A Floating Sequence
For the Blooming of Shrubs, Trees, Wildflowers and Perennials

July 1: Bouncing Bets, Asiatic Dayflower, Wood Nettle, Water Plantain
July 2: Mid-Season Garden Phlox, Tall Bell Flower, Teasel
July 3: Oriental Lilies, Ginseng
July 4: Liatris, Grey-Headed Coneflower
July 5: Obedient Plant
July 6: White Vervain, Spotted Touch-Me-Not
July 7: Oxeye, Horseweed
July 8: Pickerel Plant
July 9: Germander
July 10: Showy Coneflower
July 11: Skullcap
July 12: Fogfruit, Great Indian Plantain
July 13: Wingstem, Blue Vervain
July 15: Sundrops
July 16: Butterfly Bush, Small-Flowered Agrimony
July 17: Tick Trefoil, Thin-Leafed Coneflower
July 18: Velvet Leaf, Bull Thistle
July 19: Water Hemlock, Early Goldenrod
July 20: Resurrection Lily
July 21: Burdock, Showy Coneflower
July 22: Ironweed, Monkey Flower, Arrowhead
July 23: Stonecrop Sedum, Joe Pye Weed
July 23: Turk’s Cap Lilly, Jimson Weed
July 24: Field Thistle, Common Ragweed
July 25: Tall Coneflower, Narrow-Leaved Mountain Mint
July 27: Biennial Gaura
July 28: White Snakeroot
July 30: Jumpseed, Great Ragweed
July 31: Boneset, Pigweed

Estimated Pollen Count
(On a scale of 0 - 700 grains per cubic meter)
Most of the pollen in the air this month continues to come from grasses.
July 1: 20
July 10: 15
July 20: 20
July 25: 25
July 30: 35

Estimated Mold Count
(On a scale of 0 - 7,000 grains per cubic meter)
Average mold counts for this month increase as heat intensifies; they then decline slightly as the days grow shorter.
July 1: 2400
July 10: 3400
July 20: 5600
July 25: 5400
July 30: 4000

July Phenology
When the first apple and cherry tree leaves become yellow and drift to the ground, alewives head back to sea from their estuaries along the Atlantic Ocean.

When road kills increase in summer, expect thunderstorms and intense Dog Day heat.

When mimosa webworms appear on locust trees, potato leafhoppers reach economic levels in some alfalfa.

When teasel flowers along the roadsides and wood nettle blooms in the woods, then bagworms attack arborvitae, euonymus, juniper, linden, maple, and fir. Root diseases stalk the soybeans, and the wheat still standing in the fields suffers from rust, powdery mildew, head scab, and glume blotch.

When elderberry flowers turn to fruit, then giant green June beetles appear in the garden and poisonous white snakeroot is budding. That’s the time to dig your garlic before the heads break apart. Plant your autumn turnips right after that.

When thimbleberry, blueweed, great Indian plantain, great mullein, milkweed, black-eyed Susan, columbine, red bleeding heart, dock, daisy fleabane, large black medic bush clover, yellow and white sweet clover, cow parsnip, blue-eyed grass, and Hooker’s orchis flower in the Appalachians, then strawberry season is at its best in the Pacific Northwest.

When geese start getting restless, that’s the time the blueberry crop will be thinning and summer apples will be about half picked.

When the first ears of corn are silking, then it’s time to bring in the winter wheat and canola. That’s when salmonberry bushes are in full bloom along the Columbia River and the last lilac bush flowers in the mountains of Alberta.

When milkweed pods appear on the milkweed, check your calendar and start counting the days. Those pods should burst about 80 days later at the approach of middle autumn.

When pokeweed has green berries, expect the Japanese beetles to be at their strongest in the soybeans and roses.

When morning birdsong diminishes and insect volume increases, then set out your collard, kale and cabbage sets for fall.

When sycamore trees shed their bark, they mark the center of summer, the time to top your tobacco and watch the peaches ripen.

When thistledown floats across the fields, then more wildflowers and weeds are blooming than at any other time of year. That’s when many people complete the carrot harvest.

When hemlock and parsnips turn brown and brittle in the sun, then early summer’s clovers and grasses are past their prime.

When velvetleaf blooms in the fields, then expect the driest time of summer.

When wild cherries darken on the wild cherry trees, then expect potato leafhoppers to be causing serious damage to your potatoes.

When peaches ripen in the Midwest, then strawberries are coming in throughout Ontario, and peonies are flowering on homesteads along the northern rim of the Great Lakes.

When you see the foliage of multiflora roses yellowing, you know that poisonous white snakeroot is budding in and around the woodlots.

When wild grapes ripen, then begin the dry onion harvest.

When the green fruit of the osage orange is big and fat enough to come down in thunderstorm winds, then look for swallows to be congregating on the high wires, resting on their way south.

When Joe Pye weed sends out its purple flowers in the wetlands, then farmers are preparing for August seeding of alfalfa, smooth brome grass, orchard grass, tall fescue, red clover, and timothy.

When late crickets start to chant, look for a few Judas maples to produce red and orange foliage, and then finish the cutting of winter grains.

When you see seedpods fully formed on the trumpet creepers and green berries on the poison ivy, and when white vervain blossoms reach the end of their spikes, then listen for katydids to begin shouting “katy-did” after dark.

When ragweed comes into bloom, then a few cottonwoods are turning pale with age, and patches of yellow appear on the weaker ash tees.

When black walnut leaves start to fall, then middle summer is coming to and end, blue-winged teal and meadowlarks have begun their southward migration, and pokeweed berries darken.

THE SEASONAL CALENDAR

Thistledown Week

When thistles come undone, then middle summer has arrived, and all the middle-summer flowers are in bloom. Purple loosestrife, lizard’s tail, Queen Anne’s lace, purple coneflower, wild petunia, bouncing bet, dayflower, sow thistle, white vervain, dogbane, black-eyed Susan, leatherflower, figwort, lesser stitchwort, square-stemmed germander, pokeweed, St. John’s wort, teasel, wild lettuce, wood mint, wood nettle, leafcup, touch-me-not, lopseed and avens are all blossoming in the woods and fields.

The potato and summer apple harvests get underway under the auspices of thistledown. The oats crop ripens, and the first tier of soybeans blooms. The number of vegetable varieties increases at the farmers’ market, and locally grown sweet corn appears on roadside stands throughout the lower Midwest.

The first of the midsummer hostas and the gayfeather show in the garden as the thistledown unravels. Asiatic lilies enter full bloom. The rose of Sharon and the phlox are getting ready to open.

Maroon seedpods have formed on the locusts. Black walnuts are half-size. The bright yellow primroses and spring daisies are in decline, their departure marking the close of black raspberry and mulberry seasons. Green wild cherries hang in clusters. Elderberry bushes and everbearing strawberries are setting fruit. The shade-loving cohosh has its berries.

May's goslings and ducklings are almost grown. Tiny waterstriders hatch in the ponds just as alewives head back to the Atlantic from their estuaries along the East Coast. The behavior of raccoons, opossums and groundhogs becomes erratic in the heat. Young robins, blackbirds and blue jays are in the honeysuckle bushes eating red and orange berries. Cicadas have emerged (but won’t sing for a week or so). Young great blue herons leave their rookeries. Soon the rough-winged swallows will lead the fall migrations south.

The Week Cicadas Sing

When the first cicadas (or harvest flies) of the year sing at noon, then lanky ichneumons get into your house and sit on the walls like gargantuan mosquitoes. Giant green June beetles have reached up into the Midwest and appear in Minneapolis gardens. Black raspberry season ends when you see those beetles; middle summer primroses open; buckeyes and hickory nuts sometimes fall in a thunderstorm.

Corn tassels and corn pollen are more plentiful when cicadas sing. Goldenrod can be four feet tall. Lupine pods break apart and spread their seeds. White snakeroot, ironweed, boneset, wingstem, tall coneflowers and gray-headed coneflowers are budding as the pink large-flowered mallow comes to an end. Midseason hostas, liatris and obedient plant open. Throughout the whole country, more wildflowers blossom now than at any other time of year.

Blueweed flowers are at the top of their spikes in cicada week, just when lamb’s-ear season closes, just as the first burdock blooms. That is the time when avens and thimble plants are forming seed heads under the canopy, and all the early honeysuckles have their berries, red and orange. Blackberries are August-size this week, but still green in the North. Milkweed pods emerge; they will burst their shells at the approach of middle fall.

The wheat is dark and almost half cut by the time the harvest flies sing. Oats are a fourth ripe. A third of the soybeans should be in bloom. The early tomatoes redden.

The Turn of Summertide

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 advance or 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 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 vigorous. The first katydids begin to chant after dark, and crickets intensify their calls. Woolly bear caterpillars and Japanese beetles become more common. Thistledown unravels more dramatically when summer’s tide has turned. Seed pods form on trumpet creepers. Catalpa beans are fat and long.

Farmers and gardeners now count the days: sixty to ninety frost-free mornings remain in the season, and about three months of growing weather are left for cool-weather crops like cabbages, kale, collards, beets, turnips and carrots. Out in the field, the second cut of alfalfa is well underway; the wheat harvest is nearly over. Summer apples are coming in. Blueberries and elderberries are ripening. Peaches could be ready along the Great Lakes.

The Last Week of Middle Summer

By the last week of middle summer, the yellowing locust and buckeye leaves and the brown garlic mustard give a sense of fall to the woods. A few Judas maples and Virginia creeper leaves redden. Shiny spicebush, boxwood, greenbrier, and poison ivy berries have formed. Wild cherries darken. Buckeyes and black walnuts are fully developed. Now osage fruits are heavy enough to drop in a storm. Mallow, Asiatic lilies and day lilies disappear in the garden as red, white and purple phlox time unfolds.

Lizard's tail and wood nettle go to seed along the riverbanks. Blueweed, white vervain, motherwort and white sweet clover end their seasons. Petals of the hobblebush darken. Parsnip heads, honewort pods and sweet cicely pods are dry enough to split and spill their seeds.

Late summer’s burdock and Jerusalem artichokes bloom now. Wild lettuce opens at nine o'clock in the morning facing the sun, closes by noon. Tall blue bellflowers, pale violet bouncing bets, gray coneflowers and pink germander color the waysides. Water hemlock, Joe Pye weed and arrowhead blossom in the swamps. Round galls swell on the goldenrod.

The best morning chorus of birds is over for the year. The cardinals still greet the dawn, but they stop singing early. Swallows are beginning their fall migrations. When the mornings are cool, fog hangs in the hollows before dawn.

The Seasons of July

Week One

July gives the lower Midwest more wildflower seasons than any other month of the year. Out in the fields, look for Butterfly Weed Season, Purple Loosestrife Season, Queen Anne’s Lace Season, Purple Coneflower Season, Wild Petunia Season, Bouncing Bets Season, Blue Dayflower Season, Sow Thistle Season, White Vervain Season, Dogbane Season, Black-Eyed Susan Season, Leatherflower Season, Germander Season, Pokeweed Season, St. John’s Wort Season, Teasel Season, and Wild Lettuce Season. In the shade of the canopy, find Wood Mint Season, Wood Nettle Season, Leafcup Season, Touch-Me-Not Season, Lopseed Season, and Avens Season.

Week Two

In town, Rose Of Sharon Season has started in the hedgerows, Phlox Season in the gardens. Mulberry Season and Black Raspberry Season come to an end. Thistledown Season and Milkweed Pod Season deepen along the roadsides. Cicada Song Season swells throughout the Miami Valley by the second week of July; Giant Green June Beetle Season comes now, too. Hosta, Liatris and Obedient Plant Seasons open in the dooryards. Throughout the county, Honeysuckle Berry Season begins as Japanese Beetle Season peaks in the roses and the soybeans.

Week Three

Katydid Season marks the third week of July. Katydid Season parallels Seedpod Season for all kinds of trees and flowers, including the catalpas and trumpet creepers. On the farm, the katydids announce the Second Cut of Alfalfa Season, Summer Apple Season, and the end of Wheat Cutting Season. Elderberry Picking Season replaces mulberry time. Blueberry Season accompanies Peach Season and Butterfly Bush Season and Resurrection Lily Season. Throughout South Glen, Wingstem Season spreads bright gold along the paths; Field Thistle Season adds purple.

Week Four

Fruiting continues as middle summer closes. Spicebush Berry Season, Privet Berry Season, Greenbrier Berry Season, and Poison Ivy Berry Season foretell August. Lizard’s Tail And Wood Nettle Seeding Seasons, Parsnip, Honewort and Sweet Cicely Seedfall Seasons coincide with the end off White and Yellow Sweet Clover Seasons and Lily Season. Burdock, Purple Ironweed. Jerusalem Artichoke Season colors the waysides. Water Hemlock, Joe Pye Weed, and Arrowhead Seasons unfold throughout the wetlands. The Season of Early Morning Robin Cardinal Song gives way to the Season of Late Summer Cricket Song.