Piping Succulents - Buttercream Succulent Cake

Here's something just for fun!  Happy Sunday!

In the Kitchen: Favourite Broccoli Citrus Salad (my own recipe)

For a change, I will be adding to the recipes on Pinterest rather than trialling a new recipe and sharing here.  Last night I made a broccoli salad recipe (my own recipe) that was so delicious and my husband loved it (he's my guinea pig).  Of course, I thought to take a photo after we'd already started eating ours so it looks a bit lacking in the broccoli but that's because we ate it!  Seriously, the next time I make it I will use two heads of broccoli instead of just one, as amended in this recipe.

Favourite Broccoli Citrus Salad

Serves: 4 - 6

Salad:

2 heads of broccoli

1 cup julienned carrot (approximately 2 carrots)

3 medium naval oranges

2 Cara oranges (red flesh naval orange)

1 cup raisins

1 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)

1/2 cup slivered almonds

4 slices cooked bacon

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise (I use mayonnaise made with olive oil)

1/3 cup sugar or Stevia

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

In a fry pan, cook and drain on paper towel the 4 slices of bacon.  Crumble or cut into 1/8 inch pieces. Set aside.

Into a large bowl add the following ingredients once prepared: Broccoli, washed (drained well in a salad spinner) and cut into bite size pieces, peeling the stems and cutting into small coins.  Julienne the carrots, leaving the skin on if not too thick.  Using a knife, peel  to remove all pith and cut the naval and Cara oranges into 1/2 inch cubes.  Stir in the raisins, Craisins and slivered almonds.  Add the bacon. Toss ingredients together.

For the dressing:  In a separate bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sugar or Stevia and white wine vinegar.  

Drizzle dressing over salad and toss.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Optional:  add a can of rinsed water chestnuts prior to drizzling with dressing.

Happy Earth Day!

Gardening Website You Should be Acquainted With

In the industry there are a few favourite resources we return to again and again. One of these is the Heritage Perennials site www.perennials.com.  Here you can find top 10 perennials of the year, perennials 101, design tips, gardener resources, videos and more.  

Here's a peak at their home page:

A few minutes now meandering around the site will show you it's value.  Whether you are looking for design ideas or want information about a particular perennial, this site is an excellent resource.

I'm sure you have a favourite go-to site for gardening.  Feel free to share in the comments.  I'm always on the lookout for more resources.  Cheers!

Zone Maps - because you've always wanted to compare ours with USA

	Minimum Winter Temperature
Zone	ºF	ºC
1	Below -50	Below -46
2	-50 to -40	-46 to -40
3	-40 to -30	-40 to -34
4	-30 to -20	-34 to -29
5	-20 to -10	-29 to -23
6	-10 to    0	-23 to -18
7	0 to   10	-18 to -12
8	10 to  20	-12 to   -7
9	20 to 30	-7 to   -1
10	30 to  40	-1 to    4

What's New in Perennials With Proven Winners 2016

Zones 4-9 with the exceptions of Leading Lady Lilac Monarda, Opening Act White Phlox,  Opening Act Blush Phlox, and Magic Show White Wands Veronica, all of which are zones 4-8.  

For details on size and colour please see:

https://www.provenwinners.com/sites/provenwinners.com/files/catalogs_pdfs/cast_preview_2016_singlepgs_w.pdf

New Flowering Shrubs for 2016 with Proven Winners

Hardy for zone 3 and up:
Little Quick Fire Hydrangea paniculata
Tiny Wine Physocarpus opulifius
Lemony Lace Sambucus racemosa
Bloomerang Dark Purple Syringa

Hardy for zone 4 and up:
Spilled Wine Weigela florida
Sonic Blooms Weigela florida
Show Off Sugar Baby Forsythia


Please scroll through Proven Winners new spring booklet for zones and other pertinent information:
https://www.provenwinners.com/sites/provenwinners.com/files/catalogs_pdfs/cast_preview_2016_singlepgs_w.pdf

Dutch Flower Fields

While spring flowers are slow to bloom here in central Alberta, we can enjoy and admire those of others.  I've been admiring a magnitude of floral beauty from Vancouver thanks to my son who sends me photos regularly.  I really appreciate that in the middle of winter.  Cherry trees began blooming in February this year, early for them but what a sight in a beautiful city.  Then in the Okanagan valley the apricot trees have been flowering (early April) and that was a thrill to see thanks to another son and his wife who shared photos.  

If you're like me, even in the slightest, you can never get enough garden exposure and sometimes you just have to seek it out when your own is just awakening.  Today I came across this drone footage of Dutch flower fields and they are too stunning not to share.  Enjoy!

Sensual Gardening

Gardening is one of my greatest sources of peace. Several years ago I transitioned from a job that required my attention 24/7 and was very stressful to a job working at a greenhouse. The peace it brought to me, the necessary relaxation of the task of transplanting, offered me the very thing I needed at that time. I worked there for about five years before transitioning to another job but the love of gardening is ingrained and my soul still yearns to find those green spaces, to feel the soil caress my fingers, to smell the fresh crisp scents of earth right after rain. For me, gardening employs all my senses to great satisfaction.

The Language of Flowers

A few years ago I discovered a wonderful UK cozy mystery series about two women with a gardening/landscaping business who inevitably find themselves caught up in a murder mystery.  They're the "heroines of horticulture."  It's wonderful because it combines two of my favourite things:  mystery and gardens!  

I'm sharing an episode first aired September 2003 called The Language of Flowers wherein Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme are hired to invigorate and repair a water cascade on the grounds of the Caldecott estate.  Through some research, Rosemary reveals the meanings of several of the flowers used in the design of the cascade, the knowledge of which helps them solve the mystery and find a murderer.

BTW, you will surely want the entire series after watching this episode!  Cheers!