July 15th
The 196th Day of the Year
Inebriate of Air — am I
And Debauchee of Dew
Reeling — through endless summer days
From inns of Molten Blue.
Emily Dickinson
Sunrise/set: 5:18/8:03
Day’s Length: 14 hours 45 minutes
Average High/Low: 85/64
Average Temperature: 75
Record High: 106 – 1936
Record Low: 48 – 1894
Weather
Highs above 100 occur ten to 15 percent of the time today and tomorrow, the only days of the Yellow Springs year on which temperatures rise so high so often. Nineties occur 20 percent of the years in my record, 80s 40 to 45 percent, 70s 25 percent of the time. Skies are overcast only one year in fie, and a thunderstorm develops just one in four. In spite of the increased possibilities for heat today, early morning temperatures fall into the mild 50s 20 percent of the time, a relatively high percentage for the second and third weeks of July.
The Weather in the Week Ahead
Temperatures are in the 80s and 90s most of the time this week, and, as noted above, highs above 100 are more likely to occur on July 15th and 16th than any other days of the Midwestern year (a 15 percent chance of such heat). Nighttime lows typically remain in the 60s, but chilly 50s occur an average of 10 to 15 percent of the time. Rain is a bit more likely this week than it was last week as chances of showers rise over the next 7 days from between 20 and 30 percent to between 35 and 40 percent.
Natural Calendar
Deep in July, the tide of summer reaches as far north as it can go then starts to slip away back toward the Gulf of Mexico. The rate of the retreat varies with each year, but the balance has always shifted by the seventh month. The day’s length becomes one to two minutes shorter every twenty-four hours, and the countryside responds with changing color and sound.
At the start of summer ebb tide, the land is on the early side of cicada song and fireflies are still common. The first katydids begin to chant after dark, and crickets intensify their calls. More woolly bear caterpillars and Japanese beetles appear. Thistledown unravels more dramatically when summer’s tide has turned. Seed pods form on trumpet creepers. Catalpa beans are fat and long.
Ohio peaches come to the markets now. Late Summer’s white snakeroot buds in the woods. Joe Pye weed heads turn pink, their buds fat, in the wetlands. In many years, a slight turning of the leaves has begun on some of the redbuds, Virginia creepers, box elders and buckeyes. Foliage of Japanese honeysuckle and multiflora roses is often yellowing.
A Note on Katydids
In the third week of the month, katydids usually begin their vocalizations about around 8:15 p.m., Yellow Springs Time, or about fifteen minutes after sundown and fifteen minutes before the last light.
As sunset occurs earlier throughout the remainder of the summer, the katydids keep a solar interval beginning their conversations close to 8:00 p.m. in August’s first week.
By the end of the second week of August, they begin around 7:50; by the end of the third week 7:40; by September 1, around 7:30; by September 15, around 7:15, and on through the autumn until the nights grow too cold.
Daybook
1982: Cascades Habitat: Wood mint, tall bellflower (one in bloom), enchanter’s nightshade, wood nettle, hobblebush, leafcup, lopseed blooming. Trillium with large green clusters of seeds.
1984: First cicada heard today.
1985: In the Vale: First white snakeroot blooms. Some white vervain past its prime, moving toward Late Summer. First thin-leafed cone flower. A few hickory nuts have fallen here. Boneset is budding. Blackberries full size but green, a few Virginia roses left. Tall bellflowers found, have been open for about a week. At Grinnell Swamp, the touch-me-nots are in early bloom. Last of the bedstraw is flowering, enchanter’s nightshade almost gone. Avens holding.
1987: Blue jays not as loud now, their activity declining for a week or so. Ohio peaches coming in to the markets, Ohio melons too. White and black, hairy, one-inch caterpillar seen in the garden. First katydid heard this evening.
1988: South Glen: Clearweed sprouting along the river on schedule, in spite of the drought. One tall bellflower open. Thin-leafed coneflower budding. Pods on the redbud trees still soft and green. Most daylilies now gone from the roadsides, part of the end of Deep Summer. Upstream, the largest school of carp I’ve ever seen, the young maybe six to eight inches, hundreds of them just below the surface of the water. The larger fish, two to ten pounders lying close to shore, slowly feeding in the fallen logs along the lush lizard’s tail. One giant fish could have been fifteen pounds.
1989: First rose of Sharon opened today.
1990: First woolly bear caterpillar seen today.
1993: Red admiral butterfly lights on Jeanie’s shirt this noon, first butterfly seen in the yard for more than a week. Motherwort still full bloom at the pussy willow garden, lemon verbena coming in beside it. Cardinal song diminishing daily. Field corn finally tasseling towards Fairborn.
1995: Lupine pods breaking, spreading their seeds.
1998: Stag beetle rides home from the movie on John’s shirt.
2001: The first white phlox opens in the south garden. Flowers of lamb’s quarters completely gone by the pond. The red monarda still full bloom in the southeast garden. Midseason hostas continue at their peak. Daylilies, with the violet mallow and a few Asiatic and Oriental lilies, dominate the north garden.
2002: Back from the drive across Canada. Doves, crows, blue jays, blackbirds, robins, and doves were all loud at 5:15 this morning. Corn is starting to tassel in a few fields around Yellow Springs – late from the heavy May and early June rains, and then delayed by the drought that followed. In the south garden: phlox has budded, the first flower unraveling. Shasta daisies and purple coneflowers full bloom. Mallow and red monarda late full. Spiderwort blooms down to maybe half of what they were in mid June. In the pond, lizard’s tail has gone to seed; purple loosestrife is lush, water willow almost gone. In the north garden, ironweed is seven feet tall and budded. Heliopsis, gooseneck, butterfly bush, yellow Oriental lilies, yellow trumpet lilies, catmint, Russian sage, Queen Anne’s lace, rose of Sharon, and garden mint are all at full bloom. Only a few cicadas are calling.
2004: Powdery mildew spreading now to the monarda, has already destroyed several patches of phlox. Blackberries are ripening at South Glen.
2005: To South Glen with Mike: The river is low after a month with little precipitation. The paths are full of cobwebs, the undergrowth lush and damp. Tall bellflowers are pale blue markers under the canopy. Wood nettle, late avens, leafcup, milkweed, teasel all in bloom. Damsel flies common, and one pair of red milkweed beetles mating, but no other milkweed beetles found. One wood thrush heard, the only birdcall on an hour walk. Sycamore bark on the path and lying across the top of the wood nettle. One hickory nut seen on the path. No mosquitoes. No cicadas yet.
2006: No robinsong heard at 4:45 a.m., some cardinals singing. Giant green June beetle seen in the garden today trying to climb the basil sprouts. On the porch, a thin, green katydid-like insect in a pot of caladiums. In the garden, caterpillars have eaten half the tomato leaves and have started in on the fruit!
2007: Tiger swallowtail and spicebush swallowtails in the garden today. Finches, sparrows, nuthatches, cardinals, titmice at the feeders. The north garden continues lush with lilies, coneflowers, spiderwort, violet monarda, Queen Anne’s lace, hosta, mallow and Heliopsis. Tiny hover bees come to the porch bouquets. Joe Pye weed started to open yesterday. The small koi have survived two weeks now. One field thistle open along High Street.
2008: Young grackles still begging for food this morning. A nuthatch came to the feeder, the first I’ve seen in a while. Young crows heard over in Gerard’s woods about 6:00 a.m.
2009: Thirty-two daylily plants counted in bloom, nine Asiatic/Oriental. Butterfly bush starts to blossom.
2011: No starling fledgling sounds today, even in the alley. The song sparrow was back, however.
2012: A robin seen in the yard this morning, and then peeping, later some singsong vocalizations. They’re not completely gone yet. Eighteen lily plants in bloom this morning, cicadas very strong as a heat wave approaches for next week. No hurricanes so far this season.
2013: Thirty lilies in bloom this morning, the high number of lilies per plant continuing to complement the full zinnias now. The first blackberry is ripe the corner of High and Davis Streets. A long-bodied orbweaver has made a web across the pond, the first I’ve noticed this summer. And more spider webs near the hose and in the tangle of bushes by the woodpile. Climbing false buckwheat is getting ready to flower in the honeysuckles. Hummingbird moths, a skipper, a small checkerspot, a great spangled fritillary at the circle butterfly bush garden, a glimpse of a male tiger swallowtail in the north garden this morning. In the afternoon, a blue, lots of cabbage whites, and the first long visit to the garden by a yellow tiger swallowtail. Insistent robin peeping in the honeysuckles, scrawing of starling fledglings and an occasional croak from the adults.
2014: Thirty lilies in bloom this morning, up some from yesterday. More blueberries ripening, zinnias become a solid presence. At Ellis Pond, the sycamores are shedding their bark.
2015: Forty-six lily plants in bloom today, up ten from yesterday, but the number of blossoms is declining rapidly. Two polygonia butterflies seen this morning. Four cabbage whites in the zinnias and bee balm, one red admiral, two silver-spotted skippers, two huge mail tiger swallowtails. A good day for butterflies here. And for the first time: I saw a small white koi fingerling, maybe two inches long, feeding with the adult koi. None of the previous fingerling sightings ever produced larger fish; maybe this year! I told Jeanie to come and see. Scrawing of young starlings through the afternoon. Along the bike path, tall bellflowers continue to dominate. At the Covered Bridge, budding ironweed, fresh woodland sunflowers.
2016: Grand Forks, North Dakota to Lanesboro, Minnesota: Red staghorns on sumac, parsnips blooming throughout, the latter creating the most dramatic zeitgeber of Early Summer in the northern Midwest. From Yellow Springs, Matt Mindy reported hearing the first katydid this evening.
2017: Eighty-one lily blossoms this morning, about half of a week ago. Moya reports one “orange and brown” butterfly, probably a Polygonia or checkspot. Jill also saw one of a similar color yesterday. Then as I mowed the lawn late in the morning, I saw a hummingbird and then a giant swallowtail in the zinnias, and a few minutes later a spicebush swallowtail sped by – but butterflies newly emerged, bright and energetic. So suddenly over 48 hours, the swallowtails come out into the sun.
2018: One hundred and thirty lily blossoms this morning, most from just a few of the small rusty-orange, the bright yellow and the dark violet varieties. Cardinals strong near breakfast time. Sparrows steady chirping.
2019: Two hundred thirty day lily blossoms, 20 ditch lilies. One zinnia patch in full bloom beside the canna lilies. Other zinnia patches coming in slowly. In the field by the Covered Bridge, wood mint remains in full flower, scattered St. John’s wort and wild bee balm (violet flowered) are in bloom, and I found a small clump of false sunflowers or oxeyes similar to (Heliopsis helianthroides) open. A small flock of starlings flew over Dayton-Yellow Springs Road in the afternoon.
2020: Today’s lily count: 210 day lilies, 18 ditch lilies, one Asiatic. Zinnias and year-old cannas are in full flower, the tall marigolds still not budding. At about 9:30 this morning, an Eastern black swallowtail visited the bee-balm. No katydids tonight.
How insignificant appear most of the facts which one sees in his walks, in the life of the birds, the flowers, the animals, or in the phases of the landscape or the look of the sky! –insignificant until they are put through some mental or emotional process and their true value appears.
John Burroughs