Tom, hope that you have a great time in Miami at the soccer match, enjoy the time that you spend with your son, I guess next is college for him? And don't worry about next year, your garden will keep you busy. We will miss you at the party, I am in the planning stages now for Saturday the 18. Remember this weekend is the spring fever at Winter Garden, hope to make it and check out the plants...

Silvia

I will be coming Silvia. Do you still have any black jungle beans? They sound like true survivors of the summer heat.

I have some malabar and okinawa spinach starts for anyone who wants some summer salads.

I will be there! As usual, I'm not sure what I'll bring for food, but I've been planning and trying to get some plants potted up and ready to trade. I have several thyme plants, para cress, trailing tibouchina, and australian violet plants ready and I'm sure I'll find other plants to bring also. If anyone has anything they'd like in particular from me, just let me know! Here's my tradelist: http://davesgarden.com/community/trading/list.php?member=Onlysky

If anyone has any scented geraniums, pagoda flower, or tropical rose hydrangea, those are a few in particular that I'm looking for currently.

Also, my parents will be coming too. I know my Dad is bringing a whole selection of plants of various asian greens he's been growing lately. He's always interested in trading for other vegetable plants.

-Amber

Hi Garden_gal, I am glad that you are coming, I will save some black jungle beans for you.

Hi Amber, it is always great to have you and your parents come to the garden party, I am very interested to see the greens that your Dad is growing, they sound good for the summer. If you have any ground covers that are pretty and I don't have them, please save them for me. Remember if you don't want to cook, you can always bring something to drink besides water that I got today, it is going to be hot.

It is going to be a great day to spend with gardening enthusiasts! I am looking forward to see all.

Silvia

I went to the farm to pick blueberries, they are the best! I will make something blueberry for the party this coming Saturday.

Silvia

Elizabeth- when you come to the garden party, you can go to pick blueberries, they are so good this year. They have different kinds, so you can sample the varieties before picking. The farm is Beck brothers in Windermere.

Silvia

Ana and I will be there with the usual tortilla de patata. Thank you, Silvia, for throwing the party. Can't wait to see everyone!

Bill

Hi Bill, we will be so happy to see you and Ana! And tortilla de patata is the best.

Looking forward to this Saturday to see all the garden friends!

Silvia

I think I got it arranged so I can make it to your awesome party .I will bring Luffas. Yellow dog food.

Tommy

Hi Tommy, I am so glad that you are coming!. We all like luffas and the Yellow dog food is always good.

Silvia

Elizabeth, I will have starts for you. :)

Amber, would you be willing to share a little cutting of you Brazilian red cloak and/or the Brazilian plume bush?

OH NO! I just joined Garden Web hoping I would find some plant exchangers in the Orlando area. I'm not sure where you are, but your garden party starts in fifteen minutes. Maybe I'll make it next year . . . :-(

Dear Silvia,

Thank you, Cheryl, and Willie for once again hosting a great garden get together. Sorry I didn't get to say good by but understand Mariana handled that for us. If Sheryl wants the complete "cool carrots" recipe give me a shout. Mariana says she forgot a couple of ingredients when she said good by. Hope my camellia cuttings found a good home. Once they bloom I'll be able to identify them. Hope to see you in the fall.

Papa Jim

Dear Papa Jim - It was so great to see you and Mariana! Time went so quick that I am glad I had the chance to spend a little time with Mariana before everything started moving with the party. We had a blast! What a great group of people, it is always so entertaining, learn new things and see all of you time and time again it is all worth it. Looking forward for the fall get together. Camellia cuttings went quick and to very good homes. I wanted one too but I don't think that I have enough shade in my garden. Cheryl was raving about the carrots and I also thought they were very good, she will be happy to get the recipe.

Hi Margaret, you missed a great party, welcome to the forum and hope to see you in the fall.

To all the gardeners who came to the party- Thank you for coming and making this party such a great success, we had a great time! My special thanks to all that did extra help. Larry, you are the best! you are so important for all the set up, watching the gate and at the end. Thanks a million!
Thank you to the wonderful Lady, Barbie's stepmom, your help in the kitchen was greatly appreciated!
Tommy, the swap went so smooth with your help, you can improvise for sure, you were a star! Seriously, bring a whistle next time.:)
Thank you for all the plants that were shared, I will be busy planting tomorrow. My garden give thanks to all of you that through the years have shared plants and info with me.
Barbie, I hope that the chicken found a good home.
And I hope that all of you traveling far are safe in your houses now and with the air conditioner, it was a hot day!
We missed the garden friends that could not make it this time, hope to see you in the fall.

This is a reminder of the party, not all of you are in the picture, I just realized some are missing.:)

WOW! What a great turn out for your party. Sounds like everyone had a great time.

I hope to make the next one, am helping a friend move this weekend.

Craig

Thank you so much, Silvia, Cheryl, and Willie for throwing such a fantastic party! Ana and I had a great time. We loved the food and meeting new people, and we came home with some neat plants and ideas, too! Now I'll be growing Asian greens this summer, and another type of sweet potato, and lots of other things.

Silvia, your garden is always incredible, but this time it looked even better than usual. Every plant looked perfect, and I love the way you arrange everything. I'm still totally blown away by your Russian kales, which are about three times bigger than mine and much better looking.

It was so good to see everyone.

Thank you!

Bill

Hi Craig, you have to come to the next party and meet us all, we have a great group!

You are welcome Bill, like usual it was so great to see you and Ana! it feels like we know you forever, great time spent with friends that love to garden and everyone did their best with the food and the plants. I will be planting today too my new gifts for the garden.

Thank you for the compliments on the garden, I heard somebody said "the garden always looks different" and yes, that is truth. I don't even know how it is going to look at the end, and kale is the queen in the garden. I have been making all the possible kale salads around and they have all turn out good. Is on the menu everyday for us, either cooked or raw in a salad. Did you try the Mexican sour gherkin? they are ready and good for snacks.

Looking forward to see everyone at the next party!

Silvia

Hi Elizabeth, it was so great to see you and Ronn!. Thank you for your very thoughtful note, having such a great people over makes us very happy, looking forward to see you again.

Silvia

Silvia,

What a fantastic group photo! I bet it was an absolutely splendid time! Now I'm just waiting for you to post photos of the food, like you usually do. :)

Did everyone get some cool plants? Sure wish I lived closer... one of these years...

Carol in Jacksonville

Thank you Carol, we all had such a great time! it will go down to history of one of our most successful parties, everything run so smoothly, great people, great food and great plants. What else could we asked for? left us with good memories and the desire to do it all over again.

I was so busy that I did not think about any picture taking, so much food, plants, etc. I asked Cheryl for the pictures to send me and I will post them. She is out with her French group now watching movies at the theater.

I just finished planting most of my new things before the rain....like Christmas my wish list was fulfilled.:)

Carol, hope to see you one day at one of our garden parties, you will love the people that comes!

Silvia

And more pictures from the fun party

Re: Garden Party 2015.4.18
https://gardenparty2015418.shutterfly.com/

Silvia

Great pictures!

You have inspired me to clean up my poor Russian kales, Silvia. Hopefully I will get a few more harvests out of them before the heat does them in. If not, I will try to grow them better next year, now that you've shown me how good they can look.

Ana keeps asking about the fig and onion (?) tart. I didn't try it, but she can't stop talking about how good it was. Does anyone know who made it?

I planted the Asian greens and I have high hopes for them.

Thanks again,

Bill

Silvia and Cheryl,

Wow, what great pictures! Finally, photos of the food, plants and people! Silvia, your lovely home and garden are always so fun to see. Like you said, it looks like it was all A+.

The food - oh so yummy! So glad Cheryl took a photo from both ends of the counter. And that dessert table... probably a good thing I wasn't there.

I wish I had names to go with all the happy faces. I can see that everyone had a splendid time! It would be great to know who everyone is.

Cheryl, thanks for posting the photos. Here is a direct link to the photo album for anyone having trouble finding all 27 photos: Garden Party Photo Album

Did anyone take Barbie's Welsh Harlequin ducks?!

Carol

Thank you Bill, I heard comments from people who never tried kale, after we let them try in a dish they love them, we send them home with lots of kale. I cannot believe how much they produce and if you have them as a border, I think they are pretty. For me they do double duty, they hide first the peas and now the beans from my canine children, they have to wait till I cook for them...

Tell Ana that she has a very good and refined taste.:) She beat you this time,lol. When you come the next time, go for anything that he prepared first, he is a very accomplished French chef, next time asked Christine about one time the squash soup that he made... When you look at the pictures, he is in the one before the chicken. On the left is the Lady that funded the Art Gallery in Winter Garden, to the right of him is the Oakland Mayor. Next time that you and Ana come to the area, you will have to tour WG, they are going to have an indoor market complete with everything, the beer place is open already. Did you try the rolls? they were one of my favorites, they were baked by a German baker and he is going to have a store there too. I told Larry that it is going to be a little like Seattle market.

Remember I was trying to advertise the water? I thought nobody was drinking, I even asked a guest to tell them loud where the water was. Little did I know that they were drinking the good stuff indoors, Barbie's hibiscus tea and the other drinks flew. Willy said, I did not try the tea, I said next time, I will save a glass for you,lol.

Ralph outdid himself with all the greens, he was gracious enough to leave for us to sample, they are delicious! and so healthy. I put mine on the ground already. Carol Deppe on her latest book talks about them and how fast they produce. We need more veggies like that!


Thank you Carol! You have to come and spend time with us in one of our garden parties, I can honestly tell you that they are a lot of fun and mystery!:) it is always something different and unexpected, but that is where the fun begins. The food and the plants, it is always unbelievable!

Thank you for putting the pictures in order, I am sure it help others that could not see them.

Barbie only came with the chicken, she said he got adopted, good news.

Silvia

It was nice to see the photos. (Glad that I wasn't in many. lol.) As always, it was a wonderful party with wonderful people. Well, and good food too. As to the squash soup that Silvia previously mentioned - it was the best I ever tasted!

As for the onion tart, luckily I did get a small piece. Yes, I can say that it was very good too. I was fortunate to get the last dribble of the hibiscus (roselle) tea.

Christine

Hi Christine
I was glad too about the photos,lol. We were probably busy in the garden...Time goes so fast and there are so many things to do during those hours.

Any of our friend recipes excelled in quality, for the Christmas party he made a potato and watercress soup that everyone rave about it! He emphasizes quality and only use the best ingredients.

But Christine, we might not be chefs but your muffins were incredible! And the tortilla de patata from Ana and Bill it was just like I had it in Spain at the market. Perfect!

I finished the greens from Ralph yesterday, I made them stir fry with fresh harvested red garlic from Larry, ginger and a little avocado oil, finish them with soy sauce, Meyer lemon and red pepper flakes. I can eat those every day.

Silvia

And here are some photos from the garden that I took the day before the party

Silvia --- Thanks for the compliments on my chocolate chip oatmeal muffins.

Just curious, how long is the storage time for the garlic?

I found my Mexican gherkin seeds today (stored in my spare frig). After seeing your plant, I understand why the seeds are so small. How many plants to you have in the pot? I'm wondering about how much spacing the vines need.

I looked up zolotoe tomato only to be surprised that they are described as an heirloom heart-shaped yellow tomato. They looked like a paste-shape tomato last weekend. Well, if they taste as great as they look, I would like a few seeds so I can give them a try. Thanks.

Christine

Christine, I will let you know about the taste of the tomato and if very good, I will save some seeds for both of us.

The garlic is so tasty and mild that I don't think is going to be stored for long.:) Probably last same as onions which I have to harvest too sometimes this week.

I told you I have a lot of the gherkins on the vine, there are only 3 seedlings in the pot, same like the cucumber next to it.

That side dish does look tasty. Good for leftovers too! I made a harvest soup this evening. I added Italian (flat) beans, summer squash, cocozelle, and dino kale in the soup.

I think that you gave me some Table Ace squash seeds a few years ago. I have 2 plants in the garden and I can't believe how many acorn squashes are forming. Zucchini and summer squashes are nice but I do like my winter squashes too.

My seed packet says West Indian Gherkin, so I hope that I have the same variety that you have. I didn't see any spines on your fruits, but hopefully they are only present when the cucumber is fully mature. We'll see.

Christine

Christine - I planted 72 cloves of seed fall of '13 and harvested May of last year ('14). I used the last cloves of my garlic a few weeks ago. I lost 2 heads and a few cloves that had dried out. I suspect that they could have been used. People slice garlic and dry it all the time, but they say whole cloves are no good, so I tossed them. Maybe I'll cook some sauce from dried heads next year... if I have any. Storage was in my garage most of the summer. I didn't bring them into the air conditioned space until all the green was gone from the tops. They spent the fall and winter in the office closet. They would have lasted longer if I could have kept them under 50 degrees, with good humidity, but root cellers are not common around here. I have grown mostly heat tolerant Creole varieties. Most are rated good for storing, although some are and some aren't.

I don't remember which head I gave to Silvia. Maybe she remembers. I have yet to find a marking method that will survive our aggressive weather, so I have resorted to making little maps of the yard. Right now I am looking for the flower map for the back. I put it someplace safe, so even that method has its drawback.

I was able to harvest this year's crop 2 weeks after I ran out of the good garlic and am using it now. All except, that is, for the German White experiment. It is a cold tolerant Northern variety. It seems to be heading up nicely. It should come out this week. We think that Silvia and I are letting them go too long. The heads are bursting.
Larry

Christine, they are two different kind of gherkins, I don't know if you would like the one that you have is supposed to turn black when mature. Mine does not have spines at all and is ready to eat. If I don't give them all away, I will try pickle them.
I like winter squash better than the summer because it keeps longer without the refrigeration. I am finally getting some squash in my garden, hope is ready when the tomatoes ripen...

Larry! there you are, thanks a million for all your help! You are one of the family, just like any of my brothers, and you worked so hard at the party.
Great explanation about the garlic, you were right on the money some we waited too long and some were perfect. I am eating the bursting ones first, they have good flavor and are good otherwise. I think you gave me creole rojo.

Silvia

Larry -- Thank you for the narrative on storing garlic. It wasn't that long ago that I thought that garlic didn't grow well around here. And, I had no idea that there were so many different kinds. Let us know how your experiment with the German White goes.

Silvia -- The photo on the gherkin envelope has a small cucumber with spines on it. It's not black, perhaps whitish yellow. I planted some of the seeds today so we'll see what happens.

Where did you get your seeds? I like your variety.

I got a small tomato harvest today from two varieties. I planted Sweet Gold to replace Sungold. I really like Sungold but they are very prone to splitting. The other few tomatoes that I harvested were Violet Jasper. Tommy gave me some seeds last year and I liked this heirloom enough to grow them again. Now I like this variety even more for its earliness.

Christine

Christine, we went to Cress last night, food was good but the place lack ambience. I had the fish tikka masala and W had some sort of steak, appetizer was fish tacos. On the drinks there were limited options just beer and wine.

The Mexican sour gherkin is Melothria Scabra, the West Indian gherkin is Cucumis Anguria so they are different. I got them from Territorial, I will send you some seeds. The variety with the spines turns black when mature, but I guess a lot of veggies do that when past their prime and no, I have not grown that variety.

On the cherry tomatoes I planted Dr Carolyn pink, Marizol, Sweet Treats and they give me good harvest, some of my tomatoes were planted a month later that is why some are bigger than others. Tommy brought to one party the Violet Jasper tomatoes and yes they were very early, I think he was growing them in a greenhouse.

Silvia

Silvia, your garden looks fantastic! I've gone back again and again to look through the pictures. How did you do that - make everything come together perfectly all at once? You are like a good cook (which you are), who makes all of the food ready at the same time. I'm still working on that skill.

I love your peacock, standing watch over the garden. I've read that real peacocks are not that much fun (here,here,here,here, here and here) but I'd love to have one like yours, any day!
Carol

Thank you Carol! I always tell myself everything in the garden and in the kitchen should be like an orchestra,lol.
I had some friends over yesterday for brunch and cuttings, they were so interested learning about the plants and they look so happy with the boxes full of cuttings just like kids with candy.:)
Over the years the garden friends have shared with me knowledge and plants, a big lesson at every party.

That is funny about the peacock, maybe not so if I had the same problem, but with my four dogs I have no intruders in the garden,lol. When I was in Jamaica this past February I saw them at the resort and they look peaceful, not damaging anything but they did make noise early in the morning.

This is another part of my garden, I called it the herb garden and it has herbs of course for cooking, a bottlebrush tree, an atemoya, roses, caladiums and zinnias.

Silvia -- Cress must be going well enough financially to not open up for lunch. Most people that eat downtown DeLand go for lunch. I don't eat downtown in the evening. Well, it's too bad that you weren't pleased with Cress since you had to travel so far to go there.

When I was at your party I forgot to check out your atemoya tree. I hope that it is still doing well. My 'geftner' cheryoma tree has buds on it but the flowers never set. I think that it needs a pollinator tree.

Last week a local garden club toured my yard. I, like you, enjoyed sharing cuttings and extra volunteers.

Christine

Christine - I have a bucket list of places to see and restaurants to go. Cress was on the list since it is so highly acclaimed, people travel from far places to go there. We waited about a week for reservations and while we were there, they turned away a lot of customers and the place was not even full. And I am sure they don't need the money is like a hobby for them, the owners are the wife a Dr and the husband the chef is a Professor at the University. Of course a hobby like that must leave good money behind. We were staying at the Westin in Lake Mary, nice area with a lot of restaurants that W would prefer but they were not on my list.:)

About the atemoya, yes not all the blooms produce fruit same like mangoes, some people hand pollinate them but I don't. When you came to the garden party a few years ago, I only had the green one, Years later I added a red one that I got in Excalibur, it is like a year in the ground after being in the container and produced a couple of fruits last season, hope this season is better. The green one is in the herb garden and the red one is where I have all the fruit trees around the fence.

Starfruit, Tamarind, Red Atemoya, Red Guava, Star apple

Silvia, I love the flower garden, too! (I forget that you grow flowers sometimes!) I would love to do zinnias - they are one of my favorites - but they take a lot of sun, don't they? I think I did a pack of seeds in my south bed one year and very few came up because of all of the shade. Yours look great! And you know I am a fan of caladiums - and especially the whites, I am learning, because of their hardiness.
Carol

Thank you Carol, I have a lot of flowers most of them from seed or they reseeded themselves. I found out that there is not much info that is precise for flowers, the experts give you a big window about what and when to plant. Pretty much you have to do the trials yourself because timing is the only thing that counts. I planted the zinnias while it was still cold and we had some freezing nights and they did not die, better to be early than late. They are on the east side and get some shade from trees and the house.

My garden should be called the specimen garden,:) nothing is in order and I mostly have 1 plant from a lot of varieties. When I gave the tour of my garden to the friends on Sunday I explained to them, there is the ornamental garden=easy and there is the edible garden=complicated. So we started at the front of the house giving them bulbs, cuttings, etc. After like 2 hours of non-stop cutting, they took boxes to be planted. Then they say "and the edible garden?" and I told that is another program! lol.

I got most of my flower seeds from Tom, the snapdragons were started indoors same like the tomatoes. Love the pink geraniums, they are old...

Silvia - Thank you very much for the seeds. You are so kind and generous. :)
I planted some of the Mexican gherkins right away. I considered the West Indian gherkin seeds to be small but the Mexican ones are even smaller! Wow, they are the size of a tomato seed. No wonder why the plants are so dainty. I'm looking forward to a nice harvest and enjoy seeing the plants grow.

I had been meaning to ask you if you bought the alysums or started them from seed. Now I have my answer. The white ones are so hard to find in the stores. I have only seen the purple ones on occasion. I had never considered starting snaps from seeds. I usually just buy a few for pots. Does the geranium stay in that spot all summer or do you give it some shade as it gets hotter?

Christine

You are welcome Christine, I like the taste of the gherkins something crunchy like a cucumber and they are only a bite, they would probably look good in a green salad, sliced they look like mini watermelons.
I was so busy at the party that did not notice that I had a lot of beans to harvest, I am enjoying those now with carrots that need to be harvest too.

The alysums give a nice and delicate scent, they reseed same like the nasturtiums, I put the seed some other year. The geraniums stay in the bed the whole summer, that spot get some shade from the vines, I have a different geraniums in the same bed also that are few years old, and I also have some little blue flowers that I planted years ago and they come back every year.

Silvia, they are gorgeous! I have not been super-successful with seeds - I don't think I really have the technique down very well. I can root cuttings and keep things alive, for the most part, once they're up and about. I will try zinnias early next year. Thanks for the tip!

I especially love the geraniums! I didn't think they could take heat... yours look so good!

Carol

Thank you Carol, I can say for sure that I like bulbs the best, after that cuttings. Seeds are another category and you need more patience for that, I am used to them since I do all the veggies by seed, I do prefer bigger seeds if I can help it.:)

You will be surprised how many flowers that look delicate can take the summer heat and the winter cold. This dianthus are few years old going through the seasons just fine, by the red ti there is a pink and a red caladium.

Since you did not come to the party, this is the entrance with some of my favorite plants

Silvia

It is all beautiful! I am especially amazed at the geraniums, dianthus and alyssum. Were the allysum seeds from Tom? Is there a particular hardy variety that you have? I love them and had no idea they would last beyond April in Florida. Wow!
I also love begonias and see all your beauties on the porch. You're doing very well with them!
Carol

Thank you Carol, the alysum seeds were planted years ago not from Tom and they are just any regular white variety. Like the nasturtiums they don't look good when the heat comes but they reseed themselves and comeback in spring. I always love geraniums, I had a collection of scented ones in Arizona and when the heat came they did not look good but they thrive in the cooler temperatures, they survived year after year. I like the east and north side for flowers.

More begonias in the back porch