Gardening, Spring

Summer Is Nearly Here

76 Comments

Summer, it seems, is tapping on Spring’s shoulder. The leaves are full and deep green—no more sweet green fringe—and they sigh as the wind moves through them. The blackflies are nearly gone, and the mosquitos have taken their place. The ticks aren’t too bad even though Clif has been bitten once and needed to go on antibiotics as a preventative measure. I check myself when I come in and so far haven’t found any on me.

As a reminder that Spring hasn’t quite left, the peepers still sing at night. Such a sweet song. Here is a short YouTube audio for folks who have never heard this lovely sound.

I have been busy in the garden, moving slowly but steadily, getting the work done. Most of my focus has been on the gardens, but I did take time to make a potato salad to go with our Beyond Burgers—our first but certainly not last barbecue of the season.

As we ate, we listened to the gentle sound of the water in the fountain, a 60th birthday present from Dee, Shannon, and Mike.

Here are some late spring delights from the yard and garden.

A Jack-in-the-pulpit  between the edge of our lawn and the woods,

wood poppies, also on the edge of the yard,

and Solomon’s seal bending over sweet woodruff.

As always, I wish that Spring wouldn’t rush by so fast, that she would linger a little longer. But like a guest who never outstays her welcome, she will soon be off, letting Summer take her place.

 

76 thoughts on “Summer Is Nearly Here”

  1. That water fountain was a beautiful 60th birthday gift.

    I love the sound of frogs in spring. We have had a long, cool spring again, though it is drying out now. Not much rain in sight, which is unusual for this time of year. Clear and 40 degrees this morning, but it will warm into the upper 70s today.

    And I remember well black flies and mosquitoes from back east! No blackflies here in my area, and few mosquitoes in summer.

    1. Thanks, Lavinia. How we enjoy that fountain.

      Wonderful that you aren’t bothered with either blackflies and mosquitos. Dratted things.

      Hope you get some rain soon. Very dry here, too, and there are wild fires to the north in Nova Scotia. Scary, as you know.

  3. Spring is too short here too. We hit 81 yesterday. Can’ say I complained. Just did gardening earlier. After freezing for 5 days only a week or so ago while camping I am enjoying the sun!

  5. The fountain is so beautiful. And the You Tube upload is really something new for us in the Metro. Though we have quite a a number of chirpers here too. I love your expression “spring is like a guest who never overstays.”

  8. Yesterday, I got flat run out of a refuge by the deer flies: summer, indeed! I’m glad your ticks aren’t causing you problems. Mosquitos are an annoyance, but at least they can be successfully repelled.

    It’s just this week that I began hearing our ‘spring noise’ — the cicadas. It’s one of my favorite spring and summer sounds, although we have some sort of frogs or crickets around who are tuning up now, too.

    Love the Solomon’s Seal! I’m sure I’ve seen it in the East Texas woods; I’ll have to take a look the next time I get there, and check the timing of its bloom.

    1. Yuck to those deer flies. We have them at the coast, and those blighters bite hard. Yes, worse than mosquitos. We do have deer flies inland, but not as bad.

      The song of cicadas is lovely, too. I heard them when we visited our daughter in DC.

      I love the elegance of Solomon’s Seal. A relatively recent addition to my garden and a most welcome one.

  11. Thank you for the video – I simply love the sound of frogs and missed them this summer for the dam below our home was dry. Your fountain is gorgeous! So are your flowers 🙂 🙂

  13. It looks like the patio is back in full operation including a delicious menu. It was almost 90 yesterday, and it will hit that again this week. Summer is definitely here so we’d better get the sunscreen and embrace it. Happy gardening and happy week.

    1. You bet! Patio days are here. On day, it was very hot in Maine, too, and how I hate it when it gets in the 90s. I can remember my parents and grandparents complaining when the temp crested 80. I can only imagine what they would say now.

  14. I really like your water fountain! Such a pretty color, and I imagine its sound is restful. Not a fan of ticks, especially with a long-haired dog. It’s in the mid-80s here, so I can appreciate what you’re saying about Spring running off too fast!

    1. Thank you, thank you. Yes, the sound is restful. As for ticks…dratted things. When the kids were young, we weren’t bothered by ticks, which are a recent arrival. We did just fine without them, that’s for sure.

  15. What a lovely weekend it has been, eh? I do prefer the spring temps, but time marches on and the heat will come with it, making the flowers bloom and the veggies grow. 🙂

  18. Thank you for the reminders. I had forgotten about spring peepers and it was fun listening to them. We had them when we lived in Virginia, but not here in South Central Texas.

  19. I like that little fountain. It must be soothing to sit beside it. Good picture of the Solomon’s seal leaning over the sweet woodruff, a lovely composition.

  20. Hi, Laurie – Like you, I try to savour every moment possible of both Spring and Summer. Our current Spring weather is absolutely lovely (and perfect for hiking). Fingers crossed that it will stay this way for a little while longer! 😀

  21. Laurie, I’m so glad you included a video of the Peepers. They’re a delight. It’s been years since I’ve lived in a place where you could hear a variety of frogs. I miss that. I’m always intrigued by the different plants that grow in your wooded area. I’m sorry to hear about the mosquitos and ticks, though, and especially sorry to hear that Clif had to take antibiotics. I hope they do the job.

    Your potato salad looks delicious.

    1. Spring peepers are such a delight. Glad you enjoyed their song. Ticks, alas, are relatively recent arrivals in Maine. When they kids were young, they could play in the woods without worrying about ticks. Now, we have to check ourselves thoroughly after coming in from being outside. Fortunately, antibiotics were given as a preventative measure and the bite did not make Clif sick. Finally, we sure enjoyed that potato salad. A rare treat for us because of the carbs.

  22. Everything is looking lovely in your garden Laurie and I must show the peepers to Mr. Tialys as he is very ‘frog and toad friendly’. We have tadpoles but he stresses about the fish (and newts) eating them and, when we get froglets, he stresses about them being squished by the dogs or the lawnmower.
    We have the Solomon’s Seal too , they’re lovely aren’t they but they are getting rather windswept here as the sun is shining, it’s warm, but there is a constant wind blowing at the moment.

    1. Many thanks! I am with Mr. Tialys all the way in his love of toads and frogs. Best to the tadpoles and froglets—what a wonderful word!. Hope the the wind soon stops blowing so hard and Solomon’s Seal can resume their elegant posture.

  23. I love that fountain! What a very special gift for a lady who loves her garden. And thank you for introducing me to the sound of the peepers which I had never heard before. I have a dahlia and some roses in flower but some of the spring flowers are still in bloom! It is a crazy mixed up year and we have had no rain for 3 weeks with high (for us) temperatures. The weeds love it!

  27. That hamburger sure looks good. What a beautiful fountain, I love the color. I enjoyed the video. Those plants are beautiful and look very healthy. Enjoy what is left of spring.

  28. Love your fountain and wonderful to see grilling season has begun!!🙂 We jumped right into summer with temps going to reach 90 degrees this week and Harper already hiding from fireworks in the neighborhood. I’m glad Clif is doing ok and they have definitely been warning us about ticks this year.

  29. I enjoyed looking at your photos while listening to your peepers. It’s amazing to see how quickly your flowers have come up, or so it seems to me from a distance. Like you, I also want springtime to linger, but she marches at her own (too fast) pace.
    Happy (almost) June,
    Tanja

    1. Thank you, thank you! It is amazing how fast everything grows. In Maine, the plants seem to know that they don’t have much time to dawdle.

  30. I love all the lush green in your yard, Laurie. I can imagine how nice it is to sit outside and listen to your fountain. You’re right that spring doesn’t last long. Enjoy.

  31. Such a lovely post, Laurie. The ticks here in NJ are nuts this year. I’m taking 1 or 2 off Riley every day for weeks now. We feed her garlic and brewers yeast, which has always worked in past years, but I guess I’ll have to resort to something stronger.

    I love Beyond Burgers. I haven’ t had a regular burger (or even the urge for one) since I discovered them.

    Love all your flowers – and I love that fountain. It’s kept its beautiful color over the years.

    1. Thanks, Jodie! Hope the ticks settle down for Riley. Beyond Burgers are so tasty. We always keep a bunch in the freezer. So grateful that the fountain has kept its lovely color.

  32. The fountain is AWESOME. I haven’t ventured into the woods yet in 2023, not even along the trail. I found a few Green Dragon (similar to Jack-In-The-Pulpit) there last year. The photos are great! Thanks for sharing!

  34. Blackflies, mosquitoes, ticks…are you yearning for winter’s bitter chill? 🙂 Hopefully not.

    I love your fountain; the sound of running water is so peaceful, isn’t it.

    1. No, not yearning, although I do like autumn and winter. Blackflies, mosquitoes, and ticks are a fact of life in northern New England. We have learned to live with them and still love spring and summer. However, I do want to add that the ticks are a recent arrival due to climate change. A most unwelcome arrival. sigh.

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  37. Last year Solomon’s Seal just appeared in out garden. Not sure if it suddenly woke up after a four year slumber, hitched a ride in, or has always been there and I only just noticed. Whatever, it makes me very happy. Potato Salad does too 😃

  38. I love the water fountain. Enjoy sunny days Laurie. I haven’t seen my garden for a while. Hopefully will see next week.

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