Gleanings from July

Rudbeckia or Black-eyed Susan

July is Summer in Minnesota.  In June, we were still marveling at the fully leafed out trees and growing perennials as we walked the cool mornings in a fleece pullover.  And August will already be showing us hints of fall as the sumac begins to turn scarlet.  But July is warm and sunny, and the warm-season grasses, flowers, and vegetables grow wondrously, bloom extravagantly, and produce prodigiously.

Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’

It is also Hosta month.  You realize just how many hostas you have when they all bloom–or I should say, when you have to cut back all the spent bloom stalks!  The bumblebees and hummingbirds love them.

Hostas in bloom

Hosta flowers

July is a great month for bike riding and taking in the lake and trail landscapes.  We saw tall, woody Meadowsweet–a native Spiraea, bright Purple Prairie Clover, and spiky Culver’s Root.  Grasses were top-heavy with seed heads that swayed as we swooshed by.  It smelled sweet and earthy-warm.

Meadowsweet

Purple Prairie Clover

Culver’s Root

This interesting spider web was spun in a small, bare-branched tree.  I didn’t stop to examine the center to see the catch or the catcher.

Spider web along the bike trail

At the lake we saw a turtle chowing down on something, while carrying extra cargo on his back.

Turtle

This little chipmunk had a sturdy granite home on the lake inlet by a stand of cattails.

Chipmunk

Duckweed on lake inlet

Cattails

Up north at the camp we visited earlier in July, Michaela captured a picture of a young raccoon sitting amidst the poison ivy by a pine tree.  Young raccoons stay with their mothers until 13-14 months old, but this little guy has been seen wandering by himself.

Young raccoon–photo by Michaela Demarais

A glittering spider web adorned the creeping phlox by our mailbox, catching the water droplets from the sprinkler.

Water drops on a spider web

July is glorious–a month of growth and beauty.  It’s a month of going with the flow, enjoying the warmth, and spinning a web for your life that will catch all the goodness the world has to offer.  Take it in!