Summer Ramblings - Days of Milk and Roses

It's the second week of July already.  Here in upstate New York, it feels like summer is already half over.

Around the 4th of July we had a gorgeous, low humidity weekend.  Now the humidity, bringing promise of severe weather, is back.  Sadly, the severe weather struck Madison County in New York (near Syracuse) last night, killing at least four.

My thoughts go out to all affected by the storms last night, in New York and Ohio.

Taken by my son near Maine, NY

My version, near Johnson City, NY

We ended up with rain, some wind, and interesting clouds. My son and I both got interesting pictures with our iPhones (above).

We may not like that kind of weather but some plants just drink it up.  Literally.

The milkweed is starting to bloom.

June 29

Common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, has a fragrant flower famously loved by monarch butterflies.   Its nectar is loved by many butterflies, and the plant has a lovely, decorative seedpod in the fall. It is moderately toxic, however, to humans.

A different plant, July 6.

Meanwhile, roses are still in bloom, including the later hybrid and heirloom varieties, at the free of charge Cutler Botanic Gardens in Binghamton, New York.

This, the Elmshorn rose, is a hybrid dating from around 1951.

Crested Musk, an heirloom rose from 1827.

Birdie Blye, from 1901.

Raubritter, a David Austin recommended rose.

Alas, the Japanese beetles are out in force, too.  When I first moved to upstate New York in the mid 1980's, they would arrive around July 4.  Now, they come a little earlier.  I saw a couple of rose bushes yesterday while exercise walking in the humid afternoon, and the rose flowers were infested.  It isn't only roses they eat - we haven't been able to ever grow sorrel, which I love to make a cold soup with.  The Japanese beetles consider it a gourmet delight.

So many flowers, so little time, as we continue to ramble through summer.

What have you been doing this summer?