garden update

Now, the sunflowers are beginning to bloom and the green zinnias should follow soon, while the echinacea is fading and the poppies are long past. I am always eager for a new bloom in the garden-- while I'd like to take credit for designing these successive flowerings, it is mostly luck.

I am still harvesting beans and edamame, and more tomatoes are ripening. My zucchini still hasn't produced a single squash.

Compared to my tidy,contained spring garden, the summer version is lush and overflowing.


This beautiful but bashful sunflower keeps its face turned toward the wall.

Happy birthday, Taylor!

garden update

Edamame, ready to eat


This type has very fuzzy pods which feel a bit odd on the palate-- I will try these hulled next time


Anise hyssop


'Dittany of Crete' oregano, getting ready to bloom


We have had a few extremely hot days recently, and I'm afraid a few of my plants have suffered. Sometimes I am surprised by how quickly things can happen in the garden-- I peek under the leaves to find a large cucumber or long beans, or I realize that my rosemary has started to scorch in the heat. Hopefully with a little care (and now sheltered by the sunflowers) it will rebound.

birthday

I had a great time celebrating with a few friends over blueberry pie and ice cream. Maria brought some homebrew tied up in pink ribbon.

I grew a few borage plants from seed-- as promised, they flowered the same season. The leaves and buds are fuzzy; the flower is a lovely, hanging blue star.

midsummer

This time of year has its own distinctive sounds, tastes and colors here in Charlottesville. Mid-July means cicadas singing at night, grasshoppers flying up when you walk along a path, sweet peaches and tangy nectarines, and the hot pinks of crepe myrtles, as sweltering as the summer heat.

This sunflower must have grown about 2 feet in a little over a week! It is so tall and strong, it seems to teach a quiet lesson about perseverance. This one and several others have flower buds, already tracking the sun across the sky--I can't wait to see them open and unfurl.

hail damage in the Fern Room

I read today in the Cultural Landscape Foundation newsletter that the Garfield Park Conservatory, which I visited just a few weeks ago, was severely damaged in a recent hail storm. Broken glass from the greenhouses now litters the paths and covers the plants, which are exposed to direct sun and rain. It is sad to think about these treasures in such danger, and that the beautiful place I visited will take years to regain stability.

garden update

By now, my garden is full and plants seem to be expanding everyday: my tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers are growing rapidly, herbs are thriving, and my sunflowers and Mexican bush sage continue to grow up and out. Each poppy has been somewhat different; they are a fleeting beauty outside or in a vase.

Sunflower wall


This sunflower is the lone survivor from the first planting, now it is taller than me!


poppies



beans ready for eating


edamame are not quite ready

The best surprise in my garden must be these poppies which have just started to bloom. They are a surprise because I planted them from seed (yes, the tiny poppy seed!) and after they sprouted, they barely grew at all, and I almost pulled them out to make room for "productive" plants! I am so glad I waited, because in the past three weeks or so they have grown tall and set many odd, drooping buds. The first opened two days ago, and was quickly stripped of its petals by heavy rains. I check them every morning for new blooms!

back to the beginning

Taylor, Fereshteh, a few other friends and I met at Millennium Park for an after-work concert. On this warm summer night, the open-air pavilion in the heart of the city was the best place to be.

Rain + buildings

I had my heart set on taking a boat tour led by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, so the last possible time I could, I bought a ticket and got on board. Sure, it had been raining earlier that day, but when the tour started it was POURING! Luckily, I had my poncho with me, but the rain crept in anyway. I don't remember much of what the unflappable tour guide shared with us that day, but I was impressed by the powerful skyline and its diverse tall buildings.

They say that you can take a short walk down the street (or ride on the river) in Chicago and see the history of twentieth century architecture. Our tour led us from the first settlement near Michigan Avenue Bridge through the Beaux-Arts era, the minimal, modern tall buildings, through postmodernism and up to the present.

Lily Pool, Lincoln Park, Chicago

Lincoln Park is north of downtown Chicago along the lake shore. On the sunny summer day when I visited, the area was very active and full of families, visitors, bikers, drivers, and sunbathers. My destination was the Lily Pool, a quiet retreat from all the activity, which was designed in the 1930s by Alfred Caldwell.

This design shares a sensibility with places created by Caldwell's mentor, Jens Jensen, namely the evocation of the larger midwestern/Great Lakes landscape-- its horizontality, geology, and the movement of water. Large stacked stones shaped the paths, edges of paths, steps and places to sit, and also a waterfall-- a limited palette of materials and forms shape many kinds of spaces.

When I was there, a man was aggressively practicing T'ai Chi (you can spot him in this photo below)! This may sound like a contradiction, but he stood in a prominent spot overlooking the pool and dominated the space. I suppose he was having a calming experience, although he seemed to wield it over everyone else!

ice cream stop

After our visit in Humboldt Park, Fereshteh clued us in to a good place for an ice cream stop!

Sunset, commuter train

UFO planter

Spotted in Chicago