The Warm Colors of August

Here in northern Vermont, early August can be a poignant time, a turning of the seasons. The robins are gone; the crickets are building to their late summer crescendo; the foliage that was so bright green in spring and early summer has taken on some warmer hues. In the garden are lots of hot colors: to echo summer's warmth or give a preview of the coming autumn? The daylilies are brilliantly colored, here with a cool green insect resting on its stamens.

Tall yellow daylilies are a dramatic backdrop for red.

August is also the time for tiger lilies, vivacious flowers growing wildly along the stone wall.

In the vegetable garden, sunflowers are exclaiming their vibrant yellows.

The yellows of squash blossoms are as bright as the sunflowers, and like sunflowers they attract ardent pollinators.

In our short northern season, tomatoes begin to ripen in August; the earliest are Sungold, an apricot-colored cherry tomato, rich and sweet in taste.

Rosehips are also turning orange, on their way to deep red.

As I write this blog post, I can look over the computer and out the window and see the dots of red in the orchard trees. They are reddening but not yet ripe; that will have to wait until September.