Pumpkin alert

So it is Pumpkin time again...any bigger and heavier and I would not have been able to carry this back from Queen Street Deli.  Similar to the one I got last year:

Marina di Chioggia Pumpkin.

This is grown by one of the Deli's customers..any surplus are brought into to sell.

Cinnamon and Mace Babka

With a clear weekend to myself, I had the space and time to concentrate on a new technique in my baking journey.  I had never tried a Babka before.  I started the dough on Saturday, and it seemed to be on a slow rise journey, and baking would be a little too late.  I chose to do all the rolling, spreading of butter and spices etc., late evening, and then a morning bake.  After an overnight cold rise in the fridge, the two loaves still needed more time at room temperature, three hours to be precise.

The recipe was altered and became an amalgamation of Martha Collinson's recipe, but not wanting to use chocolate, baking times syryup and filling from Shannon Sarna's recipe for Cinnamon Babka.  A few tweaks of course, and all along being inspired for the next batches.

I enjoyed making this...and the smell when baking was wonderful.  Brushing it with its sugar glaze was just an excuse to have a close look and smell.

As our neighbours had just come back from the holidays, I thought a little welcome back Sunday bake would be welcome...still warm, and requiring the cooling rack to taken out the cupboard, I am sure their home too would be smelling delicious.

Once back, the paper was removed...and promise, I haven't cup into it, and will wait for Mr S's homecoming this afternoon.

I just had to leave the house before I succumbed.....off to the Wells Food Festival!

Six on Saturday - 12 October 2019

Its been one of those weeks when I have been busy moving plants out of the rain!  Those small seedlings would just get washed out of their pots, so they are moved to the best light on a windowsill.  Thank goodness all the front garden is how planted up and mulched with bark....

The Propagator under whose awning the rest of us SOS gather to show and tell and ask, is waiting for us all...here are mine....

The Cyclamen hederifolium are the stars at the moment..and who needs flowers when you can have leaves like these.  Yes I know some of you will be shouting out..yes you do need flowers: flowers means seeds, seeds mean the possibility of propagation etc....  These are the leaves fully unfurled after flowering, of (1) Cyclamen hederifolium 'Lysander'! It was the leaves with its angular serrated  paler margins which were the pulling feature!

Cyclamen hederifolium Lysander

I can show cyclamen with flowers too: (2) Cyclamen hederifolium with silver arrow head shaped leaves with green margins and fine deep pink flowers:

I have a shelf where choice plants are placed on the outside of the shed...so there is every possibility of my being able to admire the blooms in a pause between heavy showers.

(3) Japanese grass Hakonechloa Macra Aureola is just coming into flower...I love cutting it and putting it in arrangements.  I have three clumps growing in pots,  I find their rounded graceful shape looks good in many spaces...I move them around....

(4)  The seasons are playing tricks again with the Rosemary in flower. Bumblebees are still visiting flowers around the garden when the rain stops.  I have been  experimenting  with using edibles from the garden and have been adding flowers to salads...just pull the flower away from the green bit and you are left with soft blue petals.  They are quite tender, sweet, and tasty for for fruit or vegetable salads.  We had a Hummingbird Hawk Moth in the garden over the last couple of days...it nectar of  choice being from the flowers of  Linaria pupurea 'Canon Went'.  That was an 'aside' maybe a (4b)

Rosemary in flower in October 

(5)  The Runner Beans gave a little spurt of growth with flowers a few weeks back, after the very first of the rain...I think we have two more pickings before it is time to chop down the runners, and store the canes until next year.

(6)  Chillies are turning red....grown outdoor in the open ground all summer from seed saved from a chilli grown four years ago in my last garden!  I am thinking of digging up a plant, potting it up, and growing it on for another year.  I managed to keep a plant going for three years doing this...it saves growing from seed each year.  Although I grew two plants this year..one plant is quite sufficient for us.

Amsonia hubrichtii

Newly planted in the garden is Amosonia hubrichtii or Hubricht's blue star....

Bought at the Rare Plant Fair at the Bishop's Palace in early September...it is now planted in the Conservatory border in the space vacated by the Sedum Purple Emperor.  Two of the three plants are now out in the front garden.

This Amsonia hurichtii has very finely cut leaves growing up the whole stem, and I am promised clusters of indigo blue buds, opening to grey-blue starry flowers in June. After that the consensus is to cut back to 25cm to encourage fresh growth which will then continue to offer a soft foil for other plants.

I have the autumn butter yellow colour to look forward to in the next few weeks, which will come once we have some frosts.  After that it will die down and then emerge in the Spring time.  In the meantime in that area are other winter and early spring beauties: snowdrops, cyclamen coum and corydalis Beth Evans etc

This plant, also known as as The Arkansas Blue Star  is native to the Ouachita Mountains of central Arkansas, and named after American biologist Leslie Hubricht, who first dicovered it growing in the wild in the 1940s. The whole genus is named in honour of 18th century Virginian physician Dr Charles Amson.

Chicago Botanic Gardens report has a good guide to the American Amsonias.

Tanacetum densum ssp amani

Tanacetum densum subs amani

The plant, also known as 'Partridge feathers'was first planted in the back garden, as soon as a space became available, as we were working on creating the back garden from scratch.  It has flourished there for the past couple of years.  However during the last very wet spell its leaves became a little soggy and it seemed to fall out of my favour: plants were encroaching, or was it encroaching other more choice ones?   Also I learnt today that the conditions there: rich moisture retentive soil, some shading etc.is less than favourable.

Beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder, and I decided something else would do better in its place.   I dug up the plant this afternoon...and brought up the plant label so that I could make a note of its removal from the garden.  The Tanacetum desum subs amani had been planted before I had started my plant database, which was why I could not find it there...so I looked on my blog and found it!  The label at the time of purchase misidentified the plant, but I must have found this out at the time of writing the post.  I do remember growing this plant is a previous garden.....

On reading further about this plant, I've learnt that it comes from hot dry rocky areas in southeastern Turkey....a perfect plant for my newly created front garden...which is following the theme of Mediterranean planting as far as possible...since it is very sunny and hot in the summer, and well drained....I am going for a garden with very little watering.

The plant has been rescued and has now been planted in more favourable conditions...and I hope it survives its trauma, and thrives there...If not a new plant will be have to be sourced!