mybristolhouse

I haven't posted much this summer about our Kitchen Garden. It's largely my husband's domain, although I designed and laid out the garden, and I help him by starting seeds occasionally, replenishing the mulch in the paths and the compost in the beds, plus other random tasks. But I confess that I'm usually so much more enchanted with the state of my flowers in bloom that I've largely neglected to post photos of the vegetables that we've grown. Here are a few photos of our vegetable bounty from the last month or two: A photo from back in July of the "greens" section of the Kitchen Garden: onions, celery, cabbage, chard, Brussels sprouts and carrots in the center. Okra in August. This usually grows pretty well for us (and it's delicious pan-fried in oil with onions and curry powder), but this year we allowed it to be shaded out by the numerous self-seeded sunflowers that grew up around the okra plants (so pretty!), and unfortunately the plants didn

The Rainbow Border, as seen from the end of the rainbow progression of colors. The effect can clearly be seen, which is encouraging, as that's what I've working toward. My Rainbow Border is in Year Three (I planted most of the perennials in 2012), and it's starting to look a bit more filled in this year. Most of the perennials bloom in May and June: tulips, irises, Asiatic lilies, peonies, alliums and the like, but from July on, the color is carried by annuals: mostly zinnias, petunias and marigolds. But I've been thinking that I should add some tall garden phlox toward the back of the border. Phlox is long-blooming, blooms later in the summer and is available in a number of colors: White: the two White Sections of the border seem particularly sparse and could certainly benefit from an expansive perennial like phlox), and 'David' does well in other areas of my garden Pink: phlox comes in both dark and light pinks, and more purplish as well as more salmonish pink

I immediately identified with Casa Mariposa as she remarked in her latest blog post  that she always feels surprised that her gardens continue to bloom this late in the year, even though she planted everything herself and should, of course, know what's in her own gardens. I feel exactly the same way. Even though we've had some chilly nights (and a couple days that were 25 degrees below the average temps for this time of year), my gardens continue to surprise me with many flowers: My delphiniums have re-bloomed for the first time this year, and although this secondary flush is shorter in height than the June flowers, that means they are easier to stake than the earlier ones (nice for the lazy gardener!). This combination of aster, mum and annuals at the corner of the border around our house addition is a study in bold colors, with orange, purples, blues and dark reddish-pink. I think I like these colors together. These low purple asters edging my Front Border are a lovely mix of

One of the gardens that I have wanted to visit for some time is that of Larry Rettig, a gardener living in South Amana, Iowa, who I first became aware of through his columns on Dave's Garden . I was quite excited to learn that he had published a book about Amana Gardening and his own garden last year, and I immediately requested that our local public library purchase it, so that it would be available for residents to read. (I reviewed his book in one of my posts last winter.) In his book, Larry insisted that he is happy to give tours of his garden to interested visitors upon request, so I emailed him at the address he provided in the book and I finally got to see his gardens last weekend! Larry lives in South Amana, one of the seven villages of the Amanas , a fascinating communal order founded in 1856 that continued until the 1930s, and the villages of which are now a National Historic Landmark. He and his wife, Wilma, live in the brick house built in 1900 that Wilma was born in.