Monday, July 25, 2011

I Remember when...

I remember when... (oh my, do I sound old ;-) .. it was very difficult for me to figure out what was a weed and what wasn't and I still can't always tell. But, I guess with age comes experience, and thankfully, I can now at least, recognize sunflower sprouts in the garden or this beauty wouldn't have made it past the gate. Other sprouts which grew to provide height and color this year, were the pink poppies (last post) but they are fairly easy to recognize early on with their silver leaves, so only a few were left to actually bloom in the veg garden. Four leeks not used last summer, overwintered and flowered this year so if I am not careful collecting seed, they will likely end up sprouting in the soil next year. Would I recognize those I wonder? We can look this one right in the eye...so that's a good five feet! I love that unexpected bloom, that surprise...unplanned and stately in it's height, size and color..... 'garden architecture'.

If you grow garlic, you know how fantastic and architectural the scapes are... 'shepherd hooks' my friend Ann calls them.  They were trimmed off today; goodness should be going into the bulb below ground, not into making seed. The bulblets are yummy in just about anything ... salads...pasta..pesto.
Garlic scape seed heads with the sheath removed
We are always happy to find reseeded summer squash in the spring beds. With their huge leaves they add quite a bit of primal drama. I thought it might have been a mistake to resettle them in the new bed just off the deck but for a quick fill in until we decide what to do, it sure worked it's magic along with Agastache and Nicotiana. The latter fills the evening air with it's glorious fragrance and has it's own architecture as well.
Pole beans are at the top of their bamboo tripods; peas are at their summit. Clematis are sharing the wired wooden support and when  peas are done, we hope the vines will fill in even further.
beans Fortex, Gold Marie and Purple Podded

It's time to relax and enjoy the garden..... eat from it...smell it...embrace it. Also nearing time to take a little vacation from Blogger and "Go West" blog friends. I've a very special wedding to attend, friends and family to visit and hopefully some left coast gardens to enjoy! Summer really has arrived!
                                                                           

11 comments:

  1. Sigh Bren.. what lovely photos and inspiring thoughts. Such perfect inspiration on a cool rainy summer day. Love the photo of the hidden beauty of the garlic scape - not a typical image.. thanks as always for sharing..

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree, great post and pics. Just wanted to say enjoy your blogger break and have a fantastic summer!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. How fortunate to have such good sense of which plants are which. Moving east really confused me and I never seem to know anymore what plants are weeds. So glad your sunflower survived as it is quite beautiful. Enjoy your vacation and I look forward to hearing about your trip when you come back.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sometimes I can't tell the weeds from the flowers and leave them grow until the reach a point when, yep...that's a weed and out it comes. We've had a little patch of ...believe it or not...leaf lettuce over winter so we had and early treat before the rest of the garden was even planted and we always have tomato plants growing from seed where they're not supposed to but we leave then to see if they amount to anything. You have beautiful photos on you blog.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your garden looks wonderful. There are some plants that I can't ever break myself from the habit of pulling, such as Rain Lilies, and once I nurtured a weed that I thought was a poppy. lol I love the color of your Nicotiana.

    Enjoy your vacation!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your garden is looking just beautiful and your photo's show it off wonderfully! I just love your sunflower picture ... they are another favorite of mine.
    ~Michele

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was looking back at some of your earlier posts this spring and the photos of your garden, the snow and the early plants. What a transformation!

    It would make a marvelous calendar I thought to pick just one photograph that encapsulates each month.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks everyone for the super kind comments and compliments...they encourage me and inspired me, especially when I visit your blogs. I have learned so much the past year and a bit. Great to know you all and thank you for your wishes re the holiday. Almost away....

    Mark..blush...thank you for that most special compliment. It's a nice thought for family at Christmas to do a calendar and a good time to be thinking of that. Bet we could all turn our minds to such a thing if we went through our blog photos. So kind..thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's time to relax and enjoy the garden..... eat from it...smell it...embrace it. What a great sentence with perfect sentiments. Too soon it will be fall. Distinguishing flower seedlings from weeds is something I am still working on. Some are easy, others are not. Your sunflower is a beautiful surprise. I hope to try my hand at garlic this fall.
    I hope you have a nice vacation. Weddings are always such special events.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love scapes! Your garden looks beautiful. Wish I could say the same about mine, but it apparently doesn't like being abandoned for 21 days--never again will I vacation in the summer AND plant a garden, haha.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gardening Bren,
    I'm sorry haven't been commenting for awhile.
    I hope you have had and are still having a good vacation.

    Your garden is looking grand. I am especially taken by the scapes. I have never seen them, forget about actually ever tasting them. They look pretty special too.
    x

    ReplyDelete