And the party garden wins

 

Snaps to my good friend Gordon Ballard (who does not blog but should); photos of the transition of his entertainment area from a winter disaster to an awesome gathering space won the July Fine Gardening photo contest (on their website). 

Above is one of  my favorite images of Gordon's garden, though I've certainly logged plenty of hours at the cantina. (I guess this is kind of a TGIF post.)

Comments

[Caroline Homer]

What a neat space - I love it! What are those spiky blue flowers in the second picture on the bottom right? I must have some!

[Eliz]

Those are eryngium, Caroline. They are sold at most nurseries and I understand they are pretty easy to grow with sun.

Of course, I wouldn't know about that.

[susan harris]

Been in it, and LOVE that garden!

[Ann]

just want to send you a note about water rates in Carlsbad CA going up 45% on agriculture. Big center for flower production, strawberries. City council discussing subsidzing the Flower Fields so they can stay in business.

What's ahead for California flower industry?

[Liisa]

I'm going to regret jumping into the CA/Water discussion, but... (with both feet)

California's history with water and its love affair with agribusiness are troublesome at best. Many of the largest food suppliers not only get their water either free or at a ridiculously low cost, they are able to sell it back to the state. For a state that seems to be suffering from drought every year, this appears to be folly.

But money talks... And, California is not only the country's biggest agri-supplier, it supplies food to the world (at least we export something, right?).

Who wins? Big business (the "lovely" people who bring you POM Wonderful, Almond Accents, Sunkist pistachios and Fiji Water are all the same people who own Teleflora), of course. Who loses? Everyone else, including the individual farmer, who needs the water subsidy to survive, but is driven out of business by regulations meant to curtail the large farmer.

What's ahead for California agriculture? The answer lies in an ever-depleting water source and the mysterious disappearance of the imported European honeybee -- a necessity brought in for the lucrative almond crops.

Sorry, I had to put my 2 (or more) cents in here.

[greg draiss]

Outstanding garden with the entertainment area as a focal point. These folks get it when it comes to enjoying the garden.

The TROLL