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They are just opening today.  May 10th.  Lovely yellow pistils.  They have a very faint scent.  Like the red tulips they are also 24 inches tall.  Make a striking appearance.

 

Stages of the Red Tulips, now past their bloom.  The whites OTOH are just about to blossom  They are enormous, about 24 inches tall and lasted a long time about 3 weeks.  The green sword leaves are pretty as well.  It was a good purchase last year, much better than the croci which for another year went bust.

I planted this last year.  It is Hydrangea quercifolia.  It will eventually when it grows big enough be liked the featured photo.  In the meantime, it is very small — the grass is taller, but then with all the rain we’ve had, that is not hard.  Its full height is  36 tall and 48 wide, but I doubt I will let it grow that big.

Nice recipe but often I realize that you cannot view it.  I don’t know why.  Iguess WP changed its terms on expanding pix.  So you need prosciutto olive oil spring onion bulbs, garlic, chopped greens like Swiss chard, kale or spinach, kosher salt, black pepper, lemon juice, crusty bread, and fontina cheese.

1. Cooks the Prosciutto in a large skillet.
2. Add oil to skillet.
3. Cook onions and garlic then added greens.
4. Season.
5. Preheat broiler with rach broil the bread.
6. Add oil on prev.
7.  Divide fontina.
8. The rest just  follow the pic for layering wtih already done friend egg, though broiling could do it as well.

Hard to believe that Northeast Pennsylvania is losing its snow mounds in leaps and bounds.  There is still snow in the middle of lawns and in the fields but for the most part, the earth is visible and soggy.   The top portion is somewhat friable, but if you go more than an inch down, its still solid as a rock.  In honour of Spring, I’m changing the revolving header images to greener and flowery ones, all of course from Currier & Ives, because I love them so.

The first one that I am brightening and straightening is “Cozzens Dock” of West Point, New York.  They did two on that theme, the one above and the  “featured image.”  All searches on Cozzen’s Dock just point to their lithographs so I cannot find more on the site.  I have been to West Point and have never had it pointed out to me, so I wonder if it is not an invention of theirs.

The lithographs were hand-coloured by Frances F. Palmer, and very nicely, I may add.  Mrs. Palmer was born in Leicester, England in 1812 as Frances Flora Bond.  She was also known as Fanny Palmer.

Mrs. Palmer and her husband, Edward S. Palmer, came to NYC from Leicester, England in the eary 1840s. He did some lithographic work after their arrival but was rather irresponsible, and the burden of supporting the family rested chiefly on Mrs. Palmer who was for many years employed as an artist by the firm of Currier & Ives. The Palmer’s lived in Brooklyn.

Frances Palmer died on August 20, 1876.

I just got some of these last week.  I had some problems initially, they got very cold from the transport and warming them took a lot of heat:  the temperature read 114F.  That seemed to do it for all but one little pullet, so I put cod liver oil all over her — either she sunburnt or lived.  Well that did it, and now she is running with the flock.

You cannot use water on newly hatched chicks btw, hence the cod liver oil.  The water will make them too cold and as they cannot regulate their temperature, they get a chill from the wet and die.  I have experienced this in the past.  I thought of cod liver oil as it is so good for you — high in Vitamin A, a great anti-oxidant and anti-diarrheal plus, it  would keep her warm.

And no, she did not suntan.

Found this old article from 1920 in the New York Times archives about using hollyhock seeds (rose of sharon) for poultry.  Hollyhocks put out alot of seeds during the bloom, shake those stamens, and you can safely give it to the chickens.  Of course as a winter food is problably a lot more than anything you can reasonably harvest, but who knows?  Maybe you have a lotta Rose of Sharons and few hens and it may work as a treat.