MINNESOTA GARDEN TOURS (continued)

On Saturday, the Garden Club of Ramsey County had its annual garden tour.  Most of the gardens on the tour, however, are owned by gardeners of the Men's and Women's Garden Club of Minneapolis.  Enjoy the tour!

First stop, a garden in Eagan.

A boat filled with coleus and surrounded by a variety of hostas.

Tour organizer extraordinaire, Jerry Shannon, in front of a 15' giraffe.

A lovely combination of colors and textures.

Notice the papasan chair, repurposed as a planter!

LOL!!!

 Our second stop is at a garden in St. Louis Park.  The owner is the President of the Minnesota Hosta Society and, as you would expect, the garden is filled with hostas.

This is not a flower garden but it was spectacular!

The pond off the patio.

Loved this one!

Water feature.

Planter filled with succulents.

The red bamboo stakes add a nice touch to the planter.

A few doors down the street is another hosta garden featuring over 250 varieties of hostas!  Included were hostas from Japan, personally acquired by the gardener, and not available in the U.S..

The hosta at the top is named "Dr. Bob."  It was a hybrid hosta from a well known hybridizer, named and given to the gardener, Bob Olson.

"Bride Groom"

Momma Robin (not her best photo).

 ...to be continued.

  

BEAUTIFUL MINNESOTA GARDENS and FLOWERS, ON TOUR

The gardens are all out here in Minnesota, and they are spectacular!  I love this time of the year since I love gardening and so many gardens are now on tour.  Over the next few days I will be highlighting some of these gardens.  Sit back, and enjoy the tour! 

Our first stop is a home in Minneapolis.  This is a typical sized city lot, but every inch of it was a part of the garden.

The front of the house was beautifully landscaped, but the real fun was in the back!

Back yard with life-size fairy house, koi pond, and so much more.

Koi pond.  Notice the plants...so tiny.

Buddha.

Back to the front yard with a stream!

Now on to the next garden...   This garden is also in Minneapolis but the lot size and shape is not typical.

The gardeners are passionate about iris and have an unbelievable collection.  It was the perfect time to see the garden since the iris are in bloom.

Lovely back yard with more iris, a labyrinth in the top right of the photo,  and the knot garden shown below.

Knot garden.

One of the prettiest iris.

Just a few of the many, many iris.

Another iris... but not as colorful!

On to our final tour of this post.  A friend and I signed up for a class on fairy gardens... not so much to learn about them but more to see the instructor's garden. 

This is bigger than it looks... about 4'x4'.

Come back tomorrow for another garden tour!

RHUBARB HONEY MUFFINS

Here we are again, Springtime, and lots of rhubarb!  So far this season I've made Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie, Rhubarb base (for making fun martini drinks), Rhubarb bread and RHUBARB HONEY MUFFINS, the recipe for today.  I made these for a potluck and they turned out perfectly!  

RHUBARB HONEY MUFFINS.  Makes 22 - 24.
*  2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
*  1 teaspoon baking soda
*  1/2 teaspoon salt
*  1 egg, beaten
*  1 cup brown sugar, packed
*  2/3 cup corn/vegetable oil
*  1/2 cup honey
*  1 teaspoon pure vanilla
*  3/4 cup buttermilk (or substitute 1 tablespoon plain vinegar plus milk to make 3/4 cup)
*  1-1/2 cups fresh rhubarb, finely chopped
*  1/2 cup pecans, chopped
Topping:  Mix the following ingredients together until crumbly
*  1 tablespoon butter
*  1/2 cup granulated sugar
*  cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350º.  Line muffin pans with cupcake papers.
In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients (flour, baking soda & salt).  In another bowl, stir egg, brown sugar, oil, honey, vanilla extract and buttermilk until blended;  stir into flour mixture just until moistened.  Fold in rhubarb and pecans.  Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.  

Sprinkle tops with butter-sugar mixture.  Bake 25-35 minutes or until golden.  Remove from pan; cool on a rack.

Smear with butter and ENJOY!!!!