FROM POTAGER TO TABLE

wow, a day without rain (thursday) just in time for guests. view from the 2nd story deck to the main deck and potager. perhaps this photo gives a better feeling for the size of the potager. my excuse for not having food on the table in this shot is that by then it was too dark. please note that i could have removed the clothesline and grill wheel from the photo, but just want to be honest! also note that snoopy is already wating for leftovers!the swallowtail has finally decided to try the tithonias...
beets and beans from the garden...
potager this morning, between deluges. you can see that i removed the sugar snap peas from the rustic trellis, and the morning glories and mammoth sunflowers have begun to bloom...
mammoth sunflower partly opened...
view today through the garden gate...
looking southeast...
looking west at the fordhook acorn squash and echinacea 'double delight." you can just see one little cherry tomato about to open. it must be my miracle tomato. (apologies for the sarcasm.)
the largest watermelon i have so far... it's smaller than a nasturtium flower. even though this is a small variety, it requires too long a hot season, which we just have not had. next year, need quicker type! lesson learned!

WET PASSIFLORA

the passion flowers love the rain, and the rain loves the passion flowers...buds on the production line...

passiflora 'lady margaret' looking like a lady in wet frock and outlandish hat...

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!