To say that gardeners walk arm and arm with the weather would be an understatement. Today I will review a number of unrelated observations or recent conversations that illustrate how true that has been this growing season.

Several days ago I called a high school buddy who left town on the first bus after high school graduation and hasn't returned except for brief visits to family and friends. He commented on how green everything was on a recent visit. I hadn't thought about it, but he is right. Seldom do we not get a few weeks to rest our lawn mowers in our typical summers.

This summer I coaxed a few old peach trees into giving us some not always pretty, but quite tasty, peaches. Despite the frequent rains that encourage rots, I pulled this off with a spray at bloom, one in early June and applications every ten days for the weeks leading up to ripening. I think there were a total of four on the early ripening variety and five on the later one. All included fungicides but only the first two included insecticides.

I digressed. What I wanted to point out is that the two trees normally ripen about a month apart.

Our cool temperatures delayed the first one and the second one responded to the heat wave of mid August. I was picking off the second tree by the time I picked the last stragglers off the first one.

Speaking of not using insecticides on the peaches after early June, I wonder where the Japanese Beetles were? I saw about three all year. Possibly an all time low. The soil should have favored their survival and emergence. Was it the temperature? Maybe you had a bunch. If so, keep them. I was quite happy with their absence.

I also am becoming a rather serious birder, bird watcher to those who have not caught the bug. Most states have a web site that posts bird sightings daily. I regularly watch the ones from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Occasionally I will try to find unusual birds that pop up on the list. I think I am four for 11 in such adventures over the last several years.

The bird lines were mentioned because about a month ago the chatter was asking the question, Where are all the insects? A few nice evening sits on my deck implied the question was justified. With the arrival of the hot weather, the evening sounds on my deck have multiplied exponentially. If you are algebra challenged that means many times.

Now the bird lines are full of reports of birds nesting or re-nesting at dates later than normal. The reasons cited are the abundance of insects. Birds will frequently time their nesting and regulate the number of eggs in the nest based on the availability of food. Most of our small nesting birds are insect eaters.

Switching gears, I will claim ownership of those non-blooming hydrangeas that my daughter reported a month or so ago. The cold winds of late winter /early spring froze the branch tips destroying this season's bloom. Buds on standard hydrangeas form shortly after bloom for the following season. Winterkill or incorrect pruning should explain why hydrangeas don't bloom.

Finally, and I will quit with a conversation I had with someone who moved into the area from one of those states where you don't want to be in the winter without skies, snowshoes and a plug in block warmer for your vehicle. She said that after a year here she was still trying to figure out how to garden in this area. I gave her a few critical dates and pointers but it drove home the point that gardening, or any other serious endeavor, will provide us with a lifetime of learning opportunities. As gardeners, I guess that the quirks of the weather are just another bonus or challenge.