I, for one, am really looking forward to a seasonal change. Even a bit of rain doesn’t seem to lift the humidity for long. Again, as I mentioned last week, nothing compares to Pakistan. One-third of the country is under water. How is that even possible? That would be, like, everything east of the Mississippi River.

I have no business ever complaining about events in my life...I chose this lifestyle. To wit: the baby chicks arrived this week. I knew they were coming and yet was woefully unprepared.

The nursery in Iowa hatches them on Mondays and pops them into the U.S. mail. They arrive Thursday morning. The post office calls at once. They have had no food or water for three days. Not to worry, however. If they had hatched under a mother, the first born will not leave the nest until all the siblings have come from their shells. It takes 21 days. Naturally, the mother did not lay all those eggs the same day.

I teach them to drink by dipping each one’s beak in the water. After that, they are on their own in a box with food, water and a light.

Shirley Kennedy called with information about a bright red crape myrtle on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road near Winyah Lane. I did a drive-by. It’s awesome.

There are some other late summer specimens to check out. There’s a beautiful lespedeza hanging over the wall at Polly Hill. It is a member of the pea family, sometimes called bush clover.

Rose of Sharon are at their peak and especially nice with an occasional fall-blooming clematis wending its way into the branches. Clematis paniculata can be quite invasive and weedy, so some control might be necessary.

In the perennial beds, anemones and fall asters spruce up the gloomy areas. I bought some four-inch pots of the aforementioned asters a few years ago. They came back reliably and are more than a foot tall. They look like they’ve always been there.

I finally seeded some lettucce. It’s been too darn hot for it to thrive this summer. I’m looking forward to a fall bumper crop.

I ventured into the hoop house. I don’t believe I have even glanced in there since mid-May. It never received as much as a sip of water. There are chest-high dead weeds and yet perfectly fine three-foot tall kale plants. They don’t even have bug damage. (Any self-respecting bug got out before they cooked.)

I’ve said many times if a person simply pays attention in a vegetable garden, food can be found.

The new king has long held an interest in gardening.

In high school I read a book about Harriet Tubman titled A Woman Called Moses. She was wandering through a cornfield in the dead of winter and found some wizened cobs still attached to dead stalks. She soaked them in water until she could chew them and continued en route to freedom. I’m a bit of a sucker for the British monarchy. Notwithstanding colonial history, I do enjoy a royal pageant.

I was seven years old in 1953 when we got our first television. What a day! The first thing we saw was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Now, all the pomp involved in her death is a culmination.

Prince (ahem) King Charles finally gets the role he was born to play. Not nearly as popular as his mother, especially in the British press. I’ve long admired his views on climate change and the environment.

I have a book, The Elements of Organic Gardening by HRH The Prince of Wales. It’s now on my winter reading list as I plan a re-read. It will be handy for column material when it’s cold and dreary. (Can’t wait!)