Pruning Part Deux

I took some time over the weekend to work on my magazine stack. I actually made some pretty good progress and had some help from my offspring. :)

Bioswale - There was a really nice picture of a bioswale in one of my magazines. It was the one that gave me a vague idea when I saw the drainage ditch in our back yard. It is basically a dry streambed, with gravel and larger rocks and plants on the side. I would like to do something like that with our ditch.

Blue Spruce - I love, love, love the blue spruces and would like to find something like that to plant around here somewhere. I'm not sure if they themselves do well in our area, but there has to be something with that silvery green foliage.

Centaurea - I love the blooms on the Centaurea plants, I needs one. :)

Chick Fountain - One of the pages had a neat picture of a bird bath with hen and chicks spilling over the edges. It would be neat to combine other succulents in with it too.

Bird Garden - One of my plans is to have a nature garden outside of our breakfast nook window. I'd like to be able to see a lot of birds, bees and butterflies. So I found a pretty in-depth article on gardens specifically to attract birds. I already have a lot of the plants that it calls for in my regular garden and I could probably divide some of them for this.

• Black-Eyed Susan
• Bee Balm
• Blazing Star
• Butterfly Weed
• Goldenrod
• Joe Pye Weed
• New England Aster
• Coneflower

Pardancandas (Candy Lilies) - I have always been attracted to these in garden catalogs. I had a blackberry lily (which is one of the parents of these) once upon a time but for some reason never got one of these.

Poppies - I love poppies and have tried unsuccessfully to grow a couple of them. Maybe one day I'll get the hang of them. :)

Scree Gardens - I found the article that inspired me to make my scree garden to begin with. I've been happy with my initial attempt, but I need to tweak my plantings next year. I have to say that Sweet Alyssum was my best performer.

Castles - I found a garden of a gent that made miniature castles in his garden for his kids. This also ties into my miniature something that I want to make in honor of Ave Maria Grotto.

Strawberry Cake - There was a recipe in a Martha Stewart Outdoor Living magazine for a strawberry cake that looked goooooooood.

6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pie plate

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. plus 2 Tbs. sugar

1 large egg

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 lb. (1 1/2 pints) strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Put butter and 1 c. sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Pour batter into buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 Tbs sugar over berries. Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in pie plate. To serve, cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.