Recipes Made for a Bowl - Menu 'Round' Up for the Super Bowl

Why didn’t I think of this before? Bowl recipes for a Super Bowl is such a natural. Even if your team isn’t playing - you can cook up a limitless variety of bowl dishes to prepare before the first whistle is blown or the first commercial airs - to enjoy throughout the game.



Perhaps you can play a bit of bowl trivia. From the Dust Bowl to the Food Bowl trend of late - served hot or cold for healthy eating.

Did you know there at least seven different kinds of basic bowls? According to TABLE SETTING GUIDE

There are three basic types of bowls:

1. Soup Bowls (with or without handles)
2. Finger Bowls (to rinse finger tips)
3. Ramekins (to hold solid foods)

And in terms of Soup Bowls, There are seven different types:

1. Soup Plate Bowl
2. Coupe Soup Bowl
3. Soup-Cereal Bowl
4. Covered Soup Bowl
5. Lug Soup Bowl
6. Cream Soup Bowl
7. Bouillon Cup.

For the big game, you can use wooden bowls, lovely tea cup bowls, or break out the crystal bowls.

Here’s a few recipes to get you “bowled” up for a delicious and fun Super Bowl.

Start off with snacks in a bowl: nuts, legumes, pretzels, popcorn, or homemade chips.






Serve up smoothies in bowls: (Photo: Bojongo)


Salads and soups in bowls - and bowls made from squash or round bread:

(Photo: Amazon) (Photo: Dreamstime)


Recipes

Chalupa Dinner Bowl: Betty Crocker:



Slow-Cooker Chalupa Dinner Bowl

Prep 30 minutes; Servings 8

Ingredients:

1 bag (16 oz) dried pinto beans (2 cups), sorted, rinsed

1 bone-in pork loin roast (3 1/2 lb)

1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso™ chopped green chiles

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 carton (32 oz) Progresso™ chicken broth (4 cups)

1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, lime juice and cilantro

1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 box (6.5 oz) Old El Paso™ taco salad shells (8 shells), heated as directed on box

Steps:

1. Spray 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In slow cooker, place beans; top with pork roast. Add green chiles, garlic, chili powder, salt, oregano and cumin. Pour broth evenly over top of pork.

2. Cover; cook on High heat setting 6 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker to large plate; remove bones and fat. Pull pork into large pieces with 2 forks; return to slow cooker. Stir in tomatoes. Cook uncovered 1 hour or until liquid is slightly thickened.

3. To serve, divide shredded lettuce among heated taco salad shells. Using slotted spoon, spoon about 1 cup pork and bean mixture over lettuce in each shell.

Bibimbap ­ Korean Mixed Rice with Meat and Assorted Vegetables

(Photo: Reclaiming Yesterday)

Bibimap: The Ultimate Bowl Meal from Sue at My Korean Kitchen

Ingredients:

Meat and meat sauce

100 g beef mince (3.5 ounces)

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar ­ I used brown sugar

1/4 tsp minced garlic

Vegetables and other

250 g spinach (mildly seasoned) (0.6 pounds)

350 g bean sprouts – (mildly seasoned) 0.8 pounds, You don’t have to use them up if you think it’s too much

100 g shiitake mushroom (3.5 ounces)

120 g carrots (4.2 ounces, 1 small)

1/2 tsp fine sea salt (1/4 tsp each will be used when cooking shiitake mushroom and carrots)

3 cups steamed rice (3 to 4 serving portions )

3 eggs (3 or 4 depending on the serving portion)

Some cooking oil (to cook the meat, mushroom, carrots and eggs – I used rice bran oil.)

Some Korean seasoned seaweed shredded (long thin cut)

Bibimbap sauce ­

The below sauce might be only enough for 3 servings if you like eating it spicy.

2 Tbsp gochujang

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp sugar ­ I used raw sugar

1 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

1 tsp vinegar ­ I used apple vinegar

1 tsp minced garlic

Instructions:

1. Prepare and cook ingredients as below.

­ For meat, mix the beef mince with the meat sauce listed above. Marinate the meat for about 30 mins while

you are working on other ingredients to enhance the flavour. Add some cooking oil into a wok and cook the

meat on medium high to high heat. It takes about 3 to 5 mins to thoroughly cook it.

­ Mix the Bibimbap sauce ingredients in a bowl.

­ Spinach and bean sprouts per linked recipe.

­ Rinse, peel and julienne the carrots. Add some cooking oil and 1/4 tsp of fine sea salt in a wok and cook the

carrots on medium high to high heat for 2 to 3 mins.

­ Clean/rinse the shiitake mushrooms and thinly slice them. Add some cooking oil and 1/4 tsp of fine sea salt

in a wok and cook the mushrooms on medium high to high heat until they are all cooked. (It takes 2 to 3

mins.)

­ Make fried eggs. (While sunny side up is common, you can make them per your preference.)

2. Put the rice into a bowl and add the meat, assorted vegetables, seasoned seaweed, Bibimbap sauce and the

egg on top of the rice. Serve it.

3. Mix the ingredients well in the bowl and enjoy!


Potatoes filled with cheese or spice or tofu or chives and Greek yogurt. Or Greek Tzatziki.

(Photo: My Recipes)


I like to fill those tiny potatoes -- all colors (especially those purple ones -- with creme fraiche topped with caviar.

Burger in a Bowl

(Photo: FeastingAtHome)

Author: Sylvia Fountaine, Feasting at Home

Prep Time: 15 Cook Time: 15 Total Time: 30 minutes Yield: 2

Ingredients:

2 burger patties ( lamb, beef, chicken, turkey, veggie or vegan)

grill-able veggies- 1 onion, zucchini, bell pepper, eggplant, tomato or asparagus

2 large handfuls fresh greens- arugula, spinach, baby kale, mesclun, or other salad greens

fresh veggies- grated carrot, grated beet, cucumber, radish, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, sprouts, avocado, or whatever else you can think of.

optional additions- seeds, nuts, fermented things like sauerkraut or kimchi, pickled onions or shallots

Dressing- caesar, gorgonzola, balsamic, tahini, green goddess, or simply lemon and olive oil.

instructions

Pre-heat grill to medium high. ( you can also pan-sear)


Prep burgers and veggies.

Grill burgers and any grill-able veggies, turning heat down after marking.

Assemble bowls with greens, veggies, grilled veggies, burger and spoon dressing over top adding any optional additions that you like.

Enjoy!!


Punch Bowl Recipes

Making a festive punch beforehand allows you to set out the drinks and have your guests self-serve. A Punch is beautiful, too.



A Hot Rum Punch from NY Times:

12 to 16 servings

By my favorite “culinary cutie,” Melissa Clark

Ingredients:

4 to 5 lemons

1 tangerine, tangelo or other thick-skinned, small citrus fruit

¾ cup Demerara sugar

1 ¼ cups amber or aged rum

1 ¼ cups Jamaican rum (preferably 100-proof)

1 cup cognac

Freshly grated nutmeg, as needed

Method:

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest of 2 lemons and the tangerine in strips. Drop into a large heatproof bowl (or use a fireproof bowl if you plan to set the punch on fire) and combine with sugar. Muddle together with a muddler, pestle or the back of a wooden spoon. Let mixture sit for at least 3 hours to infuse (or infuse overnight).

Halve the tangerine and squeeze juice into a measuring cup. Halve lemons and squeeze lemon juice into the measuring cup to make 3/4 cup juice in total. (Save any unsqueezed lemon halves for another purpose.)

When ready to serve, bring 1 quart water to a boil. Pour rum and cognac into the bowl with the sugar and peels. If you want to flame the punch, do so now; see note below.

Add reserved citrus juice and boiling water and stir well. Grate nutmeg over top of punch and ladle into glasses.

I made this spooky punch for a Halloween lunch -- and you can adapt for the big game. The dry ice is a dramatic touch! See the punch recipe here from my previous posting on Garden Glamour



Desserts:
Here you can serve up anything and everything from a layered trifle bowl:

(Photo: Sweetandspicyco)

Or serve football and marker lollipops to ice cream sandwiches -

(Photo: Good Housekeeping)

or make self-serve ice cream sundaes with all the fixings artfully displayed on the serving table or bar. Use your favorite ice cream bowls or fruit or coconuts.

(Photo: AwesomeInventions)

Create a super tablescape - use cloth napkins for the meal and cocktail napkins in the team colors: red, white & blue - and green.

Lay out the food with fresh flowers and at various heights. Remember - the eyes eat first.

And you’ll want your guests to be “bowled over” with your tablescape and hospitality.

How glamorous...

Cheers.  And may the best bowl win.

Coffee and Cocktails -- and a Storied Speakeasy Debut at Patent Pending

At first, the invitation to the pre-opening debut to a new cocktail club and coffee spot located in what I’d snarkily referred to as “No-Man’s” neighborhood - was a bit confusing.
Granted, I may still have my head in the clouds.  The Cloud Forest, that is.  See, I was getting back to Gotham after my annual, extended working garden design and menu development holiday at Ecuador’s Hacienda Cusin - high in the sierras.
However, the invite came from Rachel - one of my favorite communications professionals -- so I thought - “Sure, I can attend” and sent my RSVP from Ecuador, figuring I’d unpack the concept once I got to the address.

In hindsight - how did I not see it?

This concept couldn’t be more brilliant! It combines two of my most favorite food groups: coffee - and cocktails.

In fact, the new joint is located in the cellar of the historic Radiowave Building in the NoMad neighborhood of Manhattan (I stand corrected - it’s no longer a no-man’s land.)

Bordered by Chelsea and the Flat Iron, residentials are increasingly popping up.
Plus, just steps away, I learned is the owners’ other remarkable restaurant, Oscar Wilde).

And the hits just kept coming.

The new location is the very place where the visionary Nikola Tesla once called home and lab.

What karma! I had just completed the first deadline to the 111 Places in Long Island That You Cannot Miss book (publish date ETA is Autumn 2018) and had researched Tesla and his work and labs extensively. I fell in love with this homegrown engineer and his iconoclastic style.

I learned: “The famous ‘Tesla Tower’ and Tesla Laboratory was built by Nikola Tesla from 1901 to 1905, in Shoreham, Long Island. It was intended to become the first broadcasting system in the world. The tower's purpose was also to transmit electrical energy without wires from the huge electricity reserve in Niagara Falls, and transmitted through the ionosphere and the ground to the whole planet.”

Wow indeed. No less gobsmacked, it seems, is the irrepressible co-owner and founder, Ryan McKenzie, a leader in hospitality design, marketing, and advertising and a founding partner of the hospitality-focused creative agency​ S​immer​, who dreamed up the concept.

Ryan is all enthusiasm - and a vibe - or a dare-say “current” that is an electric, pinch-me/isn’t this just the “bees knees” sophisticated joie de vivre spirit that makes you feel like you’ve known him all your life and can’t wait to talk to and catch up.

McKenzie is the epitome of the gracious, fun restaurateur. Move over Danny Meyer -- Gotham has its new hospitality guru.
In addition, the general manager, Khoi Le, is a most gracious host, welcoming you and making you feel comfortable in the cocktail club.

Ryan told me that the clandestine subterranean space practically wrote the restaurant club’s narrative -- and there are too many good chapters that reveal itself here.

“The concept fell in our lap,” Ryan said grinning, with no small amount of tickled disbelief. “I was walking the neighborhood -- my office is nearby,” he explained. It appeared he was still reeling from his good luck at discovering such a locale.

Perhaps the gods of luck shined on Ryan and partners, but - it still took a visionary to make this slice of history spring to life. Especially when I learned the place had hosted garmentos and was filled with wholesaler racks, playing cards, pagers, and other tokens of the garment centers everyday rituals.

“I come from California - and we don’t have such historic speakeasy places as New York,” he added.
Speaking of speakeasies - when I told Ryan that I had designed a secret door in our country house leading to our downstairs speakeasy - he picked up the thread without missing a beat, asking, “When can I see it?!” I love that. He’s so much fun!

He then wasted no time in demonstrating the coffee spot’s secret door back to the cocktail bar.
The mystery of what this dual identity enterprise offered soon became clear.

So - you walk into the restaurant from 27th Street - and during the day - you can get an excellent cup of coffee at Patent Coffee which serves single-origin coffee, pastries and snacks.

By night, cocktail enthusiasts will pass through a hidden door to access Patent Pending, a discreet underground bar and casual restaurant, or what I call, a Speakeasy.




The entire space, designed by C​arpenter + Mason ​ in collaboration with Simmer and built by ​Cocozza Group,​ utilizes original basement arches, along with custom metalwork, dreamy lighting, expansive marble, as well as fresh greenery brought in daily from the nearby flower district. The entryway is also outfitted with a striking custom-made sign made up of channel letters (a nod to Patent’s innovative former resident), the content of which changes from day-to-night.

More about PATENT COFFEE
Patent Coffee offers specialty grab-and-go coffee, delicious pastries, cookies and chia parfaits in a petite, chic space outfitted with light wood and hand-cut marble. Baristas serve up drip, espresso drinks, two types of nitro cold brew and more - with bulletproof coffee coming soon. Patent Coffee boasts impressive culinary offerings, as well pastries, courtesy of​ ​Pain D’Avignon​. Additionally, Bon Appetit’s senior food editor, Claire Saffitz, has crafted two original cookie recipes for the venture.

Oh wow. Cookies too? Stop it.

More about PATENT PENDING
After 5pm, the front, street doors lock and things get a bit more surreptitious, according to Patent Pending. And it’s true!

To access the 34-seat cocktail cave, patrons buzz in at street level.
You have to know the code...



traverse through the what is now a closed-for-business, candle-lit coffee shop and slip through a concealed door.



The bifold doors look like a mirrored wall at the back of Patent Coffee.

It’s all very sexy.

Upon entering the dimly lit netherworld, you find yourself in a diminutive, doll-sized “waiting” area that is more like a tiny wine cave.

Just beyond, there is a brick-lined room.



The bar runs the length of Patent Pending - and across from that is a wall of cozy, upholstered, glamorous Corvette-blue diner booths and tables.



Food is served, however it is more of the fast, casual or comfort food variety - as in grilled cheese and chili, fried chicken sandwich and tomato soup. The owners are respectful of the minimal space, especially in the kitchen. If you want dinner - or have a big party of friends or family - head to their sister restaurant: Oscar Wilde.

Mixologist Harrison Ginsburg serves up unique cocktail confections at Patent Pending 

The drinks at Patent Pending are the work of craft cocktail heroes, Harrison Ginsberg and Nick Rolin, veterans of Dead Rabbit and BlackTail.
Already, the two pros have embraced the speakeasy’s legendary residents and have divided the cocktail menu into four, Tesla-inspired categories:

• Energy 
• Frequency
• Vibration 
• Descent 

There are plenty of quality, creative, craft cocktails to choose from - inspired by Tesla and the radio energy.
Harrison explained how he was wooed by Ryan to join the Patent Pending team from such a pedigree as Dead Rabbit and Black Tail.
Since Ryan had me at “Hello” - I could readily understand how Harrison was charmed by his bar customer - and story-telling imbiber.

Seems Ryan peaked his interest with the space’s narrative. “I was captured by the stories,” stated Harrison. And once he saw the space, he was bonded to the intriguing history.
It was pure fodder for a cocktail artist like Harrison - and Nick. “I love stories,” said Harrison. “Me too,” I added. After all, I’m a writer…

The cocktail menu will change with the seasons, according to Harrison.

Standouts cocktails from the new menu include:

• Made from Memory (gin, apple brandy, orange liqueur, fig leaf, Earl Grey tea, cream), 
• Radio Waves (tequila, mezcal, rhum agricole, basil, Thai chile, lime, cucumber). This was smoky delicious and refreshing at the same time. 
• Light Me Up (bourbon, Jamaican rum, mango black tea, amaro, yellow chartreuse, Szechuan peppercorn, lime, pineapple).
• Odd Love - I asked Ryan what was his favorite cocktail and this was a contender. It’s a kind of Old Fashion with Patent’s cold-brewed coffee, cherry, walnut, Spanish brandy, rye whisky, and absinthe. The drink was named for Tesla’s reported late-in-life romantic love for a pigeon… Hey, now. (There’s also a pigeon that lights up in the ceiling…)

We were also thrilled to test out a coconut milkshake concoction - Currents & Coils - made with a few rums and malted milk, served in a tall pilsner glass adorned with a banana leaf garnish and a sprinkling of fresh nutmeg. The spice offered a warm, aromatic and woodsy aroma and a whisper of flavor.

Currents & Coils

Beer, wine, and sparkling wine, if you want to play it safe.

I highly recommend Patent Pending for a fun, delicious cocktail composition and an evening of great stories. After all, you can get a good drink at a number of award-winning establishments - but here is mystery, history, and seductive craft cocktails.

Patent Pending is the “hat trick” of cocktail speakeasies. Plus architecture and design that reeks of mystery and history and canoodling...

You must immerse yourself in this experience.

And another Tesla nugget for the takeaway: Patent Pending’s menu is a graphic delight filled with entertaining facts and factoids - along with the requisite drinks and eats. It’s a high-end kind of magazine salute to the space and the offerings.



So it seems that Tesla was a law-abiding “man of principles” who abstained from drink as long as it was forbidden.”

Thank goodness for the end of Prohibition.

Cheers!

The Details: 

Address: Located at 49 West 27th Street, New York 10001, the owners said they hope to attract after work patrons - as well as a burgeoning resident population.

Phone: 212-689-4000

Debuts: tonight - January 31st, 2018

Owner and Operator: Ryan McKenzie,

Designed by: Carpenter + Mason in collaboration with Simmer and built by Cocozza Group

Capacity: Patent Coffee: standing room only; Patent Pending: 34 seats + standing room ​

Hours of Operation: 

Patent Coffee: 7am - 4pm (Mon - Fri), 9am - 5pm (Sat - Sun);
Patent Pending: 5pm - 12am (Sun - Wed), 5pm - 2am (Thur - Sat) ​

Web Address/Location:

​https://www.drinkpatent.com​
h​ttps://www.patentpendingnyc.com

Menu: Linked here

Social Media: @drinkpatent + @patentpendingnyc

Credit Card: All major credit cards accepted - (and Cash!)

Super Bowl? Or Souper Pass? Celebrate National Soup Month at Bob Evans With Unlimited Soup Thru February with $15 Endless Soup Pass

Super Bowl? Or Souper Pass? 

Celebrate National Soup Month at Bob Evans With Unlimited Soup Thru February with $15 Endless Soup Pass

Soup just may be THE perfect food. It’s good any time - but especially when it’s cold out and when the ingredients are garden-fresh and local.

How could soup get better? The nice folks at Bob Evans restaurants let me know about their Endless Soup promotion. How delightful!

I learned Bob Evans Restaurants is giving soup fanatics a great value this frigid winter to commemorate National Soup Month.

The restaurants are offering unlimited soup through the month of February with the purchase of a Bob Evans Endless Soup Pass for just $15.

With temperatures hitting record breaking lows across the country, there’s no better time to warm up with endless cups of Bob Evans classic soups, including Chicken-N-Noodles and Hearty Beef Vegetable.

The Endless Soup Pass will be available for purchase online at www.BobEvans.com beginning January 22, but don’t wait too long for this “Souper” hot deal – only a limited number of passes are available.

“From classic homestyle recipes, like Potato Cheddar, to savory seasonal favorites like Tomato Basil, we believe there’s no better comfort food than soup,” said Saeed Mohseni, president and CEO of Bob Evans Farms, Inc. “At Bob Evans, we’re known for providing quality, homestyle meals at a great value, which is why we are excited to offer guests the opportunity to enjoy endless soup during a particularly chilly winter for most of the country.”

Customers can purchase the Endless Soup Pass for only $15 at www.BobEvans.com/souppass from January 22–31 while supplies last to enjoy unlimited soup throughout the entire month of February. The offer is valid for dine-in services only.

I just returned from three weeks working the garden at Hacienda Cusin in Ecuador. Besides the garden glamour (see earlier posts and some to follow!) the dining room serves excellent soups at every lunch and dinner -- and always served from a tureen. Presentation matters…




       



From kale to carrot - to avocado -- most soups are anchored with potato and then the main ingredients are whatever is fresh and ready to be harvested from the garden - just steps away.


About Bob Evans Restaurants

Bob Evans Restaurants is a chain of family style restaurants founded and headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, which owns and operates 500+ family restaurants in 18 states, primarily in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the United States. Bob Evans believed in treating strangers like friends and friends like family; and those principles are alive today at every Bob Evans Restaurant.

History

Bob Evans Farms got its start when our founder, Bob Evans, began making sausage on his southeastern Ohio farm to serve at a 12-stool diner he owned in nearby Gallipolis in 1948.

"We served a lot of breakfasts, but we couldn't get any decent sausage," Bob recalled. "So I decided to start making my own from hogs raised right on our farm, using all the best parts of the hog, including the hams and tenderloins." The restaurant drew many truck drivers who traveled through the region. "You might say the truck drivers did my research for me," Bob said. "They would tell me that this was the best sausage they ever had, and then buy 10-pound tubs to take home."

These good reports prompted Bob Evans to go into the sausage business. The building where he made the sausage was built with open ends, at the suggestion of his father, so it could be used as a machinery shed if the sausage business failed. But, it didn't fail. In 1953, a group of friends and family recognized the growing demand for Bob's sausage and became business partners by establishing Bob Evans Farms.

Farm Heritage Lives On

The farm in Rio Grande, Ohio where Bob Evans and his family once lived has evolved into a tourist destination with camping, hiking, concerts and other events throughout the year. The largest event is our Bob Evans Farm Festival. An annual signature event since 1971, Farm Festival attracts thousands of visitors and is held the second full weekend in October.

For more information and restaurant locations, also visit www.BobEvans.com.

Here’s one of my favorite homegrown soups I made for a recent luncheon - fresh onions from the garden - and lots of cheese!







Enjoy homegrown soup every day.

Editing the Space To Create Good Garden Design

It occurred to me while I’m working the gardens again this year at the extraordinary Hacienda Cusin located in the mountains of the Ecuadorian sierra that there are lessons for all about designing a garden that has more to do with editing out, cleaning up, scale, texture, color -- in other words, all the same elements that go into a great garden design plan, but using existing plants from the garden bed or your extended property.

Moreover, it’s about taking out, pruning the plants for health and looks, and moving plants for pretty much the same reasons.

It doesn’t take a lot of tools to prune and edit; here I brought with me just four: a hand trowel, a small hand-held cultivator, a foldable pruning saw, and of course, my ever-present lightweight, ARS snips that I first read about on Margaret Roach’s “A Way to Garden.com.”

I can’t recommend these razor sharp grape or needle-nosed pruner snips too much. Margaret wrote: “I haven’t used my pricey, famous-name pruning shears in weeks and weeks.” I know why once I got the ARS snips. I carry them everywhere and they certainly deserve OT!
They do almost every task and cut all but the biggest branches or limbs.
I love them and their Corvette-red grips.

Of course there are rakes and shovels that I need to borrow from the resident jardineros.

And there are indeed plenty of top-tier tools that have been engineered to make garden work easier and more efficient. For example, not that long ago I was asked to review the Radius Root Slayer for Garden Products Review.

Gardens

While I have designed gardens here at Cusin with architectural plans - approved by the owner in discussions back in the States - and we have purchased plants at local nurseries - by and large there is more editing of the gardens.

Why? Because the garden rooms or niche gardens are mature and there is no need to start from scratch. If we edit out a lot of salvageable and preferred plant material that we don’t want to compost, we simply create a new garden bed in an unused area.

Things grow super fast here in paradise so there’s essentially no need to worry about making a big mistake when editing or removing or pruning…
It’ll grow back in a New York minute, it seems.

Editing

There is approximately eight or nine+plus niche garden rooms I was tasked to work on in terms of updating or refreshing the garden designs.
After a day or two of garden work, I realized my design training and aesthetic kicked in as if on auto pilot.

See, it’s not “just” horticulture - although that is the number one, overarching concern: the welfare and health of the plants.

The other, seemingly obvious element is the look - do the garden beds look picture perfect? And I defy anyone to stop taking pictures here at Cusin. I must have hundreds (or more!) And I see the guests walking the garden grounds transfixed at the incredible beauty of the plant combinations and birds and bees and hummingbirds!

What to Do - Easy Steps to Successful Editing

First there is the need to do a Site Analysis.

Ask yourself these questions: 

How will the space be used?

Has the utility of the space changed over time?

Who will be using the space

What time of day will the space be seen and/or used?

Are there pets who visit the garden?

Can the dimensions of the garden bed be modified? Should it?

Do an inventory - whether you digitally record the plants in the garden space - or write down the plant names - it is better to keep a garden journal and track the plant’s progression as they grow and age and also note their relation to one another - to other plants that you’ve added or that the birds or other pollinators have. The botanists referred to it as “the poo factor!”

I suggest you add a photo of the plant next to the plant’s name so you can more readily identify the plants later on.

I can also heartily recommend Grow It a mobile-based App that allows you to search for plants, create a project, share your plants and flowers or search for plants - using a crowd-sourced community too. I first met the developers/founders Seth Reed and Mason Day some years ago at a Green Industry / Hortie Hoopla event at The School of Professional Horticulture’s annual happening at The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).

Tracking the garden plants is especially important in an era of climate chaos.
Things just ain’t what they used to be…
Therefore you - and all us - need to see what the “new normal” will be over an extended timeline given the extremes we’ve experienced the last few years.

If you contract with a garden designer - he or she is probably already doing a Site Analysis and the tracking.

Showcase Your Garden with a Garden Tour

Plus, plant lists are fun to showcase when guests visit.
You can provide a garden tour and/or have the content available on a print-out, photo album, or provide a digital copy to download - so the guests can take a self-guided tour.

I keep a number of copies of my garden’s plant lists, by garden room, along with the photo of the plants which are all labeled.

I wanted to do this for a recent Historical Society event when our gardens were featured as part of the tour and I thought it would help our visitors. Following that, I found it a great aid when family and friends visit and want to tour the gardens.

Think of it like this: you’ve worked so hard to make this living work of art something you want to delight in, as well as your houseguests - so don’t be shy.  I was honored to provide a garden tour for one of my garden design clients at her annual summer family party. They loved getting acquainted with the beautiful gardens and plants...

People get very excited to see and experience a good garden. It’s your story… Share it.

Gardens Naturally Change

Because gardens are dynamic there will a natural, organic rhythm of change…

Add in the effect of plant companions, pets, extreme weather - and let’s face it, neglect, and you have a situation that more often than we care to admit, needs attention.

I see far too many suburban homes that are saddled with “Too Big” shrubs that have outgrown their usefulness. They were probably put there by the builder in the first place with no thought other than it’s green and it's a foundation plant.

Can you see me now?

And I see trees that haven’t been pruned and are now leaning this way or that or are too big in context to the house and yard. Folks just let them keep growing! Don’t do this. Work with an arborist and/or your garden designer.

Editing Plan

Be honest.

Start with the big pruning first -- rid the space of an overgrown, leggy shrub, or tree.
Then stand back. Look at the space. Take a few photos and react to the image.

Next, I determine what can enhance the opened up space.

In the example of the Ecuador beds, I cleaned out from under the areas where I cut back the African or Euryops Bush Daisy, the Euryops pectinatus, that had stolen most of the stage.



Then I cut back and pruned the dead plant material that was a result of the bigger thug taking over. I had to prop up the forlorn jade plants that had bowed under all that shrub. I used a beautiful branch that had fallen from a tree, and that is loaded with jewel or lace-looking lichen. Wow.



Once I removed what I thought was the first stage, and cleaned out the space, I was ready to add.

In one bed, for example, I grafted off some of the succulent plant pups, the agavaceae, and planted them in a group of three in front of the beds and around the side borders of another bed. This is a win/win - for the plant and for the look.

I took some of the all-too-plentiful Rose Campion or Lychnis Coronia, and balanced out the front view in the middle bed so that there is a grouping on each side there.

In another, related bed, I surgically pruned out the fern grove; there were too many of the thug crocosmia growing around and in the grove.

This was tedious but it had to be accomplished for a neater, healthier finished look.

I used the extra ferns that I had cut out here as a backdrop in a different bed in a different area. Another win/win.

It was also a fun, interesting moment when an adorable tree frog suddenly popped up as I was pruning. What a treat!       

        

As a kind of a related aside, many often remark how passionate gardeners are about working with plants -- and it did occur to me while I was preening the plants that perhaps a leading reason for that passion is that we gardeners get very, very intimate with our lovers, the plants.

I mean, I’m right in the plants’ blossoms, stems, roots, and every other plant part - cleaning and fussing and prepping like for a beauty or cosmetic treatment.

It’s no wonder we feel so familiar and loving with our plants…

On the other hand, if you’re not feeling the love yet; if you are paralyzed by the thought of tackling a bigger project element - change it up - meaning work on other areas and come back to it. Or ask a friend or family member to help.

In the Cusin beds, I also knew I wanted to uncover the pretty pots or containers in one of the gardens.
All three looked neglected so a bit of color by way of roses and geraniums added a sweet pop and the pink and fuschia colors complemented the Surprise Lily, Lycoris squamigera and well, the fuschia plant!






The pots are a bit of hardscape to be used like garden art.

If you are fortunate enough to have a yard with garden beds, don’t think everything needs to be in the ground.
Rather think about scale and dimension. In this way, pots or containers can elevate the eye with drama and color.

My favorite containers and garden art to use is Pennoyer Newman - they offer so many sublime designs and shapes and styles to create an enduring look that works in traditional as well as a more minimalist garden design. And Virginia and team are so very nice to work with.

I wanted a bit more height where the ferns were now shaped up, so after I created a curved, shovel cut around the new fern grove, later added an orange aloe here that I took from a later pruning project, to work with this emerging color scheme.





I added a tall orange Bee Balm, Monarda,



which in turn complemented the yellow and orange-colored crocosmia and the gold california poppies that I rearranged and planted on the new shasta daisies fronted by their diminutive cousins near the front of the bed.

Normally you would the tallest or taller plants in the back of the bed and layer down with a mix of evergreens, ornamental grasses, perennials and annuals near the front of the bed for the burst of color

When you have dual access to the bed - meaning paths on both sides - you can anchor the height more or less in the middle or on one side.



View of front - After and of all three refreshed garden beds.

And don’t forget to use edibles as ornamentals. I’ve designed gardens for clients using a color-inspired series of edibles-as-ornamentals beds - made the kitchen garden so much fun! And delicious. The colors practically beckon you to the garden.

Recently, Brie Arthur, the “Plant Lady” who launched her first book, Foodscaping, advises adding edibles to the front of ornamental garden beds. (PS. I had a ball with Brie in Gotham touring the High Line and indulging in champagne following her keynote address at last year’s Hortie Hoopla at NYBG.) 

Before and After of a garden using Editing and Design. Discovered new planters that were hidden! Added some pop of color here, too.




After Editing in another part of the garden opposite some of the original rooms at Cusin, I found a lichen-laced roof tile to prop up a succulent and discovered a third stone planter. Can you see it in the back and identify the plants I popped in?

Just like rearranging your furniture and adding some new items, refreshing your garden beds to meet your ever-changing needs or style is an efficient and practical way to decorate your garden rooms.

How glamorous!