Unexpected rain, but only a tenth of an inch. The first raspberries are out, ripening first in the shadows, only later in the sun. Forget-me-nots and snapdragons are in bloom, and coreopsis and astilbe and hydrangea, too. The first of the dill has gone to flower, their starburst heads like constellations.

This is the slow time of summer – for me. The plants are as busy as ever, but they need me less and less. The spring-planted crops are mostly finished, and it’s still too warm to plant for the fall, and everything else, well, everything else just grows – tomatoes get bigger, raspberries ripen and late-blooming flowers begin to show buds.

Sure, I can worry: Some of the tomatoes show signs of early blight. Deer, rabbits and chipmunks catch me just when I think a plant is safe. And weeds… high summer is their time, too.

But I think this is a dangerous time for gardeners, because we want to do too much – water, fertilize, dead-head, whatever. We want to be involved
with our garden, but this is a time when it doesn’t need us. It’s a time to sit back and appreciate – not the fruits of the garden, but the process
, the day to day growth, the business of butterflies and bees.