Don't know what the weather is like where you are, dear Garden Variety reader, but it is raining here in Baltimore for what I am sure is the 40th day.

All this rain is good for the garden, but it isn't good for gardening. I am sure there is much mischief afoot out there right now. Slugs and bugs, mosquitos and diseases, mildews and rusts.

Not to mention weeds and all those morning glory seedlings everyone warned me about when I planted the vines last year. You better want morning glories forever, they said.

But there is respite from the rain. Visit today's New York Times' photo tour of the gardens of Philadelphia. And there are plenty of them. The accompanying article says that Philly boosters claim the city has the largest concentration of public gardens in the country. 

The author chose four to visit, and the slide show produced by photographer Mike Mergen to go with her story will get you through this rainy day.

Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/ Jed Kirschbaum