Giving peas a rung up

Julie Heinsheimer of Palos Verdes, California, has a passion for old, weathered garden implements. So when she found this vintage ladder in a trash heap, she rescued it and put it to use as a support for vining vegetables.

Peas climb it in spring (cucumbers take their place in summer). Wire wrapped around the ladder gives the vine tendrils plenty of places to twine around. Near the ladder, the rosy pink plumes of Jupiter’s beard (Centranthus ruber) attract beneficial insects, including butterflies.