Dog Days of Summer? In the Garden

Photo of the Night Sky

Why are they called the Dog Days of Summer? Because the star Sirius is also called Canis Major - the Dog Star. It is the brightest star of them all, the one portrayed in Bethlehem guiding the Wise Men to the birth of Jesus. And by Disney in Pinocchio for “when you wish upon a star” and the song “twinkle, twinkle, little star”. It is visible at this time of the year in the East in the early dawn near Orion which dominates this part of the sky. To locate Sirius, imagine a straight line passing through the three middle stars of Orion. Then look along this line towards the east. This line will lead us to Sirius. It twinkles because of a smaller star which orbits it. Make a wish.

Summer Solstice is an enchanting time of the year, Midsummer’s Night Dream and all that. And so it is, and should be in your gardens after all your hard Spring work seeding and planting, tending and caring. There is still plenty to do dead-heading spent flowers to help new blooms, tying vines and harvesting the zucchini which, if you don’t catch them early, grow 10 inches in one night!

Stonehenge at Sunset

Here we are blessed with cool, coastal nights in contrast to our hot days, a time when we, including all the plants and even the birds, breathe the fresh air and perk up with song before dawn breaks. Spiders are spinning their webs. The garden is a very busy bee place indeed between the birds and all the insects including the beneficial ones of lady bugs and preying mantis eating aphids. If you don’t see any of those, get some at your local nursery. They come in mesh bags by the hundreds. Let them loose in the evening to do their beneficial work.

Ladybug Walking on a Blade of Grass

Which brings me to the subject of interconnectedness. We lose sight of it and yet it is what is, too, in the rhythm of the season and nature’s “time”. This is the time to connect.

For those of us who are too busy with working schedules and just trying to keep up, it is restorative to make time to enjoy and feel some of this enchanting time, to dream and to hope at a slower pace to feel gratitude and love for the beauty and the peace it brings knowing all is well as it should be.

Professionally speaking this is also a good time for masonry construction for creating those spaces of patios and seating walls, even rock pedestals to showcase statuary or pots to hold tumbles of flowers, and sturdy platforms for fountains and generally speaking seating areas in order to be comfortably engaged. It is time for shade structures and colorful umbrellas. Our gardens become our extended living spaces to gather with our family and friends, for cooking and for that connection with nature at its best.

And so, we wish upon that star for you all the best of times during the best season of them all, summertime!