A squash blossom exclaims, trumpets, shouts — nothing quiet or sedate or self-contained in its open-armed joy.

The unreserved brashness of the blossom matches the full-speed-ahead production the fruit of the vines.

My daughter found our first overlooked zucchini of the season yesterday, about a foot long and destined for lunch and dinner — too much for a single meal!

Alongside the calendar and the solstice and the heat and the long sun-drenched hours, squash tell me it’s summer.

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After the rain storm, with just a few of the showy red brushes as yet, a lot of small birds — including humming birds — are busy in our two front yard bottle brush trees.

Sadly, the hummers won’t pose for a photo like the trees do…

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I posted a photo of a fully opened not quite white ranunculus earlier. Here is a similar ranunculus that has not yet fully opened:

The rosy color in the outer petals is much more pronounced at this stage.

The first ranunculus to bloom is now fully open, with more buds on the way:

The red ranunculus in our front yard planter that threatens to open first still hasn’t quite stretched its petals out:

A handful of white ranunculi are clustered in a pack a few days behind, with more red ones behind them.