Don't other people's gardens look fantastic? Or at least not actively bad? Or is that just my own selective perception going on?
We spent a lovely evening recently with friends on a screened porch overlooking their substantial vegetable garden. I'm not a great judge of distances, but I'd say the plot was at least 15 feet from the house. And from that distance, it was perfect. Everything looked lush, with a nice mix of annual flowers interspersed to give some color amid all the green veggies. A hummingbird flitted up to visit some cleomes. If there were any weeds, they didn't stand out.
I commented on what a nice support system they had in place. I was told, yeah, that really wasn't so much supporting anything because the tomatoes had just decided to flop on their own in between the two supports. I exclaimed over the adorable little cucumbers on the kitchen counter and the mounds of red banana-shaped tomatoes. I was told that the cucumbers were sadly a tad bitter and the tomatoes were fairly tasteless.
But to my eyes in the waning light of a beautiful late summer night, it looked picture perfect. And those cucumbers were just fine drizzled with a balsamic reduction.
I look at my own garden hypercritically, and there's plenty to criticize from anyone's perspective. But maybe I just need to sit further away from it on the porch with a cool drink and it will take on a different look, and even the weeds will recede. Distance is a gardener's best friend.
Singing, ceremonies and straw hats: Olympics opening ceremony in Tahiti centers Polynesian culture
![Viva Froeming, left, touched the face of friend Virginia Goering as her twin sister Vera Sims looks on. The three ladies, all 101 years old, have been](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/ZRFTXJFYUVHBTFGD4UNQNYTEGI.jpg?h=91&w=145&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
Three 101-year-old friends recall fond memories in 1940s Alexandria
Celine Dion makes musical comeback at Paris Olympics with Eiffel Tower serenade
![Former Gophers diver Sarah Bacon, right, will compete with Kassidy Cook in the women's 3-meter synchronized springboard competition at the Paris Olymp](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/N37HMV3KY5CYPB4SIMTKQVIH7M.jpg?h=91&w=145&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)