Season of Love...

The Sun Shines! it's a Miracle!
curved Giant Beds outlined in the snow...
the long view to the shore...
Asclepias physocarpa from Africa-"Popes Balls" good Valentine's day texture...;)
My favorite design for a favorite client...
Asclepias close-up, NZ grown.."Queen Beatrix"
the vegetable garden and Hiddenfield Greenhouse in the background, shrouded in snow
my beautiful Burr Oak,dressed for the season
A cake fit for two wonderful friends...Adria and Maryanna
I don't mean to sound like a broken record (a pre- millennial sound disc that your grand parents had when they were kids...;), but it snowed again, and as I wrote last time, this storm was unique in its evolution and outcome. warm moisture slipped into an icy coating, covered in grainy snow, and then the temperature has stayed cold-so no melting on surfaces, just crusty ice...hmm. I' trying to enjoy it for it's singular beauty, but that's getting old. I am thrilled for our water table-no complaints there!

At work we had two birthdays...the lovely and talented Adria and the equally talented and lovely Maryanna. Not on the same day,but we celebrated them together. I love to bake cakes for my co-worker's birthdays...whatever kind is there favorite! The only kind I don't like is strawberry cake -I will never make that vile mess again! A double chocolate cake was the choice, so I used the fool proof Hershy's coco cake recipe with the boiling water, sooo good, and I added more chocolate chips to the batter for another layer of flavor. If I kept that at home, I would be huge, eating massive pieces at midnight with cold milk-ooo that sounds good??!

The Valentine's Day holiday was drawn out with the holiday occurring on a Sunday and with President's day on Monday. We had a full week, and we also were open on Sunday for our customers. My favorite arrangement was for my dear friend Kristy. I used all the best flowers I had ordered from around the world, literally. Milkweeds from N.Z. and other Asclepias from Africa. Australian Acacia diffusing it's ethereal scent into the air. Peach St. Johns wort spreading the peachy glow. The Asclepias physocarpa "Popes Balls"added fantastic texture and form...those pods just split and gave me a bounty of seed for my Giant Garden-they can grow to seven feet...AND our native Monarch butterfly can eat it as a host plant as well!

Speaking of Giant Gardens...I've been planning a dramatic garden feature for this year. I have a sloping lawn that leads down to the shore, a small beach area to launch the boat. I've already started the design by planting a grass circle that acts as an entrance to the shore. This new Giant Garden winds seventy five feet to the circle. It's made up of six individual beds, bisected in two areas for lawn access. I already purchased six Pink Diamond Hydrangeas to add structure to the new beds. Tall burgundy Castor beans, tall love -lies- bleeding, sunflowers, milkweeds, grasses, cotton plants, Brugmansias,Dahlias, ornamental striped corn.....you get the idea. I want to feel dwarfed and Lilliputian by the forms, otherworldly.The four magic words are...compost. manure. water.mulch.You can't go wrong!