There's little I enjoy more than biting into a just-picked fruit or vegetable in the summer. We have fruit trees in our backyard that produce apples, pears, cherries and peaches. I'm convinced our cherry tree feeds the squirrel and bird population in our town. I submit the following photo as evidence...
We also always plant a variety of tomatoes, herbs and strawberries...
A few weeks ago my husband and I had an extra day and a half before we flew home from our vacation in North Carolina, so we visited Williamsburg in Virginia. I was fascinated with the recreated period flower and vegetable gardens in Colonial Williamsburg. These gardens were originally owned by the colonial merchant or tradesmen. Behind their homes, they planted small orchards and vegetable gardens with herbs and flowers scattered throughout. Their recreation is evident in the naturalistic gardens found in Williamsburg today. Here's an example of what we saw...
While these gardens are recreations, they convey the spirit and character of eighteenth century gardens. I love the way they used natural substances to shore up their gardens -- like these stick-like trusses for the squash and tomatoes plants.
These boxes contained squash plants. The lid could be lowered in case of frost...
English colonists brought with them different seeds, bulbs, and roots of their favorite flowers, so their flower gardens became a combination of those Old World favorites and the native plants (American wildflowers) they found in the New World..
These beautiful gardens inspired me.
If you'd like to visiting more gardens,
go to Ms. Green Thumb Jeans for more Bloomin' Tuesday posts.
