I picked Virgin’s Bower
for my Swedish vase today.
The wild tendrils,
scandalous fecundity of flowers,
brought me home…

Liz Porter

EPHEMERIS FOR THE FOURTH WEEK OF LATE SUMMER
The Hummingbird Flocking Moon, having entered its second quarter on August 27, waxes throughout next week, becoming full on September 4 at 11:03 a.m. Rising in the afternoon and evening, setting in the morning, this gibbous moon is over Yellow Springs in the middle of the night.

As August comes to a close, the sun reaches a declination of 8 degrees, 30 minutes, almost two-thirds of the way to autumn equinox. The Earth’s relationship to the sun is the same now as it is in early April, and the rate of the night's expansion increases from Middle Summer's two minutes per day to three minutes. By next weekend, the day's length in Yellow Springs will drop below 13 hours (down from July’s 15 hours).

The effects of the first September cold wave usually appear by the 2nd, which is the first day since June 4 that highs in the 90s become unlikely. And on September 3, chances for very light frost in Yellow Springs suddenly become one in a hundred.

JOURNAL
Only crickets this morning until one cardinal sang at 6:45. A huge camel cricket got into the bathtub in the night, was hiding behind the shampoo bottles when I came in to take a shower.

Webworms noticed in the pussy willows. Four hummingbirds  together in the garden – a small migrating group. Clusters of cabbage butterflies swirl and spin in the north garden. One monarch came by in the afternoon, one tiger swallowtail.

More streaks of yellow in the black walnut trees along Limestone Street. Red maple foliage has faded at the park. Hawthorn berries are still green, the pollen berries still holding.  

The alley is on the edge of early fall, only the great ragweed pollen keeping it in summer. Elms seem to be getting lighter, blanching with the approach of September.  The virgin’s bower vine on Peggy’s trellis is in full bloom. Working outside this afternoon, I noticed how sluggish the aging scorpion flies were, allowing me to brush them off the plants.

The woodshed spider, an arabesque orbweaver (neoscona arabesca), put a web across the door, and I walked into it by accident – just like I did last year at the end of August.
South down the bike path: Hops in layered flowers, catmint still in bloom, tall bellflower fading. Dayflowers, ironweed, jumpseed, smartweed, giant yellow hyssop, white bindweed, a few phlox holding. Field thistle up to seven feet with bright violet flowers. Wild cherry has dark fruit. Purple berries and tattered leaves on the pokeweed. Blue cohosh berries are thinning, and red clusters of Jack-in-the-pulpit have toppled. Wood nettle has gone to seed.

At South Glen, two small puffball mushrooms seen growing in the shade across the creek, like moons in the dark undergrowth. Brown acorns on the path.  Cicadas loud. Honeybees working hard on the new goldenrod, huge yellow nodules of pollen on their legs.