Summer Garden

 

This is a good time of year to take a walk in a community garden. The zinnias are lovely around here right now. Click to enlarge.

You might see cantaloupes growing on the vine, not like we usually see them in the supermarket.

Or pretty grapes on a weathered wood fence.

Or trendy veggies like this Tuscan kale. It's called dinosaur kale, too, for its presumed resemblance to bumpy dinosaur skin.

Sometimes there are interesting insets to see like this harlequin bug. 

Here's a closer look. The name harlequin comes from a character in 16th century Italian comedy who always wore a multicolored costume. Apt, except that this colorful bug is no joke in the garden where it can be very destructive. 

 

Harlequin bugs were having a big party on the kale the day I was there.

And look at all the Japanese beetles on this zinnia flower! 

Yet the gardeners seemed to be holding there own against the insets, producing an abundance of lovely summer plants. Good job, gardeners.