Dirt Therapy

Root Beer Bundt Cake When company is coming, it is my duty to make a dessert. I love baking and I enjoy trying new recipes. Earlier in the year, I purchased "Baked" by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, who own a Brooklyn dessert shop by the same name. I love this book. I have tried several of the recipes and they all have turned out great. This cake is a chocolate lover's dream. I don't detect the root beer flavor as strongly as the authors describe it but the overall flavor is decadent. It is fantastic with vanilla ice cream. Note: The icing recipe makes way too much for the cake. I think you can half the ingredients and still have enough. Cake 2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)(I used A&W) 1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I use dutch processed cocoa) 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspo...

I planted these two urns in front of Michael's salon with Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia), Million Belles (Callibrachoa) and Spike Plant. A few weeks ago, he came home and asked me if I knew that Creeping Jenny bloomed because the ones at the salon were blooming like crazy! I confess, I didn't know this and I've never seen one blooming. He said a client was also quizzing him about it and wanted to know if it was a special variety. After googling it, it seems that everyone else knows that Creeping Jenny does indeed bloom. Maybe it prefers the hot concrete surroundings and bright light in order to do so. This is one of my favorite pot plants and groundcovers, but I've never seen it blooming in our garden.

A few days I was startled to see a turtle in the middle of the pathway next to the patio. I looked closer and realized that she was digging a hole in the sand. I had never seen this before - she was using her back feet and would alternate scooping out sand and then use the other foot to scoop out more. She was in this spot all morning. I wasn't sure what was going on and then I realized she was probably going to lay eggs there. I did a little online research and learned that turtles lay eggs and leave them to hatch and the young care for themselves. It can take all summer before the eggs hatch but they are often taken dug up by predators. A person can cover the holes with a wire cage of sorts to protect the eggs but I'm not sure if I want a wire cage in the middle of my pathway all summer. And what do you do if they hatch and you are not there to let the baby turtles out?

This past Saturday Michael and I trekked to Birmingham for another Open Gardens Tour ( there was a previous one in April ). It was raining and thundering when we left home and probably for the first time in the history of mankind, the massive storm system was moving southeast (whoever heard of such??) directly in line for Birmingham. We were undeterred and hoped for the best. I was most excited about seeing the garden of Louise Wrinkle. She has been featured in many books and articles and her garden is legendary. After many starts and stops - (Mountain Brook is the hardest place to find streets even when you have a map)- we located her garden. As we walked up a long paved pathway through a gorgeous wooded garden, it started to rain. We purchased our tickets and briefly spoke with Mrs. Wrinkle before hurrying on to see what we could before the bottom fell out. Mrs. Wrinkle had a 5 page handout of the plants in this garden and it was single-spaced! I have a...

This is a brief one as we had such a rainy weekend that I barely had time to get out and take photos. I am on a lily kick and planted several last fall. This one is "Scheherazade" This is "Caravan" I've never seen so many blooms on the Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus). This is "Blue Bird" Verbena bonariensis Bloom Day is the brainchild of Carol at May Dreams Gardens . To see more blooms, visit her blog.

Excuse me a minute while I gloat! I've had three photos published in a new gardening book. I've written articles for magazines in the past but this is the first time I've had my photographs in a book. Marie Harrison, a garden writer from northwest Florida, contacted me about a year ago and asked me about some of my photos for a book she was working on, "Flowering Shrubs and Small Trees for the South". I had completely forgotten about it until this week when she graciously sent me an autographed copy. My photos of Fountain Buddleia, Beauty Bush and Kerria were used. It was very exciting and the book looks great with detailed information on more than 100 flowering shrubs and small trees that grow well in the South. Thank you Marie for the book and for the opportunity!

I knew summer had arrived when the hydrangeas started blooming last week. That plus the fact that I stepped outside after dinner this evening and found myself soaked in sweat after being out there for only ten minutes. Ugh, that part I don't like about Alabama! I've never counted the varieties of hydrangeas in our garden but I'd say the number would be close to fifty. Michael is the hydrangea fanatic but I have to confess that I have grown very fond of them. One of the easiest to grow is "Annabelle". It blooms on new wood and can be cut down to the ground and will come back and bloom - "Veitchii" is one of my favorite lacecaps. It should be covered in blooms in a few weeks - Michael's favorite is "Purple Tiers" - The much lauded "Endless Summer" sulked for two years but this year it is pretty impressive - "Lady in Red" has performed in a spectacular fashion, growing very fast an...