It's Still Summer

It’s Still Summer

It’s still officially summer and the temperature continues to be shorts-friendly. But things change in September. School vacation is over. Neighbors are back from the shore. The flowers that enlivened so many of our yards are off until next year. There are no more purple lilacs adding sweet perfume to the atmosphere. Faded blue hydrangeas are a reminder of former puffy table decorations. Dried flower stalks are starting to bend over the full-bodied hosta leaves.

There are always exceptions, of course, depending on where your garden is. My hibiscus plants are still pumping out those incredible blossoms, almost in a frantic end-of-season burst. The bees are still looking for nectar, gathering over the hummingbird feeder. And the mosquitoes are as big a nuisance as ever.

I actually like the change of seasons; there are always things of interest to see and learn. The insect on the last of the fading flowers I thought was a moth but it turned out to be a. Cabbage White Butterfly, a common species that is a frequent visitor to gardens. I discovered that they exist pretty much all over the world. Summer turns into Fall later in the month and things change even more dramatically. For example, the deciduous trees sport dramatically colored leaves, which then turn brown and fall leaving the branches bare and shape of the tree beautifully evident. I often stop and look up, delighted, into the burst of color.

There are so many possibilities in the change of seasons – to see something new, to rethink something familiar, to expand our understanding. The shift of my perception of moth to butterfly pleased me. I saw it anew. Perhaps that’s what the seasons really foster, new ways of seeing our usually familiar world.

Learn about the Cabbage white Butterfly:

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/cabbage_white.htm