'A SOUL IN BLOOM' ~ EXBURY AZALEA

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom."

~Terri Guillemets

Exbury Azalea

ADIEU 'SWEET MAY' (GARDEN DELIGHTS) ~ BLACK PEPPER POUND CAKE

"To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and watch their renewal of life - this is the commonest delight of the race, the most satisfactory thing a man can do."

~ Charles Dudley Warner

ORIENTAL POPPY (Papaver orientale)

MAY GARDEN STARS

WILDFLOWER GARDEN


GARDEN VIEWS


EXBURY AZALIA


GARDEN DELIGHTS


APPLE BLOSSOMS
(Michigan State Flower)


ORIENTAL POPPY
(Papaver orientale)
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BLACK PEPPER POUND CAKE
~ A delightful 'sweet ending' (Southern Living)
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1 cup room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. ground mace (or nutmeg)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla

• Beat butter at medium speed with electric mixer about 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
• Combine flour and next 4 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture. Mix at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla.
• Spoon batter into greased and floured 6-cup Bundt pan or 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 10-15 minutes; remove cake and let cool completely on wire rack.

JUNE BURSTS FORWARD ~ (SIMPLE SUNDAY NIGHT SUPPER) SKEWERED SHRIMP & MANGO RICE SALAD

"On this June day the buds in my garden are almost as enchanting as the open flowers. Things in bud bring, in the heat of a June noontide, the recollection of the loveliest days of the year - those days of May when all is suggested, nothing yet fulfilled."

- Francis King

~ Bursting poppies, exbury azalia, Lady's Mantle and peonies

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SKEWERED SHRIMP & MANGO BASMATI RICE SALAD

~ Simple light Sunday night supper, perfect after a long working day in the garden (adapted from June 2005 Cooking Light)

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2 lbs. peeled and deveined large shrimp

1 Tbsp. minced fresh garlic

2 Tbsp. minced peeled fresh ginger

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

4 tsp. good curry powder

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/8 tsp. ground cumin

2 cups water

2/3 cup light coconut milk

1 1/4 cup uncooked Basmati rice

3/4 cup shredded carrot

2 cups diced peeled mango (about 2 mangoes)

1 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1/2 cup sliced green onions

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

3 Tbsp. lime juice and zest

1/2 tsp. coarse salt

cooking spray

Cilantro springs

• Combine garlic, ginger, soy sauce, curry powder, cayenne and cumin. Add shrimp; toss to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.
• Bring water and coconut milk to boil and add rice. Cover, reduce heat and simmer according to package directions until liquid is absorbed. Allow rice to cool slightly before adding carrot and next 7 ingredients. Toss gently to combine.
• Thread shrimp onto 12 wooden 6-inch skewers. Spray grill with cooking spray and grill on medium-high heat about 3 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done.
• Serve 2 skewers of shrimp over 1 cup of rice salad. Garnish with additional cilantro. (6 servings)

AS THE GARDEN GROWS ~ 'FAREWELL SWEET MAY'

"What a desolate place would be a world without flowers? It would be a face without a smile; a feast without a welcome."

~ Clara L. Balfour

"But make no mistake:

the weeds will win:

nature bats last."

~ Robert Michael Pyle

AS THE GARDEN GROWS ... MID-MAY MARVELS

"How fair is a garden amid the toils and passions of existence."

~ Benjamin Disraeli

~ Jack-in-the-pulpit

(Arisaema triphyllum)

~ Bergenia , tulips and Lady's Mantle

~ Tulips, hosta, bergenia, trillium, primrose and Maidenhair fern

~ Mid-May garden

1) Iris, Cinnamon Fern, Bleeding Heart, Cornflower (Mountain Bluet), Japanese painted fern

2) Trillium & Virginia Bluebell, Trillium, Tulip, Azalia, Bergenia

3) Celandine Poppy, Azalia, Tulip, Trillium & Maidenhair Fern, Azalia

4) Fern, Tulip, Exbury Azalia, Tulip, Azalia & Hosta

5) Solomon's seal, Viburnum, Downy Yellow Violet, Jacob' s Ladder, Jack-in-the-Pulpit

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"When at last I took the time to look into the heart of a flower,

it opened up a whole new world ~

a world where every country walk would be an adventure,

where every garden would become an enchanted one ..."

~ Princess Grace of Monaco

'SWEET DREAMS OF YOU' ~ MY GARDEN

"By a garden is meant mystically a place of spiritual repose, stillness, peace, refreshment, delight."

~ John Henry Cardinal Newman

For the garden is not only a place in which to make things grow

and to display the beautiful flowers of the earth,

but a place that should accord

with the various moods of its admirers.

It should be a place in which to hold light banter,

a place in which to laugh, and, besides,

should have a hidden corner

in which to weep.

~ Alice Lounsberry

~ Exbury azalia, Oriential poppy, tulip,

bleeding heart, trillium, Centaurea Montana,

Bearded iris, Scarlet O'hara peony, Rembrandt tulip

END of MAY ~ MINI GARDEN WALK