I visited Stonecrop in Cold Spring, NY yesterday and, as always, admired their ornamental vegetable garden. The central feature (aside from a scarecrow in the shape of an over-stuffed 'Gertrude Jekyll) was a bed of cole crops - tightly curled kale in purple and green, red and green cabbage, flowering broccoli, savoy cabbage, brussels sprouts - all flourishing and making a great display. They had just planted a small bed of 'Red Sails' lettuce, making a herringbone pattern by laying diagonal pieces of bamboo a few feet apart and then putting in the lettuce seed in short rows that ran perpendicular to the path in one section and horizontially in the next.

One bed of tiny hot peppers featured shiny black fruit that ripened to scarlet. And a big teepee of scarlet runner beans and another of pole beans with purple flowers. Have to admit that I was tempted to pick a purple bean just to nibble on.

My own garden patch is strictly utilitarian but I can admire the thought and energy that went into this plantings.