Greetings from the gardens of Alcott House. I spent all of Saturday weeding, watering, moving soil, trimming, and sowing. Except for my dreadful pea crop, things are looking pretty good.

Unlike the edible peas, the sweetpeas are strong and healthy, and the blossoms are just starting to open. I have planted them in the Parlor Bed and trellised them over the handrail beside the front door with hopes that the handrail beside the Library Bed will have morning glories on it later this summer.

[Apparently I somehow managed to get my finger in a couple of these photos. My skills with a camera do not improve.]

Looking up at the Eastern Terrace: You can see in the foreground red-veined sorrel and strawberries, chamomile behind them. On the left the garden box at the edge of the Breadbasket: it has new plantings of scallions, radishes, kale, and collards. The purple behind them is a clump of salvia in the Library Bed.

Another view of the Eastern Terrace. In the Lowlands in front: catnip and my neighbor's iris. On the terrace proper, strawberries, with chamomile and tomato stakes behind them.

A sidewalk view of the Breadbasket: In the front, young zinnia and dianthus seedlings, which will thicken and spread. Behind them, a future hedge of sunflowers and okra. A cucumber under the wooden trellis, a row of green beans, a row of terrible peas, an artichoke, and a few succession sowings of salad greens.

The Red Walk, with thyme in bloom, and side glimpses of Concord Plain and the Breadbasket.

Ruckus looking handsome on Concord Plain.

The Lane: Garlic and shallots are huge and healthy in the front box. The rear box contains carrots, beets, lettuce, and cilantro. The pots are nasturtiums, mint, and a geranium. The cat is Ruckus, who was trying to be in all of the photographs.

Harmony iris and a white rugosa blooming in the Hill Country. Lilies in front are budding, and will bloom soon.

The newly expanded Lantern Waste bed: The thick middle row features pink dahlias. Behind, them ornamental wheat and cosmos. In front, euphorbia and and sedum. Scarlet runners are climbing the light post.

The first summer we moved here, I transplanted this weedy little peony from the Hill Country into the Library Bed. It did nothing much for three years. Then, this summer, it suddenly bloomed. Turns out it's a beautiful unusual variety, called a Japanese peony, with a single circle of petals instead of a crinoline fluff. The color is pale pink, and the flower bears considerable resemblance to a rose, with a strong wonderful scent.

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I spent some time yesterday harvesting chamomile flowers to dry for tea. These self-sowed plants have been a joy this summer: bright and full, bobbing in the breeze.

Another view of the Eastern Terrace: young tomato plants, interspersed with salad greens. Various herbs along the terrace edge. My neighbor's pink blossoms framing them.