Ochre-dusted pollinating fennel flower
A serene evening on the allotment. Arrive to find our first barlotti. This most beautiful of beans reminds us how important colour has become to the plot. The extraordinary range of greens: from the pallid leaves of the Endeavour pea, the darker hues of French Blue Lake beans to the blue-black-green of Cherokee Trail of Tears purple pod. Sometimes when we are surrounded by our wigwams it almost as though we, too, are soaking up the chlorophyll.
Oregon sugar pod peas: a gift from Ferngarden
Reds also plays its part: the crimson shafts of Painted Mountain and Blue Jade corn, the vivid beef-steak leaves of Bulls Blood beetroot, the purple basil coming on stream, the beautiful bronze fennel. We have been leaving our copper-tipped kale to seed since March only to arrive to a cloud of lemon-curd flower adding visual texture to the plot.
Crisp crimson and white French Breakfast radish
One of the joys of last evening was brushing against the coriander as we admired its delicate white flower (we will leave talking about the importance of fragrance in growing food to another post). Know we have already talked too much about calendula here so will quickly skip over how its fluorescent orange petals beam in the evening gloom. And now our crowning glory - tagetes Fire King - is coming into bud. Will try to avoid boring everyone with too may pictures, but until then may your garden, too, add colour to your life (with apologies if this post was just too hippie dippy).
