Monsoonal moisture continues to bring intermittent relief from drought and heat. The cottonwood at the top of the driveway, dead these many years from irrigation water lost from ditch to pipes, remains a sentinel and a perch.
It’s been a week so far of salvage and recovery. Within surprising traumas and sad accomplishments, there remains the thrilling flow of life going on.
Pink honeysuckle, Lonicera korolkowii, fruits abundantly in summer after multiple species of bees pollinated in spring.
Two-year-old pink chintz thyme blooms in flagstone cracks after weeks of summer rain.
Red-blooming thyme also thrives between flagstones. This is the first year they’ve received enough of what they need to blossom.
What peaches haven’t fallen prey to birds and chipmunks are blushing beautifully, fuzzy, though still hard to the touch. Watch and wait, watch and wait, hope to beat the beastly birds to a few ripe fruits.
Epitome of high summer: hummingbird mint and blue mist spirea bloom profusely together in the south border, buzzing with bees and hummingbirds.