Its easy to forget the pleasures of an afternoon on the sands – but every time we go down the beach I do feel so lucky to have this on our doorstep. No more trips to the Early Learning Centre to replenish the sandpit – we just sit and play on the beach instead!

I dont know if it was the sunshine or the blue skies that brought out this little Freerangers crazy side but something definitely had a positive effect on him – even his sister couldn’t stay ‘oh so serious’ for too long!

So after all those blue skies and sunshine our dish of the day had to be the Yellow Happiness soup from Nigellas Summer book…

It is so easy, really unbelievably easy considering the taste it packs in.

All I had to do was chop two large yellow courgettes and cook them in a little olive oil with some lemon zest, then add a good dollop of turmeric, 1 litre of stock ( I used chicken), the juice of the lemon I zested and a cup of rice and cook for about 20 mins…and that was it!

I have lots more yellow courgettes to come so this could well become a freeranger staple! I love it, it’s light enough to feel virtuous but tasty enough to feel like a treat…perfect!

Must start thinking about tomorrow and day 4 of the the courgette challenge! Dom at Bellau Kitchen shared his courgette lasagne so it would be rude not give it a go really! (maybe I’ll call it zucchini just to confuse the kids)

Carnivorous plants are not as hard to grow as you might imagine. There are several ways you can grow interesting displays of these consuming plants. If you want to grow Pitcher plants similar to those above read Easy Carnivorous Pitcher Plants.

Tips for Growing and Displaying

• The top Gardeners tip for these plants is to supply plenty of rainwater. Tap water contains too many chemicals.
• The cold greenhouse display below incorporates a stream supplied by a small garden pump and recycling filter.
• The water helps the insects, that the plant will consume, to breed.
• You can grow your plants in a half barrel, large terracotta pot or an old rubber trug.
• Buy hardy varieties from a specialist nursery. Badly treated plants seldom recover.
• Discourage flowering for a couple of season to build up the plants strength.

Varieties to Try

• Dionaea muscipula best known as the Venus Fly Trap always needs to be stood in a saucer of rainwater. Triggering the trap weakens the plant considerably, let nature take it’s course.
• Drosera capensis has narrow leaves covered in a sticky dewdrops which catch and digest white fly.
• Drosera whittakeri is a ‘Sundew’ from Australia that has underground tubers.
• The Mexican   Pinguicula gigantea   makes a great window sill plant.

Carnivorous Plant Genera and Species

Aldrovanda (1 species)
Brocchinia (2 species)
Byblis (7 species)
Catopsis (1 species)
Cephalotus (1 species)
Darlingtonia (1 species)
Dionaea (1 species)
Drosera (184 species)
Drosophyllum (1 species)
Genlisea (21 species)
Heliamphora (18 species)
Nepenthes (112 species)
Pinguicula (96 species)
Roridula (2 species)
Sarracenia (11 species)
Triphyophyllum (1 species)
Utricularia (225 species)

The Carniverous Plant Society and the International society equivalent offer a deal of expertise to help new growers and provided the table of genera above.

When its a stuffed marrow of course! Tonight was round 2 in our 7 days of courgette cuisine and after a day back at work I was starving hungry so it had to be substantial… and it certainly was that!

I sauted some garlic, red onions and mushrooms, scooped out the centres and stuffed ‘em good and proper. I thought that looked a bit too healthy so I wedged plenty of feta and tomato on top and gave them a good glugging with the olive oil (drizzlings for wimps!). They took a while to bake but we really moist and tasty – the feta definitely did the business adding a salty kick. So far so good!

Tomorrow is officially the last day of the summer hols. Although i’ve been in at work most days this week, this still marks the end of another summer for me and any other teachers out there – so Friday calls for Nigellas Happiness soup to raise the spirits (thanks Mrs Nesbitt and Brownieville Girl for the tip off!)

While on my knicker-making course the other week (I know, weird) I had a great idea what to do with my ripening black Grapes. One of the other attendees was drinking grape juice and I thought, ‘yes! that’s it, a great way to use up my Grapes.’

Why not just eat them, you say? Well, unfortunately the vine I have was already in my garden when I moved into the house and as it turns out the Grapes are small and very sweet but they have quite large pips in them. Which, if you’ve ever eaten non-seedless Grapes, is a bit of a pain in the booty.

So, here’s how to make your own Grape juice. Firstly, harvest and de-stem the Grapes making sure to pick out any damaged or rotted ones.

Next, give them a good wash to get rid of any nasties.

Then put them into a sturdy pan and mash them with a masher. The idea is to burst as many Grapes as possible. Heat them to a slow simmer for about 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Lastly, pass the mixture through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. I used a sieve and pushed it through twice just to make sure all the bits were gone. Then bottle, chill and serve. You don’t need to process the jars if you plan on drinking it quickly. And if you have matching nail polish then apply now – the juice tastes so much better

I’ve been busy dividing perennials, replanting and mending errors, such as moving a large rose bush that was planted in the wrong place last autumn… summer has tanned my skin, it has tattooed by body with rose thorns and my hair is wild with sunshine, petals and bits of leaves… there’s no question being out in the sun gives that good factor feel… but is more than that to me…

Summer gives my heart wings! I love to stretch out on the grass and just look at the endless blue summer sky… it almost feel as if I reach out, I could touch happiness!

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the warmest season of the year runs only from June to August. This is a period of great happiness for me. After that, everything changes. It is true that each season brings its own share of magic that cannot be outshined by the next, but you always find your heart attached to a particular season… I love autumn and the predominant mood of the autumnal season, but autumn brings with it a certain melancholy that to me is always linked to the imminent arrival of harsh weather… and that is always unnerving! So of all seasons, I choose summer as the happiest of seasons!

Which is your favorite season, and why is it your favorite? I would love to hear all about it!

Have a happy and safe long weekend, everyone!

Agapanthus africana, Howea forsteriana frond (Kentia palm) and Ipomoea Carolina Bronze

EDP article for Saturday Sept 4^th 2010 (plus extra radio bit!)

OK – so we haven’t had warm sultry days and pleasant evenings, and the nights are pulling in fast with three days of more-or-less continuous rain in recent weeks! Last Sunday was almost a washout here at the Exotic Garden with only 28 hardy garden enthusiasts arriving fully clothed for everything that Norfolk weather could throw at us! In the garden we experienced dark skies with heavy rain and high wind blowing all the containers over followed within half an hour by pleasant calmness with blue skies and the suns warmth on our faces. The old adage that you can experience all four seasons in one day is certainly true in our delightful climate. I could be miserable about our recent weather, but I’m not – instead, I would rather be ever optimistic that September will be a good one – please!

The clement weather this week has allowed the garden to be revitalised with much tweaking, tidying and dead-heading giving the garden its second wind (no pun intended) for its Autumn show of exotica. Most of the containerised plants are still producing sumptuous growth after such a drenching and thanks to all the feeding they are green and vibrant. One of the main stays of the garden over the years that has revelled in such a good soaking is the humongous ‘Elephants Ear’ Colocasia esculenta ‘Mammoth’. This large aroid has produced apple-green leaves up to a staggering 84cm long by 60cm wide over the last few weeks and will probably get even bigger over the next month or so, taking cool nights well, only to be cut down by the first frosts in November.

For those of you who haven’t grown this whopper – a little description is needed. Colocasia esculenta is a staple diet for millions of people in equatorial regions of the World though they are thought to have originated in Malaysia and surrounding areas. The leaves are eaten as well as the tuberous root system, which has to be boiled to break down Calcium oxalate, which is a sharp needle-like substance which is unpalatable and painful if you get it in your mouth. Although I knew this, I never-the-less tried a very small piece which I immediately spat out as my mouth filled with what felt like tiny shards of glass! As to what they taste like boiled – I still have not had the pleasure…

Staying on a big leaf theme, a plant that is always considered a jaw-dropper is the ‘Rice-Paper Plant’ Tetrapanax papyrifer, and what a monster it is!

‘Rice-Paper Plant’ Tetrapanax papyrifer

‘Rice-Paper Plant’ Tetrapanax papyrifer, on left with Colocasia fontanesii and Fatsia japonica on the right

I have been growing several clumps for about ten years, enjoying their massive leaves which easily get up to 1m (3.3ft) or more across, somewhat resembling an exceedingly large Fatsia japonica leaf though less shiny and more pleated with a slight whitish bloom on the undersides. The leaves are held on long petioles (leaf stems) also up to 1m (3.3ft) long. The whole plant easily grows to 3m (10ft) tall, though it can reach double this height in our climate if well fed and protected from the prevailing winds which can desiccate the foliage. Unfortunately it wants to flower during the winter months here; hence they are soon blackened by frost in late autumn. My largest plant came through the winter without protection only losing about 30cm (1ft) of its top growth. This fine plant is endemic to Taiwan, but widely cultivated in Eastern Asia where it is evergreen, though deciduous in this country due to a weather condition called winter! Rice paper itself is not made from rice as commonly thought, but is in fact made from the pith of this rather handsome plant.

Continuing on the big leaf theme, a plant that I discussed with great enthusiasm in May of this year on my blog is Schefflera macrophylla. I purchased my plant in the spring of 2009 and overwintered it frost free in one of my Poly tunnels, then planted it out after much head scratching in front of my house to the left side of the entrance so I could easily admire its beautiful form and architectural grace. The leaves are  now up to 75cm (2.5ft) across, consisting of five large leaflets up to 45cm (1½ ft) long by 20cm (9ins) across on brownish purple petioles (leaf stems). All through the summer and into the autumn fabulous new growth is produced in abundance covered in pale ginger indumentum (velvet-like covering) which looks stunning against the rich dark green leathery foliage.  Although considered hardy I will definitely be protecting it this winter, just in case we have repeat arctic conditions. My specimen is about 2m (6ft) tall, though in the wild it can grow up to 7m (23ft) in height – very exciting indeed!

Schefflera macrophylla

Schefflera macrophylla surrounded by other exotica…

Trying to finish with another big leaved plant, I almost forgot the stately ‘Windmill Palm’ also known as the ‘Chusan Palm’ Trachycarpus fortunei and backbone of any exotic garden in a temperate climate like ours or Washington State in the Pacific North West. I know it has fairly big leaves, but seeing  them every day I had forgotten how big the fronds actually get, so I went into the garden and measured a frond on one of the palms closest to the house to be amazed that it has fronds 120cm (4ft) across that are almost round! My tallest specimen was planted about 18 years ago as a trunk-less juvenile and is now towering over the garden some 7m (20ft) high with around 5.2m (17ft) of thick hairy trunk. It flowers every year producing a thicket of small plants around the base, with one seedling already 1m (3.3ft) tall.  Chusan Palms are tough old things, easily taking temperatures down to -17C (1.5F) though small plants would take considerably less until they form a trunk.

There are eight different species of Trachycarpus, one of the smallest leaved forms being Trachycarpus wagnerianus or ‘Miniature Chusan Palm’ which looks like a smaller version of its big brother, but more suited to a windy position as the stiff leaves tolerate strong winds, whereas the large leaves of T. fortunei tend to become rather tatty in windy areas.

Trachycarpus wagnerianus or ‘Miniature Chusan

I don’t like to say it, but I suppose autumn has now begun, I just hope for all our sakes it’s a good one as winter here lasts such a long time.

On Saturday August 14^th I was a phone guest for half an hour on the Gardening With Ciscoe Show with the inimitable Ciscoe Morris – a big gardening radio and TV star in Seattle Washington USA on 97.3 News.Talk KIRO FM – It is now available on a podcast that can be heard on http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=577&a=19885&p=30&n=Gardening%20w/%20Ciscoe

Myself, Bob Lilly centre and Ciscoe Morris on the right, doing a live two hour phone-in on the ‘Gardening with Ciscoe Show’ at the Puyallup Fair in Washington a few years ago, while on on a lecture tour of the Pacific North West.

The mushroom we see is the fruiting part of a fungus that distributes the spores of the fungus for its own reproduction.

Fungus Facts

• Most fungi are small microorganisms that live in soil, on dead matter, or as a symbiont of plants or animals.
• Fungi perform an essential role in the decomposition of organic matter and have fundamental roles in recycling nutrients.
• The study of fungi is known as mycology, which is often regarded as a branch of botany
• Yeasts and moulds are forms of fungi but slimes are not.
• The Kingdom Fungi has been estimated to include approximately 1.5 million species, most of which have not been classified.

This bracket fungus was 7 foot high up a mature tree that did not seem to be suffering any ill effects.

The black fungus above was on the stump of a dead Elm and the ill effects were long past. The recycling phase was in full flow.

Edible Fungus

• Mushrooms provide food for a variety of insects and wild life and can be useful in a garden.
• Commercially grown mushrooms and truffles have been grown for centuries. This includes varieties like milk mushrooms, morels, chanterelles, black trumpets, and porcini mushrooms.
• Asian varieties have recently increased in popularity including Straw mushrooms Volvariella volvacea, Oyster mushrooms Pleurotus ostreatus, Shiitakes Lentinula edodes and Enokitake.

The garden was made by one Vicino Orsino.   Working  as a condottiere or soldier of fortune, he had amassed wealth and returned home.  His wife died shortly afterwards and his garden was made as a tribute of love to her.  Vicino had literary tastes and the carvings are , so it is said, inspired by the description of Arcadia in Virgil’s Aeneid.

The date was 1552 – just fifty years after Cesare Borgia’s iron-glovedattempt to exterminate the Orsini family.  Not far from Bomarzo, in Citta della Pieve, Borgia had had 3 of Vicino’s uncles strangled as he made his way to the Carnival in Rome.  Cardinal Orsini had been thrown into a dungeon and then poisoned by Cesare’s father, the pope Alexander VI.  Orsini palaces in Rome had been ransacked and pillaged.

The might of the Orsini  was seriously dented and Vicino had linked his fortune to the rising stars by marriage to a Farnese.  Pope Pius III was Alessandro Farnese. The aristocratic roman families jockeyed for power.  And consolidating it through the pontificate was the best way.  The Borgias, upstarts from Spain had tried to carve themselves permanent estates in Italy but the death of Cesare’s father put a stop to this.

Just a few miles away, by crow flight, the Farnese Cardinal Odorado and Vicino’s father-in-law had built a massive pentagonal fortress dominating and holding spooky sway over the hill town of Caprarola.  Above it, a path through woodland breaks out into a pair of grottoes, a water staircase and a loggia and terrace for parties.  Near it in turn, is Bagnaia and the Villa Lante, described as “the consummate example of the best period in garden history” The symmetry is rigorous with the house built to fit in with the perfect garden proportions.

Il Sacro Bosco has none of this.  The giant sculptures take their place where the rock was found.  The random lack of symmetry has a tongue in cheek appeal that gets very far away from the grandiose and egotistical.

The garden  did not survive its maker and spent centuries hiding behind curtains of brambles and other weeds.  In the 1950s the land changed hands and its awesome giants and strange hidden meanings have turned it into a cult garden.  Salvador Dali loved it.  Go and walk as if  in a dream.

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