It's been nice and comfortable this third week in June, dry days and cool nights, a pleasant change from the too-sultry early June. I'd just come back then from Portland, Oregon (with a side trip to Seattle where wool shorts were in order), that lovely climate where things that grow here grow earlier and bigger and better there, and I'm told, no bugs rob you of your enjoyment of the outdoors. 
What's blooming in my yard right now? Not much -- it's the breathing time between the irises and other purples of spring and the summer flowers. Day lilies arrived boldly with the masses of orange "ditch lilies," so called but which are lovely in their bright light oranges. A deep yellow daylily also has bloomed, and a pale orange. Echinaceas have moved around the yard and are attracting bees and spangled frittilaries. The pansies are in their autumn and the flowering vines are still short. In another month they'll be kicking it.
Penstemon and feverfew are past their prime, ready for cutting back. Bronze fennel and the rue are tall, and there are a few returned snapdragons.
The sun's out, and it's thundering. Migt be fun.
