I’ve been a fan of Fine Gardening for well over a decade now, and I’m very excited to finally submit a shot of my garden for your Garden Photo of the Day.
My name is Allison Vallin Kostovick, and I’ve been an organic gardener in Maine for the past 20 years. Over that time, I’ve slowly been on a quest to create my very own secret garden nestled among the woods. I love practicing companion planting. Not only is it effective in terms of pest control, but the interplanting of veggies with herbs and flowers creates instant garden magic. Add in some trellises, and you’re now transported into another world.
Allison’s garden is packed to the brim with plants. They work together practically and visually, and the abundant trellises add another dimension to the whole garden.
Who wouldn’t want to take a moment to sit in the middle of this paradise?
Flowers and vegetables mix together freely in this garden.
Some of the vegetable haul from the garden—what a beautiful feast!
It isn’t just vegetables that come from the garden. I love Allison’s idea of collecting flowers in a basket like this to create a little tapestry of brilliant colors.
Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus, annual) is a classic easy-to-grow annual beloved by pollinators and gardeners alike. The cup-shape form on the right is a relatively new variety of this old-fashioned plant called ‘Cupcake’.
Zinnias (Zinnia elegans, annual) belong in every garden! They are so easy and so colorful.
Some plants do double duty. Chives (Allium schoenoprasum, Zones 5–11) are of course wonderful to use in the kitchen, and the pink flowers make a great display in the garden as well.
In the foreground, the white flowers with dark spots are another great ornamental edible: fava beans. The beans are delicious, of course, but the flowers are beautiful and, even better, smell wonderful.
Have a garden you’d like to share?
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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Comments
Nothing like zinnias & cosmos in the garden.
Aren't they the best garden flowers? So reliable, so prolific, so beautiful. Each year, I keep doubling my plantings. At this rate, I'm not sure where I'll put them all :)
Wonderful images, Allison. That overhead shot of the basket of flowers really drew me in. And like an old friend, that basket reappearing on the harvest table was another memorable image of the richness of growing one's own veggies. One can only imagine a garden filled with bees and butterflies in the oasis you have created. THANKS, for sharing it with us!
I can see a race to the seed catalogs to find 'Cupcake' Cosmos. It's a flower and a party favor simultaneously!
Hi there! I love a good harvest basket...nothing beats walking out to the garden with an empty one and coming back with an over-flowing bounty.
That Cupcake Cosmo was a beauty, though it didn't end up flowering until almost fall. But when it finally did bloom...wow!
Beautiful and lush gardens. I lover the mix of flowers and veggies in your gardens.
Good morning! Thank you so much. It's all credit to companion planting. It's not only effective, but it adds instant whimsy with the combinations of veggies, herbs and flowers.
Hi there! This is Allison from today's post. Thank you so much to Fine Gardening for sharing my garden. And, kindest thanks to this wonderful community for viewing it. I'm a newbie around here, but you can also find me hanging with the garden folks on Instagram as @FinchAndFolly
Cheers from Maine!
Kudos Allison for a beautiful garden with such luscious produce coming from Maine! What is your growing season? Getting vegetables from seed to flower to fruit must be a race every year! Welcome to GPOD - we're delighted to have you!
Hi Cheryl! Kindest thanks for the welcome! I actually sowed the first seed of the season yesterday...onions, leeks and some perennials. Our zone is 5B, but my woods can make my season even a little shorter as the sun often doesn't fully crest our treeline in Spring and Fall. So I start lots of my plants via seeds in February and March and basically take over my basement with seedlings and grow lights until I can set the plants out in May. Have a lovely week!
Allison, your garden does “runneth over” with the wonderful abundance of flowers and food. The trellises are intriguing- do you soak the wood before “weaving” the branches or are branches very young and pliable?
Yes! I would love to take more than a moment to sit in that bit of paradise! Love the way you make growing vegetables look as beautiful as growing flowers- the way you let them mingle together so naturally!
Hi, Allison, I can't decide if I like the "harvest" of your flowers or your vegetables the most. Both are joyfully colorful and give off such positive energy. I'm visiting a very ill family member at the moment and your pictures really lifted his spirits and he said, "I hope heaven is that beautiful." So... a very sincere thank you for your gift of beautiful photos today.
Thanks for sharing your garden space & photos.
I wouldn't mind at all having a harvest like yours of tasty vegetables, maybe one day!
And I love your slippers/shoes !! So Appropriate! Welcome and thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing photos of your beautiful garden. I love it!
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