Senior Connections Senior Connections Feb 2019

Annuals from Seeds Worth Planting CHRISTIE SCHLUETER Annuals from seeds are reliable and relatively expensive. Why not plant a lot of annual seeds this spring and en- joy the rewards later in the season with a great amount of plants for a fraction of the cost of plant plugs. The following are plants that provide season long color and can be used in masses or as ﬁ llers in perennial gardens as well as pots. These are also some good butterﬂ y attract- ing plants. Try to focus on using more native plants in your garden. It helps the bugs and the ﬂ owers. Flowers Cosmos This plant was introduced in 1799, but was not popular for gardens until the early 1900’s. Cosmos is a fairly tall plant reaching up to ﬁ ve feet tall. It prefers full sun, but can tolerate dry soils. Marigolds Marigolds average 12 inches or below in height. The ﬂ owers range from whitish yellow to a bright yellow to deep orange. Both single and double ﬂ owers are available. These are on of the most universal garden ﬂ owers. It is best in a sunny site and will self sow for many years after the ﬁ rst planting in the garden. They make wonderful border plants and are very beneﬁ cial in planting with vegetables to chase away predators and other insects. Four o’Clock This is a very hardy plant; it can tolerate any tempera- ture and pollution or soil. It does need full sun. It also has a delicious fra- grance. They come in red, red striped with white, lilac striped with white, yellow, yellow and red and red, vio- let and white. It can be used as a small hedge as it reaches 24 inches in height. Use as a ﬁ ller plant with your taller perennials. Zinnia Zinnias come a variety of sizes; they can grow up to 30 inches tall. The back of a fence would work well or in the center of a circular bed. They love full sun and hot dry weather. It does well in most soils. It does need adequate space in between each plant for air circulation. Deadhead these to encourage blooms throughout the season. 12 Senior Zinnias come in over 15 colors that include yellow, red, or- ange, lilac, rose, magenta, purple to name a few. They make excellent cut ﬂ owers. Heliotrope This is a tender plant growing one to two feet. The fragrance will make you want to plant these in masses. It smells of sweet vanilla. The ﬂ owers are a brilliant purple. The newer versions do not have the strong scent as more of the heirloom varieties. Look for the older type varieties to get a stronger scent. The early varieties such as “The Queen”, or “Snow Wreath” but these have been replaced with the cultivar “Alba”. The purple types of “Fragrant Delight” and “Iowa” have a high perfumed scent. This plant can be planted in full sun or partial shade and needs extra water when dry. Do not let it set in too much water. Tips Don’t dig your dahlias, instead grow them in larger pots. Use inexpensive terra cotta pots. After the top growth is froze then lift the pots out of the ground and transfer them to the basement where you can keep until spring. Then bring them back outside and begin to water them again. Try this organic way of killing a bug nest or obnoxious weed. I tried this and it worked well for me. When you see the “pest”. Pour some boiling water on the weed and it usually kills it and nothing else around it. If you have gardening questions you can send to [email protected] 3 cups ﬂ our 2 and 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons cinnamon, divided 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/3 cup milk 3⁄4 cup sugar Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a stand mixer, beat to- gether 10 tablespoons butter and brown sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes. Add pumpkin puree and eggs and mix for another 1 minute. In a separate bowl, stir together ﬂ our, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1 and 1⁄2 teaspoons cin- namon, and nutmeg. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredi- ents into the pumpkin mixer on low speed. Add milk and continue to mix until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Divide batter into a greased mini mufﬁ n pan. Bake for 12- 14 minutes. Mini Corn Dog Mufﬁ ns Mix up an 8-1/2-ounce box of corn mufﬁ n mix accord- ing to package directions and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat cups of a mufﬁ n pan with nonstick cooking spray Divide the batter among the mufﬁ n cups. Slice hot dogs into 1-inch pieces and place one piece in each mufﬁ n cup. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the mufﬁ n batter comes out clean. �� Recipes Mini Mufﬁ n Pan Recipes Sometimes all you want is a bite of something sweet. That is why mini mufﬁ n pans are my new favorite go to pan! I can have small bites yet still enjoy sweets. Plus they are also wonderful to use any mufﬁ n recipe in. Mini mufﬁ n pans bake at half the time and you can put almost any food in them. Once you start using them you might not go back to the larger size. You can also divide a recipe in half if you like. Perfect for everyone! Pumpkin Doughnut Holes Makes 36 doughnut holes Ingredients 18 tablespoons softened butter, divided 3⁄4 cup brown sugar 1 and 1⁄4 cups pumpkin puree 2 eggs Connections February 2019 �� Senior Connections HJ.COM

Senior Connections Senior Connections Feb 2019 | Page 12