My dogs are sissies! Last week we had those few incredibly hot and humid days. Need I say that those of us who work outside were pretty sour by day’s end. Knowing I would be miserable by evening, I put on the air conditioner in the morning. The two dogs — one a four-year-old rescue and the other extremely elderly — enjoyed the cool house all day long.

When I put them out, both were visibly shocked. They actually recoiled, causing Violet and I to laugh and poke fun at them. Later we tried to get them up and out again. They refused and looked like they were being punished.

It was shocking to get such hot summer weather so quickly. In fact, because of the mild winter, things in the garden world seem a bit topsy-turvy. I usually get peas around July 4. I’ve been eating them for weeks.

The oak-leafed hydrangeas in the down-Island Cronig’s parking lot are already in full bloom. Speaking of that parking lot, it’s becoming very pleasant to park there. Between the new and impressive solar panels and the ever-growing trees placed in the small islands, one can park in the shade almost everywhere.

I have radishes planted in two separate spots. One is poorly-tended while the other gets plenty of attention and water. One has tiny, pithy, too spicy roots, while the other is producing those with large — I mean large — golf ball-size ones. I have been making tons of my favorite sandwich spread from them (chopped with a creamy dressing).

Heather Gardens has the most incredible Mr. Lincoln rose. I swear it’s the size of a dessert plate. It is the only thornless fragrant red rose – lovely. There is also another personal favorite, a thornless fragrant climbing pink rose — the zephrine drouhin. Since we are on roses, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the many Cape Cod ramblers that are spilling over stone walls and threading up into cedar trees. I prefer the darker pink ones. Who knows the cultivar? Is it Dorothy Perkins?

Marie took some seeds from her ninebark (Physocarpus) in the fall. They peaked around the house for several months. She put them in the refrigerator for a few weeks in January. She planted them in March into a large pot and promptly lost track of them until this week. After yanking large weeds from the pot, she discovered perhaps a dozen seedlings. Some have the red leaves of the parent plant and some a lime green. We spent some time wondering about the genetics of plants and did some uneducated speculating. Just so you know, I am prone to making things up, so never take what I say as gospel. I think the red one must be a sport of the more common Eastern ninebark. Hence, the seeds revert back to the original. Sometimes a variegated plant — say a weegelia or a butterfly bush — will suddenly throw a branch that is plain green. I do cut those out so as not to encourage it. I fear the original will outgrow the preferred variegated.

I just reread this and had to correct my spelling of dessert for Pete’s sake. I had to laugh as a joke in our family is to remind each other that stressed spelled backwards is desserts.

Was I absent from civics or government class every time the Supreme Court was discussed? I know we have three equal branches of government with a system of checks and balances. Why does the Supreme Court seem to wield such power?

I am writing this before the decision comes down on Thursday concerning affordable health care. There is no question that the court is weighted to the right. Just this week they struck down Montana’s ban on corporate spending in state and local elections. They left in the racial profiling part of the controversial Arizona immigration law.

I won’t even get started on Citizens United or Lilly Ledbetter. Just because they say it’s constitutional doesn’t make it right.

P.S. Is Mitt Romney ever going to take a stand and stick to it? Even George W. could stand by his beliefs. I respected him for that although almost always disagreed.