OT Sweet Tea

When I cook sauerkraut, I rinse and drain then add to a large pan. I add couple of dashes of caraway seed, some frozen apple juice concentrate, a few red skin potatoes and then put a pork tenderloin on top. Cook about an hour at low heat and just before serving add a can of mushrooms.

I have a shady spot in the yard next to a wall that I am making plans for. Those plans include bleeding heart, I love them. It is balancing the bloom times so that it looks nice most of the year that is taking time. So far I am thinking bleeding heart, astilbe, hellbore, and primrose. I think the shade is light enough that some fritillarias might do alright there, checked lilies at least. I figure anything that does well in full shade I can get extras of and put them on the slope. Most of the mail order places sell groups of three for very slightly less than two of anything costs, so some things I can get an extra of very cheaply. I do wish that those himalayan blue poppies were less expensive. I found a place to get seed, but everything I have read warns that the seed is fragile and thus has a very poor germination rate. At $3 a packet as opposed to $20+ per plant I might risk it anyway. I am thinking to at least get some dianthus and primrose from the same place, so it would not cost the shipping.

NightMist

I already have a Lonicera Tartarica. Very carfully bordered on two sides by concrete, and the other two sides by the house. What if I got some cross fertiliztion going? Such a hybrid would be a frightening thing. The tartaricus is pretty scary all on it's own. The cooperative extension guy is seriously thinking about bringing in a crew to pull the thing out. It was already planted when we moved in (the pink flowering shrub at the end of the driveway), and now is of dubious legality. It is a pretty shrub, but the birds love the berries and keeping it contained (other than as I have it) is impossible. Birds spreading it is very possible, and that would be bad. I have sworn off honeysuckle. Anyway I am looking for smaller plants than shrubs. a bleeding heart or such near the top of the bank close to the house might be OK, but I am not looking for anything big. Come to think on it a bleeding heart near to the pink dogwood with some assorted primula japonica scattered around would be very lovely in the spring.

NightMist

Oh! I hadn't thought of saxifrage! That is a good notion. It plays well with others too, so if I fancied tucking other things here and there it would work well.

NightMist

Sounds really lovely. If you want some interesting foliage to go along with it, there's hosta and coral bells for shade. And adjinca (I know that isn't spelled right). It spreads like crazy. A nice "wild" look for shade is lily of the valley & wild violets. Also pretty aggressive though. You're making me want to go out and buy some astilbe and bleeding heart now. I just love them both. It's pretty hot here right now to plant anything new though.

Sherry

Howdy!

Several months ago I had a pallet (ton & a half) of flagstone (cut rock slabs) delivered to the back of the driveway; friend Zach hauled them around to the back yard & stacked them around the depleted compost pile. I've been laying them in the shady spots in the yard, and find them to be an excellent groundcover. They keep the weeds down, don't retain water in the low spots, keep the mud down to a minimum. I put containers of plants on them, what grows grows, what doesn't goes away & leaves an attractive container in that spot. The dwarf nandina that I transplanted from the sunny spots to a strip under the (fruitless) pear tree are no longer so dwarf. Nobody told me they'd go crazy in the shade!

Ragm> I have a shady spot in the yard next to a wall that I am making plans > for.

That's so funny, Sandy! I have just given up trying to grow *any* kind of plant on two particularly waterlogged spots in our garden and we got the paving slabs delivered last week! Ours will be two stone circles,

Sometimes the green route is just so difficult. . In message , Sandy Ellison writes

Oh, yeah. Flagstones are your friend. It's the best thing we ever planted in a shady side of the house that was a perennial mudhole every time it rained.

Sherry

I could use them to keep the neighbors out of my berries and my tomatos. On the other hand a couple of months ago I came home and found a handful of my flowers in an old coffee pot, next to a strawberry smeared flat rock out in the back yard. Are the gators good at reminding the wee ones that they should ask before holding a tea party on the premises?

NightMist

It is a sad truth; gators can not be trusted. I asked about neighbors and little tea parties. The gators only smiled. Polly

What I do is rinse the canned stuff and mix it in with a head of shredded cabbage. Then pop in some chopped bacon and some pork belly rashers (rind off) and cook slowly until the pork is cooked. Oh Lordy I haven't had that in ages. Hmmm.....

I love Sun Tea. 5 tea bags in a 2 quart jar...fill with water put on the lid and let the sun do the rest. pami

I have a bunch of different hostas in my shady spot. They might flower more profusely with a little more sun, but it's the leaves that really look pretty all summer long. Mixed in a bit of alchemilla at the front of the bed, I love those leaves too, and it flowers very well. Roberta in D, cold winters, summers moderate to warm

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Mushrooms? Now that's unusual! Roberta in D

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Love Hostas, but so do the slugs and snails. Most of mine have shredded leaves, though there are one or two varieties they don't like so much, but don't know any of the names.

With cotoneaster horizontalis you have the flowers followed by the berries, so lots of interest over a long season.