Wonders of the season

September 9 brought the first oxblood or schoolhouse lilies (rhodophiala bifida); two days later, on September 11, the pink version of these beautiful flowers appeared. White rain lilies have been everywhere, and during the past two week we have seen seven of the beautiful small pink rain lilies in the side yard, in addition to one saffron golden rain lily nearby, and one butter-yellow rain lily behind the house. There are now more spider lilies (lycoris radiata), this time following the property line, in addition to one making an appearance by itself in Mack's flower bed and the remaining flowers on the oak motte. The display of red schoolhouse lilies is nearing an end. Yesterday, there was a yellow giant swallowtail butterfly in the yard, the first this summer. We've seen many of the dark version with the golden trim, but this is the first yellow one, and in perfect condition. One monarch butterfly was seen yesterday. There have been two more moonflowers every night recently. Fennel has made seeds just once this entire season, but it appears to be starting to put forth greenery again from the roots. We still see at least one hummingbird every day. The angle of the sun changes daily. There will be hot weather to come, but the periods of relief are longer and more numerous each day.

Department of bad prose

These examples are all to be found in an article reviewing a book about Scalia written by a prose stylist at Chicago Law:
(a) "Perhaps as importantly,"
(b) "More tellingly still," and
(c) "The fundamental facts of Bush v. Gore are plenty discrediting; there is no need for larding such additional sorts of dismal motivations."
The third item is an example of the English language as it may exist in some distant universe.

Tallest tithonia toppled

The world's tallest and most bloom-laden tithonia plant went down, snapped off by the wind. All figs have been consumed, and the pecans are going fast. The ground is littered with bits of shell. Yesterday brought the very first spider lilies (lycoris radiata); this morning we found three stalks of oxblood lily flowers (rhodophiala bifida). Because they began anew after the harsh winter, lantanas and four o'clocks are beginning to bloom in earnest only now that fall is on its way.