This is being posted in 2024. This post was drafted last year, but languished on my computer following an accident. I am dating this according to when the photographs were taken so that the posts land in the right spot in the timeline.
So much for August. August brought rain, causing some plants to sulk and wait for drier days. September is feeling more like August—a lot of dry, sunny days with pleasant temperatures.The Japanese anemones budded a little late, but bloomed the first week of September, as usual. They had—I kid you not—flower stalks that are pushing 4 feet in height. I did not have to bend over to get photographs of these flowers, which just started to bloom.
Oddly, the Indian pinks had a second round of blooms, which has never happened before. They normally bloom in late June and July.
As things continued to dry out, the Rudbeckia triloba finally put in an appearance. They are normally an August flower. This is a plant with rabbit troubles, so it is just holding its own despite the numerous flowers.
On the other hand, the New England asters were a little earlier than usual, perhaps because of the additional rain. They are afflicted with powdery mildew this year, which is not usual. The wet weather earlier this summer, followed by a dry August, probably stressed the plants.
The single pawpaw has not heard that pawpaws are not self fruitful. I don’t know of any other pawpaws in the vicinity, but it fruited anyway. Maybe there is a pawpaw hiding behind my neighbor’s fence, where I cannot see it. They are not subtle with those huge leaves, so I would be surprised, but it’s possible.
It seems to be fruitful year. The Magnolia stellata fruited heavily this year, which wasn’t particularly noticeable until the pods ripened and started opening; there are orange, pea-sized seeds all over the tree. It’s very pretty.
On a hopeful note, the arugula that settled in next to the back steps has been hosting a lot of honeybees. There have been fewer pollinators than usual, so I am glad to see these bees, but I am also being very watchful on the steps.
I have to add one last photograph that is not from this yard. I arrived at work one morning and had to wait for these two to stroll across the road. This is a college parking lot on an ambulance route and a block away from one of the main roads through town. Those are turkeys. They were totally undisturbed by the morning traffic pulling into the parking lot.
I was smiling the rest of the day. Turkeys! As road crossings go, this is much better than crossing the 45-mile-per-hour road outside the parking lot.