mojitos & pasta tossed with fresh asparagus and garlic scapes...

Oh.
Yes.
You are on the i fiori blog.
Summer is here, and the hot weather makes sitting on the balcony, sipping a mojito and eating a pasta salad with local asparagus and scapes seem like the right thing to be doing.

The latest and the freshest plants in store this week are rosemary (or as one customer said, "this is the best-looking rosemary I have ever seen..."
More English lavender arrived on Thursday, as well as bushy, healthy mojito mint

mojito mint

 

 

 

 

There are so many different varieties and flavours of this herb, but if you want the essence of real mint try the mojito mint. With a pure mint flavour, it is perfect for salads, vegetarian and meat dishes, jams and preserves - and of course - mojitos.

the Mojito

In an 8 to 10 ounce glass, combine 10-15 rinsed fresh mint leaves and 2 teaspoons superfine sugar.

With a muddler or a wooden spoon, coarsely crush mint leaves with sugar in the bottom of the glass.
Add:

- 4 to 5 tablespoons light rum

- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Mix well.

Fill glass with ice cubes and top off with chilled soda water.Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.

Makes 1 serving.

And what about garlic scapes?

These curly, deep-green stalks are the flower shoots that grow from young garlic bulbs and are available to us in southern Ontario in mid-June. They meander and twist elegantly in vases, and the best part? After you enjoy looking at them for a few days… you can eat them!

They are a bit like asparagus in texture, but have a subtle garlic aroma and gentle taste - much milder than the garlic cloves. The entire stalk and flower are edible. They are wonderful additions to puréed dips, pestos, marinades, fritatas, salads, pasta dishes, stir-fries - any dish that you want a really fresh-tasting hint of garlic flavour (try them with new baby potatoes!). You can use them raw, gently steamed or stir-fried.

I have a small amount of fresh scapes in the shop, and like fresh local asparagus - they will not last long.

terrariums & succulents

terrariums

This week a limited number of hanging and tabletop terrariums will arrive in the shop. These are beautiful blown glass orbs - the hanging terrariums have an integrated glass loop on top, and both the hanging and the tabletop terrariums can nestle onto a ceramic ring for use on flat surfaces.

They are ideal for small tropical plants, filled with pebbles and mixed mosses, or planted with a selection from the many succulents we have in the shop.

succulents

This season has seen a renewed interest in succulents - for good reason! Succulents are

• easy to care for
• adaptable to most environments and light conditions
• drought tolerant 
• they come in an amazing variety of shapes and colours

With one of the largest assortments of succulents to choose from, i fiori has an ever-changing and expanding selection.

large, sculptural flapjacks

 

the delicate and whimsical 'string of pearls'

finishing moss

New in store are packages of finishing moss for use with plants, orchids, and ideal for the terrariums.
Choose from 3 different types or combine them as part of your design:

• sheet moss: sometimes referred to as woodland moss, it is sterilized and dormant (dry), but is easily reconstituted in warm water to create a natural looking, classic soil cover
• spanish moss: remains dry and used primarily for texture interest or to cover the soil
• reindeer moss: fluffy clumps used for texture interest and as a soil cover

sheet moss   :   spanish moss   :   reindeer moss

art crawl, taste of downtown, mother's day... oh my!

You have to love James Street North - nothing seems to unfold gradually anymore. Thursday we welcomed the grand opening of CBC Hamilton, Friday is the May Art Crawl, Saturday we are the thoroughfare for Taste of Downtown in support of the United Way, and Sunday is Mother's Day - with no shortage of great restaurants on the street to 'treat' those special women in your life'.

And of course there is i fiori! We have so much to choose from - the fridge is stocked with beautiful fresh peonies, roses, astilbe, lisianthus, freesia... we can put together an elegant, pretty and custom bouquet for you in minutes. A very popular arrangement this year is the garden jar. This is a small jar with a wire handle ideal for hanging on a patio or deck this summer to hold tea lights - but you can give it filled with a perfect little bouquet of fresh blooms.

For something different look at our succulents, orchids, hanging vases and planters. Here is a small glimpse of what is in store...

european hand-tied bouquets

  

garden jars



perfect for desks or night tables


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3 or 4 on a table create a centrepiece you can actually see over



chocolate hazelnut truffle 'eggs' in a sweet little nest - sold-out at Easter,
 I have brought them back for mother's day



lemon  or tahitian vanilla/coconut marshmallows



lavender plants - happy indoors or the garden, and lavender sachets


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magnetic test tube vases perfect for fridges, steel doors, filing cabinets (seen here attached to the original tin ceiling tiles from the historic Dominion Furniture Building - soon to be the home of the Art Gallery!)







ceramic hanging planters for plants, tea lights, bird seed

I hope to see you this weekend!

Art Crawl, Lavender and the Environment

Between the good weather, the Lister Block grand opening and the April Art Crawl - James Street North was buzzing with activity on Friday. Time and again, throughout the evening, people said to me, "This is the first time I have come to an Art Crawl - I had no idea how terrific it was!"

Hmmmm. Perhaps the secret is finally getting out?

During the crawl i fiori partnered up with the ECOScene people to help them fund-raise in order to support their endeavours. Founded in 2008, the ECOScene Film & Arts Festival is a collaboration between the local arts and environmental communities to raise awareness of environmental issues through the arts. ECOScene is the only festival of its kind in Canada dedicated to supporting the local creative community. The festival’s charitable partner, Arts Hamilton, assists local filmmakers and artists in creating environmentally-inspired works that will be featured at upcoming festivals.

Films, workshops and exhibits continue this week and until the end of the month and are worth investigating:
http://ecofestival.ca/
For my part, i fiori featured lavender plants (who doesn't want a lavender plant?) Net proceeds from the sale of each plant during the Art Crawl last Friday and throughout this week will be donated to the ECOScene festival.
I have 4 types of lavender in the shop, each with its own purpose and attraction. Scroll down to the 'lavender post' for more information.

more than chocolate bunnies

By now you should know to expect something a little bit different at i fiori, and you can forget the mass produced chocolate rabbits (and I use that term 'chocolate' loosely...).
For the next few weeks only, we will have chocolates and truffles and marshmallows from Saxon Chocolates. Hand made in small batches, natural ingredients, Belgian chocolate... all beautifully presented and ready to give as a little treat.

sweet little hatboxes filled with hazelnut truffles

marshmallows made with tahitian vanilla and rolled in coconut

delicately flavoured lemon marshmallows
...move over marshmallow peeps!