Rainy Day.

7-7-26 VERMONT: It’s a nice cool rainy day, in the sixties. We got 0.25 inches so far. I already emptied the boat, one job after each rain is to dump the rainwater out of the boat. I have to refill a hummingbird feeder also. 

We went to Frost Gardens yesterday, a nursery that always closes in July and has a sale of all the stock that is unsold. I bought some stuff to work in the empty spots in the gardens. I got a spiderwort, ‘Sweet Kate’ Trascantia, two hybrid daylily, ‘Happy Returns’, Homercallis, two bee balm, Monarda didyma, and six cardinal flowers, Lobelia cardinalis and six poppies, Tangerine Jem. 

Hillary and Matt come tomorrow, and so will have plenty to do, as they already have the milkweed to plant. I’ve decided to pull the peonies out of the bed below the deck because they are getting overwhelmed by the other stuff and move them to the pond bank. Next weeks job. 

New blooms: first hosta, summer azalea, ox eye, false sunflower, more delphinium, hybrid daylily, bee balm, astilbe, hydrangea, St. Johns wort. 

Early morning, just before the sunrise. This is an unedited cell phone image.

Here's a closer look. It was all gone a few minutes later, and then I went back to sleep.

Hybrid daylily in red.

And another, two tone, with a fly.

Regular daylily with Japanese maple.

Ox eye on the pond bank.

Summer azalea. Ours are in these sweet, pastel colors in contrast to the vivid colors of the spring azaleas.

First of many hostas.

Happy Fourth.

7-3-26 VERMONT: We have been prisoners of the heat wave, held captive in the house with cool air from the heat pumps. There has been rain every day 0.75 inches, which has kept everything watered. The bedroom has been hot at night, but the window fan cools it off enough. The cool air doesn’t get upstairs, no ducts above the first floor.

I have had to water the tomatoes on the deck and six milkweed plants that I bought at Browns to add to the milkweed bed on the pond bank. I’m waiting for Hillary and Matt to plant them. They are swamp milkweed ‘Soulmate’ Asclepsias incarnata. That bed has lost a lot of the plants it had last year—drought, maybe. 

Happy Fourth to everyone [except the administration], enjoy the fireworks. We will be watching on TV trying to keep the dogs calm. The dogs have not liked the T-storms we’ve had the past few nights. I haven’t liked them much either. 

New blooms: filipendula, daylily, delphinium, Shasta daisy.

Daylily, the flower of July. This one opened June 30 and the last one will probably be August 1. They are commom and grow everywhere, but are always a welcome sight in mid-summer, another one of my favs.

Red sky at dawn, but don't sweat it if you're not sailing in the tropics.

Judy and I got the buggy out of the barn. It has made it's journey for the year, but looks good in the yard.

Luna Moth on ferns during the day. They only live about a week and don't eat or drink, living only to mate. Check out those lacy antennae.

Shasta daisy. Thjey like the pond bank and full sun.

Maltese cross. Originally the eight-pointed cross was the symbol of the medieval Knights Hospitaller, but now is a symbol for firefighters.

Heat Wave.

6-29-26 VERMONT: A massive heat dome is moving east from KC and Chicago, and we might have 100º in a couple days—glad we have ponds, and AC. We got another 0.5 inches of rain this week with more predicted. 

Penny and Frank were here for the weekend, we went to Cloudland Farms Saturday and had dinner here with Shari and Dave Friday. Judy made sensational duck for that dinner and rhubarb and peach pie for dessert.

I have done more chores and with Judy’s help got the buggy out of the barn for it’s summer appearance. 

New blooms: rosebay rhododendron, goats beard, summer sweet, catalpa tree, mallow, Maltese cross.

The upper pond with forget-me-not and the last of the iris, we may be in it this week.

The catalpa tree covered with flowers. I planted it 10 years ago. It's a fast grower.

Beautiful catalpa flower cluster with a tunnel in each flower for the pollinator to get the nectar and spread the pollen.

Goats beard loves deep shade.

A single peony, I like these better than the doubles.

The double peonies, OK if you like unbridled exuberance.

Mallow, opened today.

Reunion Season.

6-23-36 VERMONT: We have had lots and lots of rain, 2.35 inches, with a soaking almost daily. It’s been cool, and we’re not in summer clothes. We have had fires some nights. 

Our daughter and son-in-law, both ‘85s, hosted their reunion, their 40th, with 14 guests here. They all brought food, and mostly took it away after, they were great guests. Actually we have known them since they were undergraduates. Appropriately, they all raved about the house and gardens. Alison and Dan stayed on to help with the clean up.

I have done chores and planted a delphinium, ‘Cobalt Dreams’, D. elatum and a Penstemon, ‘Pink Pearls’, P. barbatus. Both are on the pond bank near the roses. I have started fencing the pond bank beds to keep the lawn mowers away from the flowers.

New blooms: red yarrow, Russian sage, red spirea, creeping Veronica, cinquefoil.

Ruby-throated hummingbird taking a break.

Old folks in their rockers on the front porch with their dogs.

The '85s and some significant others.

That's an Olympic rower relaxing in the stern.

An Itoh peony in yellow.

One of the last iris as they prepare to exit the stage.

Roses bordering the pasture. June is rose month here.

Orange Morning.

6-17-26 VERMONT: It’s been cool since that last rain. More rain predicted for tomorrow and possibly all weekend. After the drought last summer, I don’t ever complain about too much rain. Technically it’s not summer yet anyway. 

I forgot to mention a few flowers in the previous post: rodgersia, bishops weed, wild daisy, yarrow. Apologies to those plants, no slight intended.

The lawn mowers were here this morning and nipped some of the flowers. I’ll have to scold them and add some fencing to the beds.

We had neighbor Diana over for dinner a few evenings ago. Her husband Steve is at fiddle camp. 

The dogs woke us up 5 AM, a few minutes before the sunrise this morning. I took a pic while in bed and half asleep through the open, screened window. 

New blooms: spider wort, foxglove, ninebark ‘Diablo’, maple leaf viburnum, blue-eyed grass, masterwort, white gas plant, rose plants by the fence.

Orange sky at 5:10, the sun came up about a minute later. It was between Mt. Lafayette and Moosilauke on the north-east horizon.

Lupin are hard to get started because they are easily pushed out by more aggressive plants. They are legumes and so are able to take nitrogen out of the air, which means they can grow where those aggressive plants cannot. To get these to grow and come back, I dug a pit and filled it with sand [no soil], a hostile habitat that lupin likes.

Foxglove, source of digitalis, that was a commonly used medication that is almost never used anymore. I had a Medical Professor, while in training, who said that Digitalis glycoside killed more people every year than Homicide.

Wild daisies are pretty, but the Shasta, garden daisies are more showy, and will show up soon.

Vermont in June.

6-15-26 VERMONT: We are here for the summer. I came up Friday and Judy on Saturday. We have been busy organizing and all that. The big storm last night gave us 1.75 inches and a lightening show that lit up the night.

The June display is open. The big three are the roses, peonies and primrose. The peonies and roses are just getting started. I have listed everything in bloom, some things finishing up and some just starting. It’s a long list.

In bloom: forget-me-not, iris, meadow rue, Jacobs ladder, peony, geranium, chive, knapweed, centaurea, bleeding heart, columbine, blue star, lamium, poppy, baptisia, rose, hybrid daylily, lupin, abelia, weigela, celandine, lady mantle, bridal wreath spirea, lilac, anemone, primrose, vetch, wild strawberry, buttercup, Wentworth viburnum, raspberry, azalea, stephanandra, Solomon seal, burning bush, sweet woodruff, ajuga, dianthus, thyme, fever few, jack-in-the-pulpit, penstemon.   

Centaurea, also called bachelor button. We have it in

Corner of the pond with roses and iris.

Hosta rule the front of the new house.

Here are some peonies.

Iris flags reflected in the pond.

An Itoh peony, a new hybrid, often in yellow.

Anemones, lupin, iris, and primrose on another corner of the pond.

Judy has the flags out and also took this pic of the old house.

Siberian iris and flag iris.

Bandit.

6-9-26 SHORT HILLS: We had a little rain, 0.45 inches, with a lot of wind that brought down some branches. We are both finishing up with medical visits, and Judy is doing lots of dog therapy sessions at mostly schools in the area.

I’m going to need help with the yard, every thing is getting over grown, and it’s too much for me now to keep up with pruning and trimming. We are packing and organizing for the summer in VT.

We had a visit from what Alison calls a ‘trash bandit’. He was furry and masked and up a tree on garbage night. I didn’t put the cans out because I was sure he/she would get into the bags. In the morning she/he was gone, and Judy put the garbage out very early.

Can you find him/her? I saw the bandit as soon as I went out on Garbage Night.

Here's a closer look.

And a close up. Rita or Randy is pretty cute.

Catalpa tree bloom.

Another look at the Southern Magnolia flower.