Several years ago Ben started a group of wine grape test vines down below the Rose garden.

For a long time not much happened to these miserable little vines lying limp on the ground. The weeds around the vines did much better and Sophie and I spent so much time down there weeding we told Ben that ANY wine he ever got from the grapes was going have to be named after us.

Anyways, this year, while Ben walks the vineyards of La Rioja and other wine regions of northern Spain, all part of his Camino to Santiago de Compostela, his home town grapes have decided to spring into action and bear a lot of fruit.

And the weeds? They aren’t so bad for some reason. Everything is coming into some sort of equilibrium. No doubt Ben will credit his grape whispering in the ancient vineyards along the Camino.

So……..while our harvest this year may bear little resemblance to the vendimia in Spain- no ladies dancing in big vats of grapes- Ben is going to return from his pilgrimage with a lot of grapes waiting for him! That and a lot of junk mail.

The rest of the gardens are also doing their best with the little bit of sun we are getting.

Here Konigin von Danemark gives us a gorgeous show. I love this Rose and its vibration that leads us away from perfectionism and shame spirals towards gentle self acceptance.

F.J. Grootendorst is another Rose that lingers with an endless supply of these generous clusters of summer joy.

Here are Ben’s grapes with annual Pom Pom Poppies in the foreground. I can’t get enough of these Poppies, nor can the bees.