Blueberries and blooms

 It’s blueberry season. We can’t grow blueberries here. Our soil is all wrong, and blueberries are fussy. I make a point of stocking up on Michigan blueberries in July. This year, I had a yearning for blueberry pie, so I made one. It leaked all over, as fruit pies will, but what remained in the crust was delicious. I don’t think I’ve had blueberry pie since I was in high school. I’ll have to add it to the rotation.

Blueberry pie

The drought continues. We were all excited last Saturday morning when we had an inch of rain in the gage. It didn’t seem so good when we found out that places to the south got upwards of 3”. We could have used that.

Some, but not enough

The harvest continues apace. My vacation with Jane is coming up, and I’m frantically trying to deal with everything from the garden so far before I go. Pretty proud of myself for harvesting some of my carrots before they become the size of tree trunks and just as woody.

Carrots harvested at a reasonable size

The pullets are almost adult sized, although they will not start laying for several months yet. This morning was the first time they came near when I tossed out the scratch grains. They hovered outside the hens, looking for an opportunity to dart in and grab a kernel. So far, they are mostly unsuccessful. They will do better when the 2-year-olds go to their new home at a friend’s house.

Most of the time, the pullets hang around under the cover of one of the apple trees. Here is Brownie II.

Brownie II hiding beneath the Macoun apple tree

It is hard to get pictures of the pullets in the open, as they are always moving. Here is one of the golden-laced Wyandottes, for example, with her heads and legs blurry as she ran by.

Golden Wyandotte on the run

Silvia sort of posed, although I caught her lifting her foot.

Silvia on one leg

Our beehive is going crazy. Terry and I had to put another “super” on the top to make room for the expanding population. It’s going a lot better than last year. Maybe we will even be able to sneak out some honey.

Busy bees

We got Russian bees this year. Here is a photograph of two of our comrades pollinating a female zucchini blossom.

Thank you, comrades!

In spite of the drought, we have insects everywhere. This is a painted lady butterfly on a purple coneflower. If you look closely, you can see her proboscis in the flower.

Painted lady drinking nectar

Tiger swallowtails will let me walk right up to them as long as I’m not holding a camera. I chased this one all over, and this was the best I could do.

Camera-shy tiger swallowtail on beebalm

Over the summer, a truly enormous plant grew behind one of the compost bins. I couldn’t tell what it was from the leaves, so I left it. It is almost as tall as the tractor shed!

Giant multi-stemmed mystery plant

My bet was that it was some nasty invasive, but to my delight, it turned out to be evening primrose! The red stem was a hint, but I wasn’t sure until I saw the flowers.

Evening primrose

This is a close-up of the primrose flower. There are pollen granules on the pistil. Perhaps it will disperse.

Primrose close-up

One dewy morning, the prairie dropseed glittered in the morning sun. I couldn't resist an artsy photo.

Dewy prairie dropseed

The natives that I grew from seed this year are doing well. The only annual I planted was partridge pea. I worried that it would not establish because the stupid deer kept eating the shoots. Dry as it has been, I suppose they go after anything that has been watered. Finally, the partridge pea is winning, though. If it sets seed, it may persist and spread.

Partridge pea flowers

The cup plant shows no indication of blooming this year. I’m happy enough to see it developing large leaves.

Cup plant getting mature leaves

The swamp milkweed is about to bloom.

Buds on swamp milkweed

The first plant in the rain garden to bloom is Great Blue Lobelia. The stripes on the underside of the flower are characteristic of the species. Ecologist that I am, have to wonder how that benefits the plant. And I’ll never know.

Great Blue Lobelia

All of the plants in the rain garden are perennial, so I have no idea who will bloom this year and who will wait. The blazing star seemed to be shooting up some floral stalks. Time will tell.

Bingo was a very bad boy today. He tore up the floor strip covering the transition between the kitchen tile and the living room wood floor. As you can see, however, he is a master of looking innocent.

Bad boy Bingo in his favorite cat tree