Vegetable Garden at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

Adjacent to the pavilion and barbecue is an herb and vegetable garden. “We've created this beautiful, natural herb garden with sage, butter lettuce, oregano, cilantro and sweet peas,” Hernandez said. “It is close enough to the barbecue that you can just reach out and grab some fresh herbs as you cook.”

Back in the garden, both honeybees and bumbles buzz about the late blooming annuals and if caught unaware by a quickly fading sky, curl up in the dahlias until warmed again by the morning sun. Leaves scutter across the lawn and the drying blades of the ornamental grasses rustle in the daily breeze. Chickadees are heard again at the edge of the vegetable garden—they summer in the deeper woods—and the tiny honks of the nuthatch emanate from the big white pine near the garage.

Our garden measures some 20 by 20 feet, but any size that the gardener has the strength and time to tend will do; even a tiny plot can produce an amazing number of blossoms. The cutting garden should be conveniently located, near the house, and near a watering outlet, and if possible, removed from the general view of the home landscape so you never worry about how it looks, especially after you've cut into it. Ours is in the southeast corner of the vegetable patch, where it gets plenty of sun. And since we walk there every day to check on the tomatoes or pick fresh arugula, we always notice the freshest flowers.