I’m trying to figure out where the past nine days have gone. I know work has consumed a goodly portion of it. The one nice thing about gardening is seeing all the changes that occur on different timelines. I’m already picking blackberries and raspberries and my green beans are flowering. The Japanese beetles are dining on the roses, but their numbers are down considerably from this time last year. I didn’t get a chance to lay down Grub-X this year, but maybe the drought last summer thinned the herd. This is the only time of the year I tolerate crows. They love eating Japanese beetles and their larvae. I wish the squirrels and chipmunks would acquire the same taste.
I picked up lures for my Japanese beetles traps and will get the traps set out tomorrow. I think there are about two pints of raspberries to pick. The false sunflowers, blanket flowers, bachelor’s buttons, and catmint around the mailbox are all in bloom now. On the south side of the garage, the various yarrows are in bloom, including a couple of colors I know we didn’t plant. All the clematis are blooming, but it looks like I lost a hardy hibiscus after eight years, and the Russian sage looks like it is on its last legs after almost thirteen years. There has been just enough rain lately to keep the tamarisk loaded with its tiny pink flowers, but not enough to sustain the mosquito population. I think that’s a pretty good balance.
It’s been warm, but the humidity has not been as beastly oppressive as a couple of weeks ago. It appears we’re in for a stretch of upper 80’s to mid-90’s for the next week with only a couple of chances of rain. Of course that will be the day I decide to get the car washed.
Tomorrow will be the first Saturday since Memorial Day weekend I have not had to go into the office. I’m hoping to have a couple more weekends like that before the next crunch kicks in.
Try to brighten someone else’s day when you can! Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful evening.
Thank you for brightening my day, Ken.