still peculiar

the garden continues its accelerated pace this season as the jerusalem artichokes officially begin the process of setting their irregular and innumerable tubers by blooming what, in my experience, is a month early...falling into line with the improbable return of the zea diploperennis and the appearance of seed heads on the winter wheat in april...nine of the ten warmest years on record have occurred since the turn of the century and i can't help but wonder if this is some empirical evidence of climate change...the second photo is of some grasses...that's hopi blue zea mays on the right and a single zea diploperennis plant on the left...the third photo is of some northern tepehuan teosinte against a backdrop of intermediate wheat grass...it will grow taller...as i type this there is thunder in the air and a really disappointingly light rain that will pass quickly into dryness...it is also bloody hot ( except for you coach...and possibly my youngest daughter ) this rain will do little tolift us out of a moderate drought on the palmer drought indices...that will take an all day soaker...you can see in the last photo that the perennial garden project is a spot of green in a fairly parched university lawn...we'll see what the clinate brings throughout the season.