Anyone for a piece of wedding cake?

It's such a historic day here in the UK and the Commonwealth and there's probably not going to be much blog reading going on ........well not at least until we get our first glimpses of that dress and that "Kiss Me Kate" moment on the balcony!   I couldn't let this day go by without a special post here for Prince William and Catherine and I hope and pray that they will have a marriage just like the recipe for this wedding cake. 

A Good Wedding Cake

Author Unknown

Ingredients 

4 lb. of love.
1 lb. butter of youth.
1/2 lb. of good looks.
l lb. sweet temper.
1 lb. of blindness for faults.
1 lb. of self forgetfulness.
l lb. of pounded wit.
l lb. of good humour.
2 tablespoons of sweet argument.
1 pint of rippling laughter.
1 wine glass of common sense.
1 oz. modesty.

Method

• Put the love, good looks and sweet temper into a well furnished house. 
• Beat the butter of youth to a cream, and mix well together with the blindness of faults. 
• Stir the pounded wit and good humour into the sweet argument, 
• then add the rippling laughter and common sense. 
• Work the whole together until everything is well mixed, 
• and bake gently for ever. 

This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com.  You can receive updates of each post by subscribing to my feed www.http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom

A Royal Wedding Mega Cupcake

Anyone for cake?

I adore cake as some of my friends know very well though I'm not a great lover of icing.  But here's another piece of wedding cake that I don't think anyone would even consider having a nibble of. A piece of the Royal Wedding Cake from Queen  Elizabeth and Prince Phillips wedding was found 2 weeks ago in a filing cabinet 64 years after its best before date.  I think I'll pass on that!

There are going to be 2 wedding cakes this evening - one a layered fruit cake iced with edible flowers including an English rose, a Scottish thistle, a Welsh daffodil and an Irish shamrock.  The other will be an unbaked chocolate biscuit cake by McVitie's made to a secret Royal Family recipe specially requested by William as it was a childhood favourite of his....  yummy (we're having a chocolate cake as well as a fruit wedding cake in a few weeks time at our family wedding).

Now since this a backyard nature blog I think this post needs a few love heart sprinkles and some brides blossom ...... of the flower kind from my own garden!

my photo submission to Live Every Moment

 

Dicentra

 

Spirea ajuta - My photo submission to Macro Friday

 

In your opinion did the author leave anything out in his/her ingredients or method for a good wedding cake?

Did you have different types of layers in your wedding cake?............. (mine was just a very rich fruit cake).

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

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Primrose Greensleeves

Well I had quite a reaction to one little bloom in my April GBBD post and the little flower that caused all of the interest was the spring flowering  Primula "Greensleeves". I thought that the little perennial primrose deserved a post all of it's own as I got so many comments about it. But I think you are in for a little surprise when you see how diverse a "Greensleeves" seedling really is!

 
The photo originally in my GBBD post is bottom right in the collage above

Imagine going into the garden centre in spring and spotting a delightful display of primula with somewhat muted colours compared to the normal garish bright spring colours of primulas.  They instantly reminded me of my childhood days in my granddad's garden along with memories of Delf and Mason pottery, Auriculas and all things vintage. 

On an impluse I just had to buy them and they have been in flower since the begining of March.  Every single one of them seems to be a little bit different and for me they have real cottage garden primrose appeal.

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Back in early March I went unto the grower's website "Brilliant Gardens"  and read up on the seedling mix and discovered that they were English grown, hardy and reliable perennials unlike some of the primula that are sold as spring bedding.  (The website seems to be down just now and I just have access to a few cache files).  

My fellow tweeter and blogger Graham Rice wrote about this little mix back in  March 2009 for the RHS.  For now this is all the information there seems to be on the web about this charming little seed mix.

Looking after Primula's

• The secret to success with primulas whether primroses or polyantha's is to keep them cool
• deadhead them
• keep them in moisture retentive soil
• feed to encourage more flower production
• and NOT to over water them

I hope that they'll flourish in this Perthshire garden along with the other hardy primrose varieties like "Emily", "Heritage" and "Sphinx Apricot" that already appear here each spring.
 

Thank you for taking the time to visit today.

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

©2010 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

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The Morel of this story!

Last week while on stayacation we decided to go for a little evening stroll. I planned on photographing some of our native wildflowers  and there certainly was an abundance of wood anemones and lesser celandine carpeting the woodland floor.  But we found more that that as you'll soon discover!

Firstly The Native Flowers......

 Anemone nemerosa: wood anemone or windflower

Ranunculus ficaria: lesser celandine

There also were many spikelets of tiny little flowers from what I think are a type of rush or sedge. Their leaves are linear and in clumps but after a year I still have not determined the correct id of this plant.

ID still to be determined

We were being watched by the Natives!

We also could hear the iconic Scottish Red Grouse in the fields surrounding us which is a native Scottish bird.  These birds have no road sense what so ever and their distinctive call can be heard throughout the day especially when you startle them in the hedgerows though sometimes I'm just as startled as them when they make their escape.

This one was watching us through the trees as they are renowned for doing while in another field there were 2 other males and 3 much paler coloured females who were not aware of our presence. 

Please ignore the quality issues with this image as I had to use the digital zoom - it's a big field!

It's a famous Scottish game bird which is a ground nester and a culinary delight for many......... but speaking of all things culinary

Here's the exciting bit! 

We also came across some very unusual looking fungi which were so well camouflaged as they blended in so well to their surroundings.   I've now been reliably informed (by Ispot/Open University nature website) that they are Common Morels - Morchella esculenta.  

Better than that I've been told to keep their location "hush hush" as they are one of the most highly prized of the edible fungi and  comparable to the French truffle.  

These mushrooms are hunted for all over the UK, Europe and the USA at this time of year and some of  the locations of these elusive fungi are just passed down through families. There is a map of known locations in the UK and our find isn't anywhere near those already recorded in Scotland. There are no recordings at all in Perthshire so everyone must be keeping their locations a secret.

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As I am no expert at all with fungi I've been reading up on the morel genus though I haven't gone back to harvest any of them. They have this wonderful looking hollow honeycomb cap that looks just like a sponge. If it's not hollow then it's NOT a Morel and is one of its deadly cousins The False Morel - Gyromitra genus which is highly poisonous.  

 a close up of the morel honeycomb cap

I've read that they have a rich creamy earthy flavour which is prized by chefs all over the world but they must NEVER be eaten raw and are best fried with a little butter.  The fungi are also used in Chinese medicine due to their medicinal properties.

You can read more information on these wonderful fungi here:

Guide to finding Morels (UK Site)

How to look for  Morels (USA Site)

The Morels

Caution: Please Do NOT use my blog post to identify fungi to eat!

Some fungi are very poisonous so a mistaken ID could have serious consequences.

The "morel of this story" is that you never know what's going to turn up near your own doorstep - sometimes you might find something extra special like this!

Do you have morels growing in your locality? 

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

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April Garden Bloggers Bloom Day at Leavesnbloom

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day yet again down in the leavesnbloom garden where I get to share what's in bloom in my garden on the 15th of every month with bloggers from all over the world.  Well what a display of flowers there is to choose from this month!  It was quite a hard decision deciding which ones to showcase as there are just so many garden plants budding and flowering. The weather has been wonderful and many plants and bulbs are flowering nearly 2 weeks earlier than my 2010 GBBD post. This year I've taken a choice of blooms from 3 colour themes to represent April 2011's post.

Yellows

Top left to right: Primrose double, Corylopsis pauciflora , Caltha palustris  (in the pond), Primrose' Emily'.

Middle left to right: Ranunculus ficaria "Flore Pleno", Erythronium 'Pagoda'. Tulipa dasystemon

Bottom left to right: Dwarf Forysthia, Cowslip Primula veris "Cabrillo", Pansy, Daffodil.

This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com.  You can receive updates of each post by subscribing to my feed www.http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom

Blues

Top left to right: Anemone blanda, Omphalodes cappadocica, Muscari

Bottom left to right: Primrose "Greensleeves", Scilla, Chionodoxa luciliae, Puschkinia scilloides var libanotica

Pinks/Violets/Purples 

 Top left to right: Daphne mezereum "Rubrum", Bergenia, Primula vulgaris "Quaker's Bonnet", Primula denticulata

Middle: Chaenomeles speciosa "Geisha Girl" 

Bottom left to right: Erica heather, Lathyrus vernus 

Not forgetting  all the other's which many I hope to blog about very soon including .........

• various Pulmonaria's (click link to see them all)
• various Daffodils 
  
• Tulips 
  
• Fritillaria meleagris
• other Primroses 
  
• Pyrus salicifolia 
  
• Hellebores
• other varieties of Dicentras
• Viola "Molly Sanderson"
• various Euphorbias
• various Pulsatilla's 
  
• Allium 
  
• Aubretia
• Brunnera's 
  
• Hebe "Pixie"
• Amelanchier alnifolia"Obelisk" 
  
• Lunaria, 
• some dwarf Rhododendron 
• Spirea aguta
• wood anemones
• forget me nots
• hyacinths
• alpine potentilla
• Corylus avellana
• various Cherry trees
• finally Fothergilla "Blue Shadow"
• and 1 half opened bud from a Camelia w. Donation - which managed to survive our -18C this winter.

Phew that's alot compared to last year............. if you want to see what's flowering elsewhere in the world please visit Carol over at May Dreams Gardens or Seepferds Garten  in Berlin. 

Thank you for taking the time to visit today.

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

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The Pulmonaria Colour Party

There's a Pulmonaria colour party blooming in the leavesnbloom garden and the nectar rich flowers are just so irresistible to the bumble bees. Quite a bit of my garden is cool, moist and shady and the soil can be so difficult to work with so this little woodland plant is just perfect for those conditions. Pulmonaria or Lungwort is known for its spotted silver markings on the leaves but  the first one to flower each year for me is Pulmonaria rubra and this one has plain green leaves.  

Pulmonaria rubra

It can be a bit of a thug but I over look that as it gives me a coral pink colour in the garden when there is little else flowering in the last few weeks of winter and it's still in flower today in April.  The only thing I would suggest is to deadhead before it sets seed and  cut back the leaves later in the season as they just start to take over in the border and become very large.  The leaves are very coarse so I suggest using gloves as I'm sure in the past that I've come out in a rash when working with these leaves.

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Pulmonaria officinalis

I have a few unnamed older varieties that came from our previous gardens. They are so colourful as they have much more of  a variety of coloured blooms ranging from pink to blue on the same plant compared to the others in the garden and out of all of the others the bees much prefer these plants.  

I'm beginning to wonder if these are the British native Pulmonaria officinalis?  

Unfortunately these plants are very susceptible to mildew so if it gets an attack I cut all the leaves off.  Then I give the plants a feed of blood, fish and bonemeal and it doesn't take long for new fresh growth to appear.  It probably doesn't help that some of the clumps are growing in a drier spot in the sun which also makes them more susceptible to mildew.

The rest of the colour party are the cultivated bunch.............. 

Pulmonaria longifolia "Diane Clare"

Now if you have only room for one plant then this should be your choice as it grows into an impressive sized clump of leaves and starts to flower with violet blue flowers  in  late March.  It's leaves are large with lovely silver spotted markings  in the spring but by Summer time the leaves are nearly completely covered in silver.   After buying a small plant last Spring it has now grown in the shade to at least  1.5  foot spread and a height of about 10 inches tall.  Thankfully this plant isn't  susceptible to mildew.

Pulmonaria "Raspberry Splash"

This plant has nice raspberry red/pink flowers and long elongated spotted leaves.  It too was a new addition to the garden last year and has established really well. It's leaves are quite elongated with silver markings but I'm sure that the leaves last year took on a yellowish tinge as the season progressed.  I didn't have any problems with mildew on this plant last summer either.

Pulmonaria "Opal"

These little blooms are pale blue on good silver marked leaves and have just started to flower.  It's not as vigorous as Diane Clare or Raspberry Splash but it still has formed a good clump after being in the garden for just one year.  This plant is near the back of a border along with the Erythroniums and I don't know if it had mildew or not last summer as I just couldn't see that far back into the border as the other herbaceous plants matured.

Pulmonaria "Blue Ensign"

This seems to be the least vigorous in the garden for me and has plain green leaves with the most beautiful deep sapphire blue flowers. Very few of the flower buds have opened yet so for me this is the latest to flower in the garden. This plant dies away completely during the summer months so yet again no need to worry about mildew with this one.

Do you see my other little visitor in the garden?  nest building has just begun just over our boundary fence with Mr and Mrs Blackbird!

I'm just so glad that I have plant labels on many of these plants as they seem so hard to distinguish from each other  especially if you grow the seedlings from the garden. 

 

Thank you for taking the time to visit today.

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

.

©2010 2011 Leavesnbloom ~ All Rights Reserved.

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Blue Lightening

I had a favourite bulb in the garden this year and one whose blooms  were greatly admired by passers by.  Before many of the other early spring bulbs were flowering little Iris reticulata "Katharine Hodgkin" was gracing the borders with her beauty and keeping the early bumble bees happy.

Only about 4 or 5 inches from the ground she had the most delicate of  blue patterned strips stretching into the warm hues of the yellow falls and dark blue blotches. 

This is a copyright post written for www.leavesnbloom.blogspot.com.  You can receive updates of each post by subscribing to my feed www.http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeavesnBloom

Parentage

She's a bulb that has an interesting history. Mr E B Anderson was a plant enthusiast during the 40's, 50's and 60's.  In 1955  he crossed the rare Iris winogradowii (yellow) with Iris histrioides (pale blue) and from that pollination only 2 plants grew. Five years later one of the bulbs flowered and he named it after the wife of fellow plant enthusiast, Eliot Hodgkin. He grew his under a plum tree in his Lower Slaughter garden in Gloucestershire and  shared her offspring with many other gardeners.  Thanks to all of his pass alongs decades later these little bulbs are very reasonably priced.

Planting Position and Feeding Requirements

I planted mine last Autumn in the warmest part of the garden where the soil is quite gritty and close to the main pathway where the bulbs will be quite dry in the summertime.  They survived temperatures of -18c this winter covered in snow so are a good choice for a Perthshire garden.  The bulbs were planted in the soil about 3 or 4 times the height of the bulb just in case the cats dug them up and about 5 cm's apart.  

Flowering has just finished so I'm going to be feeding the bulbs with a potash fertilizer to encourage  the iris to form larger bulbs for next year. Once the flowers die back the leaves become more elongated but like all bulbs  don't cut the leaves down no matter how untidy they look in the border.  Let them die back naturally as all the goodness is going back down into next years bulbs especially if you have been foliar feeding.

Merits

The RHS gave this bulb an award of merit and describe it as being.....

'Dwarf bulbous iris to 12cm tall, with large pale blue flowers, the falls heavily veined with deeper blue and marked yellow at the base, and slender leaves elongating after flowering.'

This autumn I want more of this little bulb in my garden and this time plant them nearer the house so that I can admire the beautiful blooms from indoors as well as outdoors.  

Blue Lightening

by Rosie leavesnbloom

My own artistic impression of Iris reticulata "Katharine Hodgkin"

What bulbs are on your wish list this year? 

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

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