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The Thursday before Mother’s Day my specially ordered gift to myself arrived: a box of five 41 inch tall triple ball rosemary topiary. I spent the latter part the next day planting them and the next three days watering and enjoying the whole effect.

It was a great Mother’s Day treat for me to have my shady patio ready for spring and summer outdoor living. We eat, read, visit, and nap here with the sounds of the stereo flowing from the screen doors that I keep open most mornings and evenings.

I love sitting here in the latter part of the day when the sun is really low. It’s perfectly beautiful looking up past the old stone steps into the terraced garden above. The roses are kind of scraggly for lack of sun but the huge azaleas make up for it.

When we first moved into the home in early 2000 the patio was bare of any planting. I began creating a potted garden almost immediately and it’s taken me twelve years. I still don’t have it right. But it’s coming along.

Blackberry Crisp

4 C. ripe blackberries
2 t. lemon juice
1 1/2 C. flour
2 C. sugar
1/4 C. oats
1 C. butter
1/4 C. chopped walnuts
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt

I made this recipe mother’s day weekend. It started out as a 1950’s Betty Crocker apple crisp recipe my mother-in-law Mary Etta Segerstrom gave to me when when we were first marrried. I’ve adapted it over the years by substituting the apples with peaches, boysenberries, or blackberries and by adding oats, walnuts, and 1/3 cup more butter because the crumbled part was dry. It makes a generous portion of crumble and you’ll have enough leftover to make another smaller crisp. 

Mix berries, cinnamon, and salt and set aside. Process with a food processor flour, sugar, and butter. Stir in oats and walnuts. Place berries in a 10 x 6 x 2 Pyrex baking dish. Top with flour mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.