DAY LENGTH RULES EVERYTHING

HIGBUSH CRANBERRY ...

...FRUIT AND LEAVES

GARDEN TOMATO

RIPENING FALSE SOLOMON'S SEAL BERRIES

Wednesday, 8:00 AM.  58 degrees F at the ferry dock, 53 on the back porch.  Wind N, calm at present. The sky is crystal clear, the humidity 79%.  The barometer is still rising, now at 30.17".  It appears that we are in for some nice weather for the rest of the week.  It's about time!
   While driving along Hwy. 2 yesterday it was evident how one species replaces another in prominence along the roadside as the summer progresses into fall, in an almost seamless fashion.  For example, black-eyed Susans first dominated most roadsides, followed by tansy, and now goldenrods, all virtually in the same locations, the average driver seeing only a blur of golden-yellow, where there was actually a progression of blooms of different species of plants, over a period of a month or six weeks.
    Despite this August's unseasonal cool, even cold, weather, most plants seem to be on essentially the same calendar track as last year.  The highbush cranberry in the back yard, Viburnum trilobum, in the Honeyusuckle (Caprifoliaceae) Family, berries have turned red; our few garden tomatoes are ripening; and the maturing false Solomon's seal berries (Smilacina racemosa), in the Lily (Liliaceae) Family; are all at virtually the same stage of development as this date last year.  Temperatures mean only so much; day length rules everything.