When the Heat is on the Punkin

Reentry whiplash is dogging me today. Good thing it's cooler and bearable to be in the garden. Are the pumpkins turning orange earlier this year?

Last Look

What a wonderful getaway. I miss it already and feel a bit wistful. We returned to over-100 degree temperatures--a harsh welcome.

Small Waves

More tide pools today as well as swallows building a nest on the sea cliff and an opportunity to go wading. In the afternoon we saw wild turkeys. At dusk we walked out to meet the sunset.

Tidal Treasures

We hiked along the sea cliffs with occasional descents to the tide pools. Mussels, star fish, anemones, hermit crabs, and all number of creatures were to be found. I could feel tension easing away and the excellent food and person I'm sharing it with helps.

Snake is the Grass

We have found serenity and cool weather. There was fog when we arrived which has since burned off leaving a golden glow. I'm so glad to get away and celebrate.

Crazy Passion

These flowers are like something Chihuly dreamed up. Or, maybe, a Jetsons futuristic flower. Somewhat cooler today but one of the tomato plants collapsed under its own weight.

Blazing A-maizing

The corn is so much higher than knee high and it's not yet the 4th of July. But it is hot. Ate fresh-picked green beans and harvested cucumbers.

Syc-syc-sycamore

The heat of the last couple of days is making the garden go crazy. We have a couple of cucumbers and the beanstalks are taking over the world. Even the sycamore trees are getting in on the fruiting.

Glory Bush

I finally looked this one up since I pass it every day. Tibouchina urvilleana is less imaginative than Princess Flower or the Glory Bush. Haven't seen any bees hanging out with it yet.

The White Dahlia

According to the stories I've heard, my grandfather raised dahlias. My dad does the same. It was nice to spend the day with him.

Buckeye

Poor butterfly is looking a bit battered. He must have seemed appetizing to some bird. Cooler and overcast today.

Salvia-ating

The bee's lazy droning was soothing after an extraordinarily long day. Hot again. Cooler tomorrow.

Southern Comfort

Now we've hit 96 degrees. The magnolia's blossoms shimmer in the heat. This blossom is bigger than my head.

O'Keeffery

The calla lilies are flames in the garden. I resisted gathering their pollen on my finger like I did when I was a kid. Maybe tomorrow.

You Say Potato

The mercury is creeping up on the thermometer. Soon we'll be at or above normal. The garden will love it even if I don't.

Metallica

The iridescent, green sweat bees like the echinacea but nothing else in the garden. I like weekends but am getting less and less fond of Mondays. Soul-sucking would be an apt description of the day.

Young Buck

The deer are back! Some of this guy's buddies were rustling about in the bushes. We stared at each other for a while.

Emergence

I've been missing mushrooms so was happy to see this one popping up. There's much more sun today though puffy white clouds occasionally block out the sun. Comfortably low temperatures for a few more days.

Lavatera

Overcast and cool and hard to believe it's mid-June. Hummingbirds visited the salvia on my deck and the tree mallow blossoms were cheery. Sunset in pastel shades.

Around the Globe

The vegetable world's answer to the sea anemone. Lucky for the bees it's neither toxic nor carnivorous. And any movement is supplied by outside forces.

The Wanderer

I saw this monarch yesterday but it was too high up in the bushes to take a picture. Today it obliged by sitting right in front of me for a long time. A bright spot in a banal day.

Attracted

The buddleia was attracting more bees and birds than butterflies. It didn't matter to the hummingbird that the flowers were purple rather than red. The cool weather abides.

Orgy

Voluptuous cactus flowers lured the bees. And the bees dove in head first and wallowed in the pollen. Their bedfellows went unheeded as they writhed in seeming ecstasy.

Populus

Cottonwood fluff swirled through the blue and lodged wherever there were weeds or short grasses to hold it down. The weather is marvelous and the air is still feeling fresh after the rain we had this week. This morning's walk was lovely.

Cherry Ripe

When I was a kid our cherry tree was grafted with four varieties and was super productive. I used to stand outside and eat cherries that had been warmed by the sun and I did that again today. No cherry pit spitting contests, though.

Shy

Eggplant flowers are beautiful but usually point toward the ground. The clouds were clearing away. The sky was an enchanting blue.

Gray Hairstreak

I'm pretty sure this is Strymon melinus relaxing in the sun. It could probably use the rest. Last night we had an unusual (almost unheard of) thunderstorm--with both sheet and forked lightning--that lasted for hours and poured down rain.

Black-Eyed

I managed to fit two more basil plants into the garden. Pesto cravings are becoming chronic. Can't believe this cooler weather we've been having--it's excellent.

Fruit of Our Labors

I spied the first of the baby tomatoes today. Will they be ripe before the end of the month? My garden fascination continues and the weather is completely cooperating.

The Moon and the Stars

Another refugee from the garden that's living on my deck. It's a Moon and Stars watermelon and the speckles on the leaves will have cousins on the melons themselves (the moons & stars) if I'm lucky enough to get any. I have a few more empty pots so must see what else I can squeeze out there.