Peaches in the orchard

Roundtop in the background. Notice the peaches on the tree to the left

I’m waiting for mold to start around my cabin on Roundtop. The forest is soaked and the rain shows no sign of moving out. The humidity never abates, even when the rain disappears for a few hours. It’s making for an odd summer so far. I keep looking at the vegetation, trying to determine the winners and losers.

Anyone who’s ever eaten local strawberries or other local produce knows how much they can vary from year to year. Some years are award-winners, others are just not very good. A season may be warmer or cooler than is typical. Cool or warm temperatures may strike at the wrong time for a particular crop. The forest plants are much the same in that regard. Some weather patterns favor one plant, sometimes another.

This spring, the wild geraniums were in short supply for some reason. Perhaps the low snowfall and the early spring dryness affected them. The rue anemone were profuse and gorgeous, though. Now, the midsummer blooms are out, and most of the flora I pay attention to are doing well. If I can notice anything that’s vaguely unusual, I would say that the midsummer blooms are appearing a tad earlier than usual. That could be the result of the quick change to hot weather in early June.

It is probably too early at this point to know how this spate of rainy, humid weather will impact what I see in the forest around me. As a guess, I might say that the weather pattern would seem to favor some of the woodland ferns or perhaps the few native orchids that I’ve found here, too.

In my photo today, you can see Roundtop in the distance and an orchard in the foreground. One of the trees is laden with peaches that look about ready for picking. I’m guessing peaches will like this weather and produce nice and juicy fruit. I’m not sure how flavorful they will be—cool weather usually better concentrates the sugar. In any event, it doesn’t look as though I will have to wait too long to find out if I’m going to be right about those peaches.