We blinked, and all of a sudden summer has come and gone. The summer in the gardens was lovely.
We had many visitors to the gardens through the programs sponsored by the Interpretive Center and harvested produce for donation at local food banks. The Summer Concert Series held on the grounds was a lot of fun, and several of the garden volunteers spent time in the gardens talking with visitors during the concerts intermission.
We had new flower varieties to share, and fresh and different vegetable plantings to try. This beautiful Dahlia was a gift from the Ft. Vancouver gardeners, Bright Eyes.
This gem is a Moon and Stars Watermelon. A small fruit, we only had one this year.
The Broom Corn towered over the gardens this year. Later in the fall we will make some brooms to share during demonstrations in the garden.
Late summer brings us to the gardens for harvesting vegetables and collecting seeds. It's a wonderful time to visit and reflect on the success of the gardens, and look forward to what the next season may bring us.
The Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce seeds looked so delicate in their stalks above the plants.
And I can't resist working on the long term vision for the roses. Hopefully we will see the completion of the Rose garden re-hab in the next few months.
Our Cardinal de Richelieu was an overgrown mass of canes, in fact it had become a favorite spot for some of the nesting birds in the garden. I found this nest in the early spring.
He had long overgrown the space given in the garden.
It will be interesting to see how he grows next season, after such a hard pruning.
If you have been a visitor in the gardens, thank you for stopping by! If you have yet to stroll through this peaceful garden spot, take some time in the next few weeks before early autumn turns to fall rains. And the gardens have been put to bed for the season.
*To see more photos from this summer and fall click on the albums in the left column.
