(608) 365-1663 Beloit - Community Shoppers, Inc.

GARDEN TOURISM
See new plants, ideas at these trial sites
Vacation days are here. What
do gardeners do during their
time off? Well, the odd ones (present
company included) like to
look at plants that other gardeners
have taken care of. The
question I get from my family is
— Why?
There are a few reasons I will
admit to. First, the very competitive
spirit of every gardener
(come on, admit it) makes us
want to compare our skills, successes,
and failures with those
of other gardeners. Second, new
plants are very cool to see and
get to know. Third, I enjoy
immersing myself in the labors
of others. And yes, there are
great places to go in North
America to get resolution for
these wacky needs.
Trials are conducted, by different
organizations with similar
goals, to test for superior performance
and overall plant quality.
Almost all of the plant societies
and botanic gardens have
their own methods for determining
their best performer each
year, be it hosta, daylily, rose,
urban trees, rhododendron or
shrubs.
Who selects?
The All-American Selections
(AAS) has been testing annual
flowers and vegetables since
1932. Perennial plants are evaluated
yearly by the Perennial
Plant Association. Athens Select
tests plant material for performance
in heat and humidity.
Chicago Botanic Garden tests
plant material of all types to
determine quality performance
in the Midwest.
Each and every trial garden
has its own purpose for testing,
but most will work with plant
material either new on the market
or those that are scheduled
for market release within a few
years. As one would guess, the
best-case goal of the breeder is
to have positive comments and
endorsements, which will
tremendously aid the plants’
marketability.
Matched up?
Should you worry about
matching conditions of the trial
garden location and home garden
site? It’s a good idea if you
are looking for plants to add to
your landscape. Depending on
the site, soil, care and environmental-condition
differences,
plants that perform well in the
trial garden may not perform in
a similar fashion in your yard.
But if you just are curious about
new developments, don’t give
that aspect another thought —
go to all of them and enjoy the
eye candy!
When planning your trips,
don’t discount gardens in areas
further to the south. As is evidenced
by the recent weather,
our heat and humidity can
match some pretty intense
southern conditions. And if you
raise vegetables and annual
flowers, other than growing days
to maturity for veggies, we can
fool almost any plant into living
for us.
Where to go
Trial gardens can be found at
LIS IS FRIEMOTH RIEMOTH
THE GARDEN HOE
ALL-AMERICAN
SELECTIONS
■ Boerner Botanical Gardens,
9400 Boerner Drive, Hales Corners,
Wis., (414) 525-5600,
www.boernerbotanicalgardens.org.
■ Cantigny Gardens, 11S151
Winfield Road, Wheaton, Ill., (630)
668-5161, www.cantigny.org.
■ Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000
Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Ill., (847)
835-5440, www.chicagobotanic.org.
■ Green Bay Botanical Gardens,
2600 Larsen Road, Green Bay, Wis.,
(920) 490-9457, www.gbbg.org.
■ Rotary Gardens, 1455 Palmer
Drive, Janesville Wis., (608) 752-
3885, www.rotarygardens.org.
■ Triton College Botanical
Garden, 2000 Fifth Ave., River
Grove, Ill.,(708) 456-0300,
www.triton.edu.
■ University of Illinois Arboretum,
Miles C. Hartley Selections Garden,
1802 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana, Ill.
(217) 333-7579, www.arboretum.uiuc.
edu/hartley_garden.htm.
■ University of Wisconsin West
Madison Research Station, 8502
Mineral Point Road, Verona, Wis.,
(608) 262-2257, www.cals.wisc.edu.
■ Vincent High School
Environmental Science and
Natural Resources, 7501 N.
Granville Road, Milwaukee, Wis.,
(414) 236-1200,
www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us.
universities, technical schools,
botanic gardens, historical sites,
independent plant growers and
breeders and also at some garden
centers. Online searching
makes it easy. If you don’t have
access to online resources, ask
at your favorite garden center,
or check out the libraries —
either will be able to help you
find the information to get you
started.
As you are planning a visit,
be sure to do a bit research to
find out if they have the plants
you really want to see. Not all of
the vegetables, bedding plants,
perennials, trees, shrubs, and
grasses are represented at each
and every site.
Be sure to call or visit their
Web site before going; some
(mainly the privately owned gardens)
do request scheduled
appointments or may have a fee
associated with visiting.
Remember to take a camera
(you will take lots of pictures)
and a notebook or recorder.
You will regret it if you forget
either of these.
Lis Friemoth is a horticulture diagnostician.
Contact her at (262)
745-2904, P.O. Box 58,
Springfield, WI 53176, visit online
at www.thegardenhoe.com or
e-mail her at gardenhoe@tds.net.
Listen to Liz from 9 a.m. to 10
a.m. every third Saturday on WISN
AM1130 radio.
HOME & LEISURE Stateline
A reader recently asked me if
I had been on vacation. “No,” I
assured him, “I’ve been working
hard.”
“Well, I haven’t seen any zucchini
recipes lately; you’d think
you’d have those in by now,” he
replied.
OK, point well-taken. With
all the rain we’ve had lately,
the zucchini literally is about to
explode. And when you have
too much zucchini on your
plate, you have to start putting
it in bread, muffins and the
freezer.
Fried zucchini
blossoms
Do you become the scourge of
the neighborhood once zucchini
season starts? Do the neighbors
start locking their doors in fear
of receiving yet another bag of
zucchini? You need a new
weapon to deplete your harvest,
and this it. Don’t let the
blossoms develop; eat them
instead!
When picking blossoms, look
for ones that are beginning to
open, but still are slightly
swirled and twisted at the top
— they are
less likely to
hide any
bugs. Plus,
they stay
closed when
you twist
them shut
again before
frying. Don’t
confine yourself
to the zucchini patch; you
can use any squash blossom —
acorn, butternut, yellow, even
pumpkin.
You can make a spicy dip, or
use what you have in the
refrigerator. A good sauce for
dipping is ranch-style salad
dressing.
Serves 2
6 fresh picked blossoms
2 oz. monterey jack cheese
1 recipe beer batter
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
vegetable oil for frying
Beer batter:
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 cup beer
3/4 cup flour
Italian herb blend:
Mix together equal portions of
dried, crushed thyme,
Rosemary and oregano and
granulated garlic. Store in
tightly covered container in dry
location out of direct sunlight.
Wash the blossoms carefully
making sure there are no bugs.
Cut the cheese into 6 equal rectangular
portions and dip each
into the Italian herbs to coat.
Open each blossom up and
slide in the little rectangle of
cheese.
Twist the top of the blossom
shut, dip in batter and fry for
about 1-1/2 minutes on each
side. Remove and drain on
paper toweling. Serve with a
Ranch-style salad dressing for
a dipping sauce.
Zucchini salad
The brief cooking time of the
vegetables really makes this
dish special. It helps to meld
the flavors, and is well-received
by those who tend to prefer the
cooked vegetable to the raw.
Serves 6
4 Tbsps. olive oil
3 small zucchini (about 1
pound)
1 clove crushed garlic
1 red pepper
1 small red or white onion
3 or 4 plum tomatoes
1/2 lemon
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar or
apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. dried crushed Italian
herbs
1/4 tsp. salt, optional
In a saute pan, heat the olive
oil. Wash — but do not peel —
the zucchini. Slice into very
thin rounds. Slice the red pepper
and onions into thin strips.
Saute the zucchini, crushed
garlic clove, red pepper and
onions very briefly — just until
the zucchini wilts a little.
Transfer to a mixing bowl. Slice
the plum tomatoes into thin
rounds and add to mixture.
Squeeze the juice of one-half
lemon over all, straining to
remove the seeds. Sprinkle the
vinegar, herbs, and salt over all
and mix everything together.
Refrigerate for several hours
before serving.
Zucchini quiche
Serves 4 as a main course
1 deep dish 9-inch pie shell
(bottom only)
3 Tbsps. butter
1 or 2 small zucchini (about
1/2 pound)
1 plum tomato
8 oz. shredded mozzarella
cheese
8 oz. shredded Swiss cheese
1 pint half-and-half
4 large eggs
dash of salt and white pepper
1 tsp. dried crushed Italian
herbs
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
In a saute pan, heat the olive
oil. Wash and slice the zucchini
very thin. Chop the tomatoes
very fine. Saute the zucchini
and tomatoes until tender. Let
cool slightly, then mix together
with the cheeses. Put this mixture
in the pie shell.
News Sunday, July 27, 2008 9
IT’S ZUCCHINI TIME!
VEGETABLE CAN DRESS UP A VARIETY OF DISHES
LYNN YNN GREENE REENE
LYNN’S PLACE
And when you have too
much zucchini on your
plate, you have to start
putting it in bread,
muffins and the freezer.
In a bowl, beat together the
half-and-half and the eggs.
Pour over the zucchini mixture.
Sprinkle with salt, pepper,
herbs and nutmeg.
Place the pie pan on a cookie
sheet to catch any wayward
drips, and bake in a 375 F oven
for about 50 minutes. Test as
for custard — if a toothpick
comes out clean, it is done.
Remove from the oven, but
do not cover (it will make it
soggy.) Let cool for at least 15
minutes before slicing into
wedges.
Zucchini bread
Makes 3 mini-loaves or 12
muffins
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup salad oil
2 cups zucchini, freshly grated,
skin-on
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsps. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1-1/4 tsps. baking powder
1-3/4 cups flour
Cream together eggs,
sugar and oil.
Add zucchini
and vanilla and
blend together.
Sift together
dry ingredients
and add to mixture
gradually.
Once all dry
ingredients
have been
incorporated, remove from
mixer and add additional ingredients
from variations.
Variation 1: Add 1/2 cup
chopped nuts and 1/2 cup
raisins.
Variation 2: Add 1/2 cup
candied pineapple and 1/2 cup
slivered almonds.
Variation 3: Add 1 cup
craisins.
Variation 4: Add 1 cup
chopped dates
Variation 5: Add 1 cup grated
apple (skin-on) and 1/2 cup
quick oatmeal.
Variation 6: Add 1/2 cup
cocoa and 2 Tbsps. butter.
Freezing zucchini
Because I do a lot of baking
with zucchini, I like to make up
big batches of the zucchinibread
batter for freezing.
When you want to bake a few
muffins, remove the container
from the freezer, let it thaw for
just a bit and use an ice cream
scoop to take out only what you
need. A No. 20 scoop works well
for muffins.
I also grate the zucchini and
freeze it in 2-cup portions in
freezer Ziploc bags. When you
use it in a recipe, do not drain;
the liquid is needed.
Lynn Greene is senior editor for
CSI Media, LLC, which publishes
the Stateline News. Contact her
via e-mail at
lgreene@communityshoppers.com.