A New Addition for my Fall Garden Bed

Solidago x Goldenrod 'Little Lemon '

I came across this little gem at the garden center the other day. It's a new introduction this year. The goldenrod is one of my favorites and I don't have one currently in my garden. 'Little Lemon ' is a dwarf, is described as a vigorous plant with lemony yellow clouds that appear in August. If sheared back when they decline, a second bloom period may appear.

I know that it's so common and can be seen growing almost everywhere but it's cheerful yellow blooms brighten up the garden for a very long time.

THE $15,000 BEEF RECIPE

Some years back a recipe for BBQ beef ribs won $15,000 in the National Beef Cookoff. The winner titled his recipe ORIENTAL RIBS and it was supposed to be original. NOT. The recipe was taken from Korean BBQ ribs( Kalbi ) and is several thousand years old.

Southerners and Southwesterners take their ribs seriously. Al Roker of Good Morning America decided he was going to participate in the National Rib Cookoff one year and gathered a team and some high tech equipment and headed down South. Despite all the hoopla he didn't even place in the top 10. A little old lady from Alabama won with her family recipe.

Many Korean restaurants feature Kalbi cooked at the table and it has become a well known and loved dish. Here's my favorite recipe from the Korean Cookbook, GROWING UP IN A KOREAN KITCHEN :

3 pounds lean prime ribs of beef
( pound ribs with mallet to tenderize and flatten )

Marinade
1/2 cup soy sauce ( I use Kikkoman Lite )
Asian pear, finely minced
1/2 cup rice wine
5 cloves garlic, crushed and finely minced
3 green onions, finely minced
1/2 cup corn syrup, or 3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed
4 walnut halves, finely chopped
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Place ribs in one layer in a wide shallow pan. Combine all ingredients of the marinade and mix well. Pour marinade over ribs and rub it in with your fingers. Wrap pan tightly with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Lightly brush grill rack with oil and grill ribs for 6 to 8 minutes per side. Serve with steamed rice, kimchee, pickled cucumbers and other side dishes.

The Dendranthema Sisters : Rhumba and Bolero

'Rhumba '

'Bolero '

October is around the corner and it's back to work for me as the Fall season shifts into high gear and everyone wants their gardens done NOW. In my Sweet Garden Chicago I've been busy dividing blackeyed susans and phlox. I've got a good show of purple asters going but I saw a gorgeous pink one that I had to have :




I have a 'Claire Curtis " hardy garden mum that's been in bloom since mid-July and I've added two new additions : 'Bolero ' and 'Rhumba'. Although listed as dendranthema there's a question as to whether they are mums or not.

A little later in October or early November if the weather is too warm I will plant more bulbs. I have plans to add some unusual ones this year : Alliums, Fritallaria, Lily Flowering tulips. I also want to get a Hellebores, the first plant to bloom in the Spring.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' MUSE DAY

OCTOBER

O hushed October morning mild
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief;
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees;
one from far away.

-Robert Frost