Around the longest day of the year

The longest day of the year was a couple days ago. Not that the days are too short plus/minus a month or two from it either. Summer is a bit of a fickle thing in June. Sometimes the weather is great, sometimes the rain is great and sometimes the thunderstorms are great. 

Last weekend I was in mid-Finland at my ex-inlaws' summer place with a bunch of teens. The evening there was absolutely beautiful. Sun had already vanished behind the trees when we got there around nine but it was light outside for three more hours. The darkest point of the night here now is between one and three am. 

It's Midsummer's Eve here today. Our apple trees are growing a lot of apples, we have started a little box garden after my husband built a couple of boxes - we have tomatoes in one and basil, chives, parsley and dill in the other one - and I made some "vihdat" a while ago for the sauna in the evening. Summer is summer even when it's rainy.

First week of summer

Come summer (according to the calendar) and the weather turns cold again. Our first week of summer saw strong winds, even a storm in central and northern parts of Finland and day temperatures of 8 and 10 degrees C. Still, due to the warm May a whole lot of plants are ahead of their schedule. Like the strawberries in our yard. I picked the first ones already last weekend. 

For a while I was a bit worried about our apple crop this year, since I myself didn't really notice too many bees buzzing around, but to me it looks like most of the flowers are turning into apples after all. Today I planted a new black currant bush to our yard but otherwise our garden stuff is hopelessly late. My husband is planning on building some garden boxes that stand high enough that the rabbits don't get to our plants. 

Anyway, our yard looks nice with the roses and yellow lilies and daisies etc. beautifully blooming. And we have a regular guest in our yard: a pheasant that thinks it's a rooster.

Primroses

Last year there was one primrose plant right next to our fence. This spring I noticed several more in the flowerbed at the edge of our backyard. Maybe they were there already last year too, covered by all them tall weeds, and I just didn't notice them. Now I pulled out the weeds around them, and the roses I planted last summer, to give them a chance to grow and prosper (and be seen).

Of course, the apple trees also are looking more and more brilliant as more flowers open their petals. Yesterday evening they were already looking so nice, especially as the evening sun rays hit them diagonally.

Those lovely flowers of Midsummer Eve

It's Midsummer's Eve. This year our Midsummer is actually quite close to the insentive of the fest, the longest day of the year. Today, the day is roughly 19 hours, giving us 5 hours of "night", most of it only semi-dark dusk. On June 21st the day si a few minutes longer and then it will start ot get shorter again. Of course, in Lapland they already are and will be for a couple months still, in the nightless nights time of the year.

Here in Finland we tend to joke that our summer is short but not very snowy, that while in bible they called 40 days and 40 nights of rain a disaster we call it summer, that the old snow doesn't even melt before the days start getting shorter again (actually, this is accurate in some parts of Lapland). In Helsinki, we don't have snow, but it has been raining again for days and the temperature is barely 13-15 degrees Celsius. Pretty darned cold. But then, even though we call June Kesäkuu (summer month) in Finnish, it rarely is warm in June.

Nature, however, is beautiful. Lush, green, with flowers blooming everywhere. Berries are said to be late this year, I guess they are, but everything in our yard indicates a good berry and apple year. The other apple tree is full of tiny apple starts and the cloudberry and red currant bushes are heavy with raw berries. Our oninions are growing nicely, as are radishes and broccoli too. Didn't see potato sprouts yet, but then they haven't been in the ground for that long. Dill, parsley and oregano should be planted already. Even basil seems to be finally sprouting.

Flowers are growing like weeds. There's yellow lilies in a flower bed next to a pink rose. The Midsummer's rose on our neighbor's yard is putting out it's white flowers. Their rhododendron is in full bloom too. Daisies, knapweed, lilacs and chives  are making our yard look very Finnish indeed, with the blue and white color theme. Lilies of the valley are a bit over their best days already, but still blooming. Marigolds are growing in their bunny pots.

Flower additions to our garden

Yesterday was a fine summer day. Sun was shining, it was nicely warm until late evening - for the first time this year we stayed out in the yard enjoying the summer evening until midnight, I think. The wind was real strong though, which has been quite typical this spring and early summer. It was my birthday yesterday, and more often than not, my birthday has seen some quite good weather. Today it is raining again.

I got a couple of roses, a flaiming Katy and some busy Lizzies for birthday and having seen the weather forecast I immediately put them the roses the ground and the other flowers to some pots. Last week I also planted some potatoes.

Summer at last

It's finally summer, with the night temperatures staying above +10C too. Things in our garden grow nicely: beans, both planted and wild flowers, strawberries and the midsummer night's rose bloom and we already made our first rocket salad out of our own rucola. 

Today we put our zucchinis, cucumbers and tomatoes to the ground (not pots this time), and basil into big garden boxes. We also planted some thyme and oregano and some more salad too.

Besides the rucola and onions growing for the second year unexpectedly, we also have found a couple real surprises in our garden. A little maple is growing in one of last year's pots, and I found a little yellow violet growing in last year's onion bed. I salvaged it to a pot before turning and cleaning the dirt for the zucchinis and cucumbers.

Flowers in our garden

Last year we didn't have too many flowers in our garden, but this year we have planted some flower seeds to some pots and containers, and got a couple of lilies, a rose and some other potted flowers from people, condolences on my mom's recent death. The flower seeds have only just started to sprout, but I planted these potted flowers in the ground today, and our yard looks suddenly a whole lot nicer :)

Also, took a picture of a rhododendron by a neighbor's door. One of my favorite flowers. We have a huge one at our summerplace.

 

Flowers as June turned to July

 

Our hosta undulata has some small flowers now. And something else is blooming amongst the hedge on our front yard, something vine-like with white flowers. Something orange was in full bloom on my sister's yard, and roses and some tree flowering here in our neighborhood.

 

 

 

Flowers in the neighborhood

Pictures from another walk around the neighborhood. A couple houses down the neighbors have a pretty tricycle attached to their fence, with violets in the baskets.

 

 

Mid-summer rose

I only today noticed that the rose bush on our yard is actually a Juhannusruusu, "mid-summer rose", and it is in full bloom already!