Imperial Violet

Blue Ginger

Tibouchina

Imperial Violet is the pencil color of these two flowers that are now in bloom.

The Tibouchina, or Princess Flower, is a shrub, given to me by Linda Hart, after I lost the one she gave me last year to a late freeze. I understand that these are supposed to come back from the roots after a freeze, but my first one probably hadn't been in the ground long enough to do so. This year I'll definitely provide protection until it is better established. The velvety leaves are almost as beautiful as the blooms. The Tibouchina likes light-I have it in a spot that gets sun most of the day.

The Blue Ginger is not a true ginger but is of the same family as the Spiderwort and Wandering Jew. One of my customers at work, a fellow gardener, brought me some stalks of this one day and told me to plant them vertically under a few inches of soil in a mostly shady area. I was sceptical, but was rewarded the next fall with some ginger type foliage and a few blossoms. Now, four years later, I have clumps of these in several areas blooming like crazy with an almost florescent Imperial Violet flower stalk.

Cooking Lima Beans

Lima, or Butter Beans, as they are sometimes known in the south, are one of the few veggies that thrive in the brutal heat and humidity of our summers. If I had to pick a favorite veggie, it would be this. I have been eating a bowl of these every day for the last three weeks. It took me awhile to figure out how to cook them just right. If you buy a box of frozen Lima's the instructions will tell you to cook them for 20 minutes with an added 1/4 cup of water. This makes a not so flavorful, mealy bean. I experimented with cooking my homegrown Lima's just barely covered with water and cooking them longer and they were much more tender, but still not as full of flavor as I'd prefer. So after some experimentation I've come up with the method of cooking the perfect Lima:
Add chicken broth (homemade is best, but store bought is OK) and water to cover. Plop in a couple of tablespoons of butter for added flavor, add a little pepper and salt/or garlic salt, cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 45 minutes to an hour. Remove the lid the last 10 minutes and let the water cook off and the beans will absorb all the broth and butter yumminess.
With many vegetables, I've found that cooking them in a skillet instead of a saucepan allows for more uniform distribution of heat and a more consistently cooked product.