Chinese spinach (應菜, 空心菜) is the runner up of the choices of veggies in our garden

If I were allowed to plant only one veggie in the garden, that would be luffa; if two, then the runner up would be Chinese spinach (應菜, 空心菜).  空 (empty) 心 (heart) 菜 (vegetable); as it has a hollow stem, not that our veggies are empty hearted.

Speaking of “heart” in the garden, like Emily Dickenson, I would like to say the “residents” (flowers and veggies) in our garden also have soul.  In response to the criticism from an article in New York Times, Jeff Bezos said Amazon is not a “soulless” company, our garden is not soulless, either.

Lush luffa garden: a luffa cabin inspired by willow cabin

You may or may not know it that luffa is the “center piece” of our garden, thus strategically located in the center of the garden.

The luffa leaves have grown so dense, lush and luxuriant, not only providing the shade, but also cover from rain.  I have put a garden chair inside; it is a best spot to read Viola (in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night) “Willow Cabin” speech.

          Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
          And call upon my soul within the house.
          . . . . .

The willow cabin is made of living willow (see photo); our luffa cabin is, of course, made of the growing luffa.

They have outgrown their home; Katy has extended the “network” in the air in all four directions so that they will continue to grow and explore.

Good morning, morning glory!

I said on another post that I am in a camp of proclaiming lily as the queen of the flowers against rose.  These roses think otherwise; they stand tall (they are actually taller than I) looking vivacious and majestic, feeling no threat from the glorious morning glory.

I see the glorious morning glory with mixed emotion.  Knowing how beautiful bloom they will be, I pulled out hundreds of (no exaggeration) morning glories from our garden this season, lest they would ‘strangle’ any flowers or veggies on their paths.

Lily, queen of the flowers: What’s in my mind working in the garden?

The other day I was transplanting celosia, a pleasant smell coming from my back, emanating from the lilies behind me.  It was obviously telling me how I can turn my back to this exquisite beauty.

Emily Dickinson liked fragrant flowers; she would open the kitchen window to let in the aromatic air.  Standing in our kitchen, we can see all the colors in the garden, but we do not have enough fragrant flowers to indulge as Dickinson did.

When I see the lilies in our garden, Queen Catherine of Aragon often comes to my mind.  She was the first wife of Henry VIII and daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, who commissioned Columbus to discover America.

Seeing the lilies in our garden, I always want to recite what Queen Catherine said in Shakespeare’s Henry VIII (Act 3 Scene 1) responding to Cardinal Wolsey’s request to accept the divorce from Henry VIII.

Queen Catherin of Argon

Queen Catherine

I am the most unhappy woman living.

Alas, poor wenches, where are now your fortunes!

Shipwrecked upon a kingdom, where no pity,

No friend, no hope; no kindred weep for me;

Almost no grave allowed me; like the lily,

That once was mistress of the field and flourished,

I’ll hang my head and perish.

                    Henry VIII      Act 3 Scene 1

This is a typical poetic play; almost every line rhymes.  Shakespeare wrote his plays intended for one to listen, not to read.

Seeing the lilies also evokes my fond memory of our trip with Janice to London and Paris last year.  We visited the Parliament the first day.  There are about 10 historical paintings in the hallway; one of them depicts the marriage between Henry VIII and Queen Catherine.

Thomas More (Henry VIII’s councilor—my mind is going back to our visiting the Tower in London) once said, “there were few women who could compete with the Queen Catherine in her prime”, there are few flowers who could compete with Lily in her prime.  I am in the camp of claiming lily is the queen of the flower against rose.

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Hibiscus: Blooming gloriously next to the "Old Glory"

Hibiscus is the largest flower in our garden. They are privileged to be next to the “Old Glory” and blooming gloriously.

McDonald’s is many years behind us in promoting kale

After posting some photos so you may get a taste of our garden last night, I heard many loud protests coming from the “residents” inexcusably omitted.  To make up for this neglect, I will give them proper individual introduction first.  Kale is on top of the list.

McDonald’s announced in May that it will test the market in California of incorporating kale to the menu.  Kale will be in hamburger, breakfast salads or even smoothies.

Our friend, Dr. Liang, a seasoned gardener, introduced kale to us a few years ago; those in our garden this season are from his greenhouse.

Dr. Liang pointed out why kale leads the list of healthy leafy greens for many reasons: low-calorie, nutrient-dense powerhouse of antioxidants, including vitamin A and C.  Kale contains more iron than beef.  It is also a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids.

I have previously mentioned that Janice and Joy are skilled in preparing kale for the dinner table.

Thomas Jefferson was a kale enthusiast; he sent kale seeds to every gardener friends that he could find, so did Dr. Liang.

McDonald’s finally caught up with Dr. Liang and Jefferson.

(The photos of kale were taken today; much of it has been served in our dinner table.  I couldn’t find the photos taken before the harvesting off hand.)

A garden too big to fail?

The Wall Streeters like to say “a company too big to fail”; to us gardeners it is “a garden too big to fail”.  Thanks to almost six-week (entire June and early July) of almost daily rain and not much sun many of the flowers/veggie withered and perished untimely.

I told one of my patients who had low vitamin D level in late June to get out to the sun more often; he responded “tell me where I can find the sun.”

We gardeners believe in tomorrow; tomorrow will come and will be better.  We began a mission of rescue replacing the passing ones with the new in early July, hoping the Almighty has mercy, asking the sun to come out and giving us some dry days.

The garden is not actually 滿園春色 (a garden full of spring color—I will write a post of 滿園春色 in the category of “language” later,  春色, like 秀色—sensual beauty—is not “spring” color), but there are bright spots here and there.  Here are some of the “residents” in our garden thriving in rigor.   They deserve proper individual introduction in time to come.

It is safe to say a garden this size is too big to fail.

Harvested on 8/4/2015

Luffa garden

Russian tomatoes from Mr. Faddis; cherry tomatoes are their neighbor, so are colorful flowers

Taiwanese pumpkin

Guess what it is

These tomatoes enjoy the view

These celosias came back on their own--truly "old flame"!

basil

lily: Queen of the flowers

Gladiolus

Yellow cherry tomatoes are our favorite

Italian squash

Gladiolus

Guess what are these things?

Gladiolus

Luffa on its way

Peng-Fu luffa