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i'm almost looking forward to fall. we've had a break in the heat, but still need significant rain to overcome the drought. i've only been watering the potager and new plantings. here's a gloriosa daisy about to be glorious...
the helenia 'mardi gras' has a new flush of blooms, redder than the first...
one teddy bear sunflower survived to flower, and it's worth the trouble...
last fall we hacked back this crepe myrtle, and it appreciated the effort, growing larger than ever. few people in our town grow these, as global warming has recently made them work here. this is the south side of our house.
here's the crape myrtle from the deck right above. you can see the grass dying on the left, where i don't bother watering. the square garden is on the right.
visitor
brugmansia 'pink beauty'
the potager. i have more tomatoes, green beans, rainbow chard and kale than a family can eat. the cukes have taken a break, thank goodness. looks like i'll have some corn and a large number of butternut squashes. i need to get out and plant more lettuce.
this week, my vacation, we visited big bambú, an installation by doug + mike starns, identical twins, atop the metropolitan museum of art in new york city. one can take a special tour through the bamboo structure, but cameras (or any hand-held items) are not allowed on the tour. however, one can walk underneath the structure and snap away. in this shot of the structure looking north you can see people within the structure taking a tour:
early morning cityscape looking south:
and looking west:
here's a photo from underneath a walkway. i was really frustrated i couldn't bring my camera up through the structure; it was photo-worthy!
a platform and walkway. the structure flexed a bit in places when i walked on it. it's almost entirely made of bamboo and nylon climber's rope. i saw only a few steel cables tethering the structure to the roof, and one or two cable ties.
another walkway. one walkway has a bench and they all have handrails. the walkways are uneven. one must wear sneakers (no sandals or flip flops allowed and no skirts, for obvious reasons!)
the lashings are beautiful...
here's a bamboo storage area. we visited during the work week, so the artists were there continuing to build the structure. the plan is to add a second level by the end of august. in fall, the structure will be dismantled, perhaps to be rebuilt elsewhere.
more lashings. what a lot of work to make this and more to take it down!
me, reflected by a mirrored roof on the north side of the structure. the installation is supposed to evoke a wave. for me, it is the "swiss family robinson" house oddly placed in an urban setting. others on the tour were moved by the seeming chaos within the rigid city. the starn's installation is a wonderful new york experience intensified by temporariness.
shy gloriosa daisy...
peas growing on the compost heap...
hubs took a photo of the osprey, which was back for just one morning (with a fish...)
the japanese anemones survived our mini-drought...
and the potager, in it's late august decadence... i have had to prematurely pick some butter nut squash because the squirrels are noshing. plus, the squirrels are now beheading the sunflowers! what nerve. i'm still producing kale, rainbow chard, tomatoes and green beans. i just replanted lettuce and carrots, which are coming up happily. i made a squash soup with two of the butternuts, which was pretty good considering they were not fully ripe.
