3/4 cups whipping cream
2 room temperature egg whites
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/4 cups raspberries (or favorite seasonal berries)

• Melt chocolate and butter with milk in double boiler over simmering water. Stir until smooth. Remove and set in bowl filled with water & ice. Let cool until thick and paste like; stir occasionally. Blend in liqueur, vanilla and extract.
• Beat cream until stiff peaks form. Gently beat in chocolate mixture. Beat whites with clean dry beaters until soft peaks form. Add sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold gently into chocolate-cream mixture. Pour evenly into crust. Freeze until firm but not hard, about 5 hours.
• Mound raspberries in center of pie leaving 2-inch border. (8 servings)
  
  
  
  

Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Southern Belle’

Exotic and moisture-loving (Zone 4-9)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ~ SUMMER (HUBBARD LAKE, MI)

HUBBARD LAKE, MI

'WA-GI-DAA-KING'

(Hubbard Lake, MI)

'SUMMER NIGHTS ... PERFECTION OF THOUGHT.' ~ FROZEN GRAND MARNIER SOUFFLÉ

"The summer night is like a perfection of thought."

- Wallace Stevens

Hubbard Lake Sunset

FROZEN GRAND MARNIER SOUFFLE

~ Delightful 'remains of the day' summer dessert slightly adapted from The Lark (Savor Michigan Cookbook)

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2 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup water

18 organic egg yolks

2 quarts whipped cream (from 1 1/2 cups heavy cream)

1/2 cup Grand Marnier

cocoa powder

Framboise Sauce

• Mix sugar and water in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Cook until mixture reaches 250º on a pastry/candy thermometer. While sugar is boiling, whip egg yolks until light and fluffy. Slowly add sugar mixture while whipping on low. Continue whipping til cool, approximately 10 minutes.
• Fold into whipped cream. Add Grand Marnier.
• Gently pour or pipe filling with pastry bag into soufflé pan (like springform) or individual flan pans lightly dusted with cocoa powder Freeze.
• Remove from pan and serve with Framboise Sauce.

Wine Suggestion: Kir Royale (Champagne and Framboise)

Framboise Sauce:

4 cups fresh organic raspberries

1 cup sugar

Mix together in a bowl and crush berries. Let stand for 5 minutes. Strain and serve.

'The Remains of the Day'