The Strangest Summer

This is the strangest summer I’ve lived through, and it can’t all be blamed on El Nino.

To begin with, although we haven’t seen a rabbit for years, there’s a rabbit population explosion, not only at our place in the country, but also in towns and cities in this region. Even though Dennis dispatched three who were eating our escarole, they are everywhere, even living in a flowerbed and in a drainpipe. We’ve given up trying to keep them out of the garden, but they’d better watch out because Dennis plans to go hunting next winter and hopes to put some in the freezer to eat.

Another anomaly is in the garden. The tomatoes spoil before they ripen and some critter has eaten big holes in several of them. Yuck! 

Peppers aren’t doing well either. Here’s the first pepper. It’s a sorry excuse for a bell pepper.

It isn't just our garden. No one around here is getting good tomatoes. Holmes says the rabbits ate all of his peas and arugula. We are getting green beans, for which we’re thankful, but generally the garden is a big disappointment.

My herb garden on the deck also has a strange thing going on. A young squirrel of the vegetarian persuasion has almost polished off the parsley. Luckily it doesn't care for rosemary, thyme, oregano, or curry plant.

Every cloud has a silver lining, they say, and ours is a wild flower garden. The coneflowers have never been more prolific and the phlox and tiger lilies are as tall as I am.

The symmetry of a coneflower's center fascinates me.

The pasture, too, is having a spectacular year. More than 100 Kansas gayfeathers are coming into bloom.

The big bluestem grass is exceptionally tall and getting taller.

It reminds me of pioneer tales of riding through bluestem taller than their horses.

These plants are a feast for the eyes, but I can’t help wishing for some unblemished juicy red tomatoes.

Copyright 2015 by Shirley Domer