Cats, Flowers, summer

Late July, 2026

65 Comments

At the beginning of the month, we had a horrible heatwave, and I whined about how we don’t have summers in Maine the way we once did. Well, either the weather gods heard my lament and took pity on me, or they decided to pull one of their little tricks. The heatwave lasted for a few days, and since then, we have been having an old-fashioned Maine summer — warm, dry days with temps in the low 80s and cool nights that dip down into the 50s or 60s. In other words, sheer delight. I wish readers suffering through extreme heat could be in Maine right now to enjoy this perfect weather.

My front gardens are in a bit of funk right now and not just because of the work on the house. Somehow, with the demise of my lilies because of the lily beetles, I just haven’t found anything to take their place in terms of color and pizzaz for late July and August. Darn things! The beetles are relatively new to Maine, and I wish they had never crossed the border. But in everyday life, we know how far we get ahead with wishes. The lily beetles are here to stay, and I have decided not to grow lilies in the garden.

However,  the plants on my porch are thriving. Between the perfect weather and just the right amount of watering and feeding, they are in their glory.

Begonias,

coleuses,

and those oh-so-pretty petunias really jazz up the front porch.

In other news…Clif began tearing siding off the house,

but he ran into some problems. Or rather, they ran into him.

Now, for the most part, we are very careful not to destroy the homes and habitat of the creatures who live around us. In our yard, Moles and ants burrow and dig with abandon. Porcupines are allowed to use the underneath of our shed for a home. But Clif was unable to work on the house with a nest guarded by dive-bombing biters. (I am not sure if it is a hornet or wasp nest, but the results are the same. Readers, if you know what kind of nest this is, do let me know.)

So last night, when it was dark, Clif found a long piece of wood and knocked the nest down. This morning, I used the wood to hook the nest, which still had insects buzzing around it, and deposited it into the woods on the side of our yard. At least we didn’t have to use poison to get rid of the problem, and this afternoon, Clif will be able to resume work on the house.

Never a dull moment at our house on the edge of the woods, but Kai, one of our cats, took it all in stride as he relaxed in the living room.

Ah, the life of a cat!

 

 

65 thoughts on “Late July, 2026”

  1. I am so loving this old fashioned Maine summer weather. Windows open all day and night is such a treat!
    Lily beetles completely decimated my whole bed a few years back. I miss them and their bright bursts of color…. but haven’t planted any more for fear the little red bastards will come back.
    Your potted plants are lovely!

  2. I am impressed that you walked that nest of stingers, even being on a piece of wood! Wow! Your flowers are gorgeous.

      2. I’m not sure relocating is exactly the right description as they won’t be able to reuse the nest. But none were killed, and they can rebuild.

  3. So glad you are having normal Maine weather. I made the mistake of celebrating how mild our summer has been, and that we had even had enough rain. So then of course the Guadalupe flooded again (17-25 inches of rain in 24 hours), this time with fewer lives lost but tremendous property damage. And the “mild” summer is about to be hit with a heat dome and triple digits. Be careful not just for what you wish for but also what you take for granted. Re the nest: I got into the outs with a former neighbor, who, in the process of doing me a favor had a crew in my yard that felt the need to spray mud-dauber nests, which had never been a problem where they were. I sent him a very formal thank-you for the favor, and never spoke to him again.

    1. Oh, gosh! So sorry about the floods. That is a heck of a lot of rain.in 24 hours. Also, sorry to read about the heat dome. Sigh. Can’t imagine taking it upon myself to spray a nest on someone else’s property without asking first. What the heck.

      1. Just to clarify the wasp spraying: we had a pool, and the neighbors’ tree dropped leaves into it. He was having tree work done and offered have the branches over the pool cut, which meant coming into our yard. I agreed, and the tree guys who came in saw the mud dauber nest near the pool equipment and sprayed it. The pool equipment, around which I and the pool guy spent a lot of time with no ill effects, ever. I complained to the neighbor and we never spoke again. Glad we moved away. No pool, no arrogant neighbor. We also had ground wasps, which carried the bodies of cicadas to the hollow spaces under the pool deck. They were fascinating to watch, and not aggressive, so I left a note for the people who bought the house so they wouldn’t, um, spray them, too.

  5. Kai is a lovely creature! 😻
    Wasp/hornet nests are not tolerated close to our house either. I try to catch them early on while they are just getting started, but sometimes they escape notice (like when they nest in our stone wall). Once they have babies in those nests, it is war on all those who come too near, yikes!
    Maybe you could replace your lilies with daylilies? Not the same scent-wise, but the yellow ones like ‘Hyperion’ have a nice scent and are fairly tall.

    1. For some reason, daylilies don’t do well in my front yard. On the other hand, my hostas are flourishing in a once sorry-looking bed. So not all is woe. 😉 So true about how it is when there are babies in the nest. I, too, try to catch the nests before they get too big, but this one got away from me.

  6. Mrs Tootlepedal spotted and removed one lily beetle early in the season and luckily we seem to have escaped having any more. Fingers crossed. I am happy that you got some decent weather.

  7. My goodness! So much for lazy days of summer … so much excitement in your quarters. Looks like Maine has not been spared from the effects of global warming.

    Evicting critters, especially of the stinging sort is tricky. Cheering you on as home renovations continue.

  8. I’m glad your wish for more normal Maine weather came true, Laurie. Maybe I need to learn to express my wishes for better weather more forcefully!

    It’s nice to know that some of your flowers are thriving, even if others have died. All of us will need to adjust what we plant in our gardens as the climate wreaks havoc on the world as we have known it.

  13. wow, be careful. Those insects can be vengeful! You coukd put in black eyed Susan’s to replace the lilies for late summer color.

  14. Laurie, I wonder if you’ve ever considered zinnias worthy enough to make a home where your lilies once were? They are tough yet beautifully coloured.

  15. What an interesting nest that is! I’d never seen one like that, so I used one of my apps to ID it, and learned it belongs to the bald-faced hornet. The nests begin smallish, but can grow to the size of a basketball. They’re active for only a single season, housing hundreds of aggressive defenders before dying off in the winter. I also found this: “These hornets can spray venom from their stingers as a unique defensive mechanism, primarily targeting the eyes of intruders, which can cause temporary blindness and irritation.”

    “This spray, combined with their ability to sting multiple times and their aggressive nest defense, makes them dangerous to humans and animals that get too close to their extra large nests which can contain more than 700 hornets.”

    It’s good you got rid of that nest without suffering any harm!

  17. Yes, lily beetles are annoying. It is always good to exist in harmony with nature but I admit I draw the line at wasps – I react badly to the stings so have to take action when we get a nest. Fortunately we don’t get many. The nest under our shed is bees so we are leaving them and assuming they will probably go elsewhere next year. The life of a cat looks pretty good from this angle.

      1. In the UK, of course, we let them roam because they are near the top of the food chain over here. Even then, they tend not to use this freedom when it wet or cold. 🙂

  18. I’m pleased about your weather. Ours is hotting up again. Recently Martin paused weeding the Back Drive when he spotted a robin’s nest and waited for the babies to fledge. That nest of yours looks like a beady eye

    1. Hope your weather doesn’t get too hot! So good of Martin to wait for the babies to fledge. A beady eye is exactly the right description.

  19. You have beautiful flowers and hope you all are enjoying evenings in Patio.

    Our little summer is over. It looks like the rain and the cold are here to settle.

    1. We are enjoying nights on the patio. Summer over so soon. Even in Maine, it lasts trough August, but perhaps you are farther north than we are.

  21. It looks like a paper wasp nest and those creatures are mean. We had an infestation two years ago and a blog friend advised me to get some decoys, little paper lanterns that look like a paper wasp nest. Apparently, they don’t like nesting in someone else’s territory, so we hung some and, knock wood, so far it seems to have deterred them. I’ll keep you posted. https://www.southernliving.com/do-fake-wasp-nests-work-11970984

  22. Your flower pots are really beautiful. I need to arrange for some flowers at my balcony next year, I’ve only had strawberries there this year. Best of luck with the work on the house, I am sure it is going to be great.

  23. The worst of the heat has gone here too. Such a relief! Your yard is looking lovely.

      1. We had a bit of rain yesterday but it wasn’t much and didn’t last long. The whole of Wales is now officially in drought and hosepipe bans are being introduced.

  24. The porch flowers are magnificent! And I love hearing how you aim to live with all the creatures of nature whenever possible. You do set a fine example.

  25. A story of weather, bygone lilies, kindly pest removal and spectacular flowers. A typical summer day in Maine, when one has the right outlook. Oh how I envy sleeping with the windows open in July. I can feel it if I shut my eyes. . . .

    1. In Maine, July turned out to be a glorious old-fashioned summer. After reading about the terrible fires in Europe, I am so grateful for the weather we are having. Since the second week in July, our windows have been open day and night. Again, like the old days, when we didn’t close the windows until September.

    1. Thanks! That was very helpful. After reading the description, I would have to say it was a wasp’s nest. Sorry we had to take it down, but needs must. Also glad Clif did not get hurt.

  29. Oh good! I’m so glad the heat broke and you got some respite!

    Kai and his fluffy belly have my heart! We have a 19 year old Maine Coon mix and her fluffy belly is her favorite thing to show us 🙂

    Hope August is off to a great start!

    1. August is off to a a good start with much needed rain. Hope we get at least an inch. Kai’s fluffy stomach is indeed adorable. So lovely that your Maine Coon mix has lived to be 19. I’m hoping our Maine Coon mix will live that long.

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