Persisting

Astonishingly, we still have bachelor buttons (cornflowers). Black-eyed Susans and nasturtiums are beginning to fade. Sweet peas are done. Morning glories like where they are and produce a flower or two of each of several varieties most days. Tomatoes became thick-skinned and are no longer blossoming or setting fruit, but the crop was large, of all varieties. Where they were watered, roses of Sharon are in profuse bloom; where they weren't, it appears that they may not survive. Where they haven't been watered and also spend hours in direct sun, Turk's cap is not flourishing. It's time to move the geraniums to shadier places. Pride of Barbados is now in full bloom, and some grown from seed thrown off by the only plant we ever bought are producing flowers for the first time. This morning we saw our first ruellia flower of the season. We're doing very well ourselves. Attendance at el cinco de mayo and Juneteenth served to acclimate us this year for our life without air-conditioning and so far the temperature inside the house has not gone above 80 degrees (apart from close to the stove when we're cooking).