July 6, 2025

Here we are, about to see what the second week of July has in store for us.  We expect it to be hot and getting hotter.  One thing I've noticed is that the Pond, which in the past has been such a source of pretty pictures, seems to have been a bit slower in its evolution than last year's.  We haven't seen so many Water Lilies as last year.  The Frogs are still missing in action too.  This is making me a bit grumpy.  I broke down and ordered some Pond Fertilizer to see if that can't get the plants speeded up.  We'll see if that was a good solution or not.  Meanwhile, the Phlox is starting to bloom in earnest, and my neighbor Deb called to say that she had seen a Hummingbird having a wonderful snack on the Trumpetvine.  (She has a much nicer view of it than I do.)

We had some interesting sights of later stages of Plants that we had studied earlier.  Maybe you remember the Jack-in-the-Pulpits from before (picture on left).  Well, a couple of days ago I saw this (rightmost picture):  This is the seed head from our very Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

Another plant we saw a lot in the earlier spring was May Apple.  I always wondered why it was called May Apple - it was just another one of those green plants that come out in early spring - but that was before this real May Apple Apple ripened, which it just did.  It's the first time I ever found one.

But this week a new one showed up.  It's really a rather old one which, as I recall, was given me before Don Omahan and Nancy Kadunc left Albion many years ago.  What a gorgeous Red Day Lily.  I love it when the names of people who've left me traces of their lives in Albion pop into memory.  (Too often, names seem to pop OUT OF memory as you get older.)  Seeing these plants brings back those old times so distinctly!

Burr Oak Street is still under destruction.  I think they have now placed the new water pipes under the stretch from Michigan Avenue to just past my driveway.  But picture two can tell you about the condition of the road from there on.

Let's jump to some of the creatures we've seen lately.  This first one seems to be a kind of Earwig, maybe a European Earwig.  Did I mention this second one before?   It is some kind of fancy Beetle in genus Oberea.  The third one is another Beetle, possibly the Lovely-horned False Click Beetle, Deltometopus amoenicornis.

I hate to keep posting this beautiful bright red Lily Leaf Beetle, but as you can see by the big dent being taken out of the Lily Leaf, it is one of the most destructive crittters in the yard at this time of year.  Next is one of those Bugs with the white rims around its perimeter, maybe the White-margined Burrowing Bug. 

The Pond is in a very slow period these days.  But last night I shoved aside one of the big Lily pads and spotted (finally) a new (Flower) Bud at the bottom of the Lily Plant.  That's good news.  Tomorrow the new Pond fertilizer should arrive and I will be testing it out slowly.  The Fishes are, as usual, their own gorgeous colors.  Since they always come to the side when I sing their song (Here Fishies, Fishies, Fishies) and devour their Fishy-flakes voraciously, I'm sure they are doing fine out there!  By the way, the white Fish with the red freckle is one of the descendants of some of the earliest Fishes we have had born in the Pond. 

I'm not very good at Birds, so once in a while when one lets me photograph it, I send off the picture to Doug White, Bird Man (emeritus) of Albion College, and usually he identifies it in a minute!  Thanks, Doug!  Here are some of the ones he's named for us lately.  First, a (male) Northern Flicker.  Next is a Gray Catbird.

These next two are little guys  I JUST sent off to Doug.  Left to my own devices, I would probably have called the rightmost one a Minuscule Propeller Bird!

I need to celebrate one new flower for the season.  A number of years ago, Mary-Ann Cateforis from Potsdam, NY, offered me some seeds of the Deptford Pink, a tiny little Dianthus (Dianthus armeria), and to my surprise the seeds sprouted and a few little plants came up and bloomed.  They just bloomed again - at least I've seen one little flower.  That's it so far.  I have my eyes peeled for more blooms.  This is the plant for you if you only have room to plant a very small flower.  It will never take over your yard!  At least in my case, not so far!  And now, here's one more shot of the Pond for today - the little Water Lily bud I had been seeing is now big enough to see well, especially when it is catching some Sun!

So, fellow Earthicans, please love your planet.  I don't know when we will see it again in the form we used to take for granted.  But we have got to try to keep it habitable and beautiful for all.  Love, Martha