Middle Season #14- 2026

 

Catalpa blooming, dropping blooms, hop hornbeam in Bemis, all new growth on Canadian hemlock in front yard, the lovely colors of green and white in area hydrangeas -- oak leaf hydrangeas are beginning to open fully, too.

Tuesday June 2

1. Day starts w Robin coming for a drink

Wednesday, June 3

1. Hallway yellow orchid opens

Th June 4

1. warm: 86* and DP 55* still comfortable.  That’s 35% humid (soon the DP will stick closer to 70)
2. Clover smells nice. 
3. Japanese lilac on driveway is beginning to open. 
4. Another hallway yellow orchid opens
5. The Kiki orchid opens one blossom. I inadvertently spray it with vinegar water I was using to clean the windows. 
6. HB at 6:03. In shade. Green back. Dark head. White scarf. As he heads towards me to leave, a flash of red at his throat
7. Windy. Warm day. 
8. The starling chooses 4 or 5 dry grass stems and flies to his nest

Friday June 5

1. 5/2 very faint blood
2. The first drops of rain at 9:17. 
3. Some hydrangea blooms are open. Not a full cone yet. 
4. What we save saves us. Barb Kingsolver.

Sun June 7

1. Linden trees blooming. Also call Basswood.  Sweet smell. 
2. Max frei geraniums widely blooming
3. Oak leaf hydrangea continues its slow opening
4. Orchids in house blooming profusely. 
5. Honeysuckle now has red berries that robins are enjoying
6. Watching rain slip of the tips of dogwood tree. In no rush 
7. Bemis woods in late afternoon not so filled with birdsong
8. Nasturtium begins to bloom. As does MFT’s dark geranium. 

Tuesday June 9

1. Drops of rain hanging underneath HB feeder. One comes for long breakfast drink at 5:48. 
2. Over the past couple days I’ve seen sparrows and starlings picking up dry grass to make new nests or repair current ones
3. An extra long HB perch between two long drinks at 6:30. 
4. White flowers blanket lawns around catalpa trees
5. The driveway Japanese lilac is in full bloom now. 
6. Dew point is 73 now. 
7. The plantings at the front of the school are blooming, but totally overcrowded and overgrown, and the mulch area in front of the hydrangeas, and the use are totally filled with weeds, and there are tiny little hostas rate the base of the bigger plantings that are overcrowded over shadowed and totally not thriving because it’s not kept in order. Maintenance is important not just starting things.
8. Milkweed is about 3 feet tall. The spider warts are the main open plant and alliums look like they’re about ready to open in front of the school.
9. Long freight train full of coal cars heads downtown. Chicago. It’s sunny and hot 88 big gray clouds move east
10. Most of the flowers of catalpa now down. 
11. Lightning bugs!

Wednesday June 10.

1. 3:30 big summer storm. Preceded by long thunder then wind that breaks tree tips. 
2. Blackberries red in forest
3. First blush of red on my raspberries 
4. Hophornbeam have seeds on display
5. Heard in Bemis today: eastern bluebird (see him way up in a tree) eastern wood-peewee, (loud) catbird, song sparrow