Sumer Is Icumen In

That's the title of an old Middle English song, a round, and it translates as "Summer is a-comin' in". And indeed it is. A trip through Ballard Park today yielded some more flower shots, and these are flowers whose appearance means Spring is about to turn into Summer. But while you look at the pictures, click on this sound file below to listen to The Hilliard Ensemble sing the song.

Way back in the woods by the seasonal stream that runs south down the hill to the swamp, there's a patch of Jack-in-the-Pulpit in the wet ground. There had been a bunch of these, but something's been eating them, and this one in these two views is the only one left.

Down in the quarry the meadow is growing up nicely. Amid the tall grasses and the green Curly Dock, Thistles, and Asters yet to show even buds, lots of other flowers are in full bloom, like this Red Clover...














...and this White Clover. The bees are certainly flipping over this!





















And while the Dandelions have pretty much died off in the meadow, the puffs are up in profusion.









But the real stars of the show, the sign that the Summer Solstice isn't far off at all, grow in a patch in the Quaking Aspen grove - the Blue Flag is up! Blue flag is the name for wild Irises, and when these beauties bloom, Summer is right around the corner.

© 2009 by A. Roy Hilbinger