It was a fabulously sunny day on Sunday here in my little corner of Hertfordshire, which made it all the more sad that I had quite a lot of horticulture revision to get done. And not the kind of revision where you can wander around the garden deadheading plants while you try to recall their Latin name and preferred growing conditions. No, it was the kind you can only really do sitting indoors at a laptop, surrounded by books containing details of pathway foundation materials (hoggin and MOT type 1, for the hardcore nerds among you) and biosecurity approaches to the storage of topsoil during garden construction.
So, this meant I couldn't get out to any NGS open gardens in order to mark Chelsea Fringe: The Bloggers' Cut – a virtual gathering brought together over at
Veg Plotting. However, I did manage to whiz up a quick cake of my own and enjoy it with a coffee sitting in my own garden. My cake choice was driven by leftovers. A jar of stem ginger really needed finishing off so I found a ginger cake recipe online which I tweaked in order to use the rhubarb cooking juices strained off while making rhubarb fool on Friday. I am nothing if not thrifty when it comes to cooking...
It was a lovely cake, though I suspect Mary Berry would pronounce it slightly underbaked. Personally, I consider perfectionism a failing.
So, to share with you a little more than the green shades of the garden predominant in the photo above, here are some gorgeous flowers in full colour in my garden this weekend.
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| A rather vibrant Dahlia 'Bishop of Landaff' that I picked up at Chelsea Flower Show |
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| A Californian Lilac that seems to be invigeling its way into my favour despite me trying to cut it down for 3 years |
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| Self-seeded aquilegias – quite the most welcome flowers in the garden |
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| As above, in hot pink |
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| And possibly the latest late tulip I've ever known |
You simply have to share the cake recipe! Looks fantastic
ReplyDeleteIt's a Jamie Oliver recipe - Sticky Double Ginger Cake - available on his website. Tastes wonderful!
DeleteRhubarb and ginger is such a great combination. I'll have to give it a miss though as I've just come back from the dentist having had a tooth out!
ReplyDeleteThey do go so well together. It's prompted me that I must make some more rhubarb and ginger jam with my next harvest
DeleteMy dahlias are a long way off from blooming, but the weather has turned warm so they are all growing well. Great photo's
ReplyDeleteAs mine were part of a Chelsea exhibit, they may have been brought on to flower slightly earlier than typical. Getting more blooms coming through all the time.
DeleteI admire your dedication to your revision; I'm not sure I'd be able to concentrate in hot weather! Pleased you managed to get a slice of cake in, at least you didn't miss out altogether! Good luck in your exams - is it RHS 3 you're taking? It sounds very good!
ReplyDeleteYes, my third L3 course - Principles of Garden Planning, Construction and Planting. Last 2 exams at the end of this month, then I think some time off study for a while. I have to admit, this last push includes the least interesting module in my opinion but I just have to keep focusing on the end!
DeleteNow that revision does not sound like as if it was much fun - glad you had cake on hand for light relief.
ReplyDeleteGetting started on it is usually the most difficult part!
DeleteRevision, boo; cake, hurrah!
ReplyDeleteI hope the latter made the former more bearable, Jules and good luck with your exam(s).
NAH and I are great fans of undercooked, nay soggy cake, so I say pah to Merry Berry!
Thanks for joining in with the Bloggers' Cut - it's been great fun to see what everyone's been up to :)
The cake certainly made the revision more bearable. Only 2 more weeks until the exams (2 in one afternoon), so hopefully I won't be able to put on too much cake weight in that time! Have loved reading the Bloggers' Cut contributions - a veritable coming together of cake-related posts!
DeleteGlad you didn't miss out on the event entirely, the cake looks scrummy. How lovely to have a little piece of Chelsea in your own garden, and I'm envious of your self seeded aquilegias, mine are always the standard purple or hazy pink, I do love that hot pink one.
ReplyDeleteMy aquilegias get darker from the front garden to the back. Pale pink ones at the front and side of the house, hot pink down the lawn borders and then dark purple by the shed and under the holly tree. I usually shake the seed heads where they stand so get more coming up each year.
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