Southern Gardening

The Crepe Myrtle is one of my favorite trees/bushes. When everything else in the garden starts looking a little tired in the hot days of summer, the Crepe Myrtle still shines bright.

Pink Crepe Myrtle

Unfortunately, the beautiful Crepe Myrtle is also one of the most abused of plants. I have seen such abuse in my own neighborhood just this week. It makes me very sad. Cutting the poor tree down to the knuckles or “topping” them by cutting off all the beautiful arms is just wrong. It has even been referred to as “Crepe Murder.”

Crepe Murder

I am writing this post in an attempt to “stop the abuse.” If you want a short Crepe Myrtle, buy the dwarf variety. The natural form of the Crepe Myrtle is a lovely bottle shape that makes a wonderful addition to the landscape.

Southern Living wrote a great article on the proper care of Crepe Myrtle and included alibis for anyone who may have been guilty of abuse

Hope you are enjoying your Saturday – and feeling PINK!

Pink Saturday with Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

Today’s Lagniappe:  Lemon Garlic Chicken Breast
Something light and delicious.

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 lg. cloves garlic, minced
Grated peel & juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
4 lg. chicken breasts, skinned & boned
1/4 c. chicken broth
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. coarse ground pepper

Heat small skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil. When oil is hot add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Stir in lemon juice, salt, pepper and bring to boil. Set aside. Arrange chicken in single layer in a lightly buttered shallow baking dish. Pour lemon garlic mixture over chicken. Sprinkle with lemon peel. Cover with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove foil and bake additional 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Transfer chicken to individual dinner plates and keep warm. Pour liquid from baking dish into small skillet. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Cook until reduced by half. Whisk in butter. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.

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I showed you some pictures earlier this week of how my garden has grown. Here is my garden now – a little closer look.

Lily

Zinnia

Corn

Okra

Squash

Tomato

Basil

Mint

Elephant Ear

These are just a few close up scenes from my garden.

It is Outdoor Wednesday with A Southern Daydreamer.

Today’s Lagniappe: Tomato Pie
Courtesy of Carol Shackleford Benson of El Dorado, Arkansas. Carol says, “With summer tomatoes and fresh basil from the garden, it is heavenly! I have already made several, and friends and family continue to ask for more!”

pie crust – I use Pillsbury in the dairy case
4 medium  tomatoes – mixing red and yellow makes the pie so pretty – I have also used halved cherry and grape tomatoes
Whole milk mozzarella cheese, sliced about ¼ “ thick
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Thinly slice tomatoes and spread out on papers towels.  Salt them liberally and let them sit for about 15 minutes.  Place pie crust in 10-inch tart pan and poke holes with a fork.  Bake the pie crust for 12 minutes at 400 degrees or until lightly brown.  Remove the crust from the oven and cover the bottom of the crust with mozzarella slices.  Distribute basil leaves evenly over cheese.  Cover with tomato slices.  Sprinkle freshly ground black pepper over the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil and bake 30 to 40 minutes at 400 degrees.  Let the pie rest about 30 minutes before slicing.  It is best at room temperature.
I have also made this on a pizza pan and just used thinner slices of cheese.

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We have had a lot of rain lately. This afternoon after the rain, I took a stroll through the yard and snapped a couple of pics for Outdoor Wednesday with A Southern Daydreamer.

Click on the logo to see some great outdoor pics.

Okay, so here we go for the stroll.

Here is another pic of the little robin teenager looking for worms. We are so glad that they have stuck around. Apparently, they will stay within 1/4 mile of the nest.

Here is the garden. A little soggy,but loving the rain.

Can’t wait to harvest some of the vegetables out of the garden. They are growing really fast. I usually already am able to harvest by this time but got a little bit of a late start this year.

I've had this for a long time. I just moved it to the veggie garden.

You can see the clover, as well as the veggies, love the rain.

She Who Loves A Garden
Has A Very Special Treasure
For She Has Found Her Private Paradise.

Today’s Lagniappe:  Rosemary Shortbread Cookies
This recipe is very similar to the Lemon Thyme Cookies, only with Rosemary. Hmmmm!

By the way, a friend asked what a lagniappe is – it is “a little something extra.”

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Several years ago, I built this herb planter. It originally resided on a side porch. Now it is in my yard.

The thyme that is hanging over and the thyme in the left corner have been there for about five years.  The rosemary really struggled this past winter with the ice storms. It has come back a little bit, but I boosted it with a new planting this year. I have nasturtiums, cat mint, chives, oregano, and basil. I’ve thrown a few seeds for dill and parsley around as well.

Of course, I have to have a sign telling me that these are herbs

This is a saying that I love so much, I put it on the front of the planter:

A kiss of the sun for pardon.
The song of the birds for mirth.
One is nearer God’s heart in the garden,
Than anywhere else on earth.

This little guy holding the wind chimes . . .

used to be a part of this rowdy little group, playing tug of war.

I also have some herbs planted among the other plants in the vegetable garden. This is the first year that I have planted my entire vegetable garden from seed. It has been a learning experience. I think, I should have started sooner. At this time of year, I normally would already be harvesting veggies. This year, I’m a little behind normal.

Hope you have enjoyed the tour of my little herb garden and the glance at the veggie garden.

Click the pics above for more 2nd Time Around and 3 or More Tuesday posts.

Today’s Lagniappe: Heavenly Angel Food Cake
Quick, easy and no baking! (Unless you want to bake your own angel food cake).

1 Angel Food Cake
1 Large package of vanilla pudding
2 Cups sliced strawberries or whole raspberries
1 Small can crushed pineapple
12 Oz. Cool Whip

Slice cake horizontally. Mix Cool Whip, dried pudding mix and drained pineapple together with mixer on low speed. Fill between layers and ice cake with it. Top with strawberries or raspberries.

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Knock-out Rose

I’ve had so much fun with y’all this week. I hope you have had a good time as well. So, Frugal Friday, finds me trying to find inexpensive ways to garden. Well, yesterday, I stumbled upon the best garage sale I have ever been to. I’m not sure where the sellers got all of these plants but it was like going to a nursery right there in their yard.

I got two very nice knock-out rose bushes for next to nothing. Can you believe that? They had so many nice plants, I felt like I was at Disney World (You might have to be a gardener to get that).

This weekend is also time for the Master Gardener’s plant sale. They divide up the plants in their own yards or root them or propagate them somehow and pot them up and sell them at a local park for great prices. This is one of the ways they fund their projects all around the county. I really appreciate the work they do making this area beautiful. They have gardens in front of the police station, at some of the local parks at the fairgrounds and many more places that they volunteer their time to keep up.

By the way, I’m still taking pics of the robin that is still busily building her nest on the drainpipe near my porch. I’ll be posting some of them sometime next week.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Today’s Lagniappe: Kentucky Hot Brown Casserole
Getting ready for the Kentucky Derby? Try this recipe for Kentucky Hot Brown Casserole.

* 1 lb Ham; thinly sliced
* 1 lb Turkey breast; thinly sliced
* 3 can cream of mushroom soup
* 1 lg can asparagus pieces
* 1/2 lb American cheese slices; (or Velveeta)
* Bacon; cooked, crumbled
* 1 Tomato; sliced

In a large casserole, layer all ingredients, except bacon and tomato in the following order. Using 1/3 of each ingredients in each layer: soup, ham, turkey, asparagus, cheese. After making all three sets of layers, top with tomato slice sand crumbled bacon. Bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes or until bubbly. Serve over toasted English muffins or toast points. Serves 8-10.

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