Photos: Coles County Community Garden

[ysabetwordsmith]

The Coles County Community Garden is across the parking lot from the Charleston Food Forest. It's not the kind where you rent a bed and grow what you want. It's tended by the community and anyone can come pick things to try.


The Coles County Community Garden has a sign inviting people to come pick things to eat.




It has a bunch of raised beds. Some are surrounded by fences. Among the plants I spotted were tomatoes, squash, and some sort of pea or bean.




This raised bed has some sort of legumes growing up its fence.




This one seems to have mostly flowers.




I don't know what this pink flower is, but it's really pretty and there were a lot of them.




A large flowerbed wraps around the small greenhouse and extends off toward the east a ways.




This tall sedum has dark, reddish leaves. I want some. My pollinators love sedum.




These tall purple flowers are growing more or less behind the greenhouse.




Beyond the flower garden stand a couple of garden sheds.




This wild bergamot blooms scarlet. I ate some of the flowers. They're quite tasty. Only my pink bergamot tastes good. The red is awful. The flower flavor varies a lot.




Here is a closeup of a bergamot flower.




In the front part of the flower garden, the yellow flowers are Mexican hats and the orange are gaillardia.




Here's a closeup of the gaillardia.




This part of the front flower garden is next to one of the sheds.




This is purple echinacea.




Yellow coreopsis contrasts with the purple flowers.




A patch of purple prairie clover blooms profusely.