Orange flowers of the day lily are the signature of early summer

The exuberance of June… began at daybreak with the chirping and chattering of birds close at hand and in widening circles around us. And then, what greater wonder than the rising of the sun? Even the nights, as yet without insect choirs, were alive. Fireflies against the mass of trees were flashing galaxies which repeatedly made and unmade abstract patterns of light, voiceless as the stars overhead…

— Harlan Hubbard

THE FOURTH WEEK OF EARLY SUMMER Astronomical data and lore

The Corn and Soybean Planting Moon wanes throughout the period, entering its fourth quarter at 1:27 a.m. on June 13. The next day, the moon is at apogee, its position farthest from Earth at 7:58 a.m. Rising in the middle of the night and setting near midday, this moon passes overhead in the morning, encouraging fish and dieters to bite around breakfast time, especially as the cool fronts of June 10 and 15 approach.

Weather trends

The second week of June always brings an increase in the likelihood of highs in the 90s, and the average percentage of afternoons in the 80s now rises above the average percentage for 70s for the first time in the year. Highs in the chilling 60s are rare, occurring just five percent of the days. This week also brings more sunshine than almost any other week so far in the year: 85 percent of the days have at least partly cloudy skies. The weak moon will contribute to the possibility of a heat wave.

Notes on the progress of the year

The orange flowers of the day lily are the signature of Early Summer across the nation’s midsection. With them come waves of parallel seasons.

When day lilies bloom, other things are happening, too: soft smartweed flowers in the alleys; prickly blueweed flowers in vacant lots; poison ivy flowers in the woods; Queen Anne’s lace flowers along the backroads; shy avens flowers along the hedgerows; tall meadow rue flowers in fields; trumpet creeper flowers on walls and trellises; great mullein flowers along the railroad tracks; thistles have taken over vacant lots; purple coneflowers blossom in the garden.

Orange day lilies blooming by the side of the road means that fireflies are glowing in the night, that cucumber beetles are feasting on the cucumbers, that webworms are hatching in the trees, and that winter wheat is getting ripe.

Orange day lilies mean that grackle fledglings have left the nest and that Japanese beetles have found the ferns and the soybeans and the roses. The blooming of lilies means it is time for birds and people to pick pie cherries and mulberries. It also means it is time to tuck your pants legs into your boots when you go to the woods: the fierce chiggers are on the prowl.

In the field and garden

Plan to put in the last of the pickles, corn, soybeans, and hot-weather vegetables (like tomatoes, squash, eggplant and peppers) throughout the week.

Look for tent caterpillars in your trees. Hunt the bean leaf beetles eating holes in your bean leaves. Seek out the potato leaf hoppers, which are hopping in the alfalfa (and the potatoes). Don’t let the corn borers party in the corn.

Rose chafers and twospotted spider mites eat your rose bushes. Japanese beetles begin to attack almost everything. Cucumber beetles are eating into cucumber and melon vines

The darkening moon is especially favorable for beginning the winter wheat harvest and for completing the first cut of alfalfa.

Six to eight leaves have often emerged on the field corn by this point in the year. Strawberries can be about half harvested in the Ohio Valley. North of Sacramento, California, the wheat is darkening — just like it is in the Lower Midwest.

Try to time your harvest as the barometer is rising after cool fronts pass over your property. And, in general, middle June produces more dry days than early or late June. The first week of July brings more danger of grain lodging because of the Corn Tassel Rains.

Journal

June 10, 2014: I couldn’t sleep and got up to listen and watch in the dark. The robin chorus began down the street at 3:18, and it reached my yard by 3:23. The early morning was soft, sky overcast, barometer starting to fall, temperature at 60 degrees. I stayed outside waiting, saw my first fireflies of the year at 3:40, and finally heard the first cardinal call nearby at 4:06. A wren chattered at 4:21. If there were doves, they were drowned out by the growing volume of the robins. During the day, robins continued to guide their young with intense peeping. Sparrow fledglings sat by the bird feeder fluttering their wings to beg for food from their parents.

Bill Felker’s latest book, “Deep Time Is in the Garden: New Almanac Essays of Time and Place and Spirit,” is available on Amazon. Or, for your autographed copy, send $17.00 to Bill Felker, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387