POTAGER UPDATE

the potager keeps producing, but no tomatoes yet! some are still clinging on the leafless plants, denuded by moi to prevent late blight spread. perhaps i should finally remove that sprinkler, rendered useless by the copious rain this season...
here's one night's harvest...
sneeze weed at the garden gate... i really like this whimsical plant.this particular plant is a profuse bloomer... gaillardia...volunteers by the compost heap. when you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

NYC TRIATHLON

my hubs took 7th out of 151 in his over 50 age group today in the nyc triathlon. we don't know the overall race results yet. terrific job! go hubs! it was a muggy 84 in the city today, yet about 3000 people competed. here's a shot of the beginning of the run, at 72nd street looking west towards our favorite airplane landing strip, the hudson river...for those interested in the details... hub's overall time was 2:20:35, his swim was 17 minutes, his average bike speed was 21 mph and his average running speed was 7:27 per mile.

INSPIRATION - SOPHIE MUNNS

in the last week i found sophie munns blog...actually, she found me... http://sophiemunns.blogspot.com/2009/07/jennifer-brooks-sketchbooks.html

what an inspiration! here's my dau's take on her jennifer brooks sketchbooks post...
a close-up...
another possible inspiration?
this beauty visited my buddeleia dark knight this evening, this is the top side, in case you were wondering...
and the colors of my dau's painting inspired me to take this passiflora, with a brugmansia background...
side view of the same tiger swallowtail butterfly...
luna's eye fur reminds me of the underside of the swallow tail, and once i saw this photo enlarged, i noticed you can see the sky dotted with clouds reflected there...
here she is zoomed out a bit, so you can see that she was begging beneath the table...

POTAGER UPDATE

the potager is splendid, aside from the tomato late blight. i removed 3 more plants this weekend. the most resistant tomatoes are neve's azorian red and rainbow. i planted cabbages in the empty spots. i love being in the potager, it feels like a green jewel box. i have not yet been able to capture that in my photos.

we are going to have a spate of cucumbers, probably i'll have to leave some on neighbor's porches. here they are, some hanging through the trellis.

of all the fancy echinacea i bought, these pink double delights are doing the best.

kale harvest. this russian blue kale is quite tasty, sauteed in oil with vinegar and some raisins for sweetness. you can notch around the stem, hold on and rip the leaf off in your fist before sauteing. it's also good if you roll it up and slice it thinly for salads.

"red" sunflower in the potager...

some of the cucumbers...

entry of the potager, with sneezeweed and nasturtiums...

chard, kale and the dwarf peach in the background...

marigolds among the decimated tomato plants...

fordhook acorn squash hides on the trellis... these will be ready for baking or soups in september, perhaps. right now they are 8-9 inches long.

BEES VOGUE

bees are such posers. here's a metallic green bee in a fordhook acorn squash flower.

bee on a sneezeweed...

another bee doing his job on the pistil of the same squash flower as above...

bee on tithonia 'torch'...

VIVID JULY

july brings a cacaphony of color. here is a green metallic bee on sneezeweed (helenium)...

a profusion of blue passion flowers on the deck...

the deck, the usual suspects in a line-up...

passion flower 'pura vida' is a spectacle in bright sunshine...

echincea in the potager...

a new toad lily in the front yard...

the night blooming cereus had 3 buds this summer, and i think this one bloomed. i didn't stay up late enough to see it open, and the other 2 buds wilted. i hope it will have another bud this year.

death-star allium with an incoming at 3 o'clock...

champagne currants illuminated... another sad tale this year, with too much rain...

crocosmia 'lucifer' does it's thing regardless of the weather...

japanese blood grass, illuminated...

rainbow chard harvest... yum!

TOMATO LATE BLIGHT

it became clear today that my tomatoes have late blight, which has been plaguing the ne of the united states this year. so, i removed the most diseased plants, making space around the remaining plants, in the hope that i might produce at least one tomato. if the rain keeps up, it's unlikely i'll have any. here is the potager before my savage attack on the diseased tomatoes...

and after... the damage is much more apparent from ground level, but it was too sad (sniff) to photograph...

thank goodness there are real farmers out there...

HIGH LINE NYC

this weekend we visited the "new high line" park, just opened this month in the meat packing district of nyc. the park takes advantage of an old elevated rail line (official website) pairing modern landscape architecture with the old tracks, "native" plantings and the colorful urban surrounds. here is the entrance at gansevoort street:recession, what recession? lots of time, effort and $ went into the sleek design features and plantings in this park. (all the wood is ipe.)
one thing that surprised me is that the plantings were a nice size, and there was a bevy of grounds keepers weeding away. the park has only been open a few weeks, but with all the rain we've had, i bet the weeds are fierce! here's an old switch...
here is a clever pairing, the red brick building and rust-colored heuchera...
it helps to enlarge this photo, so you can see the white pallida echinacea drooping among the sumac, rails and ties...
you can see the hudson river from several points in the park. these plantings were pretty, but will look fantastic as the park matures.
clever use of tines of concrete as edging and cute light fixtures... there was a liberal use of echnicea 'after sunset' in the park, which was the brightest color.
ipe deck with benches amongst river birches...
ipe ampitheater, with a view of traffic below! someone has a sense of humor!
i love the iac building on the left. which contrasts beautifully with the new building on the right.
i never noticed this blue-windowed building, but i love it! one of the great things about this park is seeing the array of architechture around it.
nice contrast, echinacea 'sundown' and the blue draped building...
i liked the liatrus so much i couldn't resist posting two photos! here in front of older houses...
and here in front of a simpler backdrop...
this photo gives a sense of the scale of the park... i think it's about 10 blocks long, and will be longer when finished.
view of the hudson and nj off to the west. see the big yacht under the crane and the 2 masted sailboat? that's how the other half lives...
ok, here you are supposed to focus on the sun lounge chairs on train wheels that can be slid along the tracks... not the couple. all the chairs were occupied at all times we were there. people were having fun playing with these, but with all the safety craziness these days, i wonder how long before they lock the wheels!
finally, here is what the high line looks like from the street. it truly is a new hidden treasure, there above our heads! thanks for coming on the tour with me!