June 2025

Growing up in mid-Missouri, June was the “firefly month.” Some of my fondest childhood memories are of catching fireflies and putting them in glass canning jars to create my own lantern for the evening. I loved watching them flash on and off until I had to let them fly off into the night sky again. Hearing my story,  my science-loving granddaughter was anxious to head into the yard and try her luck at it. Out we went, jar in hand only to meet disappointment head on. There were no fireflies to be seen. Like many areas across the country, our night skies are no longer filled with these well-loved creatures.

Rather than a place to relax and unwind, the idealized suburban landscape of perfectly manicured turf, neatly edged walkways and precisely pruned shrubs can easily become another back-breaking responsibility. There are ways however, to tweak a design that reduce the workload without sacrificing the beauty.

My hydrangeas are beginning to blossom. This spring’s cooler, rainy weather has given my Annabelles a boost I haven’t seen from them in years. This year, their flower heads are massive and so purely white that they gleam in the sunlight and shimmer in the moonlight. Their foliage is deep, forest green and not one leaf is wilted. At this rate, I’ll be able to enjoy them all summer long, at least until the rains stop and I have to remember to water them daily. As soon as I forget a day or two, then the downhill battle to save them begins.

I recently learned, thanks to a very erudite neighbor, that I do NOT have a rock garden in my backyard – I have a rockery. According to her, rock gardens are expansive grounds found in parks or botanic gardens. An historic home may have one, but only if the area it encompasses is quite large. Family homes in traditional neighborhoods like ours have rockeries. Doing a bit of research, I found that my formidable neighbor was, once again, correct, at least for those gardeners of British heritage. Given their history with rock gardens and rockeries though, I think that the British deserve the right to assign names.