Monthly Archives: September 2010

The Mable Ringling Rose Garden

Posted by Lesley on September 27, 2010 None comments

We visited the Ringling Museum of Art on Saturday.  Beyond Ca’ d’Zan, Mable’s rose garden is my favorite spot. 

The garden was planted in 1913; it was based on the Italian wagon wheel design.  Rows of roses circle around the focal point of a limestone and wrought iron gazebo.  The gazebo is original.

The roses are not.  Only three percent of the roses in the current garden were around in Mable’s day.  She also didn’t enjoy the modern ease of rose disease control.  Mable used to have to replace half her roses every two years because of disease.  Today’s technology has lengthened the average life of a rose to 12-15 years.  Here are a few from the garden:

Christopher Marlow

Europeana

The Mable Ringling Rose Garden is one of only three accredited public rose gardens in Florida.  The accreditation comes from the American Rose Society and requires that the garden adhere to a number of additional quality controls.  Stop by on Mondays; admission is free! 

The Garden Room Cafe at Shoogie Boogies

Posted by Lesley on September 24, 2010 None comments

Gardeners get ready for your new favorite lunch spot - Shoogie Boogies.  I love, love, love this place!  It’s not fully open right now because of renovations, but John and I enjoyed dessert under the stars last Friday night. 

The garden courtyard was set up as a photography studio and bloomed over time into a cafe, tea room and gift shop.  It’s easy to see why.  The location is fabulous – Towles Court, which is an artists’ colony west of US 301 in the downtown Sarasota area – and the atmosphere is nothing less than delightful.  Flowers overflow from old-fashioned claw tubs, and yellow bells trail over the fence.  Fountains and flower pots decorate the meandering brick patio.

The food is simple and delicious.  I was there once for lunch back in April and gobbled up, if I remember correctly, a crab-tomato bisque and a Waldorf-type salad.  What I definitely remember is that it was fabulous.  I have a bizarre distaste for any type of warm liquid – coffee, tea, soup – never cared for them, but I loved that bisque!  Our desserts were also excellent.  John must have told the waitress at least three times how moist the chocolate cake was.

Part of the Garden Room’s appeal is the intimate courtyard, but that doesn’t leave a ton of seating.  Reservations are recommended; call 941-951-5437.  The address is 1919 Morrill Street Sarasota, FL 34236.

Organic Ant Control

Posted by Lesley on September 16, 2010 None comments

Ants, ants, ants! I just can’t get rid of them. Even when we paid for regular pest control, we still had ants. We discontinued pest control when Lukey came on the scene because a few bugs are better than a sick dog. He only weighs 16-pounds; it wouldn’t take much to poison him. So out of love for my loved one, I took on the bugs myself - organically.  And the only real buggers have been the ants.  I tried to nicely sprinkle instant grits around the piles; and when that didn’t work, I savagely sloshed them with boiling water.  I waged massive attacks with the combustible duo of baking soda and every last bottle of vinegar in the fridge – apple cider, white, balsamic, rice, red wine.  Balsamic and red wine were the result of madness; don’t try this at home.  It took months for the vinegar spots to wash off our brick pavers!  

Accidents aside, I’m ready to break out the big boy of vinegar – apple cider this time.  Apparently, ants don’t like it.  But they do like honey, and the combination of the two can make cohabitation more bearable.  The vinegar deters them and the honey baits them, so you can train the ants to go where you want.  I’ve given up on trying to get rid of them, and there’s really no need in the long-term other than that they bug me. 

In the short-term, they’ve made us put off planting the fall garden.  Ants don’t eat leaves or flowers, but they can disturb the roots of fresh seedlings with their piles and activity.  Using the watering can, I’ve been sprinkling the four squares we’ll be planting and composting in this season.  I also placed honey baits where I can live with them – under the Surinam cherry and in a few grassy spots.

 

This honey bait is the sawed-off bottom of a can of pear nectar dug into the ground and filled with honey.  John would not be happy if he saw the way I treat our kitchen knives.  But it all balances out – I cut anything that needs to be cut, including cans, and he autopilots to the sharpener every time he uses one. 

   

And what exactly was I doing with pear nectar anyway?  It’s a key ingredient in my favorite homemade dressing ever…it must be the fresh basil.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Shake all ingredients in a screw-top jar.

  • 3/4 cup pear nectar
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup raspberry vinegar
  • 3 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp. sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

It works as a marinade too.  I have chicken marinating now, which will be grilled and then served over a salad of spinach, strawberries, apples, and whatever nuts are in the cabinet…perfect for a late dinner. Bon appetit and good night!

Weeding is the New Love Letter

Posted by Lesley on September 5, 2010 1 comments

While I was blogging in bed this morning, John was on his hands and knees pulling weeds like my knight in a sweaty white T-shirt.  He got up at 7 a.m. and weeded, turned, clipped, trimmed, raked, shoveled, and watered for the next six hours…maybe he felt bad for me after yesterday’s public shaming.  Whatever his reason, I’m happy.  I did more reading than weeding today, and this is what I can show for it:

Ta-da!  Thanks, John!      

Forcing a Fall Garden

Posted by Lesley on September 5, 2010 None comments

I’m behind on my blogging, for good reason; I’m behind on my gardening.  Remember when I went to New York for three weeks back in July?  Well John didn’t weed the side yard while I was gone, and I haven’t weeded it since.  This is what it looks like (and this photo was taken last weekend).

I never force myself to do things I love because then I won’t love them anymore, but this is getting to be a bit much.  The tomatoes are sun dried, and the squash is squashed.  I told my sister I would write this pitiful post three days ago.  So here I am, one more Saturday wasted on anything other than weeding, finally public shaming myself into cleaning up this mess.  I’ve used up every possible excuse to avoid it:

1.  I saw a snake.

2.  It’s too hot.

3.  I’m too tired.

4.  It’s raining again. 

5.  Jessica’s Organic Farm reopened for the season.

6.  My sister borrowed my wide-brimmed garden hat.

7.  Walk through that snake trap to get to my shovel?  I don’t think so.

8.  A spider’s web is blocking the pathway.

9.  Luke gets lost in weeds higher than my knee.

10. Fall seeds haven’t been stocked yet.

I’m officially out of excuses since seeds are popping up in stores across town.  Home Depot seems to be the last, but their shipment comes in this week.  Time to get to work!